They Married Me Off to a Cripple,Then Found My Body Six Days Later

I grew up in an orphanage.

Because of my congenital heart condition, the director always took special care of me. Then, on my eighteenth birthday, a couple appeared out of nowhere and said they were taking me home.

It turned out I had parents. And a sister, one year younger than me.

My sister didn't like me.

"Why did you even come back if you're sick? You were better off at the orphanage. If you just drop dead one day, imagine how sad Mom and Dad would be!"

Dad scolded her harshly for that.

Mom held my hand and murmured under her breath, "Thank God. Minnie Henson is going to be perfectly healthy. She will."

It took two years before I understood why they'd brought me home.

Jennifer Henson stood in front of me, her face twisted with a smug little smile.

"Big sister."

"You really think Mom and Dad would let me marry a cripple? They brought you back for the arranged marriage!"

"If they actually loved you, they never would have abandoned you in the first place!"

"Honestly, no one expected you to survive long enough to come back. Marrying Mr. Sanchez has to be better than rotting in that orphanage, right?"

"So I suggest you do as you're told. Either go through with the marriage, or go die."

Eve Hensonry word was a knife. When she finished, she slammed the door behind her and left.

I didn't say anything. I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, tears streaming down my face.

……

So that was it. My parents didn't love me. They just thought I still had some use.

I gasped for air, the tears falling and falling.

How pathetic. We were both their daughters. Why would they do this to me? Just because I was sick? If I could have chosen where I was born, I never would have come to this family.

I wiped my eyes and sat up, only to find that the medication I'd left on the nightstand was gone.

The pain in my chest was getting worse. I didn't even make it to the door before I collapsed.

I tried to scream, but I had no strength left.

I stretched my arm as far as it would go and barely managed to reach my phone on the floor beside me. I dialed. No one picked up.

I called again. Nothing.

My heart went cold, and everything faded to black.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw myself sprawled on the floor by the door, face drained of all color. White as paper.

What's happening? I can see my own body. Am I dreaming?

I reached to pinch myself, and terror flooded through me, because my fingers passed right through my arm. I had to accept it.

I was dead.

I had already left this world.

I could pass through walls now. I drifted straight through the bedroom door, and in the blink of an eye, I was sitting on the living room couch.

Beside me, Jennifer and my parents were laughing. Warm, easy laughter. The kind families share.

They were the real family. I was just an intruder who had stolen twenty years she was never meant to have.

Why does it still hurt when you're dead? I could feel tears sliding down my cheeks even now.

"Once your sister's wedding is set, Mom and Dad will find you a wonderful match. Our Jennifer isn't going to suffer one bit."

That was Mom. Her voice was impossibly gentle.

"But what if she refuses?" Jennifer asked.

"She doesn't get a choice. She's marrying him."

The expression on Dad's face was something I had never seen in the two years I'd lived under this roof. He looked like a stranger. Like a completely different person.

I fought back.

"Jennifer and I are both your daughters! Why does she get to throw something away and have it handed to me?"

"I won't marry him! I won't!"

No matter how loud I screamed, they couldn't hear me.

I reached for Mom's arm, desperate to grab hold of her, but my hand passed right through.

If this is how it was always going to be, I would have been better off staying at the orphanage. But I could never go back now.

Nora had lunch ready on the table.

Mom seemed to remember I existed. She turned to Jennifer.

"Go tell your sister to come down and eat."

Jennifer's face soured instantly.