The morning sun finally broke through the clouds. Mom had set the table for breakfast for the three of us and opened my door, only to find me still in the attic. Her temper flared immediately. "How can you be this dumb? The door wasn't even locked, and you still haven't come back to your room?"

If I had heard this in the past, I might have believed Mom was strict on the outside but gentle at heart, that she cared for me. However, after a night of heavy rain, with my body getting soaked and then drying, that thought had vanished.

Ryan ran upstairs and opened the attic door. "Jessie, come out and eat!" he called.

Then, he turned to Mom. "She's still sleeping!"

Mom frowned deeply. "Is she a pig? How can she sleep this long?"

She hurried upstairs, and when she saw me still in the same position from the night before, she froze. "Jessie, you stayed like this all night?"

She snapped, "Are you sulking at me? What did I say that was wrong? Even now, your signal is all devil! Was I born to suffer because of you? Aren't you getting up? Who taught you to throw tantrums like this? I've treated you and Ryan exactly the same from the start, so why do you always come up short?"

Mom walked toward me. Just as her hand was about to reach me, Ryan suddenly called out, "Mom, can we go now? I can't wait to ride the pirate ship with you!"

Mom glared at me for a moment, then clenched her teeth in anger. "Fine. If you won't talk, you won't get breakfast or go to the amusement park. Walk out of that door on your own, or don't expect me to care about you!"

This time, she left so quickly that I didn't even notice which cute cartoon doll Ryan had pinned on her. I didn't even manage to finish saying, "Mom, don't ignore me."

I tried to chase after her, but I soon realized I was trapped in the house like a ghost. Mom had only taken me to an amusement park once, when I was six. The moment we walked in, I needed the bathroom. The devil signal convinced her I was lying, and I was locked in the restroom all day.

By the time the fireworks were finished, Mom finally came to get me.

After that, she never took me to an amusement park again. Ryan, however, went every year.

I stared at the spot on my scalp where the chip had been implanted. For the first time, a thought crossed my mind. Was my chip really the same as Ryan's? It couldn't be. It had to be different.

Mom's invention had made her famous nationwide for scientific parenting, so the problem had to be me. I was the useless one, just like the father I had never even met.

Mom and Ryan didn't return until late that evening. She glanced into my room, snorted coldly, and walked away. After a while, she left some snacks and a blanket outside the attic door.

For the next three days, she never climbed the narrow stairs again. The fireplace kept the house warm, and with the rain falling again and again, my body was soaked and dried repeatedly until a sour smell began to spread.

Ryan nearly gagged when he passed the stairs. "Mom, it smells horrible. What's that smell?"

Mom let out a cold sneer. "Your lying sister probably hasn't showered. Of course it smells."

She pulled a curtain across the stairway and sprayed some perfume. "There. Come on, Ryan. I'm taking you to the zoo!"

By the seventh day after my death, the perfume and curtain could no longer hide the smell of my decaying body. Mom frowned as she climbed the stairs, gagging again and again until she finally put on a mask.

The snacks and blanket outside the attic door hadn't been touched. Her hand trembled slightly on the doorknob.

I couldn't contain my excitement. "Mom, open the door! Please notice me!"

The lock slowly turned. Mom muttered under her breath, "It can't be anything serious, right?"

The phone suddenly rang. Mom answered immediately. "What? There's a problem with the experimental data? Alright, I'll be there right away."

The door had barely opened a crack before she shut it again. From outside, she called impatiently, "Jessie, you've been eating, sleeping, and living in that attic. If you don't shower soon, you'll grow a whole forest on yourself!

"Get out here, take a bath, and reflect on what you've done. Don't disgust us anymore! If you haven't cleaned up before I get back from work, you're writing a ten-thousand-word reflection essay!"

I froze.

Just a little more, and she would have found me.

I didn't want to keep rotting like this.

I liked being clean. I liked being pretty. I didn't want to smell like a decaying corpse.

All I could do was stare helplessly as she walked away.

Ryan had somehow read that wet clothes could absorb odors. He had actually soaked every piece of clothing in my closet and stuffed them into the crack under the door to block the smell.

However, the stench of a corpse was far too strong.

The weather was unusually hot that day. By the time Mom came home from work, the entire house was filled with the foul reek of decay.

Neighbors were already gathered outside, pointing and whispering among themselves. Some complained that Mom was polluting the neighborhood. Others threatened to call the police.

Everyone had something to say, but no one heard me screaming.

Mom apologized politely to the neighbors before storming up to the attic in anger. "Jessie! Are you trying to kill me? Isn't embarrassing me at home enough? Do you have to make sure everyone knows what a failure I am as a mother?"

She shoved the door open forcefully, only to stagger back as the smell of decay hit her. The attic light was broken. Mom pinched her nose and stepped inside slowly. Only then did she notice that I hadn't moved at all.

"Jessie? Jessie?"

Mom turned anxious. "Don't think you can scare me like this. The chip just sent me a devil signal. Get up and go take a shower…"

The moment she touched me, Mom froze. I was cold, stiff, and decayed in a way that no living being could ever feel.

"Jessie!"

With a single push from Mom, my corpse slumped to the side, still fixed in the same pose.

By the attic's leaky corner, the moonlight finally revealed my bluish-white, distorted face.

Mom's scream tore through the night.