Seeing that the Spencer family had no intention of dropping the case, the judge began the trial.

“This trial will follow the principle that whoever makes a claim must provide evidence. The plaintiffs, the Spencer family, have accused Clara Spencer of being cruel and ungrateful, and have presented memory evidence to support their claims.

“If the Spencer family wins this trial, the judgment will be to cut open Clara Spencer’s body to extract her healthy kidney to transplant into Jade Spencer, and her ties with the Spencer family will be completely severed. In addition, every cent Clara Spencer earns in the future will be handed over to her parents to repay them for giving birth to her.

“If the Spencer family loses, only her ties with them will be severed. From then on, Clara Spencer will have nothing to do with the Spencer family.

“Now, plaintiffs, who will present the evidence?”

“I will!” the Spencer family all said in unison.

My mother smiled faintly in tacit agreement. There was a look of pride in her eyes, as if to say, ‘See, this is what a family should be like. We’re so united when dealing with an outsider.’

“I heard that when the plaintiffs present evidence, they don’t need to have their heads cut open for the memory extraction. Please just use the memory extractor to take the memories directly from my brain.”

I had seen a few cases before, and I knew judges were usually lenient with plaintiffs. Sure enough, they used the memory extractor to connect to my parents’ and Yara’s brains.

The big screen showing the memories flickered for a few seconds before becoming clear.

The first scene showed Jade walking into the villa holding a big cake. Her face beamed with happiness as she set it on the dining table and said to my parents, “Mom, Dad, look at this cake. Isn’t it pretty? I made it myself for Clara’s 18th birthday.”

Upon hearing that, my parents immediately walked over to admire it and began praising her.

“Jade, you’re so talented. Did it tire you out?”

Jade shyly shook her head to show that she was not tired at all.

Yara, who was standing next to her, immediately grabbed Jade’s hand. Her face was filled with concern as she pointed at the bandage on Jade’s finger. “Jade, did you hurt your hand making this cake?”

Jade quickly pulled her hand back and shook her head hard. “I’m fine, Yara. As long as Clara likes the cake, it doesn’t matter even if I spent three days and nights making it at the bakery. As long as she likes it, that’s enough for me.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the villa’s front door opened.

I stood there, drenched like a drowned rat. Jade immediately grabbed me from the doorway and pulled me to the dining table. Pointing at the cake, she smiled brightly and said, “Clara, look at this birthday cake. Do you like it? Let me cut you a piece to try.”

At that moment, it felt like everyone was waiting for me to express my gratitude to Jade.

But under everyone’s gaze, I picked up the cake from the table and smashed it right onto Jade’s head.

“Who wants to eat your cake?! Even a dog wouldn’t eat this crap, and you’re giving it to me?!”

As I spoke, I bent down, scraped a handful of dirty mud off my shoes, and shoved it hard into Jade’s mouth. I snarled, “Three days and three nights? You want cake so badly? I’ll feed you myself!”

Even after doing all that, I still did not feel satisfied. I took off my dirty shoe and shoved it into Jade’s mouth as well, as if I would not stop until I forced it down her throat.

My parents and Yara finally snapped out of their shock. They rushed over, yanked my arm away, and shoved me to the floor.

“Clara, are you insane?!”

“Clara, you’re crazy! Do you think you can just do whatever you want?!”

Ignoring their furious shouts, I charged forward another step.

I slammed my head into Jade’s chest and knocked her to the floor. In the chaos, her head accidentally hit the dining chair, and blood instantly gushed out.

The screen went dark, and the livestream comments instantly blew up.

[What the heck! Clara’s seriously messed up. Jade spent three days and nights making that cake, and she didn’t even say thank you. She treated her like that instead!]

[And that was at home, with her parents there. Imagine what Clara was like at school without any family around to keep her in check.]

[Ugh, I really want to go in there and beat Clara up. She’s so heartless. Truly cruel and ungrateful.]

[I’m voting for the Spencer family this round.]

[No normal person would act so extreme. Could there be some hidden misunderstanding between Clara and Jade?]

[You must be someone Clara paid to defend her. Get lost right now! Otherwise, when the truth comes out, and she gets what’s coming to her, I’ll come for you too!]

The comments kept flooding in, and the votes in support of the Spencer family kept increasing.

Meanwhile, on the defendant’s side, there was only a single vote for me.

That vote came from Mdm. Langley. She did not know how to use the voting system, but she persistently asked the staff for help until she finally managed to cast her vote for me.

Mdm. Langley reached out her trembling hand to help me clean the rotten vegetables and eggs from inside my coffin. When she looked at me, her eyes were filled with a familiar gentleness.

“Don’t be afraid, dear. I’ll always support you.”

My nose stung, and tears immediately welled up. Seeing that lonely number “1” on my side of the votes, I completely broke down.

I tried so hard to remember Mdm. Langley’s face, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not recall when I had ever met that deeply wrinkled face before.

At that moment, the screen showing the memories went dark, only to flicker back on moments later.

The rain poured down that night. Lightning lit up the sky in a chilling glow, and thunder roared so loud that it forced my buried memories to the surface.

After I failed my SAT exams and fell into depression, Jade said she wanted to cheer me up and invited me to go hiking.

Maybe because they were afraid I would do something crazy to Jade, my dad and Yara tagged along like bodyguards.

My mom was working a night shift at the hospital, so she did not come.

The screen showing the memories shifted to a scene where I fell halfway up the mountain. My shinbone snapped, and rocks cut a deep gash into my leg.

Jade was the first to notice. She told my dad and Yara to pitch a tent on the spot so I could rest inside.

Then, she pulled out a bottle of antiseptic and poured it over my wound.

“Clara, let me disinfect this first. Otherwise, it might get infected.”

As soon as she was done disinfecting my wound, I kicked her to the ground, pinned her down, and slapped her without hesitation.

“You snake! Don’t pretend to be so kind in front of me! Is it that face of yours that’s bewitched them? Is that why they won’t kick you out of the family? Is that why they’re forcing me to give you a kidney?

“Let’s see how they look at you when I ruin your pretty face!”

With that, I grabbed a small knife from the tent and plunged it down toward Jade’s cheek.

At the last second, my dad and Yara yanked me off her.

My dad slapped me hard across the face and shouted, “Clara! My patience has limits! You keep abusing Jade over and over again. Don’t make me slap you!”

“Dad, let me handle her!” Yara said and slapped me so hard I fell to the ground and could not get up.

“Dad, Yara, don’t be mad at Clara. I must have done something wrong to upset her,” Jade said.

Seeing her pitiful face ignited a furious rage in me. “You disgust me so much I want to puke! Die!”

I shoved Jade hard, and we both tumbled off the cliff beside the tent.

Before my dad and Yara could react, Jade and I had disappeared from their sight.

The screen went dark. My dad and Yara’s heart-wrenching screams filled the air. “Jade! Jade!”

The voices faded until the memory extraction paused, and there was nothing but silence.

Everything had happened so quickly and perilously that the viewers watching the memory screamed in shock. The livestream comments were filled with rows upon rows of shocked comments.

I looked over at my dad and Yara at the plaintiffs’ table.

Having relived that day, they clung to Jade as if they had survived a great disaster.

Tears streamed down my dad’s face as he sobbed and said, “Jade, thank god you’re okay. If anything had happened to you that day, I would’ve cut Clara open on the spot and buried her with you.”

“Jade, you don’t even know how scared I was back then.”

Meanwhile, the comments section was going wild.

[Oh my God, this is attempted murder! Why isn’t Clara in jail already?]

[Clara is so vicious. Jade is too kind to turn her in.]

[Jade really is too good. It’s like they say. Good people get mistreated.]

[Clara should just die! I’m voting for the Spencer family to win!]

[Same here! I’m voting for the Spencer family! There’s nothing to argue about. Just declare Clara guilty already!]

More and more people began requesting the judge to announce my defeat right away.

The judge, who always adjusted his verdicts based on public opinion, held the microphone up to my lips.

“Clara Spencer, do you wish to make an appeal?”

But instead of Clara’s response, the judge was met with Mdm. Langley’s tearful plea. “This poor girl can’t even speak anymore. Please, I beg you all, let her rest in peace. She died such a horrible death. I’m sure there was a reason behind what she did.”

The Spencer family, however, did not listen at all. My parents even spat on my coffin.

“Dead or not, she’s guilty. She knows she’s going to lose, so she’s too scared to speak.”

“Clara, if you get up right now and agree to donate your kidney to Jade, I’ll forget about the past and forgive you.”

Yara got upset when she heard that. Her voice rose sharply as she snapped, “Why should we forgive her? If we do, how is she ever going to make up for all the pain Jade has suffered?”

“Listen, Clara. I will never forgive you, not in this lifetime! Even if you’re really dead, I won’t forgive you!”

Sometimes, I really could not understand them.

What unforgivable crime had I committed to make the Spencer family hate me this much?

Later, I learned that my only crime was that I did not know how to act pitiful.

All the memories shown by the extractor were staged by Jade herself.

The Spencer family saw only one side of the story. They never bothered to find out the truth and pinned all the blame on me without question.

“Clara Spencer, do you wish to make an appeal?”

“Clara Spencer, do you wish to make an appeal?” asked the judge a second time when I did not answer.

When the judge asked me for the third time and received only silence, he announced in a cold, solemn voice, “Based on the evidence extracted from the memories, the Spencer family has won the case. Clara Spencer, you are hereby found guilty of cruelty and inhumanity. You will be punished by having your kidney removed.”

His verdict echoed clearly through the courtroom.

The Spencer family’s faces all lit up with joy.

Above my corpse, a person with a blade appeared.

Just as the blade was about to pierce my abdomen open, my mom’s voice rang out.

“Wait! Judge, this person doesn’t have proper medical knowledge. I’m worried it’ll damage the kidney. May I perform the procedure myself?”

My heart skipped a beat.

Mdm. Langley, sitting beside me at the defendant’s table, slid to the floor in shock. She rushed to my coffin and cried so hard that her vision blurred with tears.

“Please, please don’t do this! This girl is already dead. You’re her mom. At least let her rest in peace with her body untouched!”

But my mom ignored her completely. Instead, she kicked Mdm. Langley away.

“Get out of here, you old hag! Don’t get in the way. This kidney is for Jade.”

Then, suppressing the excitement gleaming in her eyes, my mom took the blade and carefully sliced my abdomen open.

Instantly, foul, darkened blood that had been rotting in my body overnight gushed out.

With a loud clang, the blade slipped from her trembling hands and fell to the floor. Her body began to shake uncontrollably.