When my mother saw the sign for the crematorium, her face turned ashen.

“How can you come to a miserable place like this?”

She cursed. “Lluvia Lovell, tell me, are you hoping Lillian dies?”

“Mom, you seem to have forgotten something.”

I snickered. “Lillian is already dead. What am I doing wrong by bringing the corpse here? She should be sent to a crematorium.”

This time, I would not give Lillian the chance to get away by faking her own death.

Mom trembled from rage.

She grabbed a handful of my hair. I was disoriented from the pain. She slammed my head against a slab of wood.

“You’re acting up, huh?! How dare you disobey me?!” she yelled, “More of this nonsense, and I-I’ll kill you!”

Dad was not pleased with me, either. He had a ruthless expression on his face as he kicked me.

They beat me up so badly that I could barely breathe. I braced myself and fought back with everything I had, and we ended up brawling.

I knew that my parents never liked me very much. However, I decided to ignore it in the previous timeline since Lillian had died very young. I went along with everything they wanted.

Yet, they had known the truth all along.

When I asked them about it during my nephew’s celebration, they both looked at me like I was a clown. “So? What does it matter if Lillian took your admission letter? She’s more suited than you to go to university.”

“We gave birth to you so that you can take care of us in our old age. It’s not so that you can live the high life.”

“Don’t say that this is something Lillian owes you. You’re the one who tried to steal her husband. Lillian didn’t take offense at your shamelessness, so what do you have to feel wronged for?”

Every word was like a knife stabbing my heart.

Well, since they did not care for me as their child, I did not mind burning all the bridges.

“Who’s fighting over here? Let go!”

The manager of the crematorium ran over and pulled us apart.

I pointed at the motionless Lillian and said quickly, “My sister’s dead. My parents are old-fashioned and want her to be buried, so I rushed her over here.”

When they heard that I wanted to have Lillian cremated, my parents started sweating.

“Don’t spout nonsense! You can’t just go around cremating people!”

Our village encouraged the people to stop burying their dead and to switch to cremation instead. Many were against it, and it forced the village headman to put in extra work every day.

The crematorium manager thought that my parents disapproved of cremation.

“Well, since you’re already here, there’s no point going somewhere else,” he said. “Do you have a death certificate yet? If you do, I can arrange the cremation for you immediately.”

“I have it!”

Before my parents could react, I fished the death certificate out of my dad’s pocket.

They had planned their act meticulously and had even used their connections to produce a death certificate as proof to fool me. That was what made me believe it was all real before.

With this document as proof, Lillian was considered to be truly dead.

“This might seem unusual, but you’re here already. Let’s just cremate her right away.”

The cremation manager settled the paperwork quickly.

In an instant, my parents were flabbergasted.

“You horrible wretch!”

My mother took out the new sewing kit she had bought and grabbed a needle. She pointed it at my mouth like she wanted to sew it up. “Let’s see if you can still spout nonsense with your mouth sewn up!”

“Sir, you really can’t cremate her!”

Dad was so terrified that his legs went weak. “Lillian’s funeral isn’t even over. Let me take her home and have a wake. Then, we can talk.

“That way, we can have some closure. She doesn’t even have proper clothes for a cremation. She won’t go happily without them…”

The earnestness with which my dad said this touched the crematorium manager.

“Well, I guess we can stall a bit…” he mumbled.

Thinking that they had gotten their way, my parents sighed in relief. They must have been scheming about how to get back at me once we got home.

If I remained in their control after this, my life would be even worse than it had been in the previous timeline.

I forced myself to take a deep breath and tried to calm myself.

Then, I saw something from the corner of my eye at the edge of the yard.

Yes! This was happening!

The crematorium staff had already moved Lillian onto a cart.

They hesitated, like they were not sure if they should really send her corpse into the flames.

I rushed forward and pushed everyone aside. With all my strength, I shoved Lillian into the fire.

With a bang, I slammed the door to the incinerator.

When they saw what I had done, my parents went mad.

“You’re despicable, Lluvia! That was your sister!” Mom was so shell-shocked that she could not even move. “Pull her out! S-She’s pregnant!”

Clenching my teeth, I stood in front of the incinerator like a human shield.

I reached out and found the button.

“Once I press this button, the fire will start burning.” I chuckled. “Make your choice.”

My parents went ghostly pale.

If looks could kill, I would have died a thousand times over.

Maybe they were afraid that I would do something impulsive, so they chose a softer approach to talk to me.

“Just tell us what you want. What has Lillian ever done to you that you want to send her up in flames?”

“We’re a family! It’s embarrassing that you’re making such a scene.”

Only when I threatened to ruin their plans did they admit that I was their family too.

How funny life was!

“Sure. Give me my university admission letter back,” I said.

My parents were stunned. They exchanged a glance.

Mom took out a wrinkled piece of paper and said mockingly, “Your grades are worth nothing. What university would want you? Have a look at your report. Hurry and let your sister out!”

“That’s a fake one.”

I calmly reached for the button. “Give my university admission letter to me or I’ll press this button.”

“This is real! What makes you think that this is fake? Where am I supposed to find you a report that doesn’t exist?” Dad was so mad that he stomped his feet.

The noise attracted the attention of many of the villagers.

They all squeezed into the crematorium to watch the drama.

Some people were on my side.

“This must be a mistake. Lluvia has always had good grades. There’s no way she got such low grades!”

“Lillian’s dead. Why are they trying to drive Lluvia away, too?”

“Lluvia’s so smart. She can definitely get into a university!”

“What nonsense!” My mother was furious. “Lillian’s much smarter than her. Lluvia thinks she can outsmart everyone with just a little cleverness.”

“I think you’ve lost it from dreaming about going to a university. It’s all wishful thinking!”

In the previous timeline, I had doubted myself because of how sure my parents had sounded during this moment. I had believed it when they said my grades were bad.

With such horrible grades, I had become a joke despite being the top student at school. It was a whole year before I got the guts to leave the house again.

After that, whenever I saw the words “entrance exam,” I felt traumatized.

It was only at the moment before my death that I found out those grades had been Lillian’s, not mine. My parents could not bear for Lillian to be ridiculed, so they passed off her grades as mine.

“I only want my admission letter. Is that too much to ask?” I chuckled bitterly.

My parents fell silent. They glared at me as if they wanted me to drop dead right there.

My mind was made up. I placed my finger over the button.

Mom shrieked so loudly that it echoed throughout the place.

“Don’t press the button!”

She was so terrified that she started crying, but she still managed to shout, “It’s just a stupid admission letter. What’s so impressive about it? Do you have to incinerate your sister for it? Get your hands off that button!”

I shook my head and pushed the button slightly.

Mom and Dad finally took me seriously. Their faces turned white, and they stumbled to the floor.

“The admission letter is with your sister!”

Mom shrieked in a panic, “Are you happy now, you wretch?! Let Lillian go now!”

Reflexively, I turned to look at the incinerator.

The admission letter that I wanted was right in front of me.