I rushed toward her.

My words tumbled out in a choked, tearful rush as I said, “Mom, I have no idea what’s happening right now!

“One minute you were gone after using the washroom, the next you’re here acting like you don’t even know me.”

My mother grabbed the necklace around my throat with brutal force.

Her gaze was hostile.

“So you really are a burglar! You had the nerve to steal this! It was my mother’s heirloom!

“I’m calling the police and having you arrested today!”

With that, she yanked the necklace away with all her strength.

It left a raw, bloody mark across my neck.

The searing pain and sudden suffocation stole my voice.

In all my life, my mother had never once laid a hand on me!

At that moment, I felt my heart shatter into pieces.

My home stood right there, yet I could not bring myself to walk in.

Just as we were locked in confrontation, the elevator chimed.

Kathy burst out and wrapped her arms around me.

“Luna, are you okay?”

I looked at her, then gripped her sleeve desperately.

“Kath, you know this is my house. You come over for dinner every Saturday.”

I stared at her mouth, praying that she would agree with me.

Instead, she seized me and pulled me close.

“That’s enough!

“Luna, it’s the New Year! Could you please not do this to me right now?”

Her jaw was clenched tight, and her eyes filled with anguish.

She abruptly yanked me behind her and apologized to my parents.

“Sir, Ma’am, I’m so sorry. Please, just let her go. She’s not mentally stable.”

My eyes widened as I stared at her in disbelief.

“Kath! These are my parents!”

“Shut up!”

“Face reality, will you? You’re an orphan!”

“That’s impossible! You just said this was a dare!”

Kathy lost her composure and broke down.

“I only said that to calm you down!”

She explained that after leaving the orphanage at sixteen years old, I had faced nothing but hardship.

My career had stalled, and I had been deceived by one awful man after another.

After several suicide attempts, my mental state had deteriorated.

She had kindly taken me out to clear my head, and we had happened to run into this family.

That was when I started deluding myself into believing I was part of their happy home.

“I can’t believe you actually broke into their house!”

Seeing the look of disappointment on Kathy’s face, I stood frozen in place.

Anticipating my disbelief, she pulled several documents from her bag and thrust them at me.

There was a psychiatric evaluation from a top-tier hospital, and proof of identity from the orphanage.

Kathy took my hand and said with a softer tone, “Alright, let’s go. Let’s not bother these people on New Year’s Day.”

I clenched the paper in my hand until my knuckles turned white.

No. This was not my life.

Jesse let out a cold snort.

He ushered my family inside and began to close the door.

An alarm bell went off in my head.

I lunged forward and grabbed the doorframe.

My hand got crushed in the process, but I did not care.

I ignored the searing pain and screamed, “Bring out everyone’s birth certificates! Bring them out!”

My family lost their patience.

“You’re so shameless. Are you stalking us now?

“We should’ve just called the police and let her rot in prison!”

I gritted my teeth, then said, “If my name is not in there, I’ll leave.”

My father stormed off in a huff.

He came back and slammed the documents in front of me.

“See for yourself!”

My hands trembled as I looked through them.

There it was! My name was in one of the documents!

For a moment, I was ecstatic.

I pointed at my name for everyone to see.

But strange expressions flickered across their faces.

Kathy even grabbed my arm and tried to pull me away.

“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s get out of here and stop making a scene.”

I looked at her with a confused expression and said, “Kathy, my name is right here!”

Stella lunged forward and snatched the documents from me.

“My sister is dead. What kind of sick game are you playing, pretending to be her?”

She pulled out a different document and hurled it at my face.

It was a death certificate, my death certificate.

It felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over me.

There it was, in black and white: [Luna Larson — Deceased.]