The instant he saw me, his expression changed, and he crossed the space to me in a few quick strides.
"Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling sick?"
Before I could say a word, my mother let out a soft scoff.
"Don't bother with her. Last night Susan was eating shrimp, and she had to put on that sulky face, so Susan kindly offered her one. She's allergic to seafood and she still ate it, then threw a tantrum at us afterward."
"When you get right down to it, she just wanted us to blame Susan."
My father's voice was colder still. "Letting her suffer a little is fine. Maybe next time she won't act out like this."
Julian frowned, turned back to the house next door, and came back quickly with a box of allergy medicine, then poured a cup of warm water and handed it to me.
"Take this first."
I held the cup, and my eyes suddenly stung with heat.
In those first years after I came home, Susan was always hurting herself on purpose, crying that I'd bullied her.
To win our parents' favor, I confessed every time like a good girl.
Only Julian would secretly slip me candy when no one was watching.
Later, after I was sent to the facility, everyone forgot my birthday. Only he still remembered every year, arranging for someone to bring a gift inside.
Even though those gifts always ended up thrown out by the wardens, I still held on to the memory for years.
I bowed my head and swallowed the pill, and that frozen spot in my chest felt as if the warm water had finally scalded it back to life.
But the next second, Julian leaned close to my ear and murmured,
"You really should stop bullying your little sister all the time."
My fingers went rigid.
"Look at you. You're so bent on going after Susan that you've hurt yourself this badly. That's no way to be."
"Try to get along with Susan. Then your aunt and uncle won't stay angry with you, and you can come home."
The blood in my body seemed to freeze in that instant.
I looked up at him, and the words have you never once believed me? jammed in my throat, refusing to come out no matter what.
He didn't seem to notice how stiff I'd gone. He even ruffled my hair the way he used to.
Susan had already come running out of her room, and the moment she saw Julian standing beside me, her eyes went red.
"Julian, do you only care about my sister?"
Julian faltered, then hurried over to soothe her.
Susan grabbed his hand and deliberately ran past me.
"Today is my birthday. As punishment, you're not allowed to leave my side all day!"
Watching their backs, my parents finally let smiles spread across their faces.
"If only Julian could be our son-in-law someday."
My mother nodded too. "He's looked after Susan since they were little. Handing her over to him one day would put our minds at ease."
I stood where I was, watching the four of them and their happy backs, and that last flicker of warmth in my heart went completely cold.
The car soon reached the amusement park.
My parents fussed over Susan the whole way, buying her a princess crown, taking pictures with her, watching her climb aboard the birthday parade float.
A staff member wheeled over a cake cart, the birthday song came over the loudspeakers, and everyone was wishing Susan a happy birthday.
But they'd forgotten.
When they adopted Susan back then, it was precisely because she shared the same birthday as me.
Today was my birthday too.
As evening drew near, Susan suddenly pointed at the drop tower ride in the distance and said she wanted to go on it.
My mother frowned. "That one's too dangerous. Pick another."
My father coaxed her too. "Be good, Susan. Daddy will take you on the carousel."
But Susan pouted, turned, and grabbed my hand.
"But my sister's here. She's so capable, she'll definitely be able to take care of me."
I instinctively tried to pull my hand back, but my father's eyes had already darkened.
"It's your sister's birthday, and she has just this one wish. You can't even grant her that?"
Julian gave me a push too.
"Susan wants to fix things with you. Don't ruin it."
As the ride slowly climbed, wind pushed against my face. My stomach churned, and my chest felt heavy and tight.
Susan sat beside me. Then, out of nowhere, she screamed.
"Norma! Why are you unbuckling my harness!"
"Help! My sister just undid my harness!"
The operator hit pause at once, and everyone below came rushing over.
Mom was the first to climb onto the platform. She swung her hand and slapped me.
"You animal! She's your sister, and you tried to kill her!"
The blow snapped my head to the side. My ears filled with a high, ringing buzz.
Dad, face like ice, lifted the trembling, sobbing Susan down, then turned to the operator.
"I'm buying out this ride for the day."
"Let her ride. A hundred times. She doesn't get down until she's done all hundred."
"Norma, this is what it costs to bully your sister!"
My face went bloodless. I shook my head, desperate.
"Dad, I didn't."
"I feel awful. Please, please, let me down."
Julian looked like he wanted to say something, but the second Susan started crying, he bent right back to comforting her.
Dad wouldn't look at me anymore. He only said to the operator, cold and flat, "Start it."
The operator hesitated.
"Sir, she doesn't look good. Maybe we should—"
Dad slapped his card down in front of the man.
"She's my own daughter. If anything happens, we'll answer for it ourselves."
They pressed me back into the seat. The ride shot up, then dropped without warning.
The weightlessness crushed down on my chest. My throat, already swollen from the allergy, made even breathing a struggle in an instant.
My heartbeat scrambled, faster and wilder. Sour bile surged up my throat, laced with the taste of blood.
Every time the ride fell, my body felt like it shattered all over again.
The crowd below blurred. All I could make out was my parents carrying Susan, walking toward the park exit without a single backward glance.
On the seventh drop, I couldn't hold it in any longer. Blood came up in a rush.
The operator's face changed. He slammed the emergency stop.
When they helped me down, everything had gone black. I couldn't see. I only heard someone's shaking voice on an emergency call.
"Get an ambulance, now! I think she's going into anaphylactic shock!"
I collapsed onto the cold ground, the taste of blood still at the corner of my mouth.
Just before consciousness slipped away, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
I forced my eyes open and saw a message from Aunt Delia.
【Don't be afraid. I'm almost there.】
My ears were full of the chaos of footsteps and machines.
I wanted to open my eyes, but I couldn't even lift my eyelids.
Somewhere in the haze, the hospital room door was suddenly shoved open.
Mom's shrill voice reached me first.
"She's in here!"
A hand clamped down on my wrist.
Dad's grip was so strong it nearly tore the IV needle out of the back of my hand.
"Get up!"
"Your sister needs a transfusion. Stop playing dead!"
He yanked me sideways. My chest ached, tight and dull, but I couldn't make a sound.
The nurse startled, then rushed over to stop him.
"What are you doing? The patient's condition is critical. You can't just move her!"
Mom's eyes were red. She wasn't hearing a word of it.
"Her sister got so scared she's anemic. She's in emergency care right next door and needs a transfusion!"
"She's the older sister. Shouldn't she take responsibility?"
The nurse planted herself in front of the bed, her expression grim.
"No. She's already bleeding, and her allergic reaction hasn't stabilized. Even if the blood types match, drawing blood now could kill her."
Dad let out a cold laugh.
"What did she pay you to put on this act with her?"
I forced my eyes open a crack, just in time to see my mother lunge to the bedside and swing her hand down across my face.
A ringing filled my ears, and the pain dragged my hazy mind violently back.
"You're the reason Susan ended up like this, and now you're playing dead to dodge the responsibility?"
"Someone like you, we'll never claim as ours. Not in this life."
My lips moved. I wanted to say I hadn't done it.
But my throat felt sealed shut, and not a single sound came out.
Julian stood in the doorway, his face grim too.
"I used to think you were just so desperate for Uncle and Auntie's affection that you bullied Susan and lied about her."
"I actually felt sorry for you."
"Now I see it. You're not pitiful. You're rotten all the way to the root."
I looked at him, and even the ache in my chest went numb.
The nurse was still blocking them, her voice cracking with panic.
"Family or not, you can't do this! She can't give blood right now, you'll kill her!"
My father lost the last of his patience and grabbed my arm outright.
"I'm her father!"
"We gave her this life. If she bleeds out today, that's on us, not on any of you!"
One nurse couldn't hold them back on her own. She spun around, shouting for help.
They dragged me until half my body hung off the bed, the needle tearing loose from the vein, the back of my hand swelling fast.
Pain crawled up through every limb, but all I could do was stare weakly at the ceiling.
Just as my father hauled me off the bed and dragged me toward the door,
a voice, taut with fury, came from the doorway.
"I'd like to see which one of you dares to touch my daughter!"
