Mom turned to leave and accidentally kicked the bed frame. Only then did she glanced impatiently at me lying on the bed, frowning as she snapped, "Still sleeping? The sun's already up! Get up and make breakfast. Are you trying to starve the baby and me?"

I floated right in front of her and tried to talk to her, but she could not hear me. After that, she shuffled out in her slippers, humming a lullaby under her breath.

From the living room, I could hear Dad cracking eggs, and Mom's voice chiming in. "Add two extra spoonfuls of sugar. Beau always loved sweet things."

I drifted to the kitchen doorway and watched Dad plate the pancakes, noticing that they were heart-shaped. I used to love pancakes like that too, but ever since Beau died, Dad only made round ones. He said Beau did not like anything too fancy.

Mom took the plate and carefully placed it in the center of the dining table, as if she were presenting some precious treasure.

"Go wake her up for breakfast," Mom told Dad, her tone dripping with impatience. "Don't let her make us late for buying the crib."

Dad set down the milk and headed toward my room. I followed behind him and watched as he stood by the bed, his hand reaching out and pulling back several times before finally settling on the blanket.

He said softly, "Lily, it's time to get up. We're going to buy a crib today. Why don't you come with us?"

My body on the bed did not move, and Dad's fingers trembled as he shook my shoulder gently. "Lily?"

Mom's voice rang out from the living room. "What's taking so long? Is she pretending to sleep again?"

She marched into the room and saw Dad frozen by the bedside, which instantly set her off. "She's definitely faking it! She just doesn't want us to buy a crib for Beau! Let's just ignore her and go... Beau's waiting."

Dad did not move, staring at my body on the bed as his voice rose with emotion. "She's our child too."

Mom shrieked. "She is not! Beau is my only child! She's the murderer who killed Beau!"

She grabbed the photo frame from the desk and smashed it on the floor.

The glass shards cut Dad's hand, but he did not make a sound. Instead, he just silently picked up the pieces and wrapped his wound with a tissue.

Just then, the phone in the living room started ringing. It was my teacher, Sofea Parker, calling.

Mom answered, her tone instantly turning sweet. "Hello, Ms. Parker... Is this about Beau... I mean, about Lily?"

When Sofea asked why I had not come to school, Mom's voice went cold again. "She's just skipping school on purpose. Don't worry about her, Ms. Parker. Let her do whatever she wants."

After hanging up, she pulled Dad toward the door. "Let's go. We can't let her delay us from getting Beau's crib."

Dad glanced back at my room, his steps faltering for a moment before Mom dragged him away. The instant the door closed, I saw Dad wipe his eyes.

The house fell silent except for the ticking clock on the wall.

I floated over to the bed and looked down at myself. My face was still round, but it had thinned to the point of being gaunt, with a chin so sharp it looked like it could cut. My hair had grown long enough to cover my eyes, nothing like the buzzcut Mom demanded I keep.

I remembered the last time I got my hair cut. The stylist accidentally trimmed it a bit too short, and Mom screamed at him for ruining Beau's look.

When we got home, she put me on time-out for two hours and told me I did not deserve to have hair like Beau's. As I stared at Beau's photo, I suddenly felt like I did not recognize him at all.

By the afternoon, Dad and Mom came home carrying a blue crib decorated with teddy bear embroidery. Mom was beaming, setting the crib in the center of the living room while telling Dad, "Beau's going to love this... He always used to sleep with his teddy bear."

Dad glanced at my room and said quietly, "Should we check on Lily?"

Mom's face immediately darkened. "Why should we? When she gets hungry enough, she'll come out."

She sat beside the crib and rocked it gently while humming a lullaby, and her gaze softened.

I floated over and looked at the blue crib. It was small and delicate, exactly the kind of thing Beau would have loved.

Mom had promised to buy the crib for Beau's birthday, but he never lived to see that day. The crib was finally here, and its little owner was about to return in another form.

Mom suddenly looked up as if sensing something and glanced in my direction. I quickly floated up to the ceiling as her eyes swept across the empty living room. She frowned briefly before lowering her head to rock the crib again.

She whispered, "Beau, I'm waiting for you to come back. I'll never let you leave again."

I looked at her profile and felt nothing. I did not feel sad at all. She was finally getting Beau back, and I, the replacement, could disappear for good. This way, everyone could be happy.

On the third morning, someone pounded on the door downstairs so hard as if they wanted to break it down.

I floated to the living room and watched Mom irritably open the door to find Sofea standing there.

"Mrs. Campbell," Sofea said, her expression serious. "Lily hasn't been to school for three days, and no one's answering my calls. I came by to check on her."

She craned her neck to peek inside. "Is Lily home?"

Mom's face darkened instantly as she blocked the doorway. "She's home. She's just throwing a tantrum and refusing to go to school. Don't worry about her. I'll handle it."

"This isn't about the tantrums. Last week, some students reported that Lily was being bullied at school. The kids stripped her clothes off and poured cold water on her. I wanted to discuss how to handle it with you, but I couldn't reach you," Sofea replied, frowning.

Mom bristled and snapped, "Don't listen to those kids' nonsense! Lily must've done something to provoke them! She's been vicious since birth. She killed her own brother, and now she's playing the victim at school for sympathy!"

Sofea's expression grew even grimmer. "Mrs. Campbell, I've seen the injuries on Lily's body. They're all recent. From what I understand, Lily was bullied because she was protecting another student. She's a well-behaved and hardworking student. You can't talk about her like that."

"Well-behaved? Hardworking?" Mom shrieked so loudly that the entire hallway could hear. "If she were good, Beau wouldn't be dead! She's a curse! I should've never had her!"

Sofea flinched at her outburst and sighed heavily. "If this is how you're going to be, I'll have to contact the school board. Lily is a good child, and you can't treat her this way."

She turned to leave while Mom cursed behind her, and only when Sofea disappeared down the stairs did Mom stop.

After slamming the door shut, Mom trembled with rage. She marched to my bedroom door and kicked it hard.

"Look at the trouble you caused, Lily Campbell! Even Ms. Parker came! Why don't you just die?"

I floated beside her, watching her twisted face. I suddenly remembered the drowning incident when I was four.

Beau and I had fallen into the river, and I had desperately held onto his hand. However, the current was too strong and ripped us apart.

When I was pulled out, I saw Mom clutching Beau's body and sobbing. The first words she said to me were, "Why didn't you die instead?"

Dad emerged from his study and blocked Mom's path. "Stop yelling. The neighbors can hear everything."

His voice was quiet. "Lily hasn't eaten in three days. We need to check on her."

Mom shook off his hand. "Why? She's not going to die!"

This time, Dad did not listen to her. He pushed open the door and walked into the room. After a moment's hesitation, Mom followed.

He walked over and pulled back the blanket, letting sunlight fall across my body. My face was pale, my lips tinged blue-purple, with dried blood crusted at the corners of my mouth.