I just never expected them to hate me enough to want me dead.

Can you wait a little longer? In seven days, you'll get what you want!

Even if they heard I'd died, they'd assume it was just another bid for attention. They wouldn't care at all.

I watched them crowd around Diana, showering her with blessings and gifts.

Did they forget today was my birthday too? I was only a few hours younger than her. I died on my eighteenth birthday.

"Mom, today is my little sister's birthday too. Did we forget? She must be upset with us—that's probably why she's acting this way."

Awkwardness flickered across their faces. They'd remembered the adopted daughter's birthday but forgotten their biological daughter's. Only they could manage that.

They were people who'd seen the world. To avoid gossip, they pulled out the only card they had on them.

"Here's ten thousand dollars. Buy yourself something nice. Consider it a gift from your father and me."

Jordan took out the freebie that came with Diana's present.

I looked at their impatient faces, and something in my chest went cold. I didn't take it.

"No need. Even if I took it, I wouldn't be able to use it."

They were disgusted by my response, convinced I didn't know when to be grateful.

After the banquet ended, Diana couldn't wait to gloat.

"If I were you, I wouldn't have come back. Coming back just means more humiliation."

"This is my home. Or did you forget you're just a cuckoo in someone else's nest?"

Nothing enraged her more than being called a fake heiress. She'd worked too hard, for too many years, to make everyone remember—the Henson family had only one daughter, and it was her.

"So what? In this family, I'll always matter more than you. You're nothing but a spare part."

"Get out. This is my room."

"Ah—!"

Her scream brought all three of them running. They rushed straight to her.

The slap came without warning. I stared at the woman in front of me in disbelief. I hadn't said a single word, and she'd already decided I was guilty. My voice cracked.

"Mom!"

"Don't call me that. I don't have a daughter as vicious as you. You've caused chaos all day. This morning you lied about being kidnapped, but when we checked, you'd been out shopping the whole time. We let it go as one of your tantrums. Now you're bullying Diana again. What will it take to make you stop?"

"I wasn't shopping—"

I turned sharply toward Diana. The smug look on her face told me everything.

"It was you!"

"Still making excuses. Wrong is wrong. When will you ever be as sensible as Diana? I'm so disappointed in you."

"Forget it. Just forget it."

The disappointment in their eyes made it hard to breathe.

"How did you turn out like this?"

Jordan's question made my eyes burn. I stayed silent—but he took that as an admission. That everything was my fault. That I'd done it all on purpose.

"You being my biological sister won't change. But you never should have kept bullying Diana and letting her take the blame for you."

I watched his retreating back and couldn't help asking.

"Did you ever actually believe me?"

"I only believe what I see with my own eyes."

My eyes stung badly. I reached up to wipe away tears, but my face was dry. Only then did I remember—I was already dead. I had no tears left to cry.

They treated Diana so well. So well it made me jealous. Every time we went out together, the same thought would claw at me: Push her down. If she were gone, they'd finally look at me.

It wasn't until after I died that I realized they never loved me at all.

Diana got the Aldridge admission letter so easily, and they couldn't wait to announce it to the world—their most outstanding daughter, their pride and joy.

But that was mine.

"If you'd just been a little more obedient, you wouldn't have turned out so badly. Even without being exceptional."

I looked at Jordan and laughed—a bitter, angry laugh.

"Have you ever once seen what I'm capable of? If I told you that admission letter was mine, would you believe me?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Diana earned that on her own merit."

Right. Her own merit—the merit of sleeping her way in and swapping my name for hers. If I hadn't overheard it by accident, I never would have known.

"Stop being jealous of her."

"Jordan, this might be the last time I call you my brother. If I died someday, would you even be sad?"

"No. But I hope you don't let us know. Just pretend you never existed."

I watched his retreating back and smiled—a broken, miserable smile. He hadn't hesitated for even a second. The certainty in his eyes told me he genuinely wanted me dead.

"How pitiful." Diana's voice dripped with mockery. "I'm telling you—from now on, everything you have is mine. Including this."

I reached out to snatch it back, but my body felt light, weightless. One push and I toppled over. Diana looked puzzled for a moment but didn't dwell on it.

"Oh, and those kidnappers that day? I'm the one who found them. Told them to treat you real well." She smiled. "I'm going to pay them extra, actually. Seeing you so wrecked made me so happy."

My whole body trembled. It was her. It was her all along.

Something dark and terrible rose inside me, so intense that Diana actually flinched. I lunged at her.

"I'll kill you! You murderer—!"

I was like a madwoman. Maybe the hatred had consumed me completely, possessed me with something inhuman. No matter how Diana struggled, she couldn't break free. Real fear finally crept into her voice.

"Mom! Dad! Jordan! Help me! Fiona's trying to kill me!"

Bang. I was slammed hard against the wall. I'd already lost all reason. All I could think about was the torture that day—I had to kill Diana, drag her down to hell with me.

I lunged again, fingers closing around her throat, when my father's hand cracked across my face. The chaos stopped instantly. He glanced at his palm, and whatever guilt flickered there vanished the moment he saw Diana's state.

"Ungrateful wretch! Diana is your older sister!"

"Fiona, make another scene and I'm cutting ties with you for good."

The scene burned into my eyes. I wanted to cry, but no tears came. The raw dryness made it hard to breathe.

"She's the one who had me kidnapped! She killed me—she killed me!"

"How long are you going to keep this up? Now you're accusing Diana of murder? You're standing right here!"

This is only my vengeful spirit. My resentment was so heavy that the King of Hell let me return.

But I couldn't explain that. And they wouldn't believe it anyway.

"If you want to die so badly, then go die! Just go!"

Already dead, yet I could still taste blood in my throat. I walked away laughing. They found it deeply unsettling—I was right in front of them, yet somehow impossible to grasp.

They clutched their chests, a sudden ache blooming there.

"Mom, Dad, Jordan—don't be upset." Diana's voice turned soft, pitiful. "Fiona will come around eventually. If me leaving would help, then—"

"Don't talk nonsense!"

They ignored the pain spreading through their hearts.

Not long after, Diana got a call from the kidnappers.

"When are you paying up?"

"You've got nerve asking me for money—what happened to our deal?"

The man on the other end bristled. "What do you mean? I did exactly what you said. Tortured her until she was covered in wounds. Just bad luck—she couldn't handle it. Played her to death. Now pay up. We need to run, or none of us will make it."

A chill crawled up Diana's spine, but she quickly decided he was running a scam.

"She's been with me every day. Just now she almost strangled me to death, and you're still lying?"

"What the hell are you talking about? We made sure she was dead before we left. Day before yesterday, my guy went to check—her body's still there. Nobody's collected it."

Now Diana was certain they were trying to cheat her.

"Nice try. Not happening."

She hung up, but her heart wouldn't stop racing. Her steps felt unsteady.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Mom. The banquet's started—let's go!"

She pulled Rose toward the front hall. When she spotted me standing at the end of the corridor, she turned and bolted.

"Thank you all for coming to celebrate my daughter's college acceptance!"

Samuel and Rose basked in the praise, practically glowing. The screen behind them began playing clips of Diana's hardworking childhood.

Then the footage changed.

The day I was kidnapped.

"I'm the Henson heiress. My parents won't ignore me."

Then came Samuel and Rose's voices—cold, heartless.

"If you want to die that badly, die outside. I'll act like I don't have a daughter like you."

Then me, kowtowing over and over.

"I'll call my brother. He won't ignore me. Please—I'm begging you."

I kowtowed until my forehead bled, but no one expected Jordan to be even more ruthless.

"Die first. Then I'll come collect your body."

My hands dropped. The despair on my face made the entire room feel like they couldn't breathe.

Jordan's face went white as bone. If he hadn't gripped the table, he would've collapsed.

Rose's lips trembled violently. Their hearts seized as one.

At least their daughter was still here. Otherwise they'd regret it forever—

But then came the next scene.

What followed made guests physically sick. Some vomited on the spot. Even Jordan, a grown man, nearly lost it.

"Damn, so unlucky. We barely played and she stopped breathing!"

A blond guy put his hand under my nose.

"She's really dead. Let's go—bad luck!"

Dead?

The room erupted in screams.