Three years after I’d been sealed away beneath the ceiling, my so-called family finally hired a ghost-hunting streamer to uncover the truth behind my “fake” death.

During the live session, my mother clung tightly to Jesica Meyer—my replacement, the imposter daughter—and cried while scolding me as a heartless, ungrateful monster.

My brother’s voice was cold and cutting. “Back when she was still around, she was always pulling dirty tricks to hurt Jesica. And now she’s faked her own death just to spite us. Someone like her doesn’t deserve to be called my sister. She’s pure evil!”

Dad agreed with a sharp nod. “Exactly. If she really is dead, good riddance. And if she’s not—let the anchor bash her face in!”

They all hurled their hatred at me. To them, my being alive was a curse. I was better off dead.

And honestly, I was a little curious.

If they saw my actual corpse, would they feel even the tiniest bit of sorrow?

——

Late at night, in front of a crumbling, abandoned building...

A livestreamer with a camera mounted on his head and a flashlight in hand pushed open a rusted iron door.

“Good Jesica, family!” he said cheerfully to his viewers. “This is Jack Gross, your favorite Superstition Buster! Tonight, I’m taking you to a haunted mansion that’s become internet-famous over the past three years. The story goes, a wealthy girl named AnnaMeyer —kicked out by her own family—threw herself into a well here and died. Since then, the place has been considered cursed.”

“Just yesterday, her family reached out to me, asking me to check out the location. So tonight, we’re diving deep into the mystery behind this so-called murder house!”

The yard was overgrown with weeds. A few distant swan cries echoed through the moonlight, sounding especially eerie in the silence.

The livestream chat exploded with messages.

[Anna? Isn’t that the evil girl who was once brought back home as the real daughter?]

[I heard that once she returned, she kept setting up her adopted sister using her ‘real daughter’ status—then poisoned her! Her biological dad accidentally drank it instead!]

[She really did that? Damn. The Meyer familly never should’ve taken her back!]

[She almost killed her own Dad. That’s beyond monstrous!]

More rumors piled on.

[I heard that when she got kicked out, she stole a ton of valuables and sold them all off. Ever since, she’s been singing and dancing like a lunatic in that ghost house…]

[Pretending to be classy but ending up in a dump like that? Sounds fake. And what’s with the sobbing people say they hear at night?]

[You all don’t get it. She’s probably hiding here so her family won’t find her. Crying? Please—that’s not crying. More like moaning from too much fun, am I right?]

As the comment section spiraled, my brother added sternly, “We thought she’d regret her actions. Instead, she’s still playing sneaky games, trying to curse us. Anchor, take everyone inside. Let them see what she’s up to.”

Mom and Dad chimed in, “Yes, we can’t let her keep playing around like this!”

The chat boiled over.

[No way—so this murder house is a fake? She’s still alive?!]

[What a b*tch! Anchor, smash her face!]

Jack grinned. “I’ve said it before—there are no such things as ghosts. People create their own demons.”

“Tonight, we’re going to find out exactly what this so-called ‘real daughter’ is hiding!”

His bold declaration sent the chat into a frenzy of cheers and flying digital gifts.

Jack lifted his flashlight and stepped through the weeds into the courtyard.

He made his way to the edge of the old dry well where I was rumored to have jumped to my death. A huge stone lay across the opening.

Covered in moss and grime, the stone glistened slightly under the moonlight and streaks of dried, blackened blood could still be seen staining its surface.

Fake daughter Jesica clutched her hair and wailed in front of it like a banshee.

“This is the place! In my dreams, my sister bit her own finger and cursed me—said she’d trap me in this well forever!”

My brother quickly wrapped an arm around her. “Don’t be scared. That wicked sorcery can’t touch you.”

Dad barked, furious, “Playing God again, huh? Let’s see what tricks she’s still hiding in that well!”

Jack grabbed his tools and got to work prying the stone loose.

Ten minutes later, Jack was drenched in sweat, panting hard as he finally managed to pry the boulder off the well. He leaned over and aimed his flashlight down into the darkness.

A startled shout escaped his mouth.

“Holy crap! What the hell is this?!”

Moonlight spilled over the well’s rim, but instead of catching the glimmer of water at the bottom, it illuminated nothing—just an endless void of pitch-black emptiness.

Streaks of dried blood clung to the edge of the well and a foul, rotting stench wafted upward, forcing Jack to recoil and pinch his nose in disgust.

[Whoa! Did that wicked woman actually throw herself into the well?!]

[Three years ago, she even went live after being kicked out, crying that the poison wasn’t her doing. She said she’d prove her innocence with her death!]

[Don’t fall for it! There's no water down there—how could she die just from jumping in? Whether it was real or fake, this suicide story doesn’t add up!]

Determined, Jack pulled a mask from his bag, tied a rope securely around his waist and looked dead into the camera.

“I’ll go down and check it out myself. If she really died here, her bones must still be down there!”

[Whoa, this guy’s got guts! But what if the stories are true? What if he angers the spirit of that evil woman?!]

Jack held up a brass gossip mirror. “Don’t get me wrong—I don’t believe in ghosts. But if there is a ghost down there, I’ll beat her soul into next week!”

The comment section erupted in laughter, but I could only let out a bitter smile.

These people—who’ve never met me in their lives—are overflowing with hate for me, just based on rumors and hearsay.

They don’t care about the truth. As long as it sounds dramatic enough, they take it as fact. Justice, to them, is whatever gets the most clicks. It’s ridiculous.

At the bottom of the well, no human remains were found—only a few animal skeletons, brittle and bleached. Among them lay a strange piece of faded yellow paper, a weathered talisman.

The moment Mom laid eyes on it, her face went pale. “This… this is Jesica’s birth date written here! She really did curse my daughter!”

The chat exploded in rage.

[Holy hell, she’s even more vicious than we thought!]

My brother clenched his fists. “Lately, all three of us—Mom, Dad and I—have been having nightmares. Over and over, we dream of her. She’s always crying, begging to come home.”

He glanced over at Jesica. “But every time we talked about finding her, she’d start crying and stop us.”

“She even appeared in my dreams,” he added darkly. “She said there would come a day when you’d all take her home. And once she came back, she’d make sure I died!”

After hearing that, Mom, Dad and Brother promised Jesica that they’d give up on me. That they’d stop looking. Let me rot wherever I was.

But ever since then, weird things kept happening to her—fevers, sickness, close calls with accidents. The whole family started to get spooked, which was why they finally contacted the spirit anchor to come investigate the truth.

Now that they had found these items, my brother’s face twisted with fury.

“The police checked this place three years ago. There were no animal bones, no talismans. That means Anna came back here and planted them later!”

Dad was seething. “She even had the nerve to invade our dreams and play the victim?! What a joke! She clearly just wants us to suffer every second of the day!”

“But… if she’s able to appear in dreams, doesn’t that mean something really did happen to her?” Mom asked hesitantly, as if starting to reconsider.

Just then, a chilly gust of wind swept through the courtyard.

Jack’s flashlight flickered once—then died.

[No way… Anchor, are you okay?!]

[I swear to God, I’m about to pee. Don’t do this to me!]

Before Jack could say anything, the livestream abruptly cut off.

“Could it be that something really happened to Anna?” Mom, Dad and brother all stared at their phones, faces pale and stiff.

Even the chat had turned uneasy.

[He’s been streaming for five years and nothing like this has ever happened. This is bad.]

[Did we really accuse that girl unfairly? What if she isn’t dead? Oh God… Please forgive us, we didn’t know…]

A flicker of something unreadable passed through Jesica’s eyes.

She clung to Mom’s arm, tears welling up. “If something really happened to my sister… then who put those curses on me?”

“Maybe I should just leave the Meyer familly,” she whispered pitifully. “If I go, maybe she’ll stop trying to hurt you all…”

“It’s my fault… I made her take one wrong step after another…”

That was all it took.

Any trace of guilt or fear the family had for me was instantly replaced by coldness and disdain. Their hearts, which had wavered for just a moment, turned to ice once more.

“It’s her own narrow-mindedness that makes her unable to accept others. How could that possibly be your fault?”

“If she hadn’t been scheming to drive you out three years ago, Dad would’ve never almost been poisoned.”

“We forced her to leave to keep her from making a mistake she’d never come back from. It had nothing to do with you!”

As he spoke, my brother slammed his cup down hard on the table.

“I never thought she’d resort to such despicable tricks. She doesn’t deserve to be part of this family at all!”

Mom quickly chimed in, “That’s right. We will never take her back!”

Dad snorted coldly. “Reconnect the stream. Everyone must see her for who she truly is!”

Five minutes later, the livestream resumed.

Jack climbed out of the bottom of the well and forced a laugh.

[Positive vibes, folks! Looks like it was just a signal issue and a dead flashlight earlier. Nothing spooky!]

[Oh, so he just freaked himself out! Is he really going to keep exploring the house though?]

Jack insisted that since he was already there, he had to thoroughly check every corner.

He walked to the door on the first floor and slowly pushed it open.

A gust of icy wind swept through, stirring the dust and making the broken windows rattle with eerie clinks. The room was a wreck. On the table, empty wine bottles lay scattered.

[Whoa, has she really been living here all this time? And drinking like that?]

Jack’s flashlight moved across the floor—there, several used condom wrappers.

[No way. So she really was hooking up with a bunch of guys here?!]

“These… were indeed hers. The police confirmed it during the initial investigation,” my brother said grimly.

The comment section immediately blew up with insults.

[At first, we kept it quiet for the sake of her dignity,] he continued. [We asked the police not to release anything.]

[But we never imagined she’d vanish for three years, only to come back using dark arts to torment our entire family—and even curse Jesica. We’re not letting it go this time!”

[Yeah! A backstabbing witch like that doesn’t deserve a family! Anchor, find all the evidence and expose her!]

Just as their fury peaked, a chilling sound echoed from the second floor—fingernails, dragging slowly across something hard.

[What the hell? Did you hear that? I’m out—I’m seriously scared now…]

“We have to trust science, people!” Jack said, trying to keep his voice steady. “I’m guessing it’s just someone messing around. I’ll go check.”

Forcing his legs to stop trembling, he raised the gossip mirror and slowly climbed the stairs.

It turned out to be the wind rustling the treetops, the branches scraping against the window glass.

The tension eased in the chat as everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

Then suddenly—two glowing eyes appeared in the dark.

[AHH!! THERE’S A GHOST! I SWEAR I SAW IT!]

Jack stumbled back, his flashlight flickering as he focused on the source.

“It’s… it’s a rabbit doll.”

He crouched down and picked it up. As he turned it over in his hands, the doll unexpectedly began to speak.

“Today, I was finally found by my family at the orphanage. Mom cried and said she was sorry—sorry I was switched with someone else at the hospital. Dad told me he’d never let me suffer again. My brother even gave me this little talking bunny. I’m so happy. I finally have a family.”

The voice startled Jack. He blinked, then turned to the camera.

“This… this is Anna’s voice, isn’t it?”

My brother nodded solemnly. “It was a gift I gave her. Looks like it really did have a recording function.”

The chat exploded.

[That voice! She must’ve been five or six when she recorded that—it sounds so innocent!]

Jack hushed the viewers and gently patted the doll, prompting it to continue.

“There’s also a sister at home who looks just like a princess. When Mom saw her crying, she hugged her and comforted her non-stop. Dad and my brother told me her name is Jesica. She’s part of our family too. They said thanks to her, Mom hasn’t been so sad all these years. I get it now. I’ll love my sister too…”

Hearing that, Jesica broke down in tears.

“But… my sister… she doesn’t love me at all. She hates me…” she whispered.

My brother gently placed a hand on her shoulder, silently urging Jack to keep playing the rest.

“Today, the housekeeper’s child called me a bumpkin… But my brother—he beat him up really bad.”