Chapter 1

1

My sister and I were in a car crash.

My heart was ruptured, and I needed immediate surgery to survive.

But my mother, the director of the hospital, summoned every specialist to my sister's room.

She wanted a full-body scan for my sister, who only had a few minor scratches.

I begged my mother to save me, but she just roared at me with pure annoyance.

"Can't you stop acting out for attention for once? Don't you know your sister almost broke a bone!"

In the end, I died in a cold, forgotten corner of the hospital.

......

In the final three minutes before I passed, my soul drifted to my mother's side.

She was sitting by my sister Lulu's bed, her face twisted with worry as she prayed.

"Lulu, baby, don't scare Mommy like this. Please, just wake up, okay?"

My father was pacing the room, trembling with rage.

"If that bitch Quinn hadn't failed to protect her, Lulu wouldn't be like this! Just wait until I get my hands on her!"

I stood right beside him, a wave of bitterness washing over me.

Dad, you don't have to do anything. I'm already dead.

I died in the silence of your indifference.

Around Lulu's bed, the doctors stood in a nervous circle.

Once they confirmed it was just a minor bone bruise and nothing serious, an older doctor finally gathered the courage to mention me.

"Director, are you sure we shouldn't check on Quinn? Her condition looked extremely critical after the impact."

The concern on my mother's face instantly vanished, replaced by pure disgust.

"What kind of act is she putting on now? Is she pretending to be dead?" she shouted.

"Doesn't she realize how badly she hurt her sister? She's probably just hiding to avoid the blame!"

I stared at her, stunned. My dead heart felt a phantom sharp pain.

I was her daughter too. Did she really not care about me at all?

Suddenly, my mother grabbed her phone and dialed my number.

A nurse had just placed my phone next to my ear back in the trauma room.

But what I heard wasn't the voice of a worried mother. It was the same verbal abuse as always.

"Quinn Gardner, when are you going to crawl over here and apologize to your sister?"

My heart finally turned to ice. All my hope vanished.

She really didn't care.

I remembered when they first wheeled me in. I had grabbed her coat, gasping for air, begging for help.

She had just looked down at me and said, "Stop trying to steal the spotlight. Your sister might have a fracture!"

Then she walked away with the entire medical team, never looking back.

She didn't have any room in her heart to love me.

The nurse couldn't stand it anymore and picked up the phone. "Director, Quinn is... she's really not going to make it."

My mother, convinced I was just playing games, let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"How much did that brat pay you to help her with this little drama? I didn't know she had you all on her payroll too!"

Just then, Lulu, who had been faking her unconsciousness, finally "woke up."

She put on a weak, fragile voice. "Dad... Mom... is Quinn okay?"

Looking at her "sweet and sensible" daughter, my mother's expression grew even more hateful toward me.

"Quinn, can't you be more like your sister for once? She's worried about you even after you did this to her!"

"If you don't get your ass over here in three minutes to apologize, don't ever bother calling me Mom again!"

She slammed the phone down, her chest heaving with anger.

My father stood by her side, looking disgusted. "Why even call her? Hasn't she ruined Weston's life enough already?"

Lulu hid a smirk behind a mask of guilt, looking down at our parents.

"Mom, Dad, please don't be mad. Quinn is probably still upset that I got the scholarship to study in London instead of her. She has a right to be angry."

It was almost funny.

Even though I was dead, Lulu was still busy poisoning their minds against me.

But my parents would never see through her.

In their eyes, Lulu was the golden child, the perfect, obedient angel.

They would never believe that the accident only happened because their precious Lulu pushed me toward the oncoming traffic.