Chapter 1

Chapter 1

During the SAT exam, both my stepsister and I had a medical emergency.

The intense stress triggered a sudden attack of my congenital heart disease, leaving me on the brink of death.

Yet Mom, who was the chief proctor in our testing hall, immediately rushed past me to comfort Gemma over a mild stomach ache.

I gasped for air, weakly clutching Mom's pant leg and begging her to save me.

Instead, she kicked me away with all her strength.

"Can't you pick a better time to fake an illness for attention?" she hissed in disgust. "If you ruin your sister's exam score, I will beat you to death, you ungrateful brat!"

I never made it out of the emergency room.

I died alone on the cold operating table.

Three minutes after my death, my spirit drifted back to Mom's side.

Inside the private clinic room, Mom gently settled Gemma onto the bed with endless tenderness.

"Doctor, why is my daughter's stomach hurting so much?" Mom asked anxiously.

The doctor checked his clipboard with an indifferent look.

"She just ate something slightly spoiled this morning. A little rest and antacids will fix it."

Mom let out a breath, her face instantly darkening as she turned to Gemma.

"Did Rory give you bad food on purpose so you couldn't take your exam?"

Gemma clutched her stomach, looking fragile and tearful.

"Mom, don't blame Rory... She was just trying to share."

Gemma leaned over the edge of the bed, gagging softly and taking exaggerated, ragged breaths.

Mom quickly rubbed her back, handing her a glass of warm water.

"Look at you, still defending her when you're suffering like this!"

"Her best friend told me Rory picked that breakfast sandwich up off the dirty street just to feed it to you!"

Gemma widened her eyes in feigned horror.

"Rory wouldn't do that..."

Picked it up off the street?

Standing beside them as a ghost, a wave of bitter agony washed over me.

Gemma had stood right next to me when I bought that sandwich at the bakery counter.

It was the last hot bacon-and-egg muffin left, and I had spent my last few dollars on it.

I only gave it to her because she whined that she was starving.

Yet she and her friend twisted it into an attempt to poison her.

My chest throbbed with a hollow ache.

Suddenly, Mom's phone rang loudly.

She answered it impatiently, and a solemn voice came through the speaker.

"Is this Rory Mercer's mother? We are deeply sorry to inform you that your daughter suffered fatal cardiac arrest in the emergency room. Please come to the morgue to claim her body."

Mom's expression twisted from concern into pure rage.

"How much did Rory pay you to pull this sick prank?" she screamed into the phone. "First she fakes a faint, and now she fakes her own death? What a vile little monster!"

Without waiting for a reply, Mom slammed her phone against the wall.

Her chest heaved with fury.

"All she does is compete for attention! Does she really take me for an idiot?"

Gemma reached out, placing a comforting hand over Mom's arm.

"Mom, please don't be mad. Rory just wants you to care about her. Maybe she really did faint... You should go check on her, I'll be fine alone."

Mom took a deep breath and patted Gemma's hand affectionately.

"Don't waste your sympathy on that trash. She's strong as a horse. If she really has the guts to drop dead, good riddance!"

Floating in midair, I trembled violently.

A suffocating wave of despair swallowed me whole.

Mom, I didn't hire anyone to act.

I'm really dead.