Chapter 3

The terror of dying closed in on me. So, this was what it felt like to be murdered with perfume. What a… Creative way to die.

Terence caught the scent. He snatched the bottle, brought it to his nose, and took a sharp sniff. In that instant, his face shifted from pale to ashen to a horrifying shade of red.

"Tess!" He let out a scream so raw it tore through the room. "This is fucking perfume!"

That single sentence detonated like a bomb.

My dad, a professor who had spent his entire life being composed and refined, completely lost control. He grabbed an unopened bottle of whiskey and lunged at Winona like a madman.

However, my mom was faster. Like an enraged lioness, she threw herself forward, seized Winona by the hair, and yanked with everything she had.

"I'll kill you, you rotten bitch!"

Winona shrieked, sharp and piercing. Then, I saw the scene that finally shattered what was left of my heart.

Jason lost it. He shoved my mother away hard. My mom staggered and slammed into the corner of the dining table, letting out a muffled cry.

He pulled the trembling Winona behind him, shielding her with his body like she was a priceless treasure. Facing my family, he roared like a wild animal. "That's enough! She didn't do it on purpose!"

He pointed at my dad, my mom, and Terence kneeling on the floor. "Are you trying to kill her?"

My world spun violently. The ringing in my ears felt like it was about to tear my eardrums apart. With the last scrap of strength I had, I looked at him—my husband.

He finally looked at me, too. I was convulsing on the floor, my face twisted in agony.

But there was not a trace of pain or concern in his eyes; only irritation and fury that his precious reunion had been ruined, as if my desperate fight for breath was nothing more than an act meant to spoil his mood.

Oh, I got it. I finally understood. My consciousness sank into a dark, bottomless swamp.

The shouting, my mother's sobs, Jason's rage… It all drifted farther away, as if separated by thick, frosted glass. So this was what death felt like.

Everything was quiet. It wasn't all that bad.

In the final second, just as I was about to let go, my fingertips brushed against something cold and solid between the couch cushions. The last spare inhaler I had hidden there.

The instinct to survive struck like lightning. I clenched it with everything I had, as if I was grabbing a lifeline. Trembling, I fumbled with it and aimed it at my own mouth.

I couldn't even see clearly. It was all muscle memory. Pssht. Pssht.

The mist cut through my clogged throat, sharp and burning, but with it came air I hadn't breathed in forever. Fresh oxygen poured into my lungs, scorching and raw. I gasped greedily, painfully, dragging in breath after breath.

I was alive. The chaos in the living room never stopped.

Jason held Winona in his arms like he was some kind of savior. "Are you done yet? You're nothing but rude, savage, and unreasonable!"

He pointed at my parents and bellowed, "Touch her again and see what happens!"

Winona clung to him, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. "Jas, I'm so scared… I didn't mean it… How could Tessa frame me like this…"

Frame her? I braced myself against the couch and slowly, inch by inch, stood up.

The world spun from lack of oxygen, but my gaze had never been clearer. The ruckus in the living room stopped dead the moment I straightened up. Everyone froze, staring at me like the pause button had been hit.

I raised a hand and wiped the tears and drool from the corner of my mouth.

Then, I smiled.