Chapter 1

"Ally! Don't move!"

Mom rushed over and used all her strength to pull me away from the edge of the rooftop. She exerted so much force that we both ended up falling to the floor.

Before I could even get up, she raised her hand. A stinging slap landed on my cheek.

"Have you lost your mind? Are you trying to make me die of a broken heart?"

Her voice rang in my ears. My cheek continued to burn painfully.

At the very next second, Mom pulled me into her arms and held me tightly. "If you dare jump off this building, I'm going down with you!"

Her scalding tears dripped onto my neck.

Adrian Carter, my older brother, was panting hard beside us. He'd run too fast and almost tripped. Once he confirmed that I was alright, his legs gave way, and he practically collapsed onto his knees.

With my face pressed against Mom's shoulder, I said in a muffled voice, "I wasn't trying to take my own life. I swear. I just wanted some fresh air."

Mom stiffened, but her arms tightened around me. Moments later, Adrian also turned around, his back hunched.

"Let's go home," he said.

Once we went back down to the apartment, I turned on the tap to rinse my feet as usual before sitting down at the dining table. The food had to be reheated, so it ended up a little stale.

I lowered my head and used my toes to grip the spoon, delivering bites of food to my mouth.

Mom sat across from me, her eyes red and swollen. Adrian poked at his food with cutlery, unable to take a single bite.

"Ally, my girlfriend is coming over to the house tomorrow to discuss our engagement," Adrian said.

After a pause, I nodded. "Okay. I made plans with a friend tomorrow, so I won't be eating at home."

Adrian lowered his head and stuffed some mashed potatoes into his mouth.

We all knew the truth. Ever since I ended up in this condition, the only place I went to was the hospital. I'd lost contact with everyone I knew before, so how could I have supposedly made plans with a friend?

Later that night, Mom drew me a bath like she always did. I stood in the doorway, watching her as she bent over the bathtub to test the water temperature.

"Mom, can I grow my hair out?"

Mom slowly straightened up and turned around to look at me. "Why do you suddenly feel like growing out your hair?"

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. "If my hair is long, it'll cover a lot of things. People won't be able to notice that I don't have any arms."

The towel in Mom's hand fell into the bathtub.

After a long silence, she finally picked it up and rinsed it repeatedly under the tap. The splashing sounds hid her sobs.

With her back toward me, she said in a slightly choked voice, "Let's do it. I bet you'll look so pretty with long hair."

The next morning, I was woken by the sound of the doorbell. It wasn't even 8:00 am yet.

Mom hastily opened the door, exclaiming, "You're here."

Cassie Lewis' bright and cheery voice rang out. "Hi, Mrs. Carter! Sorry for showing up so early. It's my day off, so I figured I could come by earlier and help out. My parents will come later."

I got out of bed and opened the bedroom door with my feet.

I saw the young woman standing beside Adrian. Her long hair fell gracefully over her shoulders, and she had an elegant-looking gift bag with her.

She smiled as she talked to Mom, and when she heard the sound, she turned her head. Her eyes fell on my shoulders.