Chapter 3

Evan threw himself into Mom's and Dad's arms and cried until he was out of breath.

"I just wanted to apologize to Jasper, but he suddenly rushed out to hit me! He even called me a bastard and accused me of deliberately stealing both of you away from him! He also said… He said that you were the world's most useless parents, and he's been done with you two for a while now!

"He cut the power on purpose to prevent me from filling out my application form! He wanted to ruin my life!"

He showed off the handprint on his face and added, "Mom, Dad, I'm really scared!"

I rushed in front of my parents and yelled desperately, "Mom, Dad, I didn't do it! Evan's lying! I didn't hit him! How can I when I'm already dead?"

Yet, nobody heard my voice.

Mom was trembling with rage.

"And to think I was worried about him all this time! I never imagined I'd suffered this many years only to raise an ungrateful wretch!"

Dad swiped a hand down his face and declared, "It looks like we've really spoiled Jasper."

I stood rooted to the spot, tears streaming endlessly down my face.

"I didn't do it! I'm not a rotten kid! I'm not an ungrateful wretch!"

Dad gently wiped Evan's tears away and said, "Evan, don't cry. I bought a cake that we can eat together. Let's just ignore Jasper."

Evan finally broke into a smile at this and nodded obediently. He cut a slice of cake for both Mom and Dad.

"Mom, Dad, I'm the happiest child in the world right now," he said.

I sat in an empty chair nearby, envy written all over my face.

That was my favorite strawberry cake, after all. I could almost smell the fragrance of the whipped cream.

However, Mom gently refused the cake.

"You can have it, Evan. I can't eat it because it contains eggs," she explained.

She lowered her gaze and continued, "I once swore before the cross that I would live a vegetarian lifestyle in exchange for Jasper's well-being."

My eyes welled with tears, and I feebly tried to wrap my arms around her.

My heart ached terribly to see several new strands of graying hair on her head.

Dad sighed. Eventually, he walked over to my bedroom door with a plate of cake in hand.

He knocked on the door, then said in a tired and exasperated voice, "Please knock it off, Jasper. As long as you apologize to Evan, we'll forgive you. So will you please come out and eat something?"

Yet, the dead could not answer.

After waiting for a while, he had no choice but to place the cake before the door.

Mom's anger flared up again.

She stabbed a large slice of cake with her fork and stuffed it into her mouth, then said in a deliberately raised voice, "If he won't eat it, we will! Ignore him. It's not like he's my only son."

I bit my lip, my fingernails digging into my palms.

That's right. It was a good thing my parents still had Evan, because then they wouldn't be too sad about me.

Just then, the landline started ringing.

Mom plastered a smile on her face and answered the call.

"Ms. Wagner! Don't worry. Evan has submitted his college application form," she said into the phone.

My homeroom teacher, Maria Wagner, replied, "That's good. What about Jasper? Did he decide to apply to Hareford University or Maracus Institute of Technology?"