Chapter 1

The banquet hall glittered with gold and crystal as Helena Shaw stood arm in arm with her fiance, smiling as they greeted their guests. The warmth and celebration vanished as a girl appeared, and the hall fell dead silent.

Nellie Scott gripped her invitation. Her faded denim jacket, which was washed thin and pale, looked painfully out of place in a room glittering with silk and diamonds.

"Who's that? Showing up dressed like that to Ms. Shaw's engagement party?"

"Where's security? What are they even doing, letting a beggar like this in?"

The sharp, mocking remarks came nonstop. Instinctively, I reached out, wanting to cover Nellie's ears, but my hand passed straight through her.

That was when I remembered I was already dead. Seven years gone.

"I'm not a beggar. I'm here to see Helena."

Nellie's voice was clear, still carrying a trace of youthful softness, and it drew no real attention at all.

The insults only grew louder. People scoffed at her for not knowing her place and that someone like her had no right to approach Helena.

Soon, the security guards rushed over at the noise. One of them turned toward the woman at the center of the hall, apologizing over and over again.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Shaw. She does have an invitation, so we thought… We'll remove her immediately."

The two security guards were big, burly men. They didn't care that the person they were dragging was just a thin young lady. When Nellie struggled, their grip only tightened.

I screamed without sound, trying to pry their hands off her arms, but it was useless until a familiar, cool voice cut through the chaos.

"Stop. She looks familiar."

Helena walked toward Nellie step by step. The jewelry glittered on her body, each piece costing more than what our family would earn in a lifetime. She was clearly living the life now.

"Well, isn't this the Scott family's little burden?" she said, raising an eyebrow and glancing around. "Why are you the one here? Don't tell me your brother was too much of a coward to show his face, so he sent his little sister instead.

"That's funny. Wasn't he pretty gutsy back then? When he dumped me to chase a better future, he never even looked back. And now he doesn't even dare to show up?"

Her harsh laughter rang loudly.

Nellie's face flushed red as she suddenly raised her voice. "That's not it! I just came to tell you that seven years ago, Nathan—"

"He hooked up with a rich woman, right?"

Helena sneered. Beneath her icy gaze simmered a quiet fury. "Didn't he marry the only daughter of a building materials tycoon?

"Now that I'm worth billions, he sends you to play the sympathy card?" Her tone was dripping with disdain as she looked Nellie up and down again.

"Nathan really is something. Living the high life himself while letting his sister end up like this. It's no wonder he could do something so heartless to me back then."

"He's not like that! You don't know what Nathan did for you—"

"What did he do for me?" Helena snapped, interrupting Nellie again, her eyes flashing red as she laid everything bare. "Cheating without missing a beat? Or sneaking off to hotels with that woman who drove a Porsche?"

She suddenly grabbed Nellie's canvas bag and slammed it onto the floor. "Look at how pathetic you are now! He can't even afford to support you, and you still—"

Before she could finish, a pile of medicine bottles spilled out across the floor, clattering loudly as they rolled in every direction. Those were the meds that had once been used to treat my illness. Now, Nellie was taking them instead.

Helena froze when she saw the labels. Then, she let out a cold laugh.

"Figures, Nathan taught you well. Even your little performance is convincing. You think dumping a pile of empty pill bottles on the floor will earn my sympathy?

"Let me guess. Next, you're going to say Nathan was actually dying, that he had no choice but to leave me, and you want me to forgive him and the Scott family."

The moment the words left her mouth, Nellie's face went completely pale. Because what Helena said in a mocking tone wasn't a joke. It was the truth, but who would ever believe something that absurd?

Whispers surged through the crowd like a rising tide. Biting her lip, Nellie stubbornly dropped to her knees and began picking up the scattered medicine one by one. Her tears fell hard and fast onto the floor.

"Nathan isn't a liar… He really was sick. He already—"

"Shut up!" Just as Helena raised her hand to strike Nellie, I rushed forward on instinct, throwing myself in front of her.

Before the slap could land, someone stopped her. "Helena, today is our big day. Don't let unimportant people ruin it."

Christian Lowe easily caught her wrist and then held her hand gently, calming her down. "She's just some lowlife trying to cling to old connections. Have security throw her out."

With just a few cold words, he decided what Nellie was worth. Helena took a breath and seemed to settle.

"You're right. Why should I get upset over someone insignificant like her?

"Security. Take her and this trash out. Don't let them stain my engagement."

Two guards in black immediately moved in, ignoring Nellie's struggle as they dragged her toward the exit.

Around them, guests lifted their phones, snapping pictures and laughing under their breath. Voices overlapped, mocking how pathetic the Scott siblings were, laughing that people like them might as well be dead.

What they didn't know was that I was already dead. And Nellie was suffering from the same illness I had. She didn't have much time left either.