Chapter 2

That kick landed with full force, making me spit up blood. I fell to the pavement, blackness claiming me.

Still, Linda deemed it an act, pointing at me with furious disdain. "Fake away as you like! Rot here until you reflect. Don't come home until you're ready to apologize."

With a frigid spin, she left alongside the others, abandoning me in the icy passage where resentment and torment sealed my eyelids forever.

Ashley's injuries were minor scratches at best, hardly warranting hospitalization. But Linda, ever paranoid about complications, insisted on keeping her admitted.

I flashed back to when I'd ventured out after dark to deliver an umbrella to Linda on her overtime shift, only to be hit by a car.

Three fractured ribs had left me bedridden and fading. My situation had needed her care badly, but she had just sneered, "Such theatrics. You're breathing, aren't you? No bandwidth here. Ashley is waiting for her breakfast."

Those six months had been pure hell. She'd confined me to my room to fend for myself, providing only scant water and food, while whisking Ashley off on lavish trips around the world.

In the dim lamplight, I'd wondered repeatedly why she was so heartless. Now I understood that she wasn't incapable of compassion; she simply reserved none for me.

To mark Ashley's discharge, Linda invited all the relatives over for a feast.

Amid the clinking glasses and laughter, everyone avoided mentioning me, as if my name was a curse.

Tipsy after a few rounds of drinks, Aunt Peggy Pedersen draped an arm around Ashley, chuckling, "Surviving that mess means good fortune ahead, dear. Your unhinged sister hasn't pestered you again, has she?"

Before Ashley could respond, Linda snorted derisively. "As if she'd dare appear after hurting Ashley. That wretch has been gone for days now, probably too scared to face me."

In our warped bond, Linda dominated, weaponizing duty and devotion to crush my slightest defiance. Apparently, a mother's love could double as a tool of control.

Reveling in the gossip, Peggy crunched nuts and prodded further. "She can't ghost you forever. So young and already defiant? Imagine her grown up. She'll run wild."

Linda's pride stung, and she shot a glare at my empty room. To flex her control before the family, she yanked out her phone and dialed my number. "She wouldn't dare. Observe. She'll scurry back at my command. That coward fears me most."

She was not bluffing. I'd answered promptly in life, rage or not, but death barred that now.

My phone had long been taken away with my body, so only silence greeted her efforts.

Surprised, she tried once more, and when it went answered, she hurled the phone onto the couch. "That insolent punk! Ignoring me while I'm still around? I'll whip her into shape, or she'll forget her place!"

But that wasn't my choice. I simply couldn't anymore.

Before Ashley was born, her love had shone briefly. She had lavished me with new toys and fancy outfits, making me believe I was the luckiest kid alive.

When she asked if I wanted a sibling, I got all excited.