Chapter 1

Mom screamed hysterically right then, "What are you people spacing out for?! Get Dr. Harding!"

She almost couldn't catch her breath and stumbled toward me, cradling me in her arms as she bawled inconsolably, "No, Claudia! My poor child… You've never been happy a day in your life! Please stay with us!"

It was so noisy that I was subtly impressed.

For lethargic people such as myself, just speaking one word more than necessary was taxing, let alone screaming so emotionally like Mom.

Rosa White, who was stunned, finally came to her senses.

Picking up the bowl, she said dryly, "I didn't know this would happen. I thought Claudia would be hungry, so I wanted to give her something to warm her stomach…"

Then, as Dr. Harding rushed over, she pushed both him and Carl White away while reaching for me. "Are you alright, Claudia?!"

I had learned to play dead for over ten years and had basically mastered the art, so when Dr. Harding lifted my eyelid and saw how unfocused my pupil was, his voice cracked as he replied, "No, she's dying… She needs the hospital!"

The whole mansion was suddenly hysterical.

I wanted to open my eyes and tell them I was fine, but I soon decided that it was too much effort and instead kept playing dead.

Carl quickly carried me to his car, and the journey to the hospital was bumpy.

"Cardiogram first," Dr. Harding said as we arrived.

Then, seeing the graph, he frowned again. "Thirty beats per minute?! She's in critical condition!"

In reality, I had learned to control my heart rate since I was five, as even breathing was taxing for me.

It had been so long, and I suddenly decided to try if I could go even slower, so I slowed my breathing even further.

Beep!

Seeing that the cardiogram was almost flatlining just then, Carl screamed, "She's dying!"

As Dr. Harding scrambled to put the defibrillator pads on my chest, I opened my eyes with a sigh of exasperation. "No. That hurts."

Seeing my heart rate quickly returning to normal, Dr. Harding sighed in relief, but he still sounded concerned as he said, "Her heart is slower than average. Please don't stress her too much."

"Okay. We'll take good care of her," Mom replied as she held me tightly.

While Dad was comforting me, Carl was smacking his own head. "Just look at me! Claudia just came home, but I didn't even get her something to warm her stomach!"

Meanwhile, Rosa might as well be invisible as everyone doted on me, and her eyes flashed viciously.

Still, she soon pursed her lips miserably as she sighed. "I'm sorry, Claudia. It was an honest mistake… I envy you so much, with Mom and Dad doting on you so soon after getting you back… Unlike me, who's always just an outsider."

Reasonably speaking, I should say something to console her, but just thinking about words was taxing to me.

So I simply closed my eyes and lay back down.

As I once again activated corpse mode, my heart rate plummeted again.

Seeing that, Mom wheeled on Rosa, glaring at her and snapping, "Dr. Harding just said she can't take the stress, but you keep yapping at her?! Aren't you just trying to kill her?!"

Rosa was left flushed, but she ultimately gritted her teeth and forced such an ugly smile that she could well be crying.

Even though I was brought home not an hour ago, she was endlessly jealous upon seeing how the entire family was doting on me.

Sneaking to the kitchen when there was no one else, she added a lethal dose of salt into my soup while cursing me, "They're blaming me anyway, so you may as well die!"

The White family had always regarded table etiquette with utmost importance, and if I spat out the salt, Mom and Dad would think me vulgar and grow to despise me.

Just the thought of that brought a hopeful smile to Rosa's face, and she watched, ready to see me embarrass myself.

Still, as I stayed impassive and took a sip, I paused ever so slightly before chugging the rest of it without batting an eye.