Chapter 4

Dad nodded. "Oh, that's right."

With that, he and Mom rushed me to the hospital without delay, arranging for the most detailed VVIP examination.

As the doctor stepped out, Mom was clawing his white coat as he asked, "Is my daughter alright? The last check-up indicated she has a bad heart…"

The doctor flipped through the pages of the medical report and replied flatly, "She's fine. All readings are normal—she's perfectly healthy."

Mom was left stumped, and she turned toward me as I lay motionless in bed. "Then why isn't she waking up?"

The doctor adjusted his glasses as he chuckled coolly, "She's just playing dead. Kids these days always do that so that parents are more agreeable, and I'm sure it's the same for her."

Mom was just about to call her a liar when I sat up slowly. "It's fine, Mom. I just can't be bothered to move."

A deathly silence soon ensued.

Suddenly, Rosa sniffled as she took out a private detective's report, hesitant as she spoke. "I don't know if I should mention this, but I found out that Claudia always liked to pretend she's sick or dying.

"A classmate of hers was so scared by her antics that she was left with a burning fever for three days. The same happened with a teacher, who almost resigned when she was in her third year at grade school."

As Rosa continued, she sounded even more aggrieved. "She played dead since she came home too and had been to the hospital so many times. I know she wants attention, but this is too much… I still feel sorry for her, even though she has scared me many times."

Mom and Dad were left staring at the thick stack of paper, stunned and speechless.

Turning toward me in disbelief, Mom asked, "Is what Rosa said the truth?"

I opened my mouth to speak but decided that there was nothing to deny, so I simply nodded.

Mom's eyes widened as if she had been scammed. "I'm so disappointed in you, Claudia! Your father and I are wasting millions just spending time with you, worried that something bad would happen to you!

"But what did you do?! You selfishly sought attention like this! Since you love being hospitalized so much, I'll pay them so you can stay here for a month! So start reflecting on your behavior!"

With those cold words, she and Dad turned to leave, while I sat on my bed in silence without trying to stop them.

And when they were both gone, Rosa revealed her true colors and walked beside my bed to stare down at me. "Loser! Trying to beat me? Talk about wishful thinking! With just a little money, I found out about all your dirty history!"

Then, pointing at the window, she taunted, "You love playing dead, huh? Then just go through with it and jump out of there. Impress me!"

She kept droning on, her words endlessly vile.

However, she giggled and left when she realized that I really wasn't humoring her at all, leaving the room in silence.

I still stayed silent—not because I felt guilty, but because I wasn't bothered to explain.

I stared blankly at the open window, suddenly deciding that living was pointless.

Aside from my lethargy, no one knew that I had zero sense of self-preservation.

That was why I didn't hesitate to rush to the window and jump.

Mom and Dad had just reached the front entrance and were still complaining about how immature I was, and that they shouldn't have brought a liar home.

Bang!

That was when a large blur slammed heavily into the ground in front of them!