The Girl Who Never Came Home

I slipped and crashed hard off the wall.

My father's voice came from inside the house. "What was that?"

I clamped a hand over my mouth, fighting to stay silent as tears streamed through my fingers.

My mother didn't sound concerned at all. "Probably just a stray cat."

Blood poured from my shin. I lay on the freezing concrete, staring up at the narrow strip of sky overhead.

Only one thought filled my mind.

"I can't accept this... I haven't even had a single chance to truly live, and now I'm going to die. No. I have to survive. No matter what I've become, I still want to live," I muttered.

I spent the entire night lying in that alley.

The next morning, limping on my injured leg, I searched for work nearby.

After dozens of places turned me away, a convenience store finally agreed to hire me.

…

A week later, the owner paid me my wages.

At last, I could afford to have my badly bandaged leg treated properly at a clinic. I could also buy stronger painkillers, so the stabbing agony from my stomach cancer wouldn't be quite so unbearable when it flared up.

Just when I thought life was finally starting to get a little better, I ran into them while I was working.

"Sophie, tomorrow's the finals. Grab two boxes of chocolate. You'll need the energy before the competition."

My entire body froze.

It was my mother's voice.

I peeked through the gap between the shelves.

My mother had her arm wrapped affectionately around Ava's, her face soft and full of warmth. My father followed behind them with a smile.

Ava was wearing the school uniform that should have been mine. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, and she looked radiant.

I immediately pulled my cap lower over my face, hunched my shoulders, and hurried back behind the register with my head down.

As I scanned their items, my hands shook so badly that it took three tries before the barcode finally registered.

My mother frowned, but she still didn't recognize me.

After I checked them out, I watched the three of them walk away together as bitterness welled up inside my chest.

Then a box of chocolate slipped out of one of their bags. Without thinking, I picked it up and limped after them as fast as I could.

"Wait! You dropped this..."

They stopped and turned around. The moment they saw me, their expressions changed.

"It's you?" My father immediately stepped back, shielding my mother and Ava behind him. "You followed us all the way from the mountains. What exactly are you trying to do?"

My heart trembled.

I stood there helplessly, clutching the box of chocolate. "N-No... I was just..."

My mother's face turned cold, her eyes filling with disgust. "You lunatic! Why won't you leave us alone? Our Sophie has absolutely nothing to do with you. If you keep harassing us, we won't go easy on you!"

Leaning against my mother's shoulder, Ava shot me a smug, taunting smile.

My heart felt as though it were being sliced apart. "Mom... I wasn't—"

My mother's face instantly flushed crimson. "Who gave you permission to call me 'Mom'? Shut your mouth!"

As more and more people gathered around, my mother glanced at me before suddenly charging over.

She shoved me to the ground and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Everyone, come look! This convenience store employee is stealing!"