Chapter 4

I started to lose consciousness. This could be the end of my life, as memories started to play in my mind like a reel. All the sadness I endured and suppressed immediately rushed to the surface.

When I was ten, Jackie and I practiced shooting.

The first time I touched a gun, I hit the bull's-eye. I ran to tell Frank about it happily, hoping for some praise, but he looked at me grimly and forbade me to get anywhere near the shooting range.

"Jackie missed her shots, but you hit the bull's-eye. Are you trying to compete with her? How can you be so competitive and scheme something like this at a young age? You should know your place!"

When I was 16, I had food poisoning. I had diarrhea and kept throwing up, and I also ended up with a burning fever. I begged Marie to take me to the hospital, but she got annoyed with my request as she was busy taking Jackie to the theme park.

"Are you trying to get our attention again? Stop trying to ruin Jackie's fun!"

Marie left without another glance at me.

The housekeeper at home could not stand to see me suffering, and she secretly took me to the hospital. At that time, I thought they did not love me as much because I was not their real daughter, but now that I was about to die, I finally understood something.

When it came to personal bias, even a biological daughter could not escape its cruelty.

My heartbeat gradually slowed, and my breathing weakened. Every breath I took was like needles in my lungs.

The door to the storeroom opened, and Simon entered with a broom, with Susan following close behind. They were planning to teach me a lesson and force me up to make dinner. However, Susan paused in her tracks when she got nearer to me.

"W-Why does she look so terrible?" Susan asked in a trembling voice.

Simon was taken aback as well, but he refused to back down and said loudly, "Hey! Stop pretending to be dead! Keep this up, and we'll throw you out of the house!"

I lifted my eyelids weakly to look at them while still lying in the damp soil. My eyes had already glazed over.

Simon shuddered and braced himself as he came near me to put a finger under my nose. The next second, he pulled his hand back suddenly, as if it had been electrocuted.

"This is bad." He turned pale. "Don Santos never said she could not take abuse!"

Susan panicked as well, and she grabbed Simon's arm. "What should we do? We need to get her to the hospital now!"

"How are we supposed to do that?!" Simon glared at her and lowered his voice to say through clenched teeth, "Do you have money? What if… What if Don Santos comes after us for this?"

Simon gave this a quick thought and made a cruel decision. "We'll just let her die here. Once she stops breathing, we'll bury her somewhere no one can find. If Don Santos asks about her, we'll just say she ran away because she couldn't take the suffering."

Susan swallowed hard in fear, and finally nodded in agreement.

They left the storeroom and locked the door behind them, leaving me on the ground to wait for my death. That was when my phone buzzed. It was a call from Frank. I used the last of my strength to pick up the call.

"Why are you kicking up a fuss again, Jenny Santos?!" Frank's accusatory voice was heard yelling over the phone. "I heard you called your mother, wanting to come home by pretending to be sick. Life in the slums is hard, but you were the one who wanted to go back to your biological parents, so you should learn to adapt!"

I opened my mouth, trying to say something, but I choked on the blood in my throat.

Frank still did not notice anything strange about me as he continued, "I was planning to take you home after leaving you there for a few days, and even organized your birthday party, but with the way you're behaving right now, it's best we cancel the party since you'll only embarrass us if you come back.

"Stay put in the slums and reflect on your behavior. Make sure to take good care of your biological parents because it's your duty to them!"

Tears quietly streamed down my face as I listened to his cold words. He had no idea that my so-called 'biological parents' were already planning how to get rid of my body.

I called out with all my might. "Papa… I… I'm dying…"

There was silence at the other end, but it was quickly followed by an enraged roar, "Jenny Santos! Didn't you just hear what I just said to you? Stop pretending! If you enjoy saying such horrible things, then you better be really dead!"

The line went dead.

That was the last thing I heard before I died.

My eyes widened as endless darkness engulfed me. My body suddenly became light, and all of my pain and the cold vanished without a trace. I could not control myself as I floated upward.

When I opened my eyes again, I realized I was floating in the air while my thin, frail body lay below me, covered in bruises. That was my corpse, and I had just died.

…

Two hours later, Marie was back in Santos Villa, tenderly drying Jackie's hair with a towel when her phone rang. She picked up the call.

"Hello, is this Jenny Santos' family? We found your daughter's body on the outskirts of the city. She's confirmed to be dead."