All Chapters of Cost of a Lie: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

My fingers did not have the strength. Before I could hold the bills steadily, a gust of wind snatched them from my hand. Instinctively, I dragged my useless legs after the money.Everyone around me stared as if I were a monster, but I did not care.All I knew was that if I lost that money, the special medication I had spent so long planning for would be out of my reach again. My attention stayed on the bills flying away, so I did not even hear the passersby hurling insults at me.Their disgust made James's face go dark.Finally, he could not stand it anymore and roared, "Alicia! Are you so desperate for my pity that you don't even care about your dignity anymore?! We only kicked you out temporarily and sent you to another family! They were doing well enough, too! Who are you putting on this disgusting act for?"His familiar voice struck my heart… And it trembled.His careless words were a hell I never wanted to remember.I could feel the bitterness rising inside of me. But in th

Chapter 2

My last bit of hope was gone, so I got off at a random stop. I could not control my legs at all. In the end, I dropped to my knees with a thud.The helplessness was choking me as I felt completely useless. All the emotions I had been holding back finally broke through. I cried as I slammed my fists against my legs repeatedly.A young woman who was holding a camera hurried over and helped me to a bench by the road as she held my arm. She then handed me a tissue and asked carefully, "Did something happen? How can I help?"My whole body went stiff.I never thought that after all these years, what I had wanted most would come not from my family, but from a stranger who had nothing to do with me.Six years ago, James felt sorry for Tina, the poor student he sponsored. So, he made a fake paternity test for my parents, Oscar and Florence. He then said, "Tina is your biological daughter. She's my real sister."When I learned the truth, I was beyond shocked. I cried hysterically and begge

Chapter 3

The young woman agreed at once. Then, she carefully asked for my permission and posted my story online.On the screen, my face was sallow and gaunt, and my clothes were in rags. For a second, I almost did not recognize myself. I used to care so much about looking pretty.Then, a thought came to me. I wanted to look beautiful when I died.I counted the money in my hand. I was still tens of dollars short of buying some proper clothes for when I died. I could make that much by collecting bottles, however. Still, my muscles had almost completely wasted away. I really could not walk anymore.I could only make my way to the mall entrance and ask someone to help me write a few large words on a piece of cardboard: [Can you give me your empty plastic bottles? Thank you!]However, there were still plenty of kind people. By the end of the day, the bag in front of me was full, and I sold the bottles for more than ten dollars.But I had not expected the young woman's video to go viral, drawin

Chapter 4

It was Oscar and Florence. The moment they saw the laughter on my face, their expressions froze.They stared at me for a long time before they finally realized the beggar standing in front of them was me, carrying a huge bag of recyclable bottles and looking completely out of place in the luxurious villa.Florence's eyes reddened at once, and she broke down again. "What are you doing in our home?! My Tina almost died because of you! Get out! Get out of here!"Oscar comforted Florence, his gaze cutting into me as he ordered me to leave. But I simply stared at James. As long as he agreed to let that blogger go, I would not stay even one second longer.After a few tense seconds, Tina suddenly came out of her room. She still looked fragile and tearful. "Dad! Mom! I don't blame Alicia! Instead, I've always felt guilty toward her. If I hadn't suddenly appeared, Alicia would still be your precious daughter."She bowed to me and said, "I'm sorry, Alicia. I deserve to get depressed. I know

Chapter 5

James suddenly remembered that I had once used my ALS to gain attention online.Unease crept into his heart as he zoomed in on the photo on his phone repeatedly. He looked at it more than ten times, but parts of the body in the photo had been blurred, and there was almost no flesh left on the body's face.The corpse looked no different from a skeleton. He could not tell who it was.After thinking it over, he decided it could not be me.He knew me too well. I was more calculating than anyone. As long as I had even the slightest hope, I would do anything to survive. Besides, ALS was so rare, and they had no family history of anyone having that disease. How could I have gotten it?James had already called Oscar and Florence back home by then.The house was empty, and James's grim expression made Florence uneasy. She asked, "James, what happened? Why did you call us home so suddenly? Did something happen?"James turned off his phone. He stood up with his lips pushed tightly. It took

Chapter 6

James had his personal assistant arrange a party for me to celebrate my return home. Back when he accused me of being a fake heiress, many of my friends had watched me become a joke. This time, they had to be informed that I was the true daughter of the Jennings family.He followed my taste and personally bought some of the small decorations for the party. He wanted to surprise me.The bedroom that was decorated like it was for a princess had once belonged only to me, and it had also been cleaned up. He carefully cleaned every corner and restored the room to the way it used to be.I floated in the air and quietly watched everything.I never thought James still cared about me this much.But if he did, why had he kept suppressing me for Tina's sake? Why had he refused to trust me and forced me into such a dead end?I could not understand it. I no longer wanted to think about something so painful.Suddenly, he found all my childhood photos in a box. He wiped them clean one by one a

Chapter 7

James was the first to arrive at the party venue to celebrate my return. None of my so-called friends had even arrived yet.He checked his watch every few minutes. Why had his personal assistant not brought me back yet? Oceanus was only so big. We should have been back long ago.He was slowly becoming anxious.Then, the first young woman arrived at the party.It was Wendy, the blogger who had made that video of me. In truth, James no longer blamed me in his heart, so his attitude toward Wendy had softened, too."Why are you here today? I'll pay you ten times over for the loss of what I caused you back then."I nodded from above. At least he still had some conscience left.Wendy did not answer. She only handed James a USB drive. "Alicia left me this before she passed away. She was really sad, you know? If you still think of Alicia as your sister, I'm begging you to go to the mortuary and claim her body. At the very least, let her be buried properly."You destroyed everything I h

Chapter 8

James contacted Oscar and Florence immediately.They had still been at home, wondering how to make it up to me. When they heard the news, they were almost petrified.They rushed to the morgue and saw James collapsed in front of the freezer, sobbing bitterly. They could not hold themselves together either, and their legs went weak and gave way.Florence broke down, tears rolling down her face. "James! Didn't you say Alicia was simply acting? Then why is she lying in there?! Give me back my Alicia! Give my daughter back to me!"James remained on the floor and let Florence hit him.Even Oscar, who had always been calm, burst into tears. "Alicia! I'm so sorry! I've failed you as your father!"I was calm in the air at first, but watching the three of them cry unsettled me. My soul could not help trembling. Were they not the ones who refused to believe me? Had I not been the person they hated most, while Tina was the one they loved most? Then why were they falling apart like this after

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