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Using My Life to Pass a Loyalty Test のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

10 チャプター

Chapter 1

Mom's hand was warm around mine, but I was so cold I could barely move my fingers.She fussed over my wrinkled sleeves, speaking with a tenderness I hadn't heard in four years. "Sweetheart, why are you still wearing that old warehouse uniform? I've got a new dress waiting for you at home."Before I could respond, my younger brother, Cedric Vossmere, stepped out of the bank.He was still wearing the white jacket Mom had bought him four years ago, with his college acceptance letter tucked under one arm. Unlike me, he didn't seem the least bit surprised to see our parents alive."Celine, what's with the long face? Mom and Dad are back! Aren't you happy?"I stared at him. "You knew?"His smile faltered.Mom quickly pulled me into a hug, coming to his defense. "Oh, sweetheart, don't blame your brother. He was young and couldn't keep a secret, and we were worried he'd be too distraught. That's why we told him about the plan before we staged the accident."So all this time, I'd been t

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Chapter 2

Mom held my hand the whole way home, telling me Dad was waiting for us and how much they'd both missed me over the years.As we drove into the gated neighborhood, I caught sight of our old house through the window. The tree in the yard had grown so much taller since I'd last seen it four years ago.I'd spent all that time believing the creditors would take the house if I couldn't pay off my parents' debts. I'd worked three jobs a day trying to save it, not even buying myself a single new outfit in four years.Now the iron gates opened.The iron gates swung open, revealing Dad standing in the yard amid a sea of balloons. The moment he saw me, he broke into a smile and opened his arms."Celine! Welcome home!"I couldn't bring myself to run to him.Dad came over and hugged me anyway, giving me a few hearty pats on the back."Look at you. You've gotten so thin!" He pulled back to study me. "You've grown up a lot, though. You're much more level-headed now. Remember how you used to m

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Chapter 3

After the party, Mom took me upstairs to my old bedroom. She opened the door and eagerly watched for my reaction. "Well? What do you think?"The walls had been painted pink again. Dolls covered the bed, and the desk was stocked with school supplies better suited to a teenager. The closet was filled with dozens of dresses, all in the sizes I'd worn before I turned 18.Mom seemed to think that bringing my old bedroom back would somehow bring back the daughter she'd known four years ago.She picked up a white stuffed bunny and tucked it into my arms. "Remember this?You used to refuse to sleep without one of these."I stroked its soft, brand-new fur. "What happened to my old one?"Mom looked momentarily confused. "Oh, that? It was getting pretty worn out, so I threw it away years ago."I nodded.My college education, my career, the illness I'd never gotten treated… Apparently, those were no different from an old stuffed animal to her. As long as she could buy me something new, she s

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Chapter 4

The photographer asked the four of us to move closer together. Mom and Dad sat in the middle, with Cedric standing behind Dad. Mom waved me over. "Celine, come stand next to me."For the first time in my life, I had a place right in the center of our family portrait.Growing up, I'd always been pushed to the edge whenever we took family pictures. Mom used to say that since I was adopted, putting me in the center would raise awkward questions from our relatives.As the camera flashed, Mom gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "Come on, sweetheart. Give us a smile."I did my best to smile, but the photographer lowered his camera. "She looks awfully pale. Maybe we should take a break?"Mom took out her lipstick and dabbed a little color onto my lips. "Well, she's had a rough few years. Of course she's looking a little worse for wear. Once we're done here, I'll take her for a full checkup and make sure she gets back to her old self."Dad chuckled. "There's no rush. We'll have plenty of time

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Chapter 5

Mom looked down sharply. Only then did she realize that the daughter she'd finally welcomed home was already cold to the touch.She clutched me to her chest, trembling uncontrollably. "Celine, sweetheart, open your eyes. Please. Mommy's home now. You've been waiting for me all these years, haven't you? Come on, baby. Look at me."She rubbed my hands desperately between her own, trying to bring some warmth back into those icy fingers. But no matter how many times she called my name, I didn't respond.Dad burst into the bedroom and pulled me from her arms. "Call an ambulance! Get our family doctor here, now!"Mom stumbled after him, so frantic she lost a shoe on the way down the stairs.The birthday candles were still burning. The guests were gathered in the living room, their smiles still on their faces.But as Dad came down carrying my limp body, the room fell silent.The creditor who'd praised my devotion earlier stepped aside and muttered, "Wait, is this another part of the te

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Chapter 6

The doctor placed my medical records in front of Mom and Dad. It was a thick stack of paperwork, with the earliest available report dating back three years.That winter, I'd collapsed at the cold storage warehouse. My coworkers rushed me to the hospital, where tests showed that my heart was already significantly enlarged.The doctor wanted to have me admitted, but I spent the entire night sitting outside the billing office. By morning, I'd decided to leave.The payment for Cedric's competition prep course was due that month, and the fee was the same as the deposit I needed for my hospital stay.The next report was from the summer two years ago. I'd been running errands for a patient's family when I collapsed on the hospital stairs. A nurse on duty recognized me and called for help.The doctor asked where my family was. I told him both my parents were dead.He warned me that I couldn't afford to put off treatment any longer. I begged him to prescribe whatever was cheapest.Even t

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Chapter 7

My body was kept at the hospital for the time being, but Mom refused to leave. She spent the entire night staring at me through the glass, asking nurses over and over whether it was cold in the morgue.One of them gently explained that the dead couldn't feel the cold. That only made her cry harder.She remembered how I'd spent four years working in a cold storage warehouse, where the temperature was always kept at 0°F.Whenever she checked the surveillance footage, all she'd cared about was whether I'd shown up for my shifts on time. Not once had she wondered if I was cold.The next morning, Dad ordered the man in charge of the test to bring every record they had to the hospital.Six cardboard boxes filled the hallway. Inside were four years' worth of surveillance reports, secretly recorded videos, ed encounters with creditors, and scores for every decision I'd made.During the first year, Mom had wanted to find out whether I would stay behind to look after Cedric. So when the cr

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Chapter 8

Dad had hoped to keep my death quiet, but word got out anyway.When my coworkers from the cold storage warehouse heard what happened, several of them came to the hospital.The supervisor, Marissa Whitlock, marched up to Dad and slammed a metal lunchbox down in front of him. "Celine left this behind."There wasn't any food inside. Just a stack of IOUs and several employee ID badges stained with blood.Marissa told them how, when I first started at the warehouse, I was barely strong enough to lift a single box of frozen meat.But I needed the extra 200-dollar attendance bonus, so I dragged myself to work even with a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit.Once, a machine malfunctioned and left me trapped inside the freezer for half an hour. By the time they got me out, my hair and eyebrows were coated in frost, and my fingers were completely numb.My coworkers urged me to go to the hospital. Instead, I crouched on the floor and asked whether those 30 minutes would count against my attend

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Chapter 9

My funeral was scheduled for seven days later.Mom turned down the lavish arrangements Dad had planned. She said I'd never liked spending money when I was alive, so I wouldn't have wanted an extravagant funeral full of empty gestures.But the truth was, she didn't know what I liked anymore.She chose white roses for my funeral. I'd always loved sunflowers.She placed a stuffed rabbit beside my portrait, even though I'd stopped sleeping with stuffed animals years ago, when I turned 18.She ordered the strawberry cake I'd loved as a little girl, never knowing that over the past four years, I'd stopped being able to tolerate its rich cream.At last, Mom was willing to give me the very best of everything. The trouble was, everything she'd chosen was meant for the Celine Vossmere I'd been before I turned 18.She'd never bothered to get to know the person I'd become during those four years.Before the funeral began, Marissa arrived carrying a cardboard box. Inside were all the belong

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Chapter 10

A year later, Dad sold his shares in the company.After the so-called gratitude test was exposed, business partners began terminating their contracts one after another. The people involved in harassing and secretly filming me faced legal penalties, and the company that ran the test was shut down.People said the Vossmeres had finally gotten what they deserved. But I knew losing their fortune wasn't their real punishment.Mom's punishment was waking up every morning and remembering how I'd smiled at her and said, "Okay," shortly before I died.She restored my bedroom to the way it had been before I left home. It was no longer the pink, princess-themed room she'd decorated for my return.She repainted the walls pale gray and filled the bookshelf with the study guides I'd used while preparing for college entrance exams. She even painstakingly pieced together the acceptance letter I'd torn up and mounted it in a glass frame.Then she asked someone to contact the university that had a

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