After my family discovered that I had faked my death, I stopped fighting back. Tiffany laughed at me for failing to stay dead. She said I would have to spend the rest of my life watching everyone love her, then asked why I had not cried myself blind with jealousy. So I snapped a branch from the tree beside me and drove it into my left eye. My family screamed and rushed to restrain me. They barely managed to save the other eye. They had only just left to fetch medicine when my second brother, Sean, stormed into my room. “You’ve been back for less than a day, and you’ve already made Tiffany cry.” His mouth twisted with disgust. “I wish both your legs were broken. Then maybe you’d stay in this room where you belong.” I climbed onto the windowsill and let go. The impact shattered my leg. A jagged piece of bone tore through the skin, and blood spread beneath me. Sean went white. That night, at dinner, Tiffany was still upset. She secretly poisoned her own food, then collapsed at the feet of my eldest brother, Gerald, the cold-blooded Alpha. Gerald flew into a rage. He grabbed a knife and came for me, as if killing me would rid the family of its curse. I did not wait for him. I lowered my head and ate Tiffany’s food. It did not take long before blood ran from the corner of my mouth. My family broke down. They forced me to spit out the poisoned food, then pulled me into their arms. By the time they asked what had happened to me, their voices were already hoarse. I looked at them, confused. Hadn’t they all said I was petty? Hadn’t they accused me of being jealous of Tiffany? Now I was being obedient. I did whatever they told me to do. So what were they still unhappy about? … Tears streamed down Anne’s cheeks. My mother raised a shaking hand and smoothed the stray hair at my temple. “Harriet, I know I was wrong. I won’t hit you again. I won’t scold you like I used to. Can’t you go back to the way you were?” There was a faint hope in her expression. I felt nothing. “Is it because I’m blind now? Because I’m not as pretty as I used to be?” Her lips parted, but no words came out. Sean leaned against the door and gave a short, bitter laugh. “Enough. You’ve done all this, and now you think hurting yourself will make it go away?” I lowered my gaze and pretended not to hear him. Tiffany had always known how to hide what she was. Even after I had been driven to fake my death and disappear for two years, they still believed everything had been my fault. But the truth no longer mattered to me. Gerald’s fingers clamped around my arm. He dragged me across the room and threw me in front of Tiffany. “Apologize to her.” The knife was still in his hand. If I refused, he looked ready to use it. I sat quietly on the floor as if I did not see the blade at all. Tiffany covered her eyes and shrank into Sean’s arms. She looked terrified, but the corner of her mouth lifted. The knife was about to come down when Anne threw herself in front of me. The blade cut deep into her arm. Blood poured out at once. “Why?” Anne looked at me as if I were tearing her apart. “We’re trying to be fair. If you want something, say it. Does Tiffany have to die before you’ll be satisfied?” I stared at her for a moment, then shook my head. “Tiffany won’t die.” The fire from two years ago rose in my memory. I remembered my skin burning. I remembered the air thinning in my lungs, every breath turning sharp and useless. Gerald and Sean had passed in front of me again and again. Neither of them looked at me. They searched for Tiffany in a panic. The moment the family found her, they carried her out without hesitation. They could not bear to lose Tiffany. But they could abandon me, their biological daughter. So if someone had to die, it would always be me. Their beloved Tiffany would never die. With them protecting her, she might never even be hurt. Anne’s hands slipped from my shoulders. All her strength seemed to leave her at once. The room went silent. Then Tiffany began to cry. She looked at me with that same helpless, wounded expression she had always used so well. “Sean already gave me the antidote. I’m fine now. Harriet was only joking with me, right?” I had just lifted my head when she took Elton’s arm and leaned against him like a child begging for a treat. “Harriet didn’t mean it. We’re getting along much better now. She still can’t shift, but she’s the Alpha’s sister. She should come to the academy with me. Please let her.” Before my first shift, Tiffany had poisoned me with silver. I failed to shift and fell seriously ill. Elton was bitterly disappointed. After that, he cared even more for Tiffany, who had shifted successfully, and refused to let me attend the academy. He said I would only embarrass the family. I had begged him countless times. It had never mattered. Now my father looked at me closely, as if afraid to miss even the smallest change in my expression. When I stayed calm, his voice softened in a way that almost sounded careful. “Harriet, do you want to go?” Before I could answer, Gerald spoke. “She’s back, and she’s learned to behave. Starting tomorrow, she’ll go with Tiffany. Even if she can’t shift, at least no one can laugh at her for knowing nothing.” He looked at Anne, who was still shielding me, then put the knife away and left. I closed my mouth. There was nothing more to say.
For the next two days, I went to the Werewolf Academy. Anne worried my body could not handle it, so after every meal she prepared a medicinal soup for me. I never drank a single bowl. Each time, Tiffany poured it away. After she emptied the bowl again, she looked down at me with open contempt. “Don’t think Anne actually cares. She feels guilty, that’s all. If she really cared, why hasn’t she noticed any of those wounds on you?” My legs were ruined. One of my eyes was blind. The moment I entered the academy, people stared. At Tiffany’s command, they found ways to make my life difficult. Some mocked me. Some shoved me. Some struck me when no one important was watching. New wounds layered over old ones. But when I went home, no one noticed. Tiffany, on the other hand, scratched her hand by accident, and Anne acted as if the sky had fallen. She summoned the family doctor at once. The others came running too. They crowded around that tiny cut, so shallow it would have healed if they had arrived any later, and worried over it like she was dying. Tiffany smiled as if the memory amused her. “You’re not me, Harriet. Maybe your wounds will heal before anyone even finds out you were hurt.” Then she left my room. She had not expected Gerald to be the first to notice. “Why didn’t you tell us?” he asked, frowning. “Were you planning to injure yourself and blame Tiffany?” I laughed softly and pulled my sleeve over the wounds. Without Tiffany’s permission, who would dare leave marks on the Alpha’s biological sister? Who would dare touch me? When I was first brought home, Tiffany had slapped me across the face the moment we met. I told my family the truth. They said I was jealous. They said I was scheming. They believed her without hesitation. It happened so many times that I stopped counting. At first, I had still hoped someone would stand beside me. Now I felt nothing. “Gerald, did you need something?” When I offered no explanation, he seemed relieved. He handed me a small plate. “Elton bought cake. This piece is yours.” They were all flavors I used to love. But I could no longer taste the sweetness. My mouth was full of bitterness. I was halfway through the cake when Anne came in with the doctor. Her eyes were wet as she looked at the wounds covering my arm. “Harriet, this must hurt so much.” Her voice broke. “This is my fault. I let you suffer like this. And you didn’t even tell us.” She dressed my wounds herself. After that, she stayed beside my bed for every meal. When Elton found out, he was furious. Every student who had bullied me was punished a hundred times over. I had no strength left to react. “Thank you, Elton.” That was all I said. Elton’s expression dimmed. Anne stood beside him, lost and uncertain. Guilt made them shower me with attention. Anything good was brought to me first. If I coughed twice at night, more than a dozen private doctors appeared the next morning. If I rubbed my eye after seeing Tiffany, they warned her not to come near me and upset me. Even Sean was punished when he came to make trouble for Tiffany’s sake. But my body was getting weaker, and nothing they did stirred much in me. On my birthday, they tried to make me happy. For the first time, they left Tiffany behind and held a birthday banquet for me alone at the most luxurious hotel in New York. At last, Elton lost control. He smashed his wineglass and pointed at me. “How long are you going to keep looking at us like that?” Anne’s restraint snapped too. “Tiffany hasn’t done anything wrong! You’re the one who won’t let it go. You’ve torn this family apart!” “If I had known this was how you’d turn out, I never would have brought you home when you were six. This family only needed Tiffany.”
My hand stopped. For a moment, my chest ached. Strange. I thought I had stopped caring. “Don’t worry,” I said. “Soon you’ll only have Tiffany.” Sean laughed and tossed down his fork. “Tiffany’s alone. I’m going to her.” The air in the room pressed down on me. One by one, they left. I remained at the table, surrounded by untouched dishes and the quiet laughter of the guests. The food went cold. The candles burned low. Wax dripped onto the cake, melting into the cream and leaving a pale trail behind. I sat there all night. By the time someone came to pick me up the next morning, my body was cold and stiff. My limbs felt as if they no longer belonged to me. The car window rolled down. Tiffany smiled at me. “How was it, Harriet? Sitting there alone all night?” I was too tired to answer. I climbed into the car and closed my eyes. When we were almost at the villa, Tiffany opened the door and threw herself out. She rolled across the ground and slammed into the stone steps, making it look as if someone had pushed her. A scream tore from her throat. Everyone waiting outside the villa turned toward us. Sean ran to Tiffany and dropped beside her. “Was it Harriet? Did she push you?” Gerald dragged me out of the car. Before I could speak, Anne slapped me across the face. She was breathing hard. Regret and hatred twisted together in her expression. “I don’t have a daughter like you. You wanted to fake your death and leave us, didn’t you? Then go. Get out right now.” “Get out!” My belongings were thrown after me. Anne ordered the villa gates shut and would not look at me again. Still, that was not enough. Gerald’s expression was grim. He personally took men with him and sent me to the dark prison where werewolf rebels were held. They threw me onto a filthy pile of bloodstained straw. Elton appeared outside the cell. Disgust sharpened his voice. “Tiffany went out of kindness to bring you home, and this is how you repay her? You ungrateful thing.” I looked at him without speaking. My body hurt more with every breath, but I had long since stopped wasting words. His temper rose when I stayed silent. “What happened to all your excuses? Two years ago, every time you hurt Tiffany, you had so much to say. You denied it, argued, blamed everyone else. Why are you quiet now?” “All because of what happened two years ago, you’ve been punishing us and punishing yourself. Why? Can’t we leave it behind and start over?” I went still. My thoughts drifted back. Two years ago, the bracelet Anne had obtained to protect Tiffany went missing. After that, Tiffany became ill. Every few days, she coughed up blood. Elton sent every available hand in the pack to search the territory. Half a month later, they found out a group of rogue wolves had picked it up. The rogues did not want money. They did not want power. They wanted me to serve them for half a month. Because I could not shift, they said I belonged at the bottom of the pack, just like them. Everyone was shocked. At that time, I had only recently been brought home. No one thought my family would agree. But they held my hands and pleaded with me. “Harriet, go for half a month. Once they give the bracelet back, Gerald will take men there, destroy their den, and bring you home.” “They’re watching us. If we don’t do what they say, they’ll destroy the bracelet. What will Tiffany do then? She needs it to live. I’m begging you. Save her.” Anne nearly knelt in front of me. I cried until I passed out. When I opened my eyes again, several rogue wolves were leaning over me, grinning. I screamed. Gerald and Sean had not gone far. They heard me. I saw them stop. Their fists clenched. For a long time, they stood there without moving. Neither of them turned back. That night, I ran and hid until I slipped from a cliff. I thought I was dead, but a tree caught me. When the rogue leader could not find me, he smashed the bracelet in anger. After I woke, I wanted only to get away. So I faked my death and left. But they found me and dragged me home. The day after they heard I had “died,” Tiffany recovered. Looking back, perhaps she had only needed me gone. Once no one was left to compete with her, she was well again. “Tiffany has suffered enough because of you,” Elton said. “This time, we won’t let you off. If you still won’t change, you can stay here forever.” He left. I lowered my head. Because I knew the truth. I did not have forever. The last doctor who examined me had already told me. This time, I really was going to die. They should be satisfied now.
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