I knew from a young age that our family didn’t have money. Getting sick cost money, so I wasn’t even allowed to get sick. When I was four, I ran a high fever. Mom grabbed me and stuffed me into the freezer. When she pulled me out, I was still conscious, blinking up at her. My face was freezing. My tears had frozen solid. Mom glanced at me and said irritably, “You’re just faking it to skip school. See? You didn’t die.” After that day, I kept every discomfort to myself. I thought Mom was right—I must have been faking it. Otherwise, why did every ache and pain go away without medicine or shots? Life went on like this, until the school-organized medical checkup in middle school. I ran home with the cancer diagnosis in my hand, excited. “Mom! I have cancer!” This time, with proof from a doctor, Mom wouldn’t think I was lying. Mom, I’m not lying this time. I ran home holding the diagnosis, my emotions a mix of excitement and anxiety. The doctor said I had three months left at most. I didn’t want to die yet. But I couldn’t help hoping that during those three months, Mom and Dad might finally care for me. Whenever my brother got sick, the whole family would crowd around him. I wasn’t greedy. I’d be satisfied if someone would just take me to the hospital. I pushed the door open, holding the white paper high, afraid they’d miss it. “Mom! Dad! I have cancer!” The room went silent for two seconds. Then hurried footsteps approached, along with Mom’s signature lavender perfume. I lowered the paper and opened my arms, ready for her embrace. Rip. Mom snatched the diagnosis from me and tore it to shreds. Before I could process what was happening, a sharp sting spread across my cheek. I didn’t get her embrace. I got her slap. “Your brother is sleeping! Don’t you know that? And you make up some ridiculous lie!” Dad put down his newspaper and walked over. “Chloe, you’re old enough to be sensible. Everyone knows you’re healthy.” “You’ve never even had a cold. If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable.” I covered my face and pointed at the shredded diagnosis in the trash. “But the doctor said—” Mom and Dad had already turned away, discussing my brother’s meal plan. “Felix has lost weight again. That seven-hundred-dollar monthly meal plan clearly isn’t nutritious enough.” Dad looked worried too. “But the next tier costs fifteen hundred. We really can’t afford that.” Mom suddenly turned to me. “The hospital is recruiting volunteers for a new drug trial. They specifically need healthy subjects. It pays fifty thousand per person.” “I was going to volunteer myself, but we’re both too busy with work…” I understood what Mom was implying. Hope flickered in my chest. If they needed to verify the volunteer’s health, then Mom and Dad would finally find out I wasn’t lying. “Mom, let me be the volunteer.” Dad immediately chimed in. “You’re so considerate of your brother. You know Felix has always been frail. As his older sister, you need to be understanding.” Mom gave a cold laugh. “Trying to earn points after admitting you lied? Fine, I’ll give you this chance.” She pulled a red, round pill from her pocket and gestured for me to swallow it. “Lucky I work at the hospital. Saves us all that annoying paperwork.” I didn’t take it. I looked closely at the pill. “Mom… don’t I need a checkup first?” Mom frowned. “What checkup? You’re always thinking about spending money. If you’re not healthy, nobody is.” Dad glanced at my brother—a sturdy boy—coughed once, took the pill from Mom, and grabbed the water glass from the table. Ignoring my resistance, he shoved it into my mouth. “Why waste words on a kid? Felix just coughed. Go check if he’s catching a cold.” I choked, unable to speak. Mom pulled me into my room and locked the door. “I already disinfected your room. Just stay put.” “The observation period is three days. After that, you’ll come to the hospital with me. If you behave, I’ll get you takeout.” My head was throbbing. I wanted to tell Mom I didn’t feel well, but the words wouldn’t come out.
I pounded on the door, forcing out a faint sound through gritted teeth. “Mom, Dad, please help me…” But then came a loud bang as someone kicked the door from the other side. Dad’s last bit of patience was gone. “You drained all the nutrients from your mother in the womb—that’s why your brother’s health is so bad now.” “And you dare complain? You clearly don’t see what you’ve done wrong!” Mom gasped. I thought they’d finally found the diagnosis in the trash. “Honey! Felix’s temperature is ninety-nine point five. Any higher and he’ll have a fever.” “Take him to the hospital, quick!” Dad ignored my muffled cries from behind the door. Keys jingled. I heard the front door slam shut. I touched my face—two streaks of blood were running from my eyes. Mom, Dad, it hurts so much. I slowly lost consciousness. The piercing pain gradually faded. When I woke, I was floating in midair. I passed through the door easily. Good—Mom and Dad finally let me out. I sat properly at the dining table. I’d apologize and explain later. I didn’t know how long had passed before Mom and Dad came in carrying a large cream cake. It smelled so good. I couldn’t help swallowing. Usually I only got a bite of cake on my brother’s birthday. I didn’t expect to get a whole cake just for having cancer. Mom looked impatiently toward the door. “Chloe! Come out and have cake.” “Lucky your brother didn’t get sick from your scare, or you’d be getting the belt.” I stared at them in shock. “Mom, Dad, I’m right in front of you. I’m sitting right here at the table.” I stood and walked toward them to hug them, but I passed right through. They kept staring at the bedroom door. After ten seconds, Mom pounded on it hard. “Now you’re ignoring us? Your brother ended up in the hospital because of you, and I didn’t even blame you—how dare you throw a tantrum!” I was confused. I walked back and forth through them. I shouted right in their ears. “Mom! Dad! I’m right here! I’m not throwing a tantrum!” But no one responded. Dad threw my slice of cake straight into the trash. “This is what happens when you spoil her. Let’s teach her a lesson. Three days without food won’t kill her.” I realized what had happened and passed through the bedroom door. A crumpled figure lay curled by the door. Scratch marks from my fingertips still marked the wood. So ugly… no wonder Mom and Dad never liked me. I was already dead. I didn’t know how to feel. Was I sad? It didn’t seem like deep sadness. Just regret that the three months of care I’d hoped for hadn’t even lasted one day. But it was okay. At least now I could stay by Mom and Dad’s side without worry. Mom noticed the diagnosis paper smeared with cake. She frowned and picked it up with her fingers. “Honey, this diagnosis looks real…” Dad glanced at it and scoffed. “Babe, you’re a nurse—how can you not tell? AI is so advanced now, it can forge documents that look this authentic. If you don’t believe me, I’ll ask Chloe.” He walked to my bedroom door and kicked it a few times. “You forged this, didn’t you? Tell the truth and you’ll get food tomorrow.” I shook my head over and over in midair, fighting the burning in my eyes. Dad, I didn’t forge it. That’s a real diagnosis from the doctor. Only my brother’s mocking laughter answered him. “See? She’s not saying anything—that means she’s admitting it.” “Never thought the little brat learned to lie so young. If only she were half as well-behaved as me.” I’m not afraid to speak—I can’t. I rushed into the room and hugged my stiff corpse tightly. So cold. Maybe because I’d never ignored Mom and Dad before, after checking on my brother for a while, they came back to my door. “Chloe, we need to record your physical condition now. Don’t you dare play dead with me!” I’m not playing dead, Mom. I really am dead. Dad took a deep breath. “I think you need a beating.” I watched him walk toward the cat bed in the hall, a sense of dread rising in my chest. “Dad, no…” The tall man grabbed Whiskers from the cat bed I’d built and carried him to my door. “If you don’t speak up, I’ll make your cat pay!” I lunged forward trying to grab my cat. He was the only one in the house who ever listened to me. But I couldn’t catch him. Dad! I am speaking! Please put the cat down! I don’t have cancer! I lied about everything!
Mom was getting impatient. She pinched the cat’s neck hard. The normally gentle cat’s fur stood on end instantly. It began shrieking in pain. My mouth hung open. My soul couldn’t shed tears, only tremble. I screamed until my voice gave out. “No!” But it was too late. The cat struggled so violently that Dad threw it. He’d forgotten that right outside my door was the apartment balcony. My mind went blank. A thud. Blood sprayed everywhere. Mom tried to stop him but it was too late. Seeing people gathering below, she clicked her tongue. “Someone’s definitely going to ask how the cat died. We can’t let this ruin our reputation.” “We’ll say Chloe accidentally dropped it. Make her come out and apologize.” As soon as she finished speaking, Dad snapped out of his panic and grabbed my door handle. “This is all because you insisted on sulking! The cat dying is your own fault!” I stared at the cat’s body below, too numb to speak. But heaven seemed to take pity on me. The cat’s soul floated up beside me. Only then did I avoid collapsing completely. The soft, furry sensation was just like when it was alive. I brought it back into the room with me. Were Mom and Dad finally going to discover me? What would their reaction be? Ring, ring, ring! Dad’s phone suddenly rang. A police officer’s voice came from the other end. “We caught Dylan. Do you want to come to the station to press charges?” Hearing that name, my grief was instantly replaced by terror. That man lurking in the alley, asking me for directions. He’d taken advantage of my distraction to drag me into the alley and grope every part of my body. He’d rubbed his disgusting thing back and forth in front of me. When I got home, I scrubbed my body frantically. After Mom found out, she went straight to the police station that night to file a report. From that day on, she drove me to and from school. But the predator was hard to catch—until today. Dad and Mom exchanged glances, then Dad put on a show of resolve. “You know what? That bastard’s father came to me. Said he’d give me two hundred thousand to drop the whole thing.” Mom glanced at the closed bedroom door. “That would cover Felix’s meal plan for next year. After all, what happened to Chloe can’t be undone. As long as that pervert learns his lesson…” “And look at Chloe now with her weird attitude and sulking. She needs to learn a lesson too.” I sat in the back seat with my cat as my parents drove to the police station. The face from my nightmares sat there smugly with his legs crossed. He looked at my parents with contempt. His father was even more disdainful as he shook my dad’s outstretched hand. “Good man, let’s talk privately.” I heard Dad accept the two hundred thousand hush money with fawning agreement. It sounded like my heart breaking. The pervert swaggered out of the police station. I wanted to pounce on him, eat his flesh, drink his blood. But my parents had already sold me out. I could never get revenge. On the drive home, Mom and Dad were silent. What were they thinking? “Honey, I still don’t think we should take this money…” Dad gripped the steering wheel tighter and tighter, as if afraid he might change his mind. “I know you’re worried about Chloe being upset. We just won’t tell her, right?” “Chloe has always been so healthy. Felix is sickly and it breaks my heart watching him suffer. Think of this as the last thing Chloe does for her brother.” “When we get home, we’ll let her out and take her somewhere fun to relax. She won’t have to do that trial either.” I sat in the back seat, my heart dead as ash. Dad, don’t bother. I’m already dead. I can’t go anywhere. Mom’s phone rang. It was my teacher calling. “Hello, what is it? We’ve been excusing Chloe’s absences these past few days, so she hasn’t been at school.” “I understand this is a difficult time for you as parents, but you absolutely cannot show it in front of the child…” Mom interrupted her. “What are you talking about? What difficult time?” “Huh? Chloe didn’t show you the cancer diagnosis? Haven’t you been taking Chloe for checkups these past few days?”
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