Because I caused my sister’s death, I was the one my parents loathe the most. “You’re so cruel. Why wasn’t you who died instead?” “Don’t call me Mom! From this moment on, I’m not your mother. You have no parents anymore. Get out!” They threw me out of the house and welcomed a girl they had been supporting financially for years. A few years later, that girl developed kidney failure. To save her, my mother, an unflinching internal medicine doctor, took one of my kidneys without hesitation. My father, a high-ranking executive assistant, refused to cover my medical expenses. After the surgery, I was forced to leave the hospital alone, weak and in pain. Just hours after the procedure, my brain tumor acted up. I collapsed in a filthy garbage dump, abandoned and forgotten. That was where I died, helpless, unnoticed, and erased from their lives. I was dead, yet the pain in my lower back continued to grip my soul like a vice. My spirit drifted helplessly back to the hospital. Inside, my mother, Holly Bailey, and father, Neil Bailey, were at Melody Carter’s bedside, their faces full of worry. They had never looked at me like that. When they looked at me, their expressions were always cold and filled with disdain. “You’re so annoying. Can’t you just get lost? Don’t come looking for me again. I’ve already done enough for you.” As I was dragged out of the house, I heard Holly’s voice behind me. “Good thing Yvette’s kidney was a match for Melly. It’s the only useful thing that waste of space ever did.” Three hours earlier, Holly had taken my kidney with her own hands. She hadn’t allowed anesthesia, calling it punishment. Machines pinned me to the operating table, leaving me with no way to escape. The pain tore through me, leaving me writhing helplessly. Holly spoke, her words sharp and merciless. “This is what you get for killing your sister, Coral. You deserve this. It is the price you must pay.” Neil stood by, watching in silence as he handed her the scalpel. For years, I had believed I was the one responsible for my sister’s death. But as the agony of losing my kidney consumed me, a missing memory surfaced. I had not pushed Coral into the water. It had been Melody, the girl my parents had supported all those years.
Sometimes, I thought the truth might not matter. My parents hated me, and that seemed to be enough. Even so, I forced myself to make a call to Neil. My voice trembled as I told him the truth. When he heard, he laughed coldly, his voice dripping with mockery. “Liar. Do you really think I would believe something like that? How could I have a daughter like you? Melly is perfect. She would never do something like that. Only you could.” People’s biases were like mountains. They were unmovable. The mountain of hatred in Neil’s heart had been there for years. When I asked for help with my hospital bills, he refused. “Dad, I don’t have any money,” I said, my voice weak. “You’re lying again. Don’t you work part-time jobs? You just don’t want to spend your own money.” He didn’t know, or maybe he didn’t care, that all my money had gone to medicine. Years of malnutrition and stress had given me stomach cancer. I didn’t have long to live anyway. When I showed him my medical report, hoping he would finally understand, he glanced at it, frowned, and tore it into pieces. “Do you think I have time for these stupid tricks? I’m busy. I don’t get sick, so why would you? Did you fake this? If you really have stomach cancer, then go die.” Now I was dead. In the end, it wasn’t cancer that killed me. It was the infection from the surgery. When I told him I had spent all my money, his only response was, “Then go sell your body.”
The nurse called Holly to inform her that I was missing. “Yvette is gone. She was supposed to be in her hospital bed, but she’s nowhere to be found.” Holly frowned, her tone dismissive. “If she’s gone, she’s gone. What do you expect me to do about it?” When Melody had gone missing once, Holly had turned the entire world upside down to find her. This time, she did not care because I did not matter. Jack Scott, a doctor too, who was nearby, seemed concerned. “Why was she even in the hospital? The last time I saw her, she didn’t look well at all. Her lips were pale. How could you, as her mother, not notice?” Even strangers sometimes defended me. Holly cut him off before he could continue. “Do you even know what she’s done? My husband and I disowned her a long time ago. If she’s missing, it’s just another one of her games to get our attention. It’s all she knows how to do.” Their neglect had pushed me deeper into depression. I had often thought about leaving this world completely. Sometimes, I disappeared for days, wanting to sever every connection to anyone who cared. I had tried to jump or harm myself, but every time, teachers or classmates found me and brought me back. I had felt guilty for troubling them. That wouldn’t happen again. Jack seemed furious this time. “She’s just a child. How can you be so indifferent? Every time she comes to find you, she waits outside your office for hours, afraid to disturb you.” “I don’t want to see her,” Holly said coldly. “Even if she’s upset, she can’t have gone far. Are you going to look for her or not? Not unless she’s dead, and I need to bury her body.” Jack looked at her in disbelief. “I thought doctors were supposed to have compassion, but if this is how you treat your own daughter, then I can only imagine how little you care about your patients.” “This is not the same thing,” Holly snapped. Jack stormed out, his anger obvious. I felt guilty for causing their argument. They wouldn’t have fought if it weren’t for me. After Neil refused to pay my hospital bills, the nurses tried to reassure me. “No parents would abandon their child. Stay here. They’ll help you eventually.” But I knew they wouldn’t. I understood my parents better than anyone. To avoid causing trouble for the hospital, I staggered out of the ward on my own. I could hear the nurse calling after me. “Wait. You’re still bleeding. When did this patient even have surgery? It’s not on the schedule.” Now I was gone. I wouldn’t bother anyone again.
They waited outside the room, anxious and uneasy. Holly looked nervous, which was rare for her. “I performed the surgery myself. What if something goes wrong?” Neil reassured her as best he could. “Everything will be fine. Melly is a lucky girl.” Floating above them, I saw Melody sleeping peacefully under a neatly folded blanket. Her wound had been stitched with care. She had been raised with love and attention, but I had not. When Holly stitched my wound, it had been rushed and careless, as if spending any more time on me was a waste. A nurse approached hesitantly. “Dr. Bailey, there are still patients waiting to see you.” “Cancel them all,” Holly said. “I need to focus on Melly. Nothing else matters right now.” “But some of them traveled from far away,” the nurse protested. “Then let them wait. Or see someone else. I don’t care.” Holly rarely showed this level of emotion. She was usually the perfect professional, responding to patients like a machine. But when Melody was sick, she lost all composure. The nurse eventually gave up and left. Holly asked about me as if I were an afterthought. Neil casually mentioned that he had not paid my bills. “Good,” Holly replied. They began planning how to spend the money they had saved. They ordered gifts for Melody: flowers, toys, and dolls. The packages arrived quickly and piled up in a colorful heap, enough to fulfill any child’s dreams. But all I could think about was sitting by the garbage dump. I remembered seeing a little girl tossing her old teddy bear into the trash. She had glanced at me with disgust as she walked away. I had never owned a toy. For a moment, I wanted to crawl over and hug that bear. But I stopped myself. The bear’s fur was torn and dirty, but its eyes were still bright. Someone like me did not deserve something so beautiful.
They were still brainstorming what else Melody might like. Finally, Neil clapped his hands, his face lighting up with an idea. “Melly has always wanted to be our real daughter. Why don’t we make it official and adopt her?” Holly immediately praised the idea, urging him to hurry home and grab the necessary documents. Just as Neil left, a nurse rushed over, visibly flustered. “Dr. Bailey, Yvette isn’t playing a trick this time. Several people saw her leaving on her own. She just had surgery. Where could she have gone? There’s blood everywhere, too. The cleaning crew is scrubbing it up right now.” From the third-floor railing, the trail of blood was clearly visible. It stretched all the way from the hospital to the street outside. The cleaning crew worked tirelessly, hunched over as they tried to scrub the mess away. I felt guilty for causing them so much trouble. But I couldn’t stop the blood from pouring out of me. It just kept flowing and flowing, soaking into the floor. Even I felt scared as if my body was losing every drop it had ever held. Holly waved off the nurse impatiently, her expression full of irritation. “Don’t tell me about her anymore! This is ridiculous. Why is everyone so concerned about her? It would be better for everyone if she just died already. The world would finally be peaceful. Am I her mother, or are you? Don’t you think I know her better than anyone? It’s just another one of her stupid performances.” The nurse hesitated but eventually turned and left. Jack appeared moments later, striding down the hallway with anger etched across his face. He stopped in front of Holly, holding a stack of papers in his hands, disbelief evident in his voice. “You took your own daughter’s kidney to save your foster daughter?” He waved the papers at her. “If I hadn’t checked the operating room logs and noticed the discrepancies, I wouldn’t have figured it out. Do you realize it’s illegal to remove someone’s organ without proper authorization? Not to mention, she’s your daughter. Where is your humanity?” Jack had reviewed the security footage, where he saw me writhing in pain during the surgery. The memory seemed to weigh heavily on him, his anger mixing with genuine sorrow. He truly felt sorry for me. Holly, visibly flustered, regained her composure quickly and pulled out a signed organ donation agreement. “This was Yvette’s decision. She signed it herself. I didn’t force her.” She wasn’t lying. She had thrown the blank document in front of me and said, “Melody needs a kidney, and yours is a match. If you have any conscience left, you’ll know what to do.” I stared at the bold letters on the form, trembling as I instinctively touched my lower back. My hesitation lasted only a moment before Holly let out a cold laugh. “Of course, you’re just as heartless as I thought. Killing your sister wasn’t enough; now you want to watch your younger sister die, too? It’s just a kidney. You still have another one. Nobody’s asking you to give your life. I should never have had any hope for you.” The disappointment in her eyes cut me like knives, each word stabbing deeper until I felt like my heart had been torn apart. She hadn’t forced me to sign the document or press my thumbprint, but the weight of her expectations crushed me like a storm. Jack’s voice rose, trembling with fury. “You’re her mother. How could she possibly refuse you? Even if she signed the agreement, where is the hospital record of it? Did anyone here authorize this? And performing surgery on your own family member without proper approval violates medical ethics.” Holly faltered, her confidence wavering. She avoided his gaze but quickly found an excuse. “There’s an exchange conference next week, and the hospital is sending me as the representative. I have an internal medicine paper being published soon as well. Do you think the hospital can afford to lose me right now?” Jack’s eyes widened with shock. Holly sensed her advantage and softened her tone. “Let me make a deal with you. Once Melly wakes up, I’ll go look for Yvette. She wouldn’t want her mother to lose her job, would she?” Jack clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His anger erupted as he stomped the ground in frustration. “I regret ever being your teacher.” He turned and stormed away. For a moment, something flickered in Holly’s eyes, but it disappeared just as quickly. She frowned in irritation and muttered under her breath. “That old fool really thinks he’s important.” She shook her head and sighed, her voice filled with disdain. “And Yvette Bailey, always making my life harder.”
Meanwhile, Neil returned home to grab the adoption documents. On his way back, he passed by the garbage dump and hesitated for a moment as if something had caught his attention. He frowned and made a call, dialing my number. When I didn’t answer, he angrily sent a text message. Neil: [Yvette, haven’t you caused enough trouble? Come back already. Isn’t this all just about money? Fine, I’ll pay your hospital bill. For someone your age, you’re unbelievably manipulative.] He still thought I was just throwing a tantrum. If he had taken even a moment to sift through the trash, he would have found my body. It was right there, buried in the heap before him. I could see my foot sticking out, hidden beneath a crumpled bag of chips. Instead, he spit on the ground in frustration and walked away. When he returned to the hospital, Melody had already woken up. She lay on the bed, pale but smiling softly. Neil’s face lit up, and he rushed to her side. Holly placed a pile of toys and flowers around her bed. Melody’s face brightened with joy as she exclaimed, “Thank you so much!” Neil smiled and said, “We have an even bigger surprise for you.” He pulled out the documents and asked gently, “Would you like to become our daughter officially? You can call us Mom and Dad from now on.” For a man who had faced countless high-pressure situations as an executive assistant, he looked uncharacteristically nervous. Even Holly appeared anxious. “Melly, you don’t think we’re unworthy, do you?” Tears filled Melody’s eyes as she choked out her reply. “No, I just feel… so happy.” The three of them hugged tightly, their faces glowing with warmth and joy. I watched from above, feeling a hollow ache in my chest. Blood ties were supposed to be the strongest bonds in the world, but for me, they had only left me wounded and bleeding. If I hadn’t been their child, perhaps I could have run far away, free from the chains of my family. Holly mentioned that the hospital room was too shabby and suggested transferring Melody to a high-class suite. Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from the garbage dump below. “There’s a body!” “It’s a corpse!” They were too far away to hear it. A nurse rushed over to my parents and said urgently, “We found Yvette. She was in the garbage dump. The body they discovered is hers.”
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