I’ve always had a terrible sense of direction, constantly getting lost since I was little. The worst time was when I was eight; I almost got kidnapped by traffickers. So, Leo, my brother, gave me a GPS watch and taught me how to use it again and again. “Just follow the GPS, and you’ll find your way home, got it?” I nodded hard, and from then on, the watch never left my wrist. But soon after, Mom’s biological daughter was found, and my family changed completely towards me. Even if I didn’t come home for a whole night, they wouldn’t worry anymore. It was New Year’s again, and Leo, completely out of character, took me on a trip. He spent over ten days playing with me. The last stop was a remote village. He asked for my watch and tinkered with it for ages. The next day, I couldn’t reach him at all. Looking at the strange location on my watch, I suddenly understood everything. When I was leaving, a villager wondered, “You’re leaving too? Where are you going?” I just smiled at him. “Home.”
I died on New Year’s Day. My soul floated out of my body and drifted back home. Finally, I understood why Leo had suddenly wanted to take me on that trip. It turned out the “real” daughter, Chloe, wanted to celebrate New Year’s without me. The dinner table was filled with laughter and warmth; Chloe was the happiest. “With her gone, the food tastes so much better!” Mom and Dad looked embarrassed, and Leo frowned slightly. “Why don’t you like Stella? She never bothered you, and she’s always been so considerate.” Chloe’s eyes flashed with annoyance, and she raised an eyebrow, retorting: “Why do I need a reason? Do I have to be bullied to dislike someone?” Leo fell silent. Ever since Chloe was found, she’d been diagnosed with depression. At home, she was the princess, her word was law. The slightest inconvenience, and she’d threaten to kill herself. No one dared cross her. When I was alive, I even walked around her. “What, you all miss her, huh?” Seeing no one speak, Chloe threw down her forks. “I just don’t get it. I’m your real daughter! What’s so great about that fake anyway?” The atmosphere at home instantly grew heavy. Mom quickly grabbed Chloe’s hand, gently soothing her: “Chloe, don’t be upset. We don’t like her. It’s just… we’re a little unaccustomed.” “If you even mention her again, I’m running away!” Chloe’s face completely darkened. She yanked her hand away from Mom. “If you miss her so much, then just bring her back!” “We’re not…” “I just wanted to celebrate New Year’s without her! What’s so wrong with that?!” Mom’s comforting words were cut short as Chloe’s emotions flared. “I’m the victim here! She grew up in this family, enjoying everything that should have been mine. I just hate her!” “I’m begging you, just leave her alone! I’m seriously going to break!” Saying this, she covered her face, tears instantly flowing. Mom and Dad’s faces went pale with worry, trying desperately to comfort her. Only Leo frowned. “For you, I changed Stella’s GPS watch location.” “If she gets lost and something happens, we’re all responsible.” Mom shot Leo an angry glare, signaling him to stop talking. Chloe took her hands from her face, her chin jutted out, demanding: “What could possibly happen to a grown person? Is she going to die or something?” Her emotions were clearly spiraling out of control. Leo stared at her, his face grim, for a long moment, then finally sighed. “Let’s just leave it for now. After New Year’s, I’ll go pick her up myself.” Chloe immediately broke into a satisfied smile. And I, floating in the air, let out a bitter laugh. Chloe’s words were prophetic. I really was dead.
Leo forgot that I was twenty-two now, not an eight-year-old child anymore. I could read electronic devices, use navigation. So even without the watch, my soul could find its way home accurately. The reason I didn’t come back, why I stupidly followed the modified location, was because I understood: I was superfluous in this family. Leo was a terrible actor. When I got lost as a child and was finally found, he would scold me with a stern face, but his voice was full of worry and concern. It was the same now. Two days ago, I asked him what was so fun about the small mountain village, and why we weren’t going home since New Year’s was approaching. He smiled at me, but his eyes were full of guilt. “No rush to go home. I finally have time to spend with you, let’s enjoy a few more days.” I sensed something was off then, but I didn’t say anything. Until he asked for my watch, saying he wanted to take a picture so he could buy one for Chloe too. I took off the watch and handed it to him. His fingers trembled as he tinkered with it. Even after he put the watch back on my wrist, his grim expression didn’t improve one bit. I smiled and asked, “Leo, this watch is so old-school. You should just get Chloe a new one, or she’ll be upset.” Leo couldn’t even look me in the eye. “It’s fine, we’ll just get this one.” I became even more certain he was hiding something. That night, I took off the watch and inspected it carefully. Sure enough, I found the location had been changed. Though on the surface, the address still looked like our home in the city, if you clicked on it and did a quick hack, you’d find the GPS was set to a forest outside Oakwood Village. Leo probably just picked a random spot, not realizing it was a forest. My heart plummeted to hell in that instant. But I didn’t go to him, and I didn’t ask. Because I knew he was in a difficult position too. Chloe always found me unbearable, and with her ‘depression,’ she’d threaten to kill herself at the drop of a hat. He’d been torn between me and his biological sister for nearly ten years; it hadn’t been easy for him either. The next morning, Leo didn’t come to knock on my door as usual. I knew he had probably gone home. So I went out too, following the location on my watch. On the way, a villager recognized me: “Aren’t you from the city, here on vacation? Your brother left early this morning. Are you leaving too? Where are you headed?” I swallowed the bitter pill in my heart, forcing a smile. “Home.” The villager frowned. “The road to town isn’t this way. Don’t go any further, there are wolves, snakes, and traps in that forest.” I smiled and said, “It’s okay, I’ll be careful.” Even if it was hell, if Leo wanted me to go, I would. The villager gave up and went home. I had planned to leave the watch at the designated spot so Leo wouldn’t worry, and then leave the forest to find somewhere else to live. Who knew I hadn’t walked more than a few steps before I fell into a trap. There was no cell signal, and I couldn’t call for help. I fell into despair, completely helpless. Even worse, there was a poisonous snake in the pit. That night, I was bitten and died. … “Stella’s watch signal is gone!” Leo’s frantic voice snapped me out of my thoughts. He was staring at his phone, face grim, then he got up to get dressed. “Stella won’t be in trouble, will she? No, I have to go find her!”
“Maybe she just turned off the watch herself, why are you so anxious?” Chloe grabbed Leo, “You can’t leave! It’s New Year’s, and you promised to spend it with me!” Leo helplessly patted her head. “Chloe, behave. I’ll just go check on her. If she’s not in any danger, I’ll be right back.” “I’ll send someone to look.” Chloe insisted, “You have to stay home with me today!” Leo furrowed his brow, about to say something else. Chloe suddenly grabbed a fruit knife from the table and held it to her throat. “If you dare walk out that door today, I swear I’ll kill myself right here!” Mom and Dad screamed, and Leo gasped in horror, quickly raising his hands to placate her. “Okay, okay, I won’t go! Just put the knife down!” A flicker of triumph crossed Chloe’s eyes. She tossed the knife aside. “It’s just finding someone, right? It doesn’t have to be you. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.” Leo bent down, shaken, picked up the knife, and returned it to the kitchen. “Don’t grab knives like that all the time. What if you get hurt?” Watching his worried expression, a dull ache spread through my chest. When I was little, if I didn’t come home for more than two hours, he would panic. Back then, he was the same way, scolding me verbally, but his face was full of worry. “Do you know how long I looked for you? Who told you to run off? What if something happened?” But ever since Chloe came back, I became invisible. Even if I deliberately didn’t come home for a whole night, no one cared. When I was a teenager, I couldn’t understand and once asked Leo, my eyes red, why he didn’t look for me. He shook his head, amused. “Stella, didn’t you have your GPS watch?” “I told you, that was the way home. You could find your way back yourself.” Years later, that sentence still echoed in my mind. What I couldn’t understand before, I understood perfectly now. The way home? From the moment Chloe returned, I had no home anymore. The next day at noon, Chloe showed Leo a video. The video showed my back, happily picking mushrooms. Chloe’s assistant asked, “Stella, do you want to come home?” I didn’t even turn around, impatiently saying, “Tell Mom and Dad I’m doing great here, and I’m never coming back.” The assistant asked again, “Where’s your watch?” My tone was flat, “It’s off.” The video was clearly doctored, but Leo didn’t notice. He didn’t care what I said; instead, he sighed in relief, smiling. “It’s good that Stella’s okay. Looks like she’s quite used to living there.” “I’ll go pick her up after New Year’s.” Chloe was furious. “Didn’t you hear her say she doesn’t want to come back?” Leo didn’t care. “It’s just a phase. Nowhere’s better than home. She’ll get tired of it after New Year’s.” Saying this, he didn’t forget to add, “Tell your assistant to leave Stella some extra cash, so she doesn’t run out.” He said this and then left for work, completely missing the fierce jealousy in Chloe’s eyes. The door clicked shut, and Chloe immediately called her assistant. “Bury Stella’s body somewhere, anywhere. Even dead, she’s still got Leo wrapped around her finger. What a bitch!” The assistant, who had never done anything like this, his voice trembling, “What if they find out…?” “What are you scared of? You didn’t kill her. Burying her is practically doing a good deed!” Saying this, she remembered something else, and a strange, chilling smile played on her lips. “Oh, and get her phone back for me.” “Leo will definitely text her. If no one replies, he’ll get suspicious.”
Just like that, after New Year’s, Chloe didn’t act up for several days. Mom and Dad were happy. When they occasionally talked about me, the topic was often: “If we’d known Chloe would be normal once Stella left, we should have sent her away sooner.” In the whole family, only Leo still thought of me. He often sent me messages on SnapChat, asking if I’d eaten, slept, or if I was having a good time. But “I” replied very coolly, usually no more than three words. Leo thought I was just having too much fun and didn’t think much of it. Until the week before New Year’s Eve, Chloe threw out all my belongings and turned my room into a dog’s room. Leo came home from work and saw workers dismantling my bed and nailing dog toys to the walls. His face instantly darkened, his voice icy. “Who told you to do this?!” The workers jumped in fright. Chloe spoke from behind him. “I did. Stella isn’t coming back anyway, so there’s no point in keeping this room.” When Leo turned around, his eyes flashed with strong displeasure. “I said I was going to pick Stella up after New Year’s. How could you just take matters into your own hands and turn her room into a…” “Took matters into my own hands?” Chloe’s voice rose several octaves. “What? Isn’t this my house? Just because I’m redecorating, I’m ‘taking matters into my own hands’?” Leo was barely restraining his fury. “At least tell me! There are no empty rooms left. Where do you expect Stella to stay?” “Stella, Stella! Is Stella the only one you care about?!” Chloe’s chest heaved with rage, her emotions instantly collapsing. “I’m your real sister! Do I even exist to you?!” “What’s all this commotion?” Mom and Dad, hearing the commotion, rushed out. Seeing the tension between Chloe and Leo, they started sweating with anxiety. Chloe grabbed her hair, screaming wildly. “I told you I don’t like her! Why do you keep bringing her up in front of me?!” “Do you want to drive me to my death to be happy? Huh? You’d be thrilled if I died right now, wouldn’t you?!” Mom’s face went white with fear. She quickly grabbed Chloe’s hand and snapped at Leo. “What did you say now?!” Leo was exhausted and helpless, his voice hoarse. “She turned Stella’s room into a dog’s room, and I just said…” “Can’t you just make things easy for me?!” Before Leo could finish, Mom roared. “Stella has sent you so many messages saying she’s not coming back, can’t you understand?! For a room, you’re upsetting Chloe like this. What kind of brother are you?!” Leo froze, slowly pressed his lips together, and remained silent. And Chloe, as if she’d caught a trigger word, shook off Mom’s hand and lunged towards the wall. “I don’t want to live! Let me die! He’ll be happy if I die, won’t he?!” Mom was thrown to the ground. Luckily, Dad reacted quickly and grabbed Chloe. The house was in chaos. The workers didn’t know whether to continue or stop, standing awkwardly with their tools. Chloe was crying hysterically, constantly shouting that she wanted to die, to be free. Mom suddenly stood up from the floor, rushed to Leo, and slapped him twice! Leo’s head snapped to the side, his fair face rapidly swelling and turning red. I gasped, covering my mouth, unable to believe Mom, who was always so gentle, now glared at him with red eyes and screamed: “I’m warning you, Leo! If you dare mention Stella in this house again, I’ll disown you!” “We weren’t bad to Stella all these years. She said she wasn’t coming home, we didn’t abandon her!” “If anything happens to Chloe because of you and Stella, I’ll haunt both of you even after I’m dead!” Those words were too harsh. Leo’s eyelashes trembled slightly, his eyes slowly turning red. His jawline tightened, and after a long moment, he spoke with a hint of sarcasm. “Fine, I’ll never mention Stella’s name in this house again.” Saying this, he turned and walked into his bedroom, slamming his door shut. Dad and Mom were busy comforting Chloe, completely missing that Leo’s mood was off too. I floated into his bedroom, just in time to see him pull out his phone and text me. “Stella, I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.” His eyes were bloodshot, as if about to bleed. Growing up, I’d never seen him look so utterly broken. But the reply was ruthless: [No need. I’m not coming back. I have a new brother now.] Leo’s pupils constricted, and he completely panicked. [What about the watch I gave you? You promised you’d always wear it!] If the watch was on, he could find me by its location. But my reply made him clutch his phone in an instant. [Threw it away. What’s the point of keeping something useless?]
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