At my wedding reception, the counterfeit heiress leaned in close under the guise of offering a toast and gave me a provoking smile. “Happy wedding. I’ve slept with your husband, and he’s pretty good.” Furious, I slapped her right across the face. The next second, Liam publicly slapped me six times. “Chloe never fights or grabs for anything; she’s let you have everything, yet you still can’t tolerate her!” “I’d rather marry a dog than a woman as unpresentable as you!” With his order, I was locked in the basement and thrown into a pit filled with venomous snakes to reflect on my actions. After being tortured for seven days, my three biological brothers came to settle the score with me. My eldest brother, the CEO, kicked and broke my leg. “Chloe cried all night. I’ve taken the liberty of transferring all the assets under your name entirely to her.” My second brother, an A-list actor, twisted and broke my arm. “From now on, only Chloe’s name will be on the family trust. As for you, don’t ever think about being recognized as a member of this family.” My third brother, a renowned surgeon, was even more ruthless, driving a scalpel straight into my abdomen. “Chloe has had kidney disease since she was a child. To compensate her, you must donate one of your healthy kidneys!” Before I could even utter a word of defense, my internal organs were carved out alive. Amidst the crushing agony, the system’s cold, mechanical voice chimed in. [Congratulations, Host! You have completed all the abuse plotlines for the cannon fodder female supporting character!] [Just wait for this physical body to die, and you can return to your original world to enjoy the $1.5 billion prize money!] ...... Hearing this, my wailing abruptly stopped. The despair and pain in my heart morphed into the relief of impending liberation. My eldest and second brothers had already left with my kidney. In the filthy basement, it was just me and my third brother, Caleb. Blood continued to gurgle from the incision. Caleb frowned in displeasure as he stitched me up. “If you had just cooperated and donated the kidney earlier, I wouldn’t have had to perform surgery directly under such primitive conditions.” “Making me go through all this trouble, what a nuisance.” Just last week, while handling some paperwork, Chloe got a paper cut so small it was barely visible. Caleb acted as if the sky was falling, calling in the top medical team to help him apply emergency bandages and checking on her healing progress every three hours. But now, facing me—who just had an entire kidney ripped out—he complained about the trouble of doing even the most basic suturing. Shutterstock Perhaps noticing my lack of response, he leaned down, patted my face, and injected me with antibiotics. “Stop pretending. I know you’re perfectly healthy. This minor injury is nothing.” “Aren’t you just trying to act pitiful to make me feel guilty so you can steal my affection from Chloe? You’re too dark and narrow-minded. Since you’ve entered the Sterling family, put away those petty schemes!” In the past, facing such misunderstandings from my closest relatives, I would have defended myself with red eyes, crying that I wasn’t that kind of person. But now, I only felt numb tranquility. I closed my eyes and said hoarsely, “You should go too. I can wait here to die alone.” For me, the fastest way to find peace right now was to die immediately. But to Caleb’s ears, those words clearly meant something else. “Emma, what do you mean? You’re deliberately saying depressing things to disgust me, aren’t you!” He purposefully yanked the suture thread hard. The fragile, bloody edges of the wound tightened instantly, and dirty blood gushed out, bringing agonizing pain no normal person could bear. Seeing me gasp in pain, my forehead slick with cold sweat, a flash of reluctance crossed his eyes, and he softened his tone. “You are my biological sister, connected by blood. You can’t even imagine how much money and effort the three of us spent over the years to find you. How could we just let you die?” “When it comes down to it, if you weren’t so narrow-minded, refusing to tolerate Chloe and even hitting her, how would you be suffering like this?” While complaining, he gave my wound an injection of anesthesia. “As long as you promise that when you go back, you won’t make things difficult for Chloe anymore and properly apologize to her.” “I can take you back to the hospital, let you receive the best treatment, and you won’t have to suffer here anymore.” Listening to his patronizing tone, I felt even more chilled and mocked. Although I was a transmigrator, I had crossed over into Emma Sterling’s body in this world since she was six years old. Three years ago, after I had suffered countless hardships, the three Sterling brothers found me in tears, claiming I was their long-lost biological sister, and brought me back to the Sterling family. But upon returning, I discovered the Sterling family already had a daughter—Chloe, whom they had adopted back then. The moment I saw her, I recognized her. Years ago at the orphanage, she was the one who locked me in a dark closet and took my place to be adopted by the Sterlings. For twenty years, Chloe enjoyed all the care and love from the Sterling family in my place, while I bore all the suffering meant for her. Yet, all she had to do was furrow her brows in feigned grievance, and my three biological brothers would unconditionally take her side, accusing me of being narrow-minded. Even my fiancé, Liam, who was betrothed to me from birth, only had smiles for her and treated me with cold disdain. I was tired of this entanglement and pain, and didn’t want to waste any more energy arguing. I simply raised my hand and forcefully ripped open the newly stitched incision. When blood and intestines spilled out together, Caleb was so shocked his voice cracked. “Emma, you’re crazy! You’ll die!” Looking at the tears born of his panic, I just twitched the corners of my mouth. “Death? That would be wonderful.” “Living even one more second makes me... feel sick!” After saying that, I could no longer control my drooping eyelids. Then my head lolled to the side, and I passed out. I don’t know how long passed before I woke up from the darkness. I thought I had returned to my original world, but when I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar face of my eldest brother, Arthur. “You’re finally awake.” He had dark circles under his eyes, looking sleep-deprived, but his tone was full of impatience. “You’re a grown adult, why are you so impulsive?” “Making a life-or-death fuss over a trivial matter, where is the dignity of a Sterling...” Thinking about having to deal with this completely rotten world, a wave of exhaustion washed over me. I didn't even have the interest to offer a single word of defense, so I stared blankly and interrupted him. “You’re right, I’m an embarrassment, unworthy of being human.” “So, let me die.” Arthur’s face changed drastically, and he instinctively raised his hand to slap me. But when he saw my deathly pale, bloodless face, that slap ultimately didn’t land. “Emma! I warn you, stop talking nonsense!” His voice trembled, the impatience in his eyes fading a bit, hiding a trace of panic even he hadn’t noticed. “I paid such a huge price to pull you out of the basement, not for you to talk crazy here!” I twitched my lips, revealing a completely cold smile. Paid a price? More likely he was afraid that if I died, there would be no one left to act as Chloe’s spare organ bank, no one to let her play the aggrieved innocent victim to her heart’s content. Just as I was thinking this, the hospital room door was pushed open, and my third brother, Caleb, walked in carrying medication. Seeing I was awake, a fleeting look of joy crossed his eyes, but when he spoke, his tone was still aggressive. “Since you’re awake, drink your medicine. Don’t force me to pour it down your throat!” He handed the medicine cup to me. The liquid was pitch black and emitted a bitter smell. I turned my head away, closed my eyes, and refused: “No need, it’s a waste of medicine.” “You!” Caleb was shaking with anger, but he didn’t force the medicine down my throat like he usually would. Instead, he placed the cup on the nightstand and reached out to check my wound. When his fingertips touched the bandages, his movements were unusually gentle. For the first time, there was a bit of the tender consideration he usually reserved for Chloe. “Just as I thought, using the best medicine makes the recovery much faster...” He rewrapped the bandages and glared at me fiercely. “You better behave. If the wound bursts open again, I won’t stitch you up a second time!” Though his words were harsh, I clearly saw the bloodshot lines in his eyes and the subtle trembling of his fingertips. Presumably, he had pulled his fair share of all-nighters watching over me these past few days. If it were the past, I definitely would have been moved by this sliver of gentleness, hugging him and crying about my grievances. But now, I only found it ironic. I shook off his hand, violently threw off the blanket, and prepared to tear the incision open again. Right now, living even one more second was torture. As long as I could die faster, I didn't care how. “You’re crazy!” Arthur grabbed my arm, gripping so hard he almost crushed my bones, but instantly loosened his grip when I groaned in pain. He roared at me, his voice thick with tears: “Emma, what exactly do you want?” “To die.” My tone was calm, as if discussing an insignificant, trivial matter. “Letting me die is good for everyone.” “You guys won’t be put in a difficult position anymore, and Chloe can peacefully be the Sterling family heiress.” “So, please have some mercy and let me die quickly.” Those words seemed to hit Arthur’s sore spot. With red eyes, he raised his hand and slapped me, but it was lighter than any time he had hit me before, feeling more like him venting his frustration at my failure to meet his expectations. “I forbid it! You are the biological daughter of the Sterling family. Who dares let you die?” Caleb panicked too. He stepped forward, pressed my shoulders, and pushed me back onto the bed, his tone carrying a rare plea. “Emma, stop making a fuss.” “I know it hurts, but if you recover properly, from now on... from now on I’ll dote on you more, okay?” Looking at the pleading in his eyes, I just found it absurd. Where was he before? When he was cutting out my kidney alive, when he was making a mountain out of a molehill for Chloe’s tiny scratch, why didn’t he think about doting on me more? I closed my eyes, no longer looking at them, letting Caleb tuck me back in, letting him bring the medicine cup to my lips, but I absolutely refused to open my mouth. During the standoff, my second brother, Julian, pushed the door open, followed by a pale-faced Liam. Seeing me, Julian's eyes reddened, and he quickly walked to the bedside. “Emma, it’s good that you’re awake. You scared me to death.” When I was first recognized by the Sterling family, Julian was the one who treated me best among all my relatives. He didn’t just take me traveling around; he also told me how much the family had missed and searched for me over the years, often gazing at me for a long time when he spoke emotionally. But later, after Chloe wiped away tears and complained about me to him a few times, he changed his tune, accusing me of being a two-faced hypocrite who betrayed the family's sincere love for me. Seeing him again, I only felt more annoyed, avoiding his hand that tried to touch my face. Julian's hand froze in mid-air, and he withdrew it with a bitter expression. Seeing this, Liam stepped forward and took the initiative to take the medicine cup from Caleb. “Let me feed her. Maybe she’ll listen to me.” It wasn't surprising he was so confident. After all, over the past few years, anyone with eyes could see how endlessly tolerant and accommodating I was toward this fiancé, loving him to my very core. Just as he was walking toward me, the hospital room door opened again. “Emma, I came to see you.” Chloe, dressed in a hospital gown, walked in looking incredibly weak. Arthur immediately stood up to support her: “Chloe, you just underwent kidney transplant surgery and your body is still weak, why did you come over?” Chloe shook her head, her gaze landing on me, full of fake guilt. “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t failed to stop Emma that day, things wouldn’t have escalated to this point.” “I feel so uneasy, I had to come and apologize to her.” Saying that, she took the cup from Liam’s hands and sat on the edge of my bed herself. “Emma, stop being angry with yourself. Drink your medicine and recover well. Everyone has been worried sick about you.” “I know you still blame me, but I really didn’t want to fight you for anything. Everything in the Sterling family was supposed to be yours anyway...” These words seemed like a concession, but every sentence insinuated that I was narrow-minded, clinging to the past, and deliberately risking my own body out of spite. Before her spoon could touch my lips, I raised my hand and slapped the medicine cup away. With a crash, the porcelain cup shattered on the floor. The scalding liquid splashed all over Chloe, especially her wrists and the front of her gown, immediately turning red. Chloe cried out, her eyes instantly reddening, her voice thick with tears. “Emma... how could you do that? I just wanted to feed you your medicine...” She bit her lip, looking utterly wronged. Tears welled up in her eyes, making anyone’s heart ache for her. “Emma! You’re crazy!” Arthur flew into a rage, pulling Chloe behind him and glaring at me viciously. “Chloe kindly came to see you and feed you your medicine, and this is how you treat her?” Caleb immediately stepped forward to check Chloe’s burn, his tone full of anxiety. “How is it? Is the burn bad? Get a doctor, quickly!” Julian also frowned tightly, his eyes full of disappointment. “Emma, you’ve gone too far! Chloe took the initiative to apologize, when are you going to stop making a scene?” Liam also walked quickly to Chloe’s side, taking out a tissue to wipe her down, his tone carrying blame. “Emma, can you stop being so unreasonable? Chloe meant well. Even if you don’t appreciate it, you shouldn’t resort to violence and hurt people.” Several people surrounded Chloe, asking about her well-being, completely ignoring me—the person who had just had a kidney carved out and whose wound was still throbbing with pain. Chloe leaned against Arthur’s chest, stealing a glance at me. A flash of triumph crossed her eyes, though her mouth was still putting on an act of pleading for mercy: “I’m fine, don’t yell at Emma, she was just in a bad mood...” In the past, this "innocent white lotus" act would have made me tremble with anger. But now, I just found it laughably absurd. Such a clumsy trick would have been seen through instantly by anyone else, yet these four exceptional men, standing at the pinnacle of their respective fields, willingly let Chloe string them along. Or perhaps, it’s a case of one willing to hit and the other willing to suffer, and I was just a prop in their game. “If your heart aches for this animal, please take your heartache outside. Don’t pollute my hospital room.” Hearing my cold voice, the men trembled with anger. “Emma, it seems you haven’t reflected enough!” Caleb looked at me with a face full of disappointment and said sternly, “From this moment on, I’m stopping all your painkillers!” “Whenever you figure things out, whenever you’re willing to apologize to Chloe, that’s when I’ll resume your medication.” Arthur chimed in: “Exactly! Let you have a good taste of pain and see if you dare to be this willful again!” Julian sighed, his eyes full of helplessness, but he didn’t object. Liam stood to the side, nodding in silence, clearly agreeing with the decision. I closed my eyes, offering no rebuttal, nor any anger. So what if the painkillers were stopped? The pain from the wound was nothing compared to the twenty years of grievances and torture I had suffered. On the contrary, the pain would keep me more awake as I waited for death to arrive. Seeing my impervious attitude, Caleb immediately took action and disconnected my PCA (patient-controlled analgesia) pump. The moment the overwhelming pain hit, my dearest family and fiancé anxiously surrounded Chloe and walked out. Until the door slammed shut with a "bang," no one looked back. Enduring the blood seeping from the corners of my mouth, I pulled out a shard of the broken porcelain bowl I had hidden under my pillow just moments ago, and without hesitation, slashed it across my throat. As I collapsed again, I could feel the strength draining from my body bit by bit. The pain from my wounds gradually faded away, and my heartbeat grew slower and slower... The moment darkness descended, I even let out a laugh. This suffocating, painful life could finally end. ……
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