On the day Caleb Sterling was about to exchange wedding rings with me, his "depressed" stepsister called. "Caleb... my wrist is bleeding so much. My Prince is gone, and now the Little Mermaid has to turn into sea foam and sleep forever in the deep ocean..." "Will you think of me when you look at the sea, Caleb?" Caleb’s hand, which had been holding mine tightly, suddenly went slack. His voice trembled. "Bella, tell me where you are. I’ll watch the ocean with you, okay?" "Don't do anything stupid. I’m coming right now." He hung up, his eyes turning to me with that familiar, apologetic look. "Bella is unstable again. I have to go find her." "Let’s reschedule the wedding, okay?" "No!" I grabbed Caleb’s sleeve tightly, ignoring the confused whispers of the guests below. I questioned him, my voice bordering on hysteria. "Are you the only psychiatrist in the world? Why does she try to kill herself every single time we get married?" "This is the ninety-ninth time, Caleb. Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, changing doctors would actually help her?" Caleb’s dark eyes instantly turned sharp. His thin lips pressed into a line of displeasure. He looked at me coldly, as if I were the one being unreasonable. Bella was his trigger. Untouchable. Sacred. 01 I couldn't help but think back to the first time I met Bella. She had stolen a handmade charm bracelet Caleb made for me. Before I could even get angry, Caleb stepped in front of her like a knight in shining armor, explaining on her behalf: "Bella developed kleptomania because of her depression. Don't blame her." "I’ll make you another one exactly like it later. Since Bella likes this one, just let her have it." I opened my mouth to say that there are no two handmade items exactly alike in this world. I wanted to ask, If Bella likes you, do I have to let her have you, too? But I couldn't say a word. I’m a normal person. How could I argue with a clinically depressed patient? While Caleb went upstairs to get her antidepressants, Bella, who looked somewhat like me, smirked with triumph. "You’re just a cheap knockoff of me. Caleb only picked you because he can’t cross that moral line. He can’t bring himself to touch me." "He studied psychology just for me. I will always be first in his heart. You can never compete with me. Giggle." She curved her eyes into a sweet smile, looking nothing like a patient with severe depression. Looking at Bella, I vaguely guessed why Caleb had fallen for me at first sight and pursued me so relentlessly. I smiled politely, gently reminding her of boundaries. "Of course. After all, you and Caleb are legally siblings on the family trust." As long as they were legal siblings, and as long as Caleb’s old-fashioned, strict father was alive, he would never allow anything beyond a sibling relationship. When Mr. Sterling found the love letters Bella wrote to Caleb, the first thing he did was try to force Bella to legally change her last name to Sterling to solidify the sibling bond. Bella went on a hunger strike, took pills, and threatened to jump into the ocean. She refused. Mr. Sterling was a tyrant who never compromised. It wasn't until Caleb introduced me to his father that the old man finally dropped the name-change issue. Rich families like the Sterlings care about reputation above all else. Hearing my words, Bella’s face suddenly changed. She lost control, grabbed a glass from the table, and smashed it violently against the coffee table. Crash. Glass flew everywhere, slicing long, bloody gashes into her palm. Startled, I instinctively took a few steps back. But Bella, as if she couldn't feel pain, laughed wildly and recklessly. "Guess what? Will Caleb blame you for not taking good care of me?" 02 The next second, panicked footsteps thundered down the stairs. Caleb rushed down and slammed into me, knocking me to the floor. "Why weren't you watching her?" He quickly scooped Bella into his arms, carefully placing her on the sofa to tend to her wounds. His eyes were cold as he interrogated me. "Don't you know she has severe depression? She has suicidal tendencies at any moment!" My palms were pierced by the glass shards on the floor, stinging sharply, but I didn't dare say a word, terrified of triggering Bella again. Bella hooked her arms around Caleb’s neck, burying her face in his chest. She sobbed and whined in a baby voice, unable to hide the smugness in her tone. "Caleb... it hurts so much. Bella hurts." Caleb sighed. The look he gave her was full of heartache. He gently wiped the tears from her face, held her injured hand, and softly blew on the wound. "I’ll blow on it, and the pain will fly away. Bella is the best girl." In that moment, Caleb didn't even notice that I was bleeding profusely on the floor. I kept comforting myself. Because Bella is sick, it’s only right that Caleb pays more attention to her. But later, Caleb’s first choice was always Bella. Bella threatened suicide ninety-nine times. And he abandoned me ninety-nine times. In the silent, deep mountains; in the biting winds of a blizzard; on the busy highway; in the desolate suburbs late at night; at the weddings we tried to hold over and over again... Because of Bella’s depression, every time Caleb left me to find her, I had no right to say "no." This time, I really didn't want to compromise. No matter what Caleb said, I held onto his sleeve, refusing to let go. Because last night, the System warned me repeatedly. If Caleb abandoned me for Bella one more time, my mission would be a failure. And I would be erased. To help me let go of my moral burdens and fight Bella with everything I had, the System even secretly told me: Bella’s depression is fake. She would never actually kill herself. Caleb looked anxious. "Bella is my sister. I can't just ignore her." "Besides, I’m a doctor. I have to be responsible for my patients. We can have a wedding any day, but if something happens to Bella today, my conscience will never be clear." "I promise, next time, I’ll give you a perfect wedding." I shook my head, my voice raspy. "Caleb, if you leave this time, there won't be a next time." Caleb’s patience finally ran out. He forcefully pried my fingers off his sleeve. His handsome brows furrowed, and his tone grew colder. "I will marry you, and I must save Bella. These two things don't conflict. Why do you have to be so difficult?" "This is a matter of life and death. Do you have to be so unreasonable right now?" The atmosphere froze. Mocking gazes from the guests shot at me from all directions. I opened my mouth, wanting to tell him that Bella was faking it, that she wouldn't die. But I couldn't get the words out. The System said I couldn't tell Caleb what it told me. That counts as cheating the mission. I opened my mouth again, wanting to tell Caleb the truth about me. If you leave, I will die. But before I could speak, Caleb’s phone rang again. He answered it, gently comforting Bella on the other end. Then, without hesitation, he abandoned me. He left without looking back. The next second, the System’s cold, mechanical voice rang out: "Host, your mission has failed." "You may freely choose your method of death." "After you die, you will be sent back to your original world." Back to my original world? Suddenly, that sounded wonderful. In my original world, I was terminally ill, but at least I had my mom who loved me. In this world, aside from a healthy body, I truly had nothing. I thought for a moment and said to the System: "Then let me fall into actual severe depression and die at Caleb’s hands." I’m going to die anyway. I want Caleb, the professional psychiatrist, to see what real severe depression looks like. Because it definitely doesn't look like Bella. 03 After Caleb left, the wedding turned into chaos. I didn't force a smile to see off the guests like I usually did. I just watched coldly as Caleb’s stepmother—Bella’s mom—cried and accused Mr. Sterling. "Are you trying to force Bella to her death? You know how much she loves Caleb!" "If anything happens to Bella, I won't live either! Let’s see if your Sterling family reputation matters more than me and Bella!" After that, she glared at me and spat viciously: "You shameless bitch!" Then she stormed off angrily. As if I were the mistress interfering in Caleb and Bella’s relationship. But clearly, she was the mistress who climbed the social ladder and drove Caleb’s biological mother to suicide. Unfortunately, the System told me that secret too, so I couldn't tell Caleb. Otherwise, I would have loved to see his face if he knew the sister he doted on was the daughter of the woman who killed his mother. Mr. Sterling sighed and came over to shake my hand. "You’ve suffered, Chloe. Bella’s illness will be cured one day. Just endure it a little longer." I pulled my hand back numbly and nodded, feeling nothing. Caleb had said the same thing to me countless times. Every time we fought about Bella, he would tell me to endure it, not to argue with a sick person. Before, I would get angry, sad, despairing. But today, I just didn't care. The System said severe depression is like this. It robs you of normal emotions, strips away your will to live, leaving only endless pain and a resolve to die. I asked the System, puzzled: "Bella’s depression is so different from mine. Caleb is a professional. Why can't he see she's faking it?" The System was silent for a long time before saying: "How do you know Caleb doesn't see it?" My breath hitched. If Caleb knew all along that Bella was faking... Then he was just using her "depression" as an excuse to spoil her limitlessly, to force me to give in, allowing Bella to cross boundary after boundary without consequence. Lies don't hurt. The truth is the sharpest knife. A stinging pain, like thousands of needles, pricked my heart. I walked through the noisy crowd in a daze and went home. I signed the organ donation papers, swallowed a whole bottle of sleeping pills, and curled up under the covers to wait for death. Dying means I can go home and see Mom. People who really want to die do it quietly, alone. They don't broadcast it to the world like Bella. 04 In my haze, the phone rang. I picked it up. It was Bella’s chirpy voice: "Caleb, what brand is your mattress? It’s so comfy." Heh. So Bella was in our marital home. Sleeping in the wedding bed I hadn't even slept in yet. My stomach churned violently. "Your sister-in-law bought the mattress. I don't know." "Don't lie on it. Chloe hasn't even slept there yet. She’ll be angry if she finds out." "Caleb, have you slept with her yet?" Caleb was silent for a long time before answering honestly: "No." "Heehee, I knew it. You don't love that clingy bitch at all." "If you really loved her, how could you hold back for so long?" I vaguely remembered the many times Caleb and I got carried away. But every time, right at the last step, Caleb would push me away, panting, stroking my hair, saying he wanted to save the most precious memory for our wedding night. I thought he cherished me. Turns out, he was keeping himself pure for Bella. Disgusted, I was about to hang up. The next second, the sound of kissing and soft panting came through. Bella’s voice, thick with lust, came in broken gasps: "Caleb... please... please don't push me away... If you push me away again, my depression will flare up... I’ll jump..." Caleb’s usually cool voice was husky: "Bella, I’m getting married. I can only be your brother. Do you understand?" "Brother, stop lying to yourself. This house is decorated entirely to my taste." We fought so many times about the renovation. Our tastes were polar opposites. We fought until we almost broke up. Finally, exhausted, I gave in. I let Caleb decorate it his way. I didn't realize "his way" was actually Bella’s way. "Do you dare touch my heart and swear you’ve never had feelings for me? If you dare to swear, I promise I’ll never pester you again." Bella took a deep breath, waiting confidently for his answer. And on the other end of the line, I waited too. I wanted to know. In five years together, did Caleb treat me as a placeholder for Bella the whole time? I waited through a long, heavy silence. The last shred of hope in my heart quietly extinguished. So, all those moments I thought were beautiful... I was just delusional. Finally, Bella’s explicit seduction broke the silence. "Let me be your first woman, okay? I really want to see what you look like when you lose control..." Caleb sounded like he was rejecting her, but barely: "Stop it! This is my wedding house!" Bella giggled. "Doesn't that make it more exciting?" Listening to their ambiguity. My brain was a mess. I started spiraling, imagining what he and Bella did during all those late nights he abandoned me. Uncontrollably, I dry heaved. I swear I heard Bella chuckle triumphantly. As if showing off that she had beaten me again. The next moment, Caleb’s panicked voice came through: "Chloe? Listen to me, it’s not what you think!" I let out a desperate, cold laugh. "Then what is it?!" "It’s a long story. Wait there, I’m coming to explain..." "Get lost! You make me sick!" Before he could speak, I used my last bit of strength to hang up and block him. My limbs were turning cold. My eyelids felt heavy. I sank into a chaotic darkness. I thought I saw my mom, younger, wearing that yellowed apron, speaking in her gentle dialect, standing at the alleyway entrance waving to me while I played in the mud: "My sweet girl, come home and wash your hands for dinner." ... In the final moment before losing consciousness completely. I heard frantic knocking on the door. "Chloe! Open the door! I can really explain!" It was Caleb. Too bad. Too late. I’m dying. Driven to severe depression by him and Bella, killing myself right in front of this esteemed psychiatrist. When he thinks of me in the future, will he regret it? Will he feel guilty?
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