1 I am bound to a transmigration system for the terminally ill. My new home is the body of Seraphina Vance, the universally despised ‘real’ heiress. Everyone in this family adores Pearl, the girl they lovingly raised for sixteen years. My three new brothers, terrified I’ll steal what is rightfully Pearl’s, greet me only with scorn. My biological parents, desperate to shield Pearl from any hurt my presence might cause, lavish her with affection. No one ever considered my feelings. They saw my craving for love as a threat, as jealousy. And then, I was dying. And then, my second brother found the diary I kept hidden under my pillow. And their world shattered. I woke up as Seraphina Vance, six months after she’d been brought home by the wealthy Vance family. On my very first day, a plate of food was thrown in my face. Scalding curry sauce streamed from my cheek to my neck, and meatballs rolled from my dress onto the floor. The heat was searing. I stared blankly at the boy in front of me, my dark eyes empty of emotion. The others at the table were stunned into silence by his outburst. “Neo, what the hell are you doing?” Mrs. Vance cried out. A flicker of regret crossed Neo’s face, but his words were a lash of accusation. “It’s her fault! She has that dead-inside look on her face all the time. Pearl was talking to her, couldn’t she hear?” At the mention of her name, Pearl’s face crumpled with guilt. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize this was because of me…” She turned to me, her expression a mask of apology. “My brother didn’t mean it, Sera. Can I apologize to you on his behalf?” Neo bristled. “Why are you apologizing to her? Who does she think she is? Pearl, don’t waste your time on her!” A faint, bitter smile touched my lips. I wondered the same thing. In their eyes, who was the girl whose body I now inhabited? I looked at Pearl, surrounded by her three adoring brothers, a vision in a pristine white dress, her hair styled to perfection. And then there was me, stained yellow with curry, the smell of cheap takeout clinging to me. Pearl. The pearl of the family. A name that was never meant to be hers. I ignored her. I picked up the lone meatball that had landed on my lap, mixed it with the sauce still on my lips, and swallowed. It didn’t taste like I remembered. I stood up. “I’m full. Thank you for the meal. I’m going to my room.” As I turned, I met the worried gaze of the housekeeper, Mrs. Gable. I offered her a small, tight smile. Silence descended upon the dining room. Mr. and Mrs. Vance’s faces were grim. My eldest brother, Liam, spoke, his voice low and stern. “Neo, you went too far this time. Seraphina did nothing wrong.” In my old world, I was already dead. Stomach cancer, terminal stage. I died at eighteen. The pain had been unbearable. I died alone. Except for that single meatball, I hadn’t eaten solid food in nearly three months. Perhaps the system took pity on me, bringing me here. This body had stomach cancer, too. But it wasn’t yet at the point of no return. The system told me the original girl, Seraphina, had killed herself with sleeping pills today. The constant abdominal pain and coughing up blood had made her realize something was terribly wrong. But she was too scared to tell the Vance family, afraid of being a burden, afraid of making them hate her even more. So she chose to simply leave this world. She was so foolish. The Vances were powerful. With proper treatment, she might have had a chance. What an ironic family. Their biological daughter had been home for six months, and they never even noticed she was seriously ill. “Why did you bring me here?” I asked the silence. To another girl who shared my fate. An orphan from birth. A victim of stomach cancer. Perhaps she was luckier than me, reunited with her birth parents at sixteen. Or perhaps she was far more unfortunate, dying before she ever experienced a single moment of unconditional love. The system was silent. “Did my arrival make the symptoms worse?” I asked, tasting the metallic tang of blood in my throat. “Yes,” the system’s voice was mechanical. “Just like with your original body, you likely won’t make it past eighteen…” “But if you undergo treatment…” “Don’t treat it,” I said flatly. It didn’t matter. I was going to die anyway. Besides, I didn’t want to live. In the middle of the night, the pain in my stomach was excruciating, and I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. It felt just like my previous life, curled into a ball, staring into the darkness until dawn. My throat was parched. I crept downstairs in the dark, looking for water, and ran into my second brother, Caleb, in the living room. Caleb was a professional gamer; it was normal for him to be up at two or three in the morning. He noticed me immediately, his expression souring. He was the quietest of the Vances. In the six months Seraphina had been here, he’d never once looked at her with anything other than disdain. I ignored him. My very presence seemed to annoy him. I hunched over, making my way to the kitchen, unaware of the shock on Caleb’s face. In the dim glow of the living room’s nightlight, he could clearly see the sweat beading on my forehead, my lips drained of color. Except for the angry red burn on my cheek, the rest of my face was a terrifying, waxy white. I was so used to the ghastly complexion caused by my illness that I paid it no mind. I leaned against the sink, trying to catch my breath, when a wave of nausea rose in my throat. I coughed, and blood splattered into the basin. “Gahk—” The force of it brought tears to my eyes. A noise from the doorway told me Caleb had followed me in. I quickly turned on the faucet, washing the blood down the drain, and cupped my hands to drink some cold tap water. I heard Caleb’s deep voice behind me. “You should drink warm water. Cold water will mess up your stomach.” I mumbled a soft “mm,” keeping my head down, and tried to slip past him. The original Seraphina had barely spoken to him, and I had no desire to get entangled with this family. But his hand shot out and gripped my wrist. I turned my head, my voice raspy. “Caleb? Do you need something?” Up close, he could see the burn on my cheek more clearly. He frowned, silent for a moment. “Why haven’t you treated that burn?” His expression was one of impatience. He probably thought it was just another pathetic ploy for attention. I pulled my wrist free, nodding vaguely. “Right. I’m going back to bed.” As I left, Caleb, his brow still furrowed, flipped on the kitchen light. Though the blood was diluted, his sharp eyes caught the faint crimson streaks left behind in the sink… The next morning, I bumped into Neo at the top of the stairs. As the third brother, he was the most hostile. He and Pearl were close in age and had the deepest bond. To his young, simplistic mind, the sister he had cherished and protected his whole life was being replaced. This newcomer was here to steal everything that belonged to Pearl. He directed all his frustration onto his real sister, blaming her for disrupting their perfect life, never realizing that she was the most innocent one of all. Neo’s eyes darted away when he saw the prominent burn on my face. He said nothing, stubbornly waiting for me to greet him first. I didn’t even glance at him. I just walked around him and continued down the stairs. “You’re a grown girl, can’t you take care of a simple burn?” Mr. Vance’s voice was cold. “What will people think if you walk around looking like that?” He was a traditional patriarch, more concerned with profit than family. He was only worried I would embarrass him. After all, in his eyes, I was a useless girl, brought back for six months, with no discernible talents in arts or music, abysmal grades, and no value to exploit. Mrs. Vance’s expression was equally disapproving. I laughed internally. If it had been Pearl, she would have been rushed to the hospital immediately. But last night, not a single person had come to check on my burn, or to see if I was hungry after eating so little. Their favoritism was blatant and absolute. “There’s no first-aid kit in my room,” I stated simply. The Vances fell silent. In their mansion, the family’s rooms were fully stocked with every amenity. But when they brought me back, they had put their biological daughter in a guest room. And a guest room, naturally, had the bare minimum. I even had to use the public bathroom down the hall. Not one of them had ever suggested I be given a proper room. Seeing the red, angry mark on the face that so closely resembled her own, Mrs. Vance felt a momentary pang of unease. If Pearl had so much as a scratch, the entire family would flock to her side. Why was her real daughter so quiet, so… unlovable? “Well, you should have said something if it was that serious,” Neo muttered defensively. A sharp pain began to pulse in my upper abdomen. I instinctively bent over, the taste of blood rising in my throat again. I clutched the strap of my backpack. “I’m leaving for school,” I rasped. Neo frowned. For a second, he thought there was something strange about the way I was standing… Seraphina had been transferred to the same school as Neo and Pearl. But Pearl refused to ride in the same car as her, terrified someone would discover she wasn’t a real Vance. So, Seraphina always went to school alone. And for the past six months, thanks to Pearl’s subtle instigation, she had been a target of constant bullying. But the foolish girl had endured it all in silence, probably knowing that even if she spoke up, no one would care. Her family certainly wouldn’t believe that their perfect Pearl was behind it. I had just pulled my textbook from my desk when I saw the fake cockroach glued to the cover. The girls who were waiting for my reaction were already trying to stifle their smirks. If I were the original Seraphina, I would have swallowed my fear and anger. But for me, dealing with this kind of nonsense was second nature. I had come to this world to die in peace. But if they insisted on provoking me, I was no pushover. I grabbed the textbook, cockroach and all, and marched over to the nearest girl who was enjoying the show. I slapped it across her face. Before she could scream, I dumped the contents of her desk onto the floor and found her copy of the same book. Seraphina had always been a quiet, invisible presence in class. Today, with my burned cheek, I had already drawn more attention than usual. This sudden explosion of aggression silenced the entire room. The girl, recovering from the shock, lunged at me, her nails like claws. I grabbed her by the hair, my voice cold. “I’ll let the past slide. But don’t ever mess with me again.” I shoved her away and went back to my desk, slumping over it. It wasn’t just the dull ache in my stomach; a wave of nausea was washing over me. The girl wasn’t finished. She raised her hand to slap me, but her wrist was caught in a firm grip. “You’re noisy,” said Jax Ryder, the boy who sat behind me. His handsome, rebellious face was dark with annoyance. The girl froze. Jax was the undisputed king of the school. His family was powerful, and no one dared to cross him. She scurried back to her seat, exchanging knowing glances with her friends. Pain shot through me. I bit down hard on my lip, trying to fight back the nausea, my forehead beaded with cold sweat. My brow was furrowed in agony. This wasn’t right. The cancer shouldn’t have progressed this quickly. This felt like the mid-to-late stages. The next thing I knew, the world tilted as I was swept into the air. The screech of my chair scraping against the floor made everyone turn to look. I struggled weakly in Jax’s arms, but he held me tight. The tall, lean boy seemed to have an endless supply of strength. “Stop moving,” he grumbled. He seemed to be seeing me for the first time. “I thought you were just a timid little mouse. Guess even rabbits bite when they’re cornered.” As he carried me down the hall, he sighed. “How are you so light?” We hadn’t even reached the nurse’s office when Neo appeared, blocking our path. His face was contorted with rage. “Seraphina, are you that desperate?” he sneered. “Ditching class to hook up with some guy? I guess you can’t expect someone with no upbringing to have any class. You’re nothing like Pearl.”
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