Chapter 2

I took the plate and mumbled, "Thanks."

Only then did they look away, returning to their laughter and leaving me in the cold.

I stared at the cake with her name on it. I knew that if I didn't eat it, I would have to endure another endless lecture.

Like a robot, I took a bite. Instantly, my stomach violently churned. I covered my mouth and rushed to the bathroom, throwing up into the toilet.

Eleanor exploded. "Chloe! Do you hate Elysia that much? You can't even swallow a single bite of cake she offered you without throwing a tantrum?"

Pierce leaned back, his eyes narrowing. "Are you going to complain about your stomach again? Stop trying to get attention."

Nikolai stabbed his fork into the cake, his voice dripping with malice. "If you're in so much pain, why aren't you dead yet? Keep playing your little games."

Richard picked up my slice of cake and threw it directly into the trash. "If you don't want to eat, don't. Ungrateful brat."

I knelt by the toilet, vomiting violently, unable to reply.

The physical reaction forced tears down my face. Their shouting echoed through the bathroom door, deafening and relentless.

The double torture of my mind and body was driving me to the brink of insanity.

I dragged myself up to my bedroom on the second floor, locking the door to shut out the noise. The moment I left, the living room downstairs resumed its warm, happy atmosphere.

The medical report lay open on my desk, staring back at me.

A sudden wave of panic hit me. The doctor’s words from this morning echoed in my head.

"The tumor is metastasizing. It might put pressure on your optic nerve and cause blindness. You need to prepare for the worst."

The next day, I went to school like normal. I had begged my parents countless times for sick leave in the past, only to be met with screaming matches.

Nikolai had mocked me once, "Your grades are already garbage. Now you want to skip school too?"

Richard had agreed. "Look at Elysia. She actually makes us proud. Not like you, an absolute embarrassment."

But they forgot that I used to have perfect grades. Back then, they had a completely different excuse to hate me.

When the school posted the exam rankings, Elysia had looked down in tears.

Eleanor had rushed to the school, slapped me across the face in front of teachers and students, and screamed:

"You have to steal everything from Elysia, don't you? Even the top rank! Why couldn't you have been the one who died back then?"

Eleanor was thinking of Angel. I had stood there under the judgmental stares of everyone, wishing the ground would swallow me whole.

But Eleanor had grabbed my arm, launching into a screaming tirade, digging her sharp nails into my skin until I bled. In the end, my homeroom teacher had to physically pull her off me.

After that, I stopped trying. I became the "disappointment" they always wanted me to be.

SLAP!

I was knocked to the ground.

"Chloe, I'm talking to you! How dare you ignore me?"

A popular girl, Kate, stood over me, flanked by a dozen classmates. Elysia stood right next to her, pretending to play the peacemaker.

"Come on, Kate. Chloe didn't mean to. She just... really likes Scott..."

Elysia turned to me, looking incredibly forgiving.

"Chloe, if you liked him, you should have just told me. I wouldn't have started dating him."

Kate scoffed, looking at Elysia with pity.

"Elysia, you are way too sweet! Why do you tolerate this homewrecker?"

Here we go again.

My cheek burned from the force of the slap.

I stood up and calmly brushed the dust off my clothes. "I don't like him."

Scott stepped forward, pulling out a crumpled love letter. He ripped it to shreds and threw the pieces in my face.

"You make me sick. I guess my last warning wasn't enough."

Scott looked at the crowd. "This time, don't hold back."