Chapter 2

"That wretched girl must be out of her mind!"

"Faking a terminal illness just to scam us for money to put into her bad investments! How could she?!"

Through the thin door, I heard my parents' furious shouts.

My cousin, Chloe, sighed and chimed in. "I never expected Avery to do something so foolish either."

"That was a whole $100,000! If she threw it all into that sketchy startup, your family would have been ruined..."

My parents looked at Chloe with immense gratitude, still shaking from the scare.

"We owe you everything this time, Chloe. If it weren't for you, our family would really be over..."

My heart squeezed painfully.

Since we were kids, my parents always believed Chloe over me.

Chloe’s mother passed away early, so my parents showered her with extra love to make up for it.

Over the years, their attention was always on her. They thought she was sweet, sensible, and incapable of lying.

Even when Chloe blamed her own messes on me without any proof, they believed her unconditionally.

Usually, I could swallow the unfairness. But this time, it was about my life.

Why couldn't they just ask me first?

I couldn't take it anymore. I reached for the doorknob, wanting to confront them.

But then, I heard Chloe speak again.

"So, what are you going to do with Avery’s $100,000?"

David fell silent. After a long pause, he sighed heavily.

"We’ll put it in a savings account for her, of course."

"It’s a lot of money. She worked so hard to save it."

"We only tricked her into giving it to us to teach her a lesson..."

"Once she realizes her mistake and stops being foolish, we'll give it back to her."

My hand slowly fell from the doorknob.

Memory flashed back to the day I told them about my diagnosis.

My parents' eyes had turned red. They stared at the medical report for a long time.

Then, Helen held me tight, crying.

"Don't be scared, sweetie. Mom and Dad will figure this out."

"We can find the money. Don't worry."

After that, they secretly mortgaged their house and sold the car.

To borrow enough money, they spent nights swallowing their pride, begging distant relatives and even applying for high-interest loans.

"Avery is so young. We can't just watch her die!"

"Please, help us..."

That was the most desperate, humbled version of my parents I had ever seen.

They lowered themselves to the dirt for me.

Even though they were biased toward Chloe, they did love me.

Besides, I had already missed my scheduled surgery. I was doomed to die anyway.

Maybe letting them believe this lie was for the best.