Chapter 2

Celandine's POV

I stared blankly at the stiff corpse on the floor.

I hadn't woken up from a nightmare; I was finally dead.

Yet, as the extreme pain, suffocation, and despair receded like the tide, my floating soul felt no fear—only an unprecedented sense of relief.

It’s good to be dead.

From now on, I would never have to endure the burning agony of high-dose antibiotics forced into my veins like a monster; I would never again have to crawl in the stench of my own incontinence just to preserve a shred of pathetic dignity; and I would never again have to walk on eggshells around my mother Isolde's stern, wrathful face.

Alondra could finally drop her facade without spending her days acting in a wheelchair for my sake; Joren could openly hold her hand under the sunshine.

My broken shell was no longer a burden or a stain on this family.

Heavy footsteps echoed from downstairs.

My soul drifted down the spiral staircase. In the living room, Isolde was lovingly wheeling a wheelchair to the center of the room, while Alondra stood beside it, rubbing her calves with annoyance.

"Mom, how much longer do I have to keep acting?" Alondra complained, frowning at Isolde. "Sitting in that wheelchair all afternoon outside almost broke my back."

Isolde gently pulled Alondra's hand, meticulously smoothing out her skirt, her voice impossibly soft.

"Just endure it a bit longer, my darling," Isolde comforted her gently. "Celandine still refuses to admit her wrong. She even dared to talk back and refuse her injection today! If I don't keep giving her a lesson, she will never learn to repent."

A trace of hesitation flashed in Alondra's eyes, and she tested the waters: "But... Mom, the car accident at thirteen was an accident. Celandine just had a stomachache back then, which was why she asked me to deliver the gift for her. And she never showed off in front of me..."

"You are just too kind, Alondra!"

Isolde’s expression changed instantly. She cut her off harshly, her eyes bursting with intense disgust.

"You have no idea how evil that girl is at heart! She has been lazy and vain since she was little, always wanting to steal what belongs to you! If I hadn't used medication to suppress her arrogance for six years and used a wheelchair to break her pride, she would be walking all over us by now! I am merely correcting a naturally cold-blooded monster!"

Floating in midair, I listened quietly to my mother's word-for-word slanders.

So in her heart, I was never her daughter, but a born demon. Six years of neurotoxic injections and six years of wheelchair torment were, in her eyes, nothing more than rightful "discipline."

The last faint trace of emotion in my heart turned completely to ash.

It doesn't matter anymore, Mom. I'm dead. I'll never stay in this world to disgust you again.

Isolde looked around the dead-silent living room, her tone instantly turning extremely impatient: "Celandine! Celandine Voss! Where the hell did you crawl off to?!"

Only her echo answered in the vast villa.

"What a lazy, rotten brat!" Isolde cursed under her breath, full of contempt. "Besides playing dead to shirk work, what else can she do?!"

Alondra quickly pulled Isolde's arm, pleading in a soft tone: "Mom, forget it. Maybe my sister isn't feeling well and is resting upstairs. Don't scold her."

"Only my Alondra is sensible," Isolde's attitude reversed instantly, her tone becoming exceptionally gentle.

She pulled a pair of exquisite high heels from a shopping bag and handed them to Alondra: "Look, Mom went all the way to the metropolis to buy these high heels for you. Try them on, but don't let that girl see them, lest she goes crazy with jealousy again."

Beside them, Joren stepped forward with a smile, holding out a dessert box wafting with sweet aroma to Alondra.

"And this, Alondra," Joren's voice was deep and doting. "The strawberry tart from your favorite bakery. I specifically told the baker to add extra cream. Eat up, don't let Celandine see it. With her hand tremors, every time she eats, she makes a mess of herself and everyone else."

I watched this scene silently.

The same Joren who once stroked my head and promised to protect me for the rest of my life was now affectionately feeding cake to Alondra.

In the place where my heart used to be, a final, numb ache throbbed faintly.

Not long after, my father Kael came home holding a briefcase.

He changed his shoes and looked around the warm living room. Seeing no sign of me, he asked softly, "Isolde, where is Celandine? How come I don't see her?"

Isolde didn't even lift an eyelid, answering coldly and dismissively, "Sleeping upstairs like a log."

Kael sighed helplessly, placing his briefcase on the table: "Today is her birthday after all. I'll go up and check on her."

With that, Kael walked upstairs.

Just as Kael reached out to turn the door handle, a sharp, piercing scream from Isolde suddenly erupted from the storage closet at the corner of the first floor!

"Celandine Voss! You liar!"

Kael paused, quickly withdrew his hand, and rushed downstairs: "Isolde, what's wrong?"

Isolde was dragging a black plastic bag out from the gap behind the storage cabinet.

The bag tore open, revealing dozens of unopened antibiotic vials and unused syringes neatly lined up inside!

Those were the doses I had risked discovery to secretly stash away over the past six months.

Isolde's face turned hideously distorted in an instant, her entire body shaking violently with rage:

"That ungrateful little beast! How dare she deceive me! She hid all these medications!"

Isolde sprinted up the stairs like a lunatic. Seeing this, Kael’s face changed drastically. He rushed forward and grabbed his furious wife from behind, trying desperately to restrain her.

"Let go of me! I'm going to beat that deceitful bitch to death!" Isolde struggled wildly, her face twisted in rage.

"Enough! Truly, enough!" Kael finally roared in unbearable frustration, his voice trembling with desperation. "It's been six whole years! You kept her in a wheelchair for six full years! Even if you don't care whether Celandine lives or dies, you should think about Alondra! Are you going to force Alondra to pretend to be paralyzed for the rest of her life just to play along with your charade?!"