Chapter 1
Right before my parents passed away, my brother, Charles Hughes, who I'd only met a few times, took me home from the orphanage.
He made a vow by their bedside, promising he'd take good care of me.
But the moment I walked into that house, I realized being the real heiress was nothing but a cruel joke.
Charles thought I was way too plain to be seen in public, so he told everyone I was just the maid's daughter.
Violet Hughes, the fake heiress who stole my spot, saw me as a thorn in her side and never stopped plotting against me.
That winter, Charles was taking Violet to Switzery to go skiing.
I gathered all my courage and begged to come along, but he just pretended to be conflicted.
He said, "You don't have an ID, so unless you hide in a suitcase, you can't get on the plane."
I trusted him and squeezed myself into that cramped suitcase, just like he said.
From outside, I heard him clapping and laughing. "Just fooling her. Like she'd ever be good enough to ski."
I sobbed and pounded on the suitcase walls. "Charles, I'll do whatever you say. I won't go, I promise!"
Violet kicked the suitcase hard. "Stay in there and maybe you'll finally learn your place."
They jetted off to the Altes, and before leaving, they even thoughtfully gave all the servants a whole week off.
Trapped in that dark, cramped suitcase, my body slowly stiffened, growing colder and colder until I felt myself freezing up, like I was turning into a corpse.
As I let out my last breath, I finally understood.
Charles never really saw me as his sister. All those promises were just for show, meant to comfort our dying parents.
Fine. Maybe dying wasn't so bad. At least I wouldn't have to be his sister anymore.
*****
Once the zipper was shut, everything went pitch black.
Even though the air was getting thin, I couldn't help feeling excited.
I could finally go out and have fun with Charles.
Charles said that since I didn't have an ID, I'd have to hide in a suitcase if I wanted to get on the plane.
So I squeezed myself into that cramped suitcase, just like he told me to. But then I heard Violet speaking up.
"Charles, is Summer really not coming with us?" she asked.
Charles let out a cold laugh. "Take her to ski? She doesn't even have a passport. A bumpkin like her doesn't deserve to set foot on the Altes."
My smile froze. I was praying Charles would stand up for me, just this once.
Without thinking, my hand started searching for the zipper.
"But Charles, won't she get all stuffy in there by herself?" Violet said.
Charles said impatiently, "If she suffocates, serves her right. Maybe she'll finally learn her place. A stray from the orphanage like her has no business going on vacation with us."
My heart was filled with utter despair, and I cried out desperately, "Charles, I'll do whatever you say. I won't go, I promise!
"Charles, please let me out. I'll stay home all by myself and be good, I swear!
"I won't ever go out with you and Violet again, just let me out, please!"
I gripped the zipper lock desperately, my nails snapping off as I struggled to get free.
I could even feel warm liquid seeping from my fingertips.
But the zipper wouldn't budge, like it was welded shut.
My chest was rising and falling wildly, and my inhaler was left behind on the nightstand.
The lack of air made my vision blur.
Even as my vision faded, memories from three months ago flashed vividly in my mind.
That day, Charles stood by our parents' bedside, holding my hand and making a solemn vow.
He said, "I'll take good care of Summer. I'll never let her suffer, not in this lifetime."
He'd visited me a few times at the orphanage.
On the way home, he even gave me a cute bear hair tie.
He brushed my hair for me in the car, then caressed my hair and said, "From now on, I'll protect you."
But now, Violet kicked the suitcase hard.
She said, "Hear that? Charles thinks you're embarrassing. But don't worry, we're giving the servants the whole week off. So just enjoy yourself in there all week, all alone."
I slammed my fists against the suitcase, voice raw and desperate as I shouted, "Charles, my medicine... Please, my inhaler..."
But his familiar footsteps just kept fading away, growing more and more distant.
The suitcase I was trapped in tumbled violently, as if it were plummeting straight down from the second floor.
The world spun around me, and pain wracked my entire body.
"Charles... help..." I whimpered.
My voice faded to a whisper, and a cold numbness crept over me.
On the verge of blacking out, I clung to the little bear hair tie on my wrist as tightly as I could.
"One, two, three..." I started counting.
Erica, the superintendent of the orphanage, used to tell me that if I counted to a hundred, morning would come.
But I kept counting to a hundred, again and again, and the darkness never ended.
I didn't know how long it had been before I felt myself drifting out of that aching body, light as air.
When I looked down, I saw the silver suitcase still sitting at the bottom of the stairs.
Oh, so I was dead.
As a ghost, I was stuck in this villa.
After a whole week of waiting, I finally heard the front door creak open one evening.
Violet was the first to come back, and she was all by herself.
She hummed a tune as she strolled right past the suitcase, not even sparing it a glance.
Marching straight into my room, she started flinging my favorite dresses onto the floor, one by one.
"Only a bumpkin would wear this stuff," she scoffed.
She just sneered and dumped everything in the trash without a second thought.
I floated over to the trash can, and suddenly, it hit me that this was what my life had come to.
Charles was never going to show up, no matter how many times I counted to a hundred.
All those clothes and things I cherished? To him, they were just handouts, stuff he could toss away like they meant nothing at all.
Once Violet was done, it was like she suddenly remembered something.
She hurried downstairs and gave the suitcase with my corpse inside a sharp kick.
She sneered, "Hey, bumpkin, you've been pretty obedient, huh? Did you finally learn your lesson?"
When I didn't react, she flashed a nasty smirk and threatened, "Silent now? Still got some fight in you, huh? Fine, I'll get Wanda to haul you off to the trash dump.
"Go ahead, keep being stubborn. Just stay quiet and don't say a word.
"Charles thinks you're nothing but a pathetic bumpkin. People like you should just rot in the trash forever."