Chapter 4

I didn't want much, just a little love. I felt that was not too much to ask.

Mom's body trembled as she tried to close my eyes, while Dad argued desperately with the nurse.

Dad said, "No, that's not it. We love her, really. It's just that Kyla's always been frail. Yolanda just keeps picking on Kyla."

The nurse cried out in furious grief, "Yolanda doesn't even look as strong or healthy as Kyla."

Mom, having already closed my eyes, collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

Mom tried to defend herself, "She's my own flesh and blood. How could I not love her? I'm a first-time mom, and it's hard not to play favorites sometimes.

"Besides, we never neglected her. We always took care of her, made sure she had good food and a balanced diet."

Watching Mom desperately try to justify herself was honestly hilarious. I laughed through my tears.

They knew perfectly well whether it was really for me or for Kyla.

I had been alive for eighteen years, and I could count on one hand how many times I got to eat cake or chips. Snacks were basically a myth to me.

They said all that stuff was unhealthy, and I had to be on call around the clock, just so they could drain my blood whenever they felt like it.

Even if I was dying, even if I kept blacking out after they took my blood, they acted like it was just the way things were, like I somehow deserved it.

But I never got to choose to be born. Nobody was born owing anyone anything.

If I'd known this world was so dark and loveless, I wouldn't have bothered coming here at all.

The young nurse was already sobbing her heart out, and I tried to get closer to her.

I whispered, "Don't be sad for me. Maybe Mom was right, maybe I really was born cursed, and I deserved everything that happened to me.

"You should be happy, live your life well, and go out there and see the world for me."

Dad and Mom showed zero shame for anything they'd said. They hauled my body off and rushed straight to the crematorium, like they couldn't wait to erase me from their lives.

Honestly, it was like they were scrambling to cover up a crime, desperate to make sure nobody ever found out the truth.

Along the way, I passed by so many happy families. There were old folks and little kids. All of their faces lit up with joy.

Young parents didn't know whether to laugh or cry as they tried to raise their kids. Elders just couldn't help but spoil their grandkids, no matter what.

But they all shared one thing, which was love, the kind of warmth I never got to feel.

Tears kept rolling down my cheeks, and the pain was just too much. I couldn't help but cry out loud, completely overwhelmed.

I cried for how miserable my life had been, and for how much I resented Mom and Dad for what they'd done.

It might've been their first time as parents, but they'd been kids once. They should've known better.

No one wanted parents who would play favorites. Maybe I was just unlucky, born at the wrong time, but none of it was ever my fault.

I wanted to be loved, to have the right to be cherished, just like anyone else.

My frail, broken body was pushed into the crematorium. Mom's tears landed on me, almost searing.

But I didn't need them anymore. She never loved me when I was alive, so there was no reason for her to put on a show now that I was gone.

Dad wiped at the corners of his eyes, brushing away imaginary tears. He looked all sad, but I knew better than anyone that not even his act was convincing.

In the end, I got reduced to a tiny box of ashes. It was hard to believe a whole person could fit into something so small.

Mom's hands shook as she sighed deeply, then carried me home in that little box.

Kyla only found out about my death the next day, when she got the news on her phone.

Mom held a funeral for me, a tiny, almost private affair.

She was probably afraid people would start asking questions about how I died, or worse, blame Kyla for what happened to me.

But some people showed up uninvited. The young nurse walked in, holding up a chilling portrait of me, and stood boldly at the funeral.

She spoke every word with fierce conviction. "Your daughter is dead, and you only invite a handful of people?

"Are you feeling guilty, or just scared? What are you so afraid of? Because you killed her, didn't you? You're a killer, a devil.

"You don't deserve to be a mother. If you'd just left someone to watch over her, to check on her after the surgery, she wouldn't have died.

"She was only eighteen. Her birthday ended up as her funeral. How could you be so heartless?"

She brought out a small cake from behind her, the very one I'd kept murmuring about when I was sent to the hospital.

Turning eighteen was a milestone for everyone, no matter their circumstances.

All I ever wanted was a cake, one that belonged just to me.

When Kyla had her birthday, I managed to sneak a bite of her cake. It was sweeter than sugar, and that sweetness lingered in my heart.

The young nurse was heartbroken for me and promised she'd bring me a cake after the surgery. But she never expected I wouldn't even make it out alive.

I died because of my mother. I died a pitiful death. Nobody even cared about me. By the time the nurse found me, I was already dead.

The only people at my funeral were a handful of relatives. They all knew the real reason I was brought into this world, and how Mom and Dad always treated me like I didn't matter.

None of them ever imagined a mother could really give up on her own child's life. After spending eighteen years together, even an animal would feel some remorse.

With everyone staring at her like she was some kind of monster, Mom was drowning in shame. Right then, Kyla rolled in on her wheelchair, showing up just when things were at their most tense.

Kyla was crying so hard she didn't even care that her body was still weak and not fully healed.

"Yolanda, this is all my fault. I should be the one gone, not you. I don't deserve to live, just let me go," Kyla sobbed.

She got so worked up that she actually fell out of her wheelchair, ending up on the floor, a total mess.

Mom jumped in shock, and whatever guilt or hesitation she'd felt just moments ago disappeared completely.

She shot a look at everyone, rushing to protect her precious Kyla.