Chapter 2

Vanessa, my sister, who had always looked down on him, suddenly confessed her feelings to Aaron Lockwood behind my back.

He rejected her without a second thought.

The first time I ever fought with Vanessa was when I found out.

She laughed in my face and said, "Look at you. You're basically a beggar. Do you really think you deserve the Lockwood Group heir?"

I answered her calmly, "I don't want the Lockwood Group heir. I want Aaron. I love him. He loves me. That's enough."

Her smile vanished.

From that day, she hated me.

But the love I thought was real was just a cruel joke.

At the engagement party, Aaron, who swore up and down he only loved me, didn't even bat an eye when he heard I'd been kidnapped.

He didn't panic. He didn't look for me. Instead, he turned around and got engaged to Vanessa, publicly announcing that he would not change his fiancée.

He chose her.

And reality proved something I had always known. I could never compete with her.

She didn't have to lift a finger. My parents adored her without limits.

With just a little effort, she snatched my boyfriend of several years without breaking a sweat.

She was the so-called winner of life.

I was tired. Exhausted.

I was done fighting.

If she wanted him, she could have him. I wanted nothing.

When I stayed silent, standing there like a lifeless doll, my mother grew even more annoyed.

"So now you're sulking?" she snapped. "Who are you showing that dead face to? Do we owe you something? If you don't want to stay in this house, leave. Nobody's begging you."

My voice was flat when I answered, "Aaron has been my boyfriend since college. You've always known that. Just because his identity came out and you found out he's the Lockwood heir, you forced me to give him to Vanessa.

"I listened. I stepped aside. So why am I still getting yelled at?"

I wasn't actually waiting for an answer.

People who were biased never think they were being unfair.

All they saw was me not doing enough. I was supposed to help them get together, turn them into the golden couple everyone would envy.

Mom was at a loss for words.

Vanessa was crying her eyes out, looking all pitiful as she complained, "Anyone can see you're not really sincere."

I shot back, "What do you want from me to prove I mean it? You took my boyfriend, I stepped aside, and I even cut him off completely. Is that still not enough for you?"

Vanessa was left speechless, her face twisting, barely holding it together.

Just then, my phone rang.

It was Aaron, calling from a new number.

"Alice," he said desperately, "what did I do wrong? Why are you breaking up with me? I can't live without you. You're my future wife. I won't allow this breakup."

Such sweet words.

But the Mrs. Lockwood I always wanted to be? In the end, that title went to Vanessa.

"You and Vanessa are perfect for each other. You belong together. Don't ever call me again," I said, my voice cold and final.

With that, I hung up and blocked his number.

Vanessa suddenly exploded, "What's that supposed to mean? Are you pitying me or something? I want real love, not the scraps you tossed aside."

I turned to my parents and asked, "Is there anything I can do that'll ever be enough for you?"

Dad just looked away, refusing to meet my eyes.

Mom didn't sound as tough as before, but she still blamed me. "Can't you just be a little more tactful? You're making Vanessa look bad, and now Aaron might think she's the one forcing you to do this."

"Isn't she?" I shot back.

Mom was stunned.

I added, "Vanessa pushed you, you pushed me. I gave in, broke up with him, and I'm still the one getting yelled at. I'm always the outsider in this family. None of you ever really liked me, so whatever I do, it's always wrong."

My voice was soft, almost weightless, like a feather drifting in the air, so light it could disappear at any moment.

"I loved you once," I said. "But I won't anymore."

Finally, I let those words out.

In my previous life, I wanted to say those words so many times. But I kept holding onto hope, right until the moment I died

Before I died, I sat outside the house, listening to a professional pianist play Für Elise, feeling the last bit of sunlight on my skin.

What was I thinking at that moment?

That my back hurt?

I had bowed all the way back home. My enemy had people watching me. If my posture was wrong, I had to start over.

I just wanted to live.