Chapter 1
"Prunella, are you done making a scene? Get your ass out here!"
My mom kicked the door open.
The loud crash made the wedding ornaments on the wall shake.
Her well-kept face was blazing with fury, nasty remarks ready to fly out of her mouth.
Her eyes landed on me.
I was lying quietly on the bed, dressed in washed-out pajamas, my wrist dangling lifelessly off the edge. There was no sign of life.
Her rage turned to ice, pupils shrinking in shock.
Those harsh words caught in her throat.
My soul hovered above, watching it all with icy detachment.
I watched as this overdue, dramatic spectacle, staged for me alone, finally kicked off.
The show had begun.
*****
A violent fit of coughing jolted me awake from my daze, that familiar metallic tang flooding my throat.
I clapped a hand over my mouth and stumbled into the bathroom, spitting a mouthful of blood into the cold sink.
The deep red stain bloomed across the white porcelain, like a sinister flower of death.
It was happening again.
On autopilot, I turned on the faucet, scrubbing away the damning evidence.
My heart pounded erratically in my chest, like a dying bird making its final desperate struggle.
I leaned against the wall, gulping for air. The girl in the mirror was ghostly pale, lips bloodless, with heavy shadows under her eyes.
Even I felt like a stranger to this face staring back at me.
My mom, Trix Hall's shrill voice pierced the air from the living room.
"Prunella, are you rotting in the bathroom? Get out here and help stick up those wedding decorations!"
I took a deep breath, splashed cold water on my face, and forced a flawless expression before stepping out.
The living room was filled with a festive atmosphere.
Red decorations, balloons, and streamers decorated every corner, and my brother Damian Hall's giant wedding portrait was displayed in the most prominent spot.
In the photo, he looked sharp and handsome, while Gillian Stevenson's smile bloomed beside him. They really looked like the perfect match.
Tomorrow would be their wedding day.
It was also the Hall family's most glorious day.
Trix was barking orders at the housekeeper. When she saw me shuffling out, her brows scrunched up in irritation.
"Why are you moving so slowly? Putting up those wedding decorations is like torture for you! Can't you even read the room?"
She shoved a stack of wedding decorations and some tape into my arms.
"Go stick them on all the windows. Put them up high and make it look extra festive!"
I nodded, grabbed a chair, and started stretching on tiptoe to stick the symbols onto the tall windows.
Every beat of my heart twisted up a mess of pain in my chest, and my vision blurred and darkened in waves.
I wanted to keep my balance, but my body had other ideas.
My foot slipped, and I went crashing off the chair, the wedding decorations spilling all over the floor.
Trix immediately started cursing.
"Did you do that on purpose? On the happiest day, you have to go and drop things. Are you trying to ruin the mood and upset me on purpose?"
She rushed over, not to help me up, but to snatch the wedding decorations off the floor, anxiously checking if they'd gotten dirty.
"I bet you don't want your brother to get married. You are jealous and petty!"
My father, Sterling Hall, came out of his study, frowning. "What are you fighting about? This is so inappropriate!"
Trix jumped in, complaining, "Look at your daughter. Every time I ask her to do something, she pretends she's helpless. I swear she's doing it to mess with me!"
Sterling's gaze landed on me, not a hint of warmth, impatience and annoyance.
He said, "Prunella, can't you act like you have some sense? It's your brother's wedding."
I let out a cold, bitter laugh inside.
I was dying. I wondered if that would make me sensible enough for them.
Struggling to get up from the floor, I mumbled, head down, "Dad, Mom, I'm really not feeling well..."
Trix snapped, her voice even sharper, "Not feeling well? Please, you're faking it because you're lazy.
"Everyone else is busy except you. Your brother's been working his butt off for this wedding. Why can't you pitch in for him?"
Damian was the pride of the Hall family. He graduated from a top school, pulling in a six-figure salary, and was about to marry the mayor's daughter.
I graduated with a third-rate college degree, had a boring job, and was introverted as hell. I was the one blemish on this flawless family.
I parted my lips, almost ready to pull out that crumpled diagnosis from my pocket, the one I'd been squeezing so hard my knuckles turned white.
It showed that I had end-stage dilated cardiomyopathy.
The doctor said, without a heart transplant, I wouldn't have much time left.
But seeing the way they looked at me, like I was nothing but a nuisance, I couldn't bring myself to say a word.
Even if I told them, I felt that it would not make any difference.
They'd assume I was fishing for sympathy again, or trying to mess up Damian's big day.
Sterling said, shooing me away like I was nothing, "Alright, get out of my sight. Go back to your room and stay there. Don't come out and mess things up."
I clenched the crumpled diagnosis slip in my pocket, the paper's sharp corners biting into my palm.
Silently, I turned and retreated to my gloomy little room.
As soon as I closed the door, I heard Trix whispering to Sterling in the living room.
"She's such a jinx. All these years raising her, and she's still useless. She is always messing with us."
I pressed my back against the door and let myself sink slowly to the floor.
The ache in my heart couldn't even compare to how much her words cut me.
To them, I was just a jinx.