Chapter 1
Trapped in a poor, remote village for five years, I was finally found in a filthy pigsty, barely clothed, fighting stray dogs for scraps of food.
At my first meal back home, my hands trembled so badly from not holding forks for years that I couldn't even pick up any food. Therefore, a few drops of soup splattered onto the tablecloth.
Olivia Smith, the girl my parents adopted, screamed and ran straight into Mom's arms. She sniffled, "Disgusting... It's so disgusting..."
My mom, who once swore she'd love me more than anything, slapped my plate to the ground and yelled at me.
"Are you some kind of starving dog? Can't you even eat properly? How badly did you scare Liv? Can you make up for that?" she shouted.
My brother, James Carter, dumped the leftovers into the dog bowl and kicked it over to me.
He said, "If you still want to act like a dog, then eat off the floor. Don't come to the table and make us sick."
I watched Olivia, the girl who had taken my place for the past five years, wearing my favorite dress, cuddling in my parents' arms, acting all sweet.
Without a word, I got down on the floor and ate from the dog bowl, just like a dog.
Because this was my last meal in this world.
The voice in my head was right. This was no longer my home.
"System, I accepted your offer. How soon can you take me away?" I asked.
The system answered, [Detachment procedure initiating. The host's physical condition is critical. Multiple organ failure detected. Estimated survival time: six hours.]
When Mom saw me eating leftovers like a dog, there was no pity in her eyes. She was even more disgusted.
"Look at you! You don't act like a Carter heiress at all. Stay in the backyard shed for the next few days and don't come out. Otherwise, our neighbors would laugh at us," Mom yelled.
James took Olivia's hand and led her upstairs.
He said, "Olive, don't look at that dirty thing. Come on, let's go to the music room. You have violin lessons tomorrow, right?"
Olivia answered sweetly. As she walked past me, her little designer shoe came down hard on my fingers.
I didn't pull my hand away. I just swallowed the last bite of cold, spoiled beef.
The shed was cold and damp.
I curled up on the old, ragged straw mat, feeling my consciousness drift away from my broken body.
This body had been scarred by five years of torment in the village.
It had been five years.
Every single day, I waited for the cops to knock down that broken door, for Mom to hug me and cry, for James to have my back.
But when it finally happened, they acted like they wished I'd never returned.
Through the window, I heard the soft sound of violin. It was Olivia practicing.
That was the very song Mom once taught me, guiding my hands step by step.
I coughed up some blood, staining the ragged vest I'd picked up from somewhere.
The system's voice sounded. [System has detected the host's wish: to leave this world. Plot point "Rejection by Family" has been completed.
[Countdown initiated: 5, 4, 3...]
I closed my eyes.
There was no home for me in this world anymore.
But I wasn't sad at all.
If I couldn't take it with me, I didn't want it.