Chapter 3

After dinner, Jayce suddenly seemed restless somehow.

He went back to his bedroom alone, fiddling with his phone, searching for something.

I peeked over his shoulder and saw he was trying to find my contact.

Then he kept calling me, but it rang and rang with no answer.

After a while, Jayce slammed his phone down in frustration. "So you think you can ignore my calls? You really believe anyone cares about you?"

I really wanted to tell him that I was already dead. There was no way I could pick up the call.

But then, he called that hospital nurse. "Did Sylvia tell you what kind of game she's playing? Tell her not to take my patience for granted. If she apologizes to Edith, maybe I'll let her come home."

There was a long pause on the other end. "Jayce, Sylvia passed away a week ago. During the fire, she inhaled a lot of hot smoke, which badly burned her airways. All the doctors were in Edith's room, so no one could do a tracheotomy. Her organs shut down, and she died right there."

Jayce's face went pale. He stood frozen in shock.

He refused to believe it, replaying the fire in his mind. He frowned and said confidently, "No way. She was in the same room as Edith. Edith's already out of the hospital. How could Sylvia have been hurt that badly?"

"She looked fine, but you're wrong. This wasn't some trick. It wasn't her trying to compete for my attention," the nurse explained.

"I'm warning you two. Stop this nonsense, or you'll be in real trouble," Jayce said.

The nurse could tell Jayce wouldn't believe her, no matter what she said. She sighed, sounding defeated. "Jayce, I'm not making this up.

"You can't see inhalation injuries right away, but her throat was swollen, and her lungs were severely burned. She missed the best chance for treatment. If you don't believe me, go to the morgue and see for yourself."

Jayce was pacing the room, his steps heavy and frantic. "You're all liars, all conspiring against me. You have no idea who you're dealing with."

Before the nurse could respond, he angrily ended the call, jamming his finger on the screen.

Adeline must have heard him yelling because she opened the door. "Simon's still here. What's all the shouting about?"

Jayce clutched his phone to his chest and looked at Adeline helplessly. "The nurse told me Sylvia was dead. It can't be true, right?"

Adeline shot him a look of pure contempt. "Are you that gullible? If the fire was really that bad, someone like Sylvia would've taken Edith down with her. Edith wouldn't be standing here right now, would she?"

Simon Johnston came to comfort Jayce. "Yeah, Jayce, someone like Sylvia is tough as nails. She wouldn't go down that easily. If anything, she's more likely to curse someone else than get herself killed."

Colton, chewing on an apple, said casually, "Isn't it better if that annoying girl is dead? What's the big deal?"

I always knew everyone preferred Edith, but I never realized how pathetic they thought I was. After all these years, even if they never liked me, they should at least know what kind of person I was. How could I ever stoop so low and make a joke out of my own life to get their attention?

As everyone tossed out their dismissive remarks, Jayce squared his shoulders, his old domineering attitude back in full force. "Tomorrow morning, I'm going to the hospital to expose their lies. If Sylvia isn't in the morgue, I'll break her legs myself. That nurse? She's getting fired, too."

Maybe fate was pitying me, because outside, the rain started to fall softly. Every word they said hit me like a slap to the face, but the pain was so deep I couldn't even make a sound. Now I knew for sure that they had all been hoping I would die.

*****

Early the next morning, Jayce rushed to the hospital without even having breakfast. Adeline, concerned about him, went with him.

On the way, Jayce kept complaining to Adeline about how I was dragging them into another pointless chase. But when he saw my body in the morgue, he recoiled in horror and then collapsed against the wall, clutching himself. "How could this happen? She seemed fine that day with no visible injuries, and she was acting normal."

Outwardly, I did look fine with only a few minor scrapes on my hands from protecting Edith, and my face was a bit flushed. Nothing seemed to be serious.

But the truth was, because I had shielded Edith and pushed her toward the window for fresh air, I ended up inhaling all that suffocating smoke. The damage to my airways and lungs was severe.

I only appeared fine because I was suffocating, and my body was running on pure adrenaline. That was my body's last burst of energy before everything faded away.

Jayce, the director of Bistron Central Hospital, had been in the medical field for years. If he had bothered to look closer, he would have seen the truth. But all he cared about was Edith. He never once even looked at me.

Adeline reached out, wanting to touch my face, but when she saw how lifeless I looked, her hand froze, unable to go any further. My skin was mottled blue, and my lips dark and lifeless.

As soon as Edith heard the news, she rushed over with Colton.

When Edith saw how devastated Jayce and Adeline were, she realized how bad things were. She stormed into the room, dropped to her knees by my bedside, and cried out, "Sylvia, why did you do this? Just because I took your place in that international competition years ago, you couldn't let it go? Was it really necessary to hurt yourself over it?"

After sobbing loudly, Edith collapsed on the floor, acting all guilty. "I'm sorry, Sylvia. This is all my fault. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be like this."

Then, she began slapping herself across the face hard.

Seeing Edith fall apart like that, Jayce, Adeline, and Colton didn't even have time to mourn for me. They rushed over to pull her away.

Jayce wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay, Edith. This isn't your fault. She brought it upon herself with her selfishness. She only has herself to blame."

When Edith mentioned that competition, I paused, and my thoughts flashed back to two years ago.