Chapter 2

On Sophie's birthday, the house felt darker than ever.

Eleanor had drawn every curtain before sunrise. Not a single crack of light remained. Only a small lamp glowed in the corner of the living room, weak and yellow.

Sophie stood in the center of the room while Eleanor adjusted her dress. The fabric was soft and pale, real silk that caught what little light there was. It fit her perfectly. Eleanor smiled as she smoothed it down. "You are my little princess," she said. "The only one in this house."

I looked down at myself. My T-shirt had faded to a dull gray from too many washes.

Eleanor had given it to me three years ago. It was still the only decent thing I owned.

She always said I did not need new clothes because I never went outside.

Sophie's closet was different. Every season brought something new. Dresses, coats, shoes, all carefully chosen, all expensive enough that I did not even know their names.

Mom took my hand, her face soft with affection.

Eleanor turned to me and took my hand. Her smile softened, warm and familiar. "Penelope, you are such a good girl," she said. "I love you the most. When your birthday comes, I will bake your favorite strawberry cake myself."

I forced a small smile.

I knew that cake. Every year, it was the same. The flour was always close to expiring, and the strawberries were never fresh. The cake came out dry and heavy, and it stuck to the roof of my mouth.

Sophie's cake was nothing like that. Eleanor had ordered it two weeks in advance from the most expensive bakery in the city. It was a mousse cake, delicate and perfect, decorated with a bright "City of Sunshine" theme.

She had even arranged for it to be delivered in a sealed, lightproof container, so that not a single ray of sunlight could touch it before it reached our darkened living room.

I used to think all of this was fair. I believed I was the burden. I thought Sophie deserved more because of me.

But now, as I stood there in the shadows, something inside me began to shift.

In the afternoon, my uncle Arthur and my aunt Diana arrived.

They stepped inside and stopped at once, their faces tightening as they looked around.

"Why is it so dark in here in the middle of the day?" Arthur said. "It feels like a haunted house."

He walked past me without a glance. Instead, he went straight to Sophie and broke into a wide smile. He handed her a large, carefully wrapped box.

"Happy birthday, Sophie," he said. "I hope you can get rid of that burden soon and finally go outside like a normal person. You should be able to stand in the sun without all this nonsense."

Diana followed behind him. She placed an elegant gift bag in Sophie's hands, then flicked her eyes toward me with open disdain.

"If it were not for someone dragging her down," she said, "our Sophie would have been traveling the world by now. Instead, she is stuck here every day."

Sophie laughed, her mood lifting at once. She sat down and began to unwrap the gifts. When she opened Diana's present, her eyes lit up at the sight of the expensive skincare set inside. She stood and drifted toward the window, drawn by the faint strip of light slipping through the curtain.

She raised a bottle, studying it, and then reached up to take off the protective mask from her face.

"Stop."

Eleanor's voice cut through the room. She rushed forward and grabbed Sophie's wrist before the mask could come off.

"Have you lost your mind?" she said, her grip tight. "Why are you standing by the window without your mask?"

Her voice rose with each word. "This is the closest spot to the window. The reflected light here is the strongest. Penelope is in the living room. What if the light touches her? She could have a reaction. She could stop breathing. Do you even care about her life at all?"

Sophie froze. Then her eyes reddened, right there in front of everyone.

Diana stepped forward at once and pulled Sophie behind her.

"That is enough," she said sharply. "You can play favorites, but at least show some restraint. Today is Sophie's birthday. What is wrong with her trying a little skincare? Can Penelope not step away for a moment and stay in one of those dark rooms?

"You treat her like she is the center of the world every single day. Have you ever thought about how unfair this is for Sophie?"

Diana's voice grew sharper with every word. Her anger spilled over, and she pointed straight at me. "At this rate, you should just send Penelope off to some relatives in the countryside," she said. "At least then she would stop dragging everyone else down."

Arthur stepped in beside her, quick to agree.

"Exactly," he said. "It is broad daylight, and this place looks like a haunted house. No wonder Julian never comes home. Who would want to live with this kind of thing?"

Before I could react, Eleanor pulled me into her arms. She held me tight.

"No," she said, her voice breaking. "Penelope is my child. She is everything to me. Sophie and I can live without sunlight for the rest of our lives if we have to." Tears ran down her face as she spoke.

Arthur and Diana stared at her, stunned and furious, but neither of them said another word. In the end, they turned and left, slamming the door behind them.

The house fell quiet again. A little later, Eleanor went into the kitchen to clean up.

The moment she was gone, Sophie moved. She grabbed me without warning and shoved me toward the door. I stumbled, caught off guard, and the next thing I knew, I was outside.

"You have not done enough damage already?" she snapped. "Now you want to ruin my birthday too?"

Her eyes burned with anger. "Fine," she went on. "Let us see what happens this time. Let us see if you really die."

Then she slammed the door in my face.

The sunlight poured down, bright and relentless. There was no curtain now. No wall to block it. It covered me completely.

I stood there, waiting. The heat settled over my skin, steady and real. But that was all it was. Warmth. Nothing else.

I slowly curled my fingers into a fist.

Hidden in my palm were a few pills I had taken earlier from Eleanor's drawer, small and white and carefully kept out of sight.

I looked down at them, then back at the light. For sixteen years, I had lived inside a lie. Now I needed to know why. And I was going to find out what had been hidden from me all this time.