Chapter 4

On the last day of the countdown, Lily showed the four of them what she claimed were new comments.

She told them that as long as the world still remembered I was a Turner daughter, and as long as I was still Samuel's fiancée, I would come back and kill her.

The only way she could go on living was for me to be dead in everyone's eyes.

Julian, Marcus, and Ethan talked it over through the whole night, and what they settled on was a funeral for me while I was still alive, with nothing in the casket but my clothes.

Julian announced that my condition had worsened and that I had passed away during treatment.

Marcus stepped forward as both a family member and a physician and assured everyone that the Turners had done everything they could to save me.

Ethan held the framed portrait of me and cried so hard in front of the guests that he could barely stay on his feet.

Samuel called off the engagement in front of the whole room, and he set the ring he had pulled off my finger down at the foot of my portrait.

Lily wore the gown that had been meant for my own birthday party, and the necklace at her throat was the one Samuel bought for me.

She stood between Julian, Marcus, and Ethan, letting everyone comfort her, and she cried as she said it. "Ashley doesn't have to suffer anymore."

I was locked in my room the whole time, and I watched the full livestream of my own funeral on the screen bolted to the wall.

The eulogy Julian read never mentioned Lily's fake comments once.

It covered how I got sick, how I tried to hurt people, and how the Turner family had stood by me for three years and never once walked away.

When I was little, Julian held my hand and told me, "The Turner family will always have your back."

Later, they were the ones who put me in a psychiatric hospital.

Now they were the ones erasing me from the family tree at Turner Manor and from everyone's memory.

They came to the hospital after the funeral.

Julian brought a long-term commitment form with him. "Once Lily is completely safe, we'll find a way to give you your name back."

Marcus made me a promise. "I'll supervise your treatment myself from here on. Nobody's raising your dosage whenever they feel like it."

Ethan crouched down in front of me and cried. "Every year, on the anniversary of your death, I'll come see you."

I was still alive, and they had already started arranging how to mourn me.

Then Samuel took the ring back from in front of my memorial portrait and held it out to me again.

He said, "Calling off the engagement was for the public. As long as you cooperate with the hospital, you're still my fiancée as far as I'm concerned."

I didn't take it. I only asked him quietly, "What if Lily can see the comments for the rest of her life?"

All four of them went silent at the same time.

That was the moment I had my answer.

If Lily said she was afraid for the rest of her life, they would keep me hidden in here for the rest of mine.

I didn't ask anything else. I picked up the pen and signed my name on the commitment form.

They let out a breath together, as if three years of treatment had finally taught me how to behave.

Lily came too when the transfer van pulled up at the door.

She hid behind the four of them and apologized to me with red eyes. "Ashley, I swear I never wanted to hurt you."

But she was wearing a dress and a necklace that belonged to me, and she had picked out my memorial portrait herself.

Samuel put out his hand to help me into the van. "Be good. When this is over, I'll come get you."

I looked at him, and what came back to me was the day they put me in the hospital three years ago.

I had held onto the car door and begged them, over and over, to believe me.

Not one of them turned around.

This time, I put the ring back in Samuel's palm.

The countdown in front of me hit zero.

[Life Countdown: 00:00:00. Return Channel Open.]

A second later, I disappeared from in front of them completely.