Chapter 2

Charlotte bristled like a pissed-off cat, scanning the room with a deadly glare, daring anyone to keep those gross smirks on their faces.

"Sophie is still my sister, no matter what. How dare you badmouth her to my face?" she snapped.

Then she turned her cold gaze on Jason. "Any you! Jason Brooks. If my father hadn't personally set us up, I wouldn't have even looked at you.

"Only someone as clueless as Sophie would ever fall for you."

Jason opened his mouth, ready to argue back.

Charlotte snapped, her jaw clenched, "Honestly, I doubt Sophie was ever attracted to you. Stealing my stuff is just her thing.

"Whether it's something as small as jewelry or as big as a man, Sophie always has to snatch it away from me.

"The only reason you ever mattered to her was that you were engaged to me.

"If it weren't for that, Sophie wouldn't even look your way."

Up in the air, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

She really was my sister—no one knew me better than Charlotte. All I ever wanted was whatever she had.

Jason was about to storm forward and start arguing, but suddenly, someone clamped a hand down on his shoulder.

He looked up to find Leonard Payne giving him a stone-cold stare, not a hint of a smile on his face.

Leonard really lived up to his reputation—with just one look, he had Jason trembling and bowing his head in apology.

However, something about him seemed familiar, like I'd seen that face somewhere before.

Probably from when I was hunting for some powerful guy to bail me out—I must've seen his picture then.

I hovered over Charlotte's shoulder, zeroing in on Jason with a savage review.

"You're nothing special, and you've got a thick skin. If Dad hadn't arranged your engagement to Charlotte, you wouldn't even be on my radar."

Turning my face to Charlotte, I added, "But Charlotte, you don't even know, do you? This time, I'm the one saving you."

Watching Charlotte's distant gaze, I couldn't help but wonder.

When she found out that the sister who always fought her for everything growing up actually died for her, would Charlotte still be able to keep wearing that high-and-mighty mask?

*****

This party they threw for Charlotte was absolutely massive.

Back in the day, if I'd seen something like this, I would've begged my dad to throw me an even bigger, flashier party—just so I could outshine her.

But not anymore. Being dead had its advantages—floating up here, I could finally see things for what they really were.

This wasn't a welcome party at all. This was just a fancy meat market.

My father, Logan Rivers, was all smiles as he introduced Charlotte to every influential guest in the room.

He looked just like he was pitching a rare commodity to the highest bidder.

If Leonard didn't come from such a prestigious family, those big shots would be the ones Logan was lining up as Charlotte's future.

Charlotte's life really was charmed.

Three years ago, I shielded her from all this. Now, three years later, Leonard was the one standing between her and the crowd.

Logan really raised her right—she knew what was right and what was wrong.

So when she finally learnt her dad was the reason her mom died and then her sister, too, what was she gonna do?

Would Charlotte get revenge for me? Was this always supposed to be my destiny?

*****

Once the party wrapped up, Charlotte went to ask Logan about me.

Logan was taken aback, just for a second.

His eyes flashed with pure contempt, as if Charlotte had just brought up something disgusting.

"Don't mention that ungrateful brat. You know what your sister's like. She's probably off fooling around with some guy again."

I looked at my father—his face calm, with just a hint of disgust—and didn't feel a thing anymore.

I murmured, "Good old dad. Why don't you have the guts to tell Charlotte I'm dead? The day I died, you collected your payoff without batting an eye.

Charlotte, clueless as ever, didn't even question it—she just turned and went upstairs.

Before shutting the door, she casually mentioned to Logan, "Tomorrow's the anniversary of Mom's death."

Back in her room, she dug out the Polaroid we'd snapped together.

In the picture, two little girls were grinning from ear to ear.

I looked at that Polaroid and couldn't help but feel a little shocked.

I always thought Charlotte would've torn it up ages ago.

Back when we took that photo, I had no idea my mom was actually Logan's mistress.

I was so grateful to Charlotte for standing up for me when everyone accused me of stealing money. So, during our school trip, I used the money I'd earned washing dishes to have someone snap two Polaroids of us.

I stuck that Polaroid on my desk—it was like my lucky charm, always watching over me.

No one ever dared to mess with Charlotte.

Whenever people saw that photo, they'd chill out and hold back their hate toward me—nobody wanted to mess with the girl in Charlotte's picture.

When I got home, I couldn't wait to show that photo to my mom.

But that one photo ended up dragging Charlotte and me down a rabbit hole we could never crawl out of.