Chapter 1

My parents always taught me that a girl had to be independent.

They were getting old, and it was time for me to shoulder the family’s burdens.

I remember pointing at my brother, Austin, and saying naively, "But we have Austin. He should learn to be independent too."

Not long after that, Austin had a terrible fall. He became completely bedridden.

I worked part-time jobs while taking care of my paralyzed brother, yet our family still survived on discarded vegetables and wore second-hand clothes rescued from the trash.

To make more money, I signed up for sketchy, under-the-table medical drug trials.

But because of that, I developed severe skin cancer. My body began to rot.

Without hesitation, I left every single dollar of that blood money to Austin. I didn't even keep enough cash to buy a bottle of sleeping pills for myself.

In the end, I pulled a plastic trash bag over my head and ended my own life.

Yet, after my death, I saw Austin playing in a high-stakes championship basketball game. When it ended, my parents rushed to hug him and gifted him the most expensive mansion in the city.

It turned out they had staged this entire tragedy of poverty. I was the only actor who took the script seriously.

But now that I’m actually dead, why do they look so full of regret?