Chapter 1

I suffer from gender identity disorder. Only my sister never looked down on me — she even started calling me her brother.

So I spoiled her like a princess.

Until the day before the SATs, in front of her many admirers, she cried and falsely accused me of sexually assaulting her.

I was tortured to death while she celebrated having one less competitor for the college entrance.

When I opened my eyes again, my sister was crying as she cut up my dress.

She hugged me and said she would always stand by my side.

"If you kick her out of the house, I'm leaving with her!"

The delicate voice, pure and sweet, sounded like a demon whispering.

It yanked me back to reality in less than a second.

Lily Harper stood there holding a pair of scissors, shattered fabric scattered all over the floor. Tears streamed down her face like beads falling off a broken string.

I felt dazed, and then I heard my mom scream.

"Lily, why are you siding with that freak? She's eighteen, not eight! Can't she even tell if she's a boy or a girl?"

Lily sobbed.

"I don't care! I'm actually happy to have a brother now! Weren't you the ones always saying boys are better at showing affection?"

As she spoke, she looked a bit wronged and reached out to push Mom, completely failing to notice Mom's slightly bulging belly.

Mom stumbled, her face going pale with fright. She immediately touched her stomach.

Dad anxiously comforted Mom. The doting look he always reserved for Lily was now tinged with a weariness he couldn't quite hide.

He held Mom close and rushed her to the hospital, his heart pounding with fear.

Lily had no idea Mom was pregnant. She just assumed they were giving in to her again. Grinning, she came running over to me.

"Big sis... no, I mean brother. Mom and Dad are just behind the times. Abroad, people switch their genders whenever they feel like it. You just want to be a guy, and they still won't agree?"

She tilted her head.

"Brother, I'm on your team. I cut up all your dresses for you. From now on, you're a boy!"

The way her eyes curved into crescents made her look as beautiful as an angel.

And it was this very angel who, on my way to bring her an umbrella, had her people rape and beat me to death.

That rainy night was bitterly cold.

So cold that every memory of holding her tenderly in my hands felt like karma striking back at me.

Smiling, I pointed at the dress shreds on the floor and said softly, "Thanks, Lily. But my performance outfit was in there too. Without it, I can't compete."

Lily grabbed my hand and shook it.

"Brother, then let’s just skip it! Playing piano is for girls. That kind of competition isn't right for you. You should be playing basketball."

I smiled and pulled my hand free.

"I borrowed that performance outfit. If it's ruined, I have to pay for it. I remember I gave you the money from my part-time job to keep safe."

Lily froze for a moment, then quickly dodged the subject and fled.

Of course she wouldn't give me my money back.

She'd already handed that cash out long ago — to a perfectly healthy homeless guy by the school gate who just never had money for food.

She was always this kind and sweet, the pure white moonlight in everyone's heart. Mine included, once.

Mom and Dad wouldn't give me money either.

In my last life, to pay back the cost of that performance outfit, I worked day and night saving up, even skipping meals.

Sweet Lily, wanting me to get a good night's sleep, purposely turned off the alarm I'd set for the day of the competition.

And so that day, the first place in the piano competition wasn't me. It was her.

Lily stole my original sheet music, replaced me, and became a rapidly rising piano prodigy.

But this summer, Lily's good days are about to end.