Chapter 4

The morning sun pierced through the curtains, casting sharp, fragmented shadows across the floor.

I was completely, utterly dead.

My body was cold and rigid, like a lifeless block of wood.

The master bedroom door clicked open.

"Audrey! What time is it?! Why isn't breakfast ready? Are you trying to starve your sister and me?!"

My mother walked out in her silk pajamas, wearing slippers, marching angrily into the living room.

Seeing me lying on the floor in the exact same position as last night, her face turned pale with rage.

"Are you seriously addicted to this act?!"

She strode over and kicked my thigh hard.

"Get the hell up!"

The corpse made a dull, heavy sound as it rocked, but there was no sound of pain.

"Fine, playing hardball, are we?"

With a cold, contemptuous sneer, my mother turned and walked into the bathroom.

"Splash!"

A basin of ice-cold water was dumped directly over my head.

Water splashed everywhere, soaking the white dress I had specifically worn for my birthday.

Yet, I still didn't move.

Chloe was woken up by the noise. She rubbed her eyes as she walked out of her room.

"Mom, why are you screaming so early in the morning?"

She glanced at me on the floor and gasped, covering her mouth.

"Oh my gosh, why is Audrey completely soaked?"

"Don't worry about this ungrateful brat!" My mother threw the basin aside, her chest heaving violently.

"Just to get attention, she's actually willing to sleep on the cold floor all night!"

"If she loves lying there so much, let her!"

Chloe stepped forward, kneeling beside my corpse, her voice dripping with sweet concern.

"Audrey, stop throwing a tantrum. Just get up and apologize to Mom."

"Yesterday was your fault anyway. Even if you didn't want to eat my cake, you shouldn't have faked an illness to scare us."

"Damaging your own body like this... do you know how much it breaks Mom's heart?"

"Breaks her heart?"

I hovered in the air, watching her perfect acting with mock amusement.

My mother snorted. "Break my heart? I wish I had never given birth to her!"

"Faking death over a peanut. She can't even let people enjoy a single birthday!"

"Audrey, this is my final warning."

"Today is the day of your sister's big movie audition. Don't you dare bring bad luck into this house!"

"Get up this instant and clean up this wet floor!"

I remained completely still.

My mother's patience finally snapped.

"Fine! You want to play the silent treatment with me?"

"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to believe you'd die over a single peanut?"

"I'm telling you, even if you are dead, I will drag your corpse out of my house myself!"

She lunged forward, grabbing a fistful of my hair.

"Get up!"

"Thud!"

Because she pulled too hard, my head hit the tile floor with a sickening, heavy thud.

But my eyes remained closed. No cry of pain came out.

My mother froze. The strange, unnatural texture of my hair and skin made her frown.

"Why is she so cold?"

Chloe chimed in carelessly from the side.

"Well, she slept on the floor all night and got drenched in cold water. Of course she's cold."

"Mom, Audrey's getting weirder and weirder. Just ignore her."

"Ignore her? She's trying to rebel!"

Grit teeth, my mother grabbed my arm, attempting to forcefully drag me up.

"Audrey! If you keep pretending to be dead, I swear to God I'll slap the nonsense out of you!"

But the moment her fingers gripped my skin, she recoiled as if she had been electrocuted.

Something was wrong.

It was too stiff.

When a person is asleep or passed out, their muscles are limp.

But right now, I was as rigid as a stone. My joints wouldn't even bend.

My mother's breathing grew shallow and rapid.

She swallowed hard, her trembling hand reaching out to grab my shoulder again.

She pulled hard, flipping me over.

My corpse rolled over with a heavy thud, face up.

My blue, swollen, and horribly distorted face was fully exposed to the light.