Chapter 3

I gave up on telling them the truth. I didn't go inside.

Instead, I took a high-risk gig as an extreme stunt double.

The jobs were dangerous—jumping off buildings, falling off cliffs, car crashes.

But the perk was a massive life insurance policy.

If I died on set, the payout would be over a million dollars.

Irony of ironies, I proved to be incredibly hard to kill. I ended up with countless bruises and fractures, but nothing fatal.

A month later, I received my first $10,000 paycheck.

I immediately wired all of it to my parents' account.

I thought I could make a few more transfers before my time ran out.

But that night, lying in my cheap, moldy rental room, I suddenly started coughing up blood. My body went ice-cold.

After a long, agonizing struggle in the dark, I lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, my body felt weightless.

The excruciating pain of cancer was gone.

I floated in the air, looking down at my own body.

I was slumped next to a dirty toilet. My clothes and the floor were stained dark red.

I wasn't sad. I actually felt a wave of relief.

At least I managed to send that money to my parents first.

Just then, my phone buzzed on the floor.

A message from my parents popped up.

"Don't think sending us some money will make us forgive you for lying!"

"Until you learn your lesson, we are keeping this $100,000!"

I wanted to reply so badly.

*It's okay.*

*Keep the money for your retirement.*

*I don't need it anymore.*

But I couldn't touch the phone. My hand passed right through it.

My parents waited for two days. Seeing no reply, they got angry.

"Ignoring us now? Still trying to play games?"

"Or do you just not want your savings back at all?!"

I still couldn't reply.

A few more days passed, and they tried to provoke me.

"Fine! Since you don't care about this money, we'll spend it!"

"Your cousin wants to start a business, and she's $50,000 short."

They wired $50,000 to Chloe and sent a screenshot to my phone.

When I still didn't reply, they found other ways to spend it. They booked a $10,000 luxury cruise for themselves and Chloe.

They took Chloe to expensive dinners and bought her designer jewelry.

They took screenshots of every transaction and sent them to me.

I grew anxious. My soul drifted onto the cruise ship, trying to warn them.

"That money is for your retirement! You can't waste it like this!"

"And definitely don't give it to Chloe!"

"She is using you! She won't take care of you!"

But no matter how loud I screamed, they couldn't hear me.

By the time the cruise ended a week later, and there was still no word from me, Helen finally started to worry.

"It's been almost two months. She hasn't come home. Could something have happened to her...?"

David frowned, dismissing her. "She's an adult. What could happen?"

"She's doing this on purpose to make us worry."

"She wants us to feel guilty so she can scam us again!"

"Since she wants to play dead, I'll force her hand!"

David went home and made a viral TikTok video. He accused me of faking a terminal illness, stealing my family's savings, and running away.

He even posted my full name and workplace online.

Overnight, I became the most hated person on the internet.