The day Mom and Dad died, our family empire crumbled, leaving my brother and me buried under a mountain of debt. To chip away at the millions, he took a gig testing out moldy, condemned properties for shady landlords, and I became a background extra—the resident corpse—on low-budget film sets. Five years of relentless hustling, never a day off, and the balance still haunted us. By the end of the year, the debt was down to the last $130,000. Desperate, I signed up for a clinical drug trial. I walked away with the cash, clutching the duffel bag full of bills, euphoric. I couldn’t wait to show Graham. Instead, I found him on the phone, a frown furrowing his brow. “Mom, Dad, Elle is doing really well. You two just enjoy your time overseas.” “She’s not a spender anymore. The punishment can probably end next year.” My parents weren’t dead. Our family hadn’t gone broke. The last five years of crushing hardship—the exhaustion, the hunger, the humiliation—it was all a calculated performance, a punishment for my supposed habit of spending too much money. The smile froze on my face. My stomach twisted into a violent knot, and a mouthful of bright, shocking blood erupted from my lips. ... 1 “Just so we’re clear, if you sign this contract, we are not responsible for any adverse reactions.” That was the last thing the Clinical Trial Coordinator had told me. He made me initial the clause several times: the contract was legally binding. After five hours of observation following the dose, I’d be paid, and even if I died the next day, there would be no recourse. Back then, all I could think about was handing the final payment to my brother so we could have one normal New Year. I signed without hesitation. Now… I stared at the heavy duffel bag of cash, the weight suddenly feeling bitterly ironic. I lifted my sleeve and wiped the blood from my mouth. Pushing the apartment door open, I stepped inside. Graham quickly hung up his phone. He turned, and his eyes immediately fixated on the stain on my shirt. “What happened?!” His face went white. He was by my side in two steps, his hands gripping my shoulders, frantically checking me for injury. I pushed his hands away, my voice flat and even. “It’s just prop blood from the set.” “Oh. Right. That’s good. I thought you were hurt.” He let out a shaky breath of relief. Then his gaze fell on the bag of money on the floor, and his eyes narrowed instantly. “Where did this come from?” he demanded. “Elle, you didn’t do something stupid, did you? You didn’t steal it?” My heart plummeted. I didn’t know this man at all. Steal it? Is that what he truly thought of me? I balled my fists, taking a moment before answering softly. “The director distributed bonuses. End of the year, a little holiday welfare.” He frowned, still suspicious. “A cash bonus? That big?” “Do you want it or not?” I snapped, the irritation finally bubbling up. “You said we only had $130,000 left. This is exactly that. If you don’t want it, I can take it back to them.” He was silent for a long moment, but he finally reached for the bag. “I’ll transfer it tomorrow.” He quickly changed the subject. “What do you want for dinner? I’ll cook.” I let my gaze drift around the cramped studio apartment. It was thirty square meters, and you could see everything from the doorway: a wardrobe, a folding bed, and a tiny bathroom. There was no kitchen. He chopped vegetables on the coffee table. The electric skillet, bought for fifty bucks, was five years old, its power cord patched twice with black electrical tape. I suddenly heard myself asking, “Graham. Don’t you ever get tired of this?” He smiled, turning back to me. “Not really. My job is pretty easy, I mostly just lie there. It’s you, Elle. You’re the one who must be exhausted after all these years.” What I really meant was: Aren't you tired of pretending? Our family had a fortune worth billions. We could have lived in complete freedom. But he was forcing this existence on me, all for a supposed punishment. Didn’t it drain him? Of course, he hadn’t understood. I decided to be more direct. I looked at him intently. “Graham, do you really think I’m a big spender?” 2 I still couldn’t figure out what exactly my crime had been. Yes, my family was ridiculously wealthy, but I was never obsessed with luxury. My clothes and jewelry were all moderately priced. In the high-society circles of Newport Beach, I was practically an anomaly. Graham’s face stiffened. “Why would you ask that? You’re much better now.” “Now? What about before?” I pressed him. He frowned. “When Mom and Dad were still here, you genuinely didn’t understand frugality. They came from nothing, bootstrapped their way up. They, and I, always had to be mindful of money. But you? You’d pester them for an expensive designer bag or a $10,000 birthday gift. What do you call that?” I took two agitated steps forward. “We’re worth billions! Is a $1,500 smartphone really going to bankrupt us? What’s the point of making all that money if we can’t spend it?” His face hardened. “Listen to yourself. It’s a phone, Elle. Any phone works. You were vain, always trying to keep up with those other spoiled debutantes, constantly demanding things. You’ve been fine these last five years with nothing, haven’t you?” I stared at him, my blood running cold. In his mind, these five years had been fine? I spent my days acting dead—begging directors to let me roll around in the mud or a freezing drainage ditch for an extra two hundred dollars. I'd lie motionless for ten hours at a stretch, rain or shine. My old rival, Vivianna—Vivi—used my misfortune to torment me, bullying me at every opportunity, and I couldn't fight back. I signed away my body for a sketchy clinical trial, and I still didn’t know what was happening to my health. Was that a fine life? The sharp, twisting pain returned to my stomach. I was vaguely reminded of Vivi’s taunt: “You idiot. You brought all this on yourself.” “I’m going to follow you, Elle. Whatever set you’re on, I’ll be there. My parents can buy me a spot. You’ll be miserable for the next five years!” I shuddered, my skin crawling with a sudden realization. Five years. Why specifically five years? Did Vivi know the truth, too? An intuition, cold and sharp, told me that Graham and my parents were hiding something even bigger. I clenched my fists, forcing down the urge to scream the questions at him. I nodded obediently. “You’re right. I’ll change.” Graham set down the knife, relief flooding his face. He reached out and gently stroked my head. “That’s my sister. Good. Now, you eat. I have to go to work.” I nodded again. After a quiet dinner, Graham left for his ‘shift.’ I put on my mask and cap and slipped out to follow him. He walked out of the cramped housing block and waited by the curb, dialing a number. Within five minutes, a black Maybach pulled up. I watched his long legs disappear into the luxury sedan. I quickly flagged a taxi and followed. Thirty minutes later, he entered an exclusive, high-end steakhouse. I gave it five minutes and walked in, seating myself in a secluded booth directly behind his table. My heart was pounding, and I didn’t dare look up. I only knew who he was meeting when I heard her voice. “Graham, I did exactly what you asked. I’ve been giving Elle a hard time, and she’s behaved so well lately!” It was Vivianna. 3 “Good,” Graham replied, his voice flat, completely devoid of the struggling-debtor persona. “Only when Elle suffers on the outside will she realize how difficult it is to earn money.” “I’ll make sure your family’s businesses get some extra attention, as promised. We can’t let Elle know the truth just yet. I’ll tell Mom and Dad everything when they get back after the New Year.” My breath caught in my throat. My heart threatened to stop. A waiter approached, asking for my order, and I couldn’t speak. My hand trembled as I pointed vaguely at the menu, shaking my head to signal him to leave immediately before Graham saw me. Vivi’s voice was sickeningly sweet. “Graham, you told Elle you were testing haunted houses, but you have to drive all the way back to your little studio apartment every night. Aren’t you exhausted?” “Why didn’t you just go overseas with your parents?” A fresh wave of shock hit me. The haunted house lie was a cover. He came home every single night. The suffering of the last five years—was it all mine alone? Graham sighed. “Elle is my sister. I couldn’t leave her completely alone in the country. Besides, the company might have moved overseas for a while, but it’s eventually coming back.” He sounded vaguely wistful. “The five-year punishment we set seems to have flown by, doesn’t it?” Flown by? A bitter laugh caught in my throat. Every single day of those five years had been a grinding torture. Playing dead wasn’t easy, especially when Vivi—at Graham’s subtle instruction, I now realized—made sure I was always scheduled for the dirtiest, most grueling scenes. I was often lying still for hours in the cold, developing chronic chills and a relentless cycle of illness and exhaustion. And to them, it was just a punishment. A cruel, calculated game. “Vivi, I know you’ve been through a lot, too. This is for you.” Their conversation continued. Graham slid a delicate gift box across the table. Vivi opened it and gasped. “A diamond necklace! It’s gorgeous!” My heart plunged into a cold, dark abyss. That necklace. It was the exact one I had begged my parents for five years ago. They had refused, claiming it was too extravagant. I eventually forgot about it. Now I knew. That small, trivial request had been the catalyst for five years of hell. Why? We had billions. Why did asking for one necklace warrant five years of deliberate emotional and physical cruelty? Why was Vivi, whose family wasn’t nearly as wealthy as ours, getting the item I was denied? Was I really that spoiled? That disobedient? I had always been the quiet, compliant child. Why did I have to endure this? My emotions burst. I couldn’t hold it back any longer. BANG! I slammed my hands on the table and stood up. The entire restaurant turned to stare. Graham swiveled around, and his face went instantly, sickeningly white. “Elle? What are you doing here?” 4 “Was it fun, Graham? Was it fun to lie to me for five years?” I tore off my cap and scarf and rushed to his side, grabbing his sleeve. “What was my crime? What did I do that was so wrong you had to torture me like this?” Panic flashed in his eyes. He glanced around at the onlookers and then grabbed my arm, his voice a low, hard hiss. “There are too many people here. We need to go outside.” “You’re the one who can’t be seen!” I yelled, my eyes burning with tears. I wrenched my arm free. “You and Mom and Dad conspired to trick me—to tell me we were bankrupt, in debt, and that you were doing some grim, humiliating job!” “But the truth? They’re on a permanent vacation, and you’re driving home every night in a Maybach! I was the only one suffering!” My voice broke into a raw, hysterical cry. “Tell me, Graham! Why? Just tell me, what’s the big deal about spending a thousand dollars when you have billions in the bank?!” Graham’s face went cold. “I knew you were listening in this afternoon. That’s why you asked those questions.” He seized my wrist again, his grip tight, trying to physically haul me out of the restaurant. A waiter suddenly rushed over, grabbing my other arm. “Ma’am, you haven’t paid the check! That’s five hundred dollars!” Graham froze. His brow furrowed in a familiar, judgmental way. “Did you order the most expensive thing on the menu, Elle? Still haven’t learned the value of a dollar?” He deliberately let the restaurant’s gaze linger on me for a humiliating moment before pulling out a card. Outside, Vivianna followed, her voice dripping with false sympathy. “Elle, your parents and Graham only did this to teach you a lesson! You shouldn’t be ungrateful!” “This has nothing to do with you!” The nameless fire in my chest exploded. I yanked free of Graham’s grasp and slapped Vivi across the face. She shrieked, clutching her cheek in stunned disbelief. Snap! The next second, Graham’s hand connected with my own face, paying back the blow. “Elle, are you serious? Would Mom and Dad and I have gone to all this trouble if you weren’t so relentlessly spoiled and vain?” he spat. “You think these five years were easy for us? And you dare to raise your hand? Maybe the punishment wasn’t long enough!” I stood there, stunned, listening to his icy voice. In that moment, something deep inside me died. After a long silence, I slowly lifted my head, a mocking laugh escaping my throat. “Not enough?” I challenged. “What would satisfy you, Graham? My life? Is that enough of a payment?” “Stop talking nonsense!” His eyes flashed with annoyance. He called the driver and shoved me into the sedan. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but I was laughing. “Which home are we going to? The small one or the real one?” He didn’t even look at me. He pulled out his phone and called my parents. “You need to come back. Yes, she knows. No, I didn’t tell her. She overheard me!” BANG! Graham smashed his phone against the console, his anger radiating through the car. He looked at me, his eyes full of exhaustion and impatience. “And you have the nerve to cry?” he snarled. “I spent five years in that disgusting apartment with you. I’m the one who gets screamed at now! What are you crying about? Stop acting like you’re the only victim here!” I was past speech, letting his insults wash over me until the car pulled up to our old, lavish estate. Five years. I felt like a stranger as he physically pushed me through the front door. The chilling pain in my stomach returned, churning. I couldn’t hold it back: I bent over and coughed up a pool of thick, black blood. I scrambled to wipe it up, but Graham saw it. He sneered. “Nice prop work, Elle. Trying to make me feel guilty? Save the dramatics for Mom and Dad. That cheap little act won’t work on me.” 5 Mom and Dad arrived early the next morning. Graham, still simmering from their inevitable scolding, had forced me to sit on the living room sofa all night. No sleep, combined with the persistent stomach pain, left me clammy, shaky, and emotionally spent. But when they walked in, I shot to my feet. In my mind, they had died five years ago. Seeing them healthy and whole in the house felt like a nightmare made real. “Elle. Do you admit your mistake yet?” my father asked, his voice cold and commanding. I froze. My voice was a croaking whisper. “What mistake?” My father’s expression tightened. “Five years, and you still don’t understand the struggle of earning money? We faked our deaths and went overseas to show you that money doesn’t grow on trees, and that it can run out. It’s a relief that you finally know. Now we can come home.” My heart turned to ice. “So, in the end, I was the one inconveniencing you?” I countered, the emotion rising again. “I genuinely don’t understand. We have generations of wealth! I wasn’t even wasteful! Why was I subjected to this cruel punishment?” “Do you know how much pain you caused me? The last five years, I—” “Elle, just say sorry!” My mother rushed over and grabbed my hand, tears welling in her eyes. “Your father hasn’t been home for five years to visit your grandmother’s grave, all because of this. It wasn’t easy for you, but it wasn’t easy for us either. Just apologize, and the punishment ends right now. We can be a family again…” “I won’t apologize!” I roared, wrenching my hand away. “The mistake is yours! Your thinking is flawed! I did nothing wrong!” CRACK! The moment the words left my mouth, Graham’s hand slammed across my face. “Is that how you speak to your parents?!” he yelled. “What right do you have to be angry? You think I had it easy? If I wasn’t worried about you, I would have gone overseas with them!” My mind went blank. My ears rang. I could barely hear his voice anymore. After what felt like an eternity, I nodded in resignation. “Give me the $130,000 back.” I earned that money with my life. He gave me a disdainful look, made a phone call, and within minutes, an assistant carried the duffel bag of cash back in. I dried my tears, shouldered the heavy bag, and headed for the door. My mother started to protest, but my father stopped her. “Let her go. Let’s see where she runs to.” I closed the door and returned to the housing block. I took out my key to the old studio, but a hand gripped my wrist. “Young lady, this unit has been sold. You can’t go inside.” “Was it sold to a Stanton?” I asked without looking up. “Yes, it was. How did you know?” he asked. I gave a self-mocking laugh, hefted the cash, and walked away. The stabbing pain in my stomach flared up again. I headed to the nearest hospital. I went to the cashier to pay for the consultation. The moment I handed over the money, security guards swarmed me, pinning me down. My head was spinning, and I was too weak to fight. I heard shouts about “Counterfeit” and “Calling the police.” The police arrived shortly after. The officer in charge frowned at me. “Young lady, this is all fake. Where did you get this money?” I was stunned. I fumbled in my pocket and handed him the clinical trial contract. “I don’t know! I earned it in a drug trial! Officer, I had nothing to do with this!” He looked at the contract, his frown deepening. “You’ve been scammed. This company is a criminal operation.” “Did they draw your blood?” My pupils constricted. I nodded mechanically. The officer sighed. “Their drug was fine. But the needle… it was tainted.” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. A cold dread washed over me. Just then, my test results arrived. The doctor handed them to the officer. “It’s a Stage Three hematological disorder. Those criminals are insane.” Ugh— I couldn’t hold on anymore. I threw up a mouthful of black blood and collapsed, everything fading to black. As I lost consciousness, I heard the officer shouting. “Contact the family! Now!”
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