To remove the scars on his "real" sister's arms, my brother forced me to give up my skin. He personally strapped me to the operating table and ordered the surgeon to flay me alive. To ensure the graft's success, he forbade anesthesia, forcing me to wake up screaming from the pain only to pass out again. When the surgery ended, the floor was soaked in blood. I was left barely breathing, stripped of most of my skin, a raw, bloody mess. Through the haze of agony, I heard my brother's voice from the hallway: "No one touches her without my order. It's just a little pain. She needs to feel every second of it." My blood drained away, drop by drop. Infection set in, ravaging my body. In my final moments, I tried to call him, to say one last word. But his voice came through the phone, cold and cruel: "You lose a patch of skin and act like you're dying? Did you think about how much it hurt Bella when you hurt her? If you want to see me, wait until you're dead!" But when he found out I was actually dead, he went insane. 1 When Mrs. Zhou carried my urn back to the orphanage, a group of men were tearing the place apart. The children were screaming in terror. A tall, cold man stood in the distance, frowning in disgust. That was my brother, Ethan. Mrs. Zhou shielded the children behind her, her voice hoarse. "Ethan, you tortured Annie to death. Why can't you leave her final resting place alone?" Ethan sneered. "She hurt her face and couldn't sell herself anymore, so now she's faking her death to scam me for money?" "Tell her it won't work. Bella's arm is scarred because of her. If she doesn't get out here right now and give Bella her skin, I'll bulldoze this orphanage to the ground!" Mrs. Zhou swayed on her feet. She clutched my urn tightly. "She can't. Annie is dead. You can't hurt her anymore." Ethan glanced at her impatiently, then suddenly reached out and slapped the box out of her hands. Crash. The urn shattered. My ashes spilled across the cold floor. Ethan wasn't satisfied. He stepped forward and ground his expensive leather shoe into the pile of grey-white dust. Mrs. Zhou screamed, her eyes wide with horror, and lunged at him. "You're crazy! She was your sister!" "I don't have such a vicious sister!" Ethan kicked Mrs. Zhou away, then stomped hard on her hand, crushing her fingers against the floor. "If she was so evil, shouldn't her ashes be black?" "You really committed to the bit. Begging at my feet like a dog for money wasn't enough? Now you're faking ashes to scam me?" Mrs. Zhou convulsed in pain, but her eyes never left my scattered remains. Her tears had run dry. She could only ask, over and over again. "She was your sister... she was my Annie... why can't you let her go, even in death?" Ethan kicked her again, venting his rage. "I wish she had died sooner. But until she pays for her sins, how dare that little monster die?" Every time he moved, his shoes kicked up clouds of my ashes. It wasn't until his bodyguards reported they couldn't find me in the building that he stopped. He wiped his dusty shoes on Mrs. Zhou's clothes in disgust, then stomped on her shoulder, as if trying to shatter the bone. "Still covering for her? Tell her to show herself by tomorrow morning. Or else this orphanage, and every brat in it, will pay the price!" The malice in his eyes was crystal clear. As he turned to leave, he made sure to stomp on my ashes one last time. Dozens of bodyguards followed him, their boots tracking my remains all over the courtyard. My heart shattered. I tried to rush forward, to help Mrs. Zhou as she desperately tried to gather what was left of me. But my spirit passed right through her. Pain, sharp and suffocating, seized me. Right. I'm dead. Even if I were alive, I didn't have a single patch of good skin left to give Bella. So please, Ethan. Let Mrs. Zhou go. Silence finally returned to the courtyard. Mrs. Zhou dragged her broken body across the floor, scooping up my ashes with trembling hands. The urn was smashed to pieces. Sharp splinters pierced her palms, blood mixing with the grey dust. But she didn't seem to notice. She carefully pieced the box back together, treating every grain of ash like a precious jewel. When she finished, she acted as if nothing had happened, preparing dinner for the children. Only when she was alone did she allow herself to cough up blood. Shaking, she lifted her shirt. The bandages around her abdomen were soaked red. I cried, trying to hug her. That was the wound from when she sold her own blood, over and over, trying to raise money for my surgery. It wasn't enough. So she knelt before Ethan, begging him for a loan. But Ethan was busy buying Bella a new car. When he saw Mrs. Zhou blocking his path, he kicked her aside without a second thought. She lay bleeding on the pavement for hours that day. But she still tried to find a way for me to live. She waited all day, only to receive the news of my death. Old wounds reopened, new injuries added. Mrs. Zhou's face was ashen. I clung to her, sobbing silently. She was only fifty, but she looked eighty. When I was five, disfigured and abandoned, she took me in when no one else would. When I was eighteen, dying of snake venom and kicked out by my biological family, she fought the grim reaper for my life. I didn't want anything for myself anymore. I just wanted to help her protect the orphanage. But in the end, my existence became the curse that destroyed it. 2 Before dawn, Mrs. Zhou dragged her injured body around, packing bags for the children. But she wasn't fast enough. The roar of an excavator shattered the morning silence as it rammed the front gate. Mrs. Zhou rushed in front of the machine. "You'll have to drive over my dead body before you touch this place!" A scoff came from the side. The window of a luxury sedan rolled down. "Just hand over that bitch Annie. Or do you think I actually want to be in this filthy dump?" Mrs. Zhou couldn't stand anymore. She sat on a chair, her white hair blowing in the wind. "Annie is dust. You stepped on her yesterday." Ethan laughed loudly. "Still lying? Annie is probably warming some old rich man's bed right now. How much did she pay you to cover for her?" Mrs. Zhou's shoulders shook violently. She pointed a trembling finger at him. "Ethan, she was your sister! She's dead! Why do you have to humiliate her like this?" "I don't have a sister like her. My only sister is Bella!" Beside him, Bella looked pale and fragile. She tugged gently on his sleeve. "Ethan, don't be mad. I'll just kneel and apologize to her like always. She'll forgive me eventually..." She opened the door to get out. Ethan grabbed her arm, his eyes filled with a tenderness I had never seen directed at me. He hugged her tightly, his eyes red. "My poor sister... you've suffered so much. It's all my fault for not protecting you." Bella smiled bravely, tears streaming down her face. "No, Ethan. Being with you makes me happy." She carefully lifted her sleeve, revealing gauze stained with blood. "It doesn't hurt anymore, Ethan. I just want to be with you. I just want Annie to accept me." Her tears made Ethan clench his fists. He punched the steering wheel, screaming my name, then turned to comfort her. "Don't worry. She doesn't have a say in this family. When I find her, I'll make her wish she was never born!" But I already wished that. I floated beside Mrs. Zhou, my soul tearing apart with grief. I stopped expecting love a long time ago. But Ethan... Bella only needed a small patch of skin. You ordered them to skin me alive. You took so much that I couldn't survive. After comforting Bella, Ethan gave the order. His men swarmed the orphanage. Terrified children were thrown out into the cold. Mrs. Zhou's cherished furniture was smashed to pieces. Amidst the chaos, Mrs. Zhou charged forward, only to be shoved to the ground. She coughed up blood. She ignored it, pulling a crumpled paper from her pocket with shaking hands. "Ethan! You don't believe me, but surely you believe a death certificate from the hospital!" I saw Ethan's body stiffen. He finally got out of the car. But before he could take the paper, Mrs. Zhou's phone lit up on the ground. It was an email I had scheduled to send her. The subject line [FROM ANNIE] glowed bright. Ethan let out a strange, strangled laugh. He grabbed a thermos from a nearby table and smashed it over Mrs. Zhou's head. "You two should be in Hollywood!" "I almost fell for it again! That bitch is still playing games!" "Since you want to die, fine! I'll help you! Destroy it all!" The excavators roared to life like hungry beasts. The building, filled with the laughter of children and my only happy memories, collapsed into rubble. Mrs. Zhou tried to stop them with her frail body, getting cut and bruised by flying debris. "No! Stop! That was..." Her voice was drowned out by the noise. I forgot I was dead. I threw myself in front of the machines, trying to stop them. They passed right through me. I fell to my knees, pounding the ground, weeping tears of blood. Ethan, why wouldn't you just look? You could have seen. Those were scheduled emails. Every single one was a suicide note! Mrs. Zhou and the children were held back by bodyguards, forced to watch their home turn to dust. I cried until I was numb. I saw a glint of excitement in Ethan's eyes. I always knew. He hated me, but he hated this orphanage even more. Because this was where his greatest humiliation had occurred. 3 "Cough, cough..." Hearing Bella's weak cough, Ethan rushed back to the car and rolled up the windows. "Ugh, this dust is as dirty as Annie!" "Hold on, Bella. We're going back to the hospital right now." Bella coughed the whole way. Ethan was sweating with panic, calling the hospital director to be ready at the door. He didn't forget to curse me. "Annie is a plague. If it weren't for her, you wouldn't be suffering like this!" When the test results came back, Ethan jumped out of his chair. Bella was rejecting the graft. It could be fatal. The most effective treatment was a full blood transfusion from me. Before Ethan could speak, Bella struggled to sit up, eyes teary and fragile. "Ethan, no. We can't hurt Annie anymore." "I stole her place. This is my punishment. Don't hurt her for me. Just let me die... I'm just going to miss you so much!" She hugged him and wailed, acting like she was on death's door. Ethan was heartbroken. "What are you saying? I won't let you die. You are my heart. If you die, I won't survive." "Don't worry. Dead or alive, I will find Annie and drain every drop of her blood for you." I watched their touching scene with a cold sneer. Oh, so Bella knew she stole my life? I was kidnapped at five. I fell down a hill, and a branch slashed my face, leaving a scar that cut to the bone. Mrs. Zhou found me and raised me for five years. When I was finally returned to my biological family, I found out "I" had been there the whole time. It was Bella. Ethan claimed they used her as a stand-in to avoid gossip. But when my father and Ethan saw the centipede-like scar on my face, they never mentioned switching us back. From then on, I was Annie. Named for "Silence." They gave me clothes and jewelry, but their eyes were filled with disgust. When a group of rich girls screamed and cried at the sight of my face, I was officially banished from the main house to live with the servants. I saw Bella hiding behind a pillar, snickering. My school, my parties, my debutante ball... she took them all. When I went to register for college, Bella told me my acceptance letter was hers now. I didn't believe her until she showed me the letter. The name on it had been changed to Bella. Before I could get angry, she whispered in my ear, triumph dripping from her voice. "Everything of yours is mine. Including that scar on your face. I was the one who threw the rock." The memory flashed back. It wasn't a branch. It was a rock. I slapped her. Ethan shoved me to the ground. My hand brushed against something cold. My parents and Ethan rushed Bella to the hospital, not sparing me a glance. Pain shot up my arm. A venomous snake was sunk into my flesh. I shook it off, but the poison was already in my veins. I used my last bit of strength to call 911. When I woke up, Mrs. Zhou was by my side. After that, Ethan gave me $50,000 and kicked me out of the family. Bella had taken everything. So now, she wanted my skin, my blood, my life? Was this all part of the plan? Search all you want, Ethan. I'm curious to see your face when you realize you're the one who scattered my ashes to the wind. 4 The bodyguards reported that the IP address for the emails was coming from the Sacred Heart Cosmetic Surgery Clinic. Ethan stormed over. In the hallway, two janitors were gossiping. "Time to find a new job. Did you hear about the malpractice?" "A girl was skinned alive without anesthesia. They forgot about her in the OR." "By the time they found her, the blood had soaked through the floorboards." "If it hadn't leaked into the ceiling below, she would have rotted there." "Martha fainted when she went to clean it up. She said she scrubbed it twenty times and the water was still red." Ethan froze. He grabbed one of the janitors. "The girl... did she have a scar across her face?" The janitor shook her head. "I didn't see her face, but I heard she used to be beautiful." Ethan exhaled, releasing her. Mrs. Zhou was disfigured and old. "Beautiful" wasn't a word used for her anymore. I laughed at him. He was the one who ruined Mrs. Zhou, yet he couldn't even remember what she looked like. Ethan looked at my discharge records and slammed his hand on the desk. "Bitch! She's spoofing the IP address to mock me! She's hiding somewhere laughing at me!" "Go tie up that old woman, Mrs. Zhou. Torture her until she talks!" Hearing Mrs. Zhou's name, my numb soul roared with rage. I tried to slap him. I paid my debt with my life! Why drag her into this? You always believe your own twisted logic. Why couldn't you trust me just once? Just as his men were leaving, the hospital director ran over, sweating. "Mr. Chu! Bad news!" "Miss Bella is rejecting the graft. She needs to be in the ICU, but she's demanding to leave. Please go talk to her." Ethan ran, ignoring his twisted ankle. When he arrived, Bella was slumped against the wall, pale as a ghost. Doctors surrounded her helplessly. "Bella, what are you doing? You're killing me!" "Ethan..." Bella wept. "Someone sent me photos of Annie. It's all my fault. I have to go apologize. She shouldn't degrade herself like this." She tried to stand, then fainted into his arms. "Bella!" Ethan held her, his eyes murderous. While she was being treated, Ethan took her phone and posted the photos online without hesitation. The photos showed "me"—with my horrific scar—sleeping with various men. Old, fat, ugly men. Surrounded by disgusting paraphernalia. The photos went viral instantly. Thousands of comments called me a whore and a monster. Ethan scrolled through the vile comments with satisfaction. "Let's see who will hide you now. When you're thrown onto the street, I'll be the first to spit on you!" Minutes later, his smile vanished. He saw a new trending topic. [Woman Livestreams Suicide Attempt from Chu Corp Headquarters Roof] It was Mrs. Zhou.
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