1 It had been exactly six years since my younger brother and his fiancée passed away. I was standing by the door, putting on my coat, ready to bring fresh flowers to their graves. That was when my mother called out from the hallway, stopping me dead in my tracks. "Tedd, don't go," she said, her voice completely flat. "They aren't dead." My entire body went rigid. I turned around, staring at her in absolute disbelief. Right at that moment, two silhouettes stepped out of my brother's old bedroom. It was Finn and Rachel. Finn had a smug, mocking smirk plastered across his face. He nudged the woman beside him. "See? I told you my bro wouldn't notice a damn thing. Pay up, I won this bet." He leaned in closer to her, his tone dropping into something dirty and arrogant. "So... who's going to be on top later? Huh, Rachel?" Rachel glanced at me. Her eyes were entirely empty of the warmth I remembered, replaced by a look of sheer disgust, as if she were staring at the village idiot. "I guess he really is just that stupid," she scoffed. "We've been living right next door all these years, and he never had a clue." A heavy, sickening realization crashed down on me. Mom had strictly forbidden me from ever going into Finn's room, claiming she didn't want me to be overwhelmed by grief. But that was a lie. The room hid a secret passageway connecting directly to the house next door. Rachel was right. I really was an idiot. Just last month, I had spent hours carefully planning how to clean their headstones for the anniversary. "Why would you do this?" I forced the words out, fighting the violent trembling in my hands. My eyes were burning red. The soft, gentle Rachel from my memories was gone. The woman standing before me was made of ice. "Because you never knew your place, Tedd." What did it even mean to know my place? My mother frowned, looking at me like I was a stain on the rug. "We just wanted you to learn how to behave these past few years. We needed you to stop trying to steal everything that belongs to your brother." "Tedd, they're having a baby now. Just let it go. You'll find someone else." I wouldn't. I bit my lip so hard I tasted copper. My chest physically ached, a hollow, crushing pain. "I have never stolen anything from Finn," I choked out. When we were kids, Mom and Dad only ever remembered the things Finn liked. If I wanted even a sliver of their attention, I had to force myself to like the exact same toys, the same food. I never realized that simply saying "I want one too" was viewed as stealing. By the time we were teenagers, I was a full four inches taller than my brother. But Mom still bought all my clothes in Finn's size. No matter how many times I reminded her, it never stuck. My jeans always rode up past my ankles. I was bullied relentlessly at school for years because of it. I should have accepted the truth a long time ago. Tedd, they just don't love you. Maybe the sheer devastation on my face was too much, because Rachel's icy facade cracked for a fraction of a second. She pulled a tissue from her purse and held it out. "Tedd, just move on." I didn't take it. Finn immediately stepped up, putting on a sickeningly fake display of guilt. "Bro, I'm so sorry. We never actually signed the marriage license anyway. If you want, I can give her back to you." Smack. My mother's hand connected with my cheek. My skin stung, hot and throbbing. I looked at her, completely stunned. Her hand was trembling slightly, but her voice was pure venom. "What the hell is your problem, Tedd! Rachel is pregnant! Are you trying to make this kid a walking scandal just like you?" The air left my lungs. I was conceived before my parents got married. In my mother's eyes, I was the living proof of her shame. In my father's eyes, I was just the trap that forced him to settle down. I knew all of this. It was why I maintained a perfect GPA, why I kept my head down, why I never caused trouble. I foolishly believed that if I were just perfect enough, they might finally love me. Standing in that hallway, the truth finally set in. Nothing I did would ever matter. Because their only wish was for me to not exist at all. And they were about to get exactly what they wanted. Rachel took a step toward me, a flash of pity in her eyes. "Tedd, we can still be friends. Finn and I will make sure you're taken care of." I stumbled backward, avoiding her hand like it was poison. "Don't touch me." My voice was a dry, broken rasp. Six years. For six entire years, the guilt had eaten me alive every single day. I visited the cemetery in the freezing rain, apologizing to empty dirt, consumed by the thought that if I hadn't planned that surprise party for them, they wouldn't have died in that crash. It was all a staged production. Even my own parents had played their parts perfectly, just to make sure Finn got his happily ever after. I looked at my mother, the pieces finally clicking together. "You kept me out of his room so I wouldn't find the tunnel to the house next door. That was it, wasn't it?" Her face paled, her eyes darting away, but she stubbornly lifted her chin. "So what if it is? We did it for your own good. We wanted you to cut your ties and just live your life." "Live my life?" A hollow laugh scraped its way out of my throat. "You watched me go to that cemetery like an absolute clown every year. You watched me drown in guilt, while they were playing house right next door. And you call that doing it for my own good?" "Watch your mouth, Tedd!" My father finally emerged from his study, his brow furrowed in deep annoyance. "They were deeply in love. They faked their deaths so you wouldn't make a scene. They've been hiding and suffering for years. What more do you want from them?" Deeply in love. Suffering. Those words felt like a knife twisting in my gut. My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was an automated text from the cemetery management, confirming my final reservation. I reached into my pocket, pulled out the charred ring I had recovered from the crash site six years ago, and placed it quietly on the table. "I won't cause any more trouble." The very next morning, a package arrived for me from the cemetery center. It was a biometric monitoring wristband. The paperwork stated that within two hours of my heart stopping, the band would automatically ping my location, and a team would be dispatched to collect my body. It was perfect. My mind drifted back to that day six years ago. It was supposed to be my engagement party with Rachel. She told me to wait at the venue, promising a huge surprise. I waited, nervous and excited, until the sun went down. Instead of a surprise, I got a call from an unknown number. A car had gone off a cliff. Completely incinerated. The only thing they found in the wreckage was a ring engraved with my initials. I collapsed on the floor of the banquet hall. My entire universe shattered. My mother had screamed and cried, pointing a trembling finger at my chest. "This is your fault! If you hadn't insisted on that stupid surprise party, they would still be alive!" The guests whispered and stared. The rain that night soaked into my bones, and I had been freezing ever since. But now they were telling me that every tear, every scream, was just a theatrical performance meant for an audience of one. No wonder the house always smelled like Finn's favorite spicy food, even after he "died." No wonder my mother never once visited his grave. Whatever. It didn't matter anymore. I had emptied my entire savings account to pay the cemetery center. I just had to survive in this house long enough to finish my final painting, and then I would be gone. The thought of death didn't scare me at all. Honestly, it felt like a massive relief. The next morning, I grabbed my coat to head out. Finn immediately blocked my path. "Bro, Rachel and I really want some of your homemade oatmeal. You always took such good care of everyone." He wrapped an arm around Rachel's waist, his eyes glinting with pure provocation. He was a completely different person from yesterday. Rachel leaned into his chest, looking at me expectantly. "Finn really wants it, Tedd. Just go make it. I'm pregnant, standing over a stove is too hard on me." Mom nodded in agreement, acting like this was the most natural request in the world. "Go on. Make sure it's soft, and don't add sugar. You know Finn hates sweet things. It's just a bowl of oatmeal, it won't kill you." I stood perfectly still. I didn't move an inch. Finn put on a pitiful face, looking awkwardly at the floor. "Are you still mad at me, bro? I know it was messed up to take Rachel, but I really love her... If you don't want to cook, it's fine. I just won't eat. Don't force yourself." He let out a heavy sigh, acting like he was the victim of some great injustice. Rachel's face darkened instantly. She glared at me. "It's literally just a bowl of food, Tedd. Do you really need to throw a tantrum over it? He's your younger brother, can't you just let him have this?" Dad slammed his newspaper onto the table. "If your mother tells you to cook, you cook! Stop dragging your feet! We are a family, stop being so petty!" A family. The word sounded like nails on a chalkboard. I slowly lifted my gaze, looking at the four faces in front of me. They were people I had known my whole life, yet they looked like complete strangers. It was like watching a movie I wasn't cast in. I was just an extra on the set. "Fine. I'll make it." I turned and walked into the kitchen. This bowl of oatmeal would be my final payment for the cost of raising me. Ten minutes later, Finn was eating at the table when he suddenly gagged, sprinting to the bathroom and throwing up violently. I froze by the counter. The whole family rushed to his side. He leaned against the sink, looking weak and pale. "It's fine. It has nothing to do with Tedd's cooking. My stomach has just been acting up lately." But the harder he tried to defend me, the more they blamed me. Rachel looked at me, her eyes brimming with intense disappointment. "You never used to be like this, Tedd." "How did you become so sick and twisted? You're actually trying to poison your own flesh and blood." I looked down at the fresh burn blister on my hand from the stove. My chest hurt infinitely worse. My father was shaking with rage. "Lock him up! Throw him in the storage room! Let him rot in there until he learns his lesson. I can't believe I raised such a monster!" Mom didn't even try to stop him. She just looked away and sighed. "Just think about what you've done. Stop making everything so difficult." Rachel hesitated for a brief second, but then she helped my dad shove me into the cramped, windowless storage room. The heavy door slammed shut. The deadbolt clicked. No one wanted to hear a single word I had to say. The room was pitch black, suffocating, and reeked of dust. A full day and night passed. No water. No food. The stress and dehydration triggered my chronic heart condition. A sharp, tearing pain ripped through my chest. I collapsed onto the concrete floor, curling into a tight ball as cold sweat soaked through my shirt. My vision blurred into static. Using every last ounce of willpower I possessed, I dragged myself to the door and started hitting the wood. Weakly. Slowly. "Open the door... please... it hurts..." "Rachel... Mom... I need my pills..." My voice was a pathetic whisper, but I kept slapping the wood until my knuckles swelled and split open, smearing blood on the doorframe. I couldn't die yet. My painting hadn't been delivered to the gallery. My life was an ugly, miserable mess, but I needed my art to hang in a clean, beautiful frame. I lost track of time before the lock finally clicked. Rachel stood in the doorway, her face tight. When she saw me curled up in a pool of my own sweat, panic flashed in her eyes. She dropped to her knees and touched my forehead, violently pulling her hand back. "You're burning up! Why didn't you say something?" "Pills... under my pillow..." I managed to breathe out. She jumped up, sprinting to my bedroom. She came back a minute later with the blister pack and a glass of warm water. She carefully pulled me up by the shoulders, her movements incredibly soft, like she was afraid of breaking me. "Take it. It'll stop the pain." I had barely swallowed the pill when Finn strolled into the room. He looked down at me, shaking his head with a sad, gentle expression. "Bro, why do you have to lie to us?" "I just checked your room. Those aren't heart pills. They're just daily vitamins." "You're faking an illness just to get attention... That's so messed up." Those words acted like a bucket of ice water, instantly killing whatever sympathy Rachel had felt. She shoved me away, letting my shoulder slam against the wall. "You are completely out of your mind, Tedd. Is there any low you won't sink to?" My mother's expression turned to pure disgust. "We just wanted you to reflect on your actions, and you pull a stunt like this. If I knew you'd turn out this way, I would have visited a clinic before you were born!" Dad shook his head in disgust. "Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless." I shook my head frantically, tears finally spilling over my lashes. My throat was raw. "I'm not... I swear I'm not faking it..." "Shut up!" Rachel yelled, running a hand through her hair. "I don't want to hear another word of your bullshit." "Tedd, you are the biggest disappointment of my life." After that, none of them spoke a single word to me. A few days later, I finally shipped my canvas to the gallery. As soon as I got home, my phone buzzed. It was the cemetery center. [Mr. Wright, your biometric scanner indicates extremely unstable vitals over the past 48 hours. Please take care of yourself.] I typed back a quick 'Okay'. It was ironic. The only people in this world checking in on me were the ones waiting to bag my corpse. Later that afternoon, I was out on the balcony taking down the laundry. Finn sauntered out, a wicked, jagged grin spreading across his face. "You have absolutely zero shame, don't you, bro? Everyone in this house despises you, and you still refuse to pack your bags?" I ignored him, turning to walk back inside. But his hand shot out, grabbing my wrist in a vice grip. He leaned in, whispering right into my ear. "You want to know a secret? Rachel never got over you. Her hidden photo gallery on her phone? It's entirely filled with pictures of you two." I blinked, genuinely surprised. Before I could process it, his voice dropped lower. "I really, really hate you, Tedd. Do us all a favor and go to hell." Without warning, Finn violently shoved me toward the railing. But he miscalculated his footing on the slick tiles. We both went down hard. My body tipped entirely off balance, flipping over the waist-high concrete wall. The freezing wind whipped across my face. Nothing but empty air below me. I managed to hook one arm around the metal railing, my legs dangling over a four-story drop. Finn was on his back on the balcony floor, perfectly safe, but he immediately started screaming in terror. "Help! He's trying to throw me off!" The sliding glass doors flew open. All three of them burst out onto the balcony like a swarm. They ran straight to Finn. Not a single one of them even glanced at the edge where I was slipping away. They crowded around my brother, their voices trembling with panic. "Finn! Oh my god, are you hurt?" Rachel pulled him into a tight hug, pressing his face into her chest, looking absolutely terrified. Mom was practically in tears, checking his arms for scratches. Dad stood up, pointing a furious finger at my face. "You absolute piece of trash! What is it going to take for you to leave him alone!" Half my body was suspended over the abyss. My shoulder joint was popping. My fingers were going numb. I used the very last bit of air in my lungs and screamed. "Rachel!" She finally turned her head and looked at me. She saw me hanging there. She hesitated, lifting a hand as if to reach for me. But my mother slapped her arm down. "Leave him! He actually tried to murder his own brother. Let him hang there and learn his lesson!" Rachel bit her lip, lowered her hand, and looked away. Even though I knew exactly how this was going to play out, my eyes still burned. My chest felt like it was caving in. I looked at the four of them, huddled tightly together, a perfect, united family defending themselves against the villain. A sudden, overwhelming sense of peace washed over me. "Will you finally believe me if I die?" I asked the question quietly to the wind. Then, I opened my fingers.
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