Chapter 1 At the wedding reception, the fake heiress took the opportunity during a toast to lean in close, a provocative smirk on her face. "Happy wedding day. I tested both your husband and your marital bed for you last night. So satisfying." Blinded by rage, I slapped her hard across the face. In the next second, Liam Sterling slapped me six times in front of all our guests. "Chloe never fights with you, she gave you everything, and yet you still can't tolerate her!" "I'd rather marry a dog than a low-class woman like you!" With a single order, he had me thrown deep into a dense forest, cast into a pit swarming with venomous snakes to "reflect on my actions." After seven days of being tortured, my three biological brothers came to settle the score. My eldest brother, a corporate CEO, kicked me so hard my leg broke. "Chloe cried all night. I've already made the decision to transfer all the assets in your name to her." My second brother, an A-list actor, twisted my arm until it snapped. "From now on, our family tree will only bear Chloe's name. As for you, don't ever dream of coming back to this family." My third brother, a renowned surgeon, was the most ruthless of all. He plunged a scalpel directly into my abdomen. "Chloe has had kidney disease since she was a child. To compensate her, you must donate a healthy kidney!" Before I could utter a single word of protest, my internal organs were carved out of me while I was still alive. Under an agony so intense it could shatter a mind, the system's cold, mechanical voice beeped in my head. [Congratulations to the Host! You have completed all the abuse plotlines for the cannon-fodder supporting female character!] [Just wait for this body to die physically, and you can return to your original world and enjoy a 10 billion dollar reward!] 1. Hearing that sentence, I suddenly stopped howling and crying. The despair and agony in my heart instantly transformed into the sweet relief of knowing I would soon be free. My oldest and second brothers had already left with my kidney. In the freezing snake pit, only my third brother, Dr. Julian Sterling, remained. Blood was still gushing from the incision. As Julian stitched me up, he frowned in annoyance. "If you had just cooperated and donated the kidney earlier, I wouldn't have to operate under such primitive conditions." "Making me do all this extra work. So annoying." Just last week, when Chloe was handling some paperwork, she got a paper cut so tiny it was barely visible. Julian acted like the sky was falling. He called in a top-tier medical team to assist him in bandaging her finger, checking her "recovery progress" every three hours. But now, facing me—who had just had an entire kidney ripped out without anesthesia—he complained that basic stitches were a hassle. Perhaps seeing that I hadn't made a sound for a while, he leaned over, patted my cheek, and injected me with antibiotics. "Stop faking it. I know you're perfectly healthy. A minor injury like this is nothing to you." "You're just trying to play the victim to make me feel guilty, so you can steal my affection from Chloe, aren't you? You're so dark and petty. Since you're part of the Sterling family now, put away those pathetic little schemes!" If this were the past, facing such misunderstandings from my own blood, my eyes would redden. I would defend myself, crying that I wasn't that kind of person. But now, I felt only a numb, detached calmness. I closed my eyes, my voice hoarse. "You can leave too. I can wait here to die alone." To me, the fastest way to freedom was to die immediately. But to Julian's ears, it clearly meant something else. "Evelyn Sterling, what is that supposed to mean? Saying depressing things on purpose to disgust me?!" He intentionally yanked the suture thread hard. The fragile, bloody edges of my flesh violently tightened, and dark blood welled up, bringing an agonizing pain that a normal person could not bear. Seeing me gasp, breaking out in a cold sweat from the sheer agony, a flicker of reluctance flashed in his eyes, and his tone softened slightly. "You are my blood sister. To find you, we three brothers spent an unimaginable amount of money and effort. You have no idea. How could we possibly just let you die?" "At the end of the day, if you weren't so narrow-minded, if you hadn't refused to tolerate Chloe and hit her, why would you be suffering like this?" As he complained, he injected a dose of anesthetic near my wound. "As long as you promise not to make things difficult for Chloe when we get back, and properly apologize to her." "I can take you back to the hospital. You'll receive the best treatment, and you won't have to suffer here anymore." Listening to his patronizing, charity-like tone, I only felt colder and more cynical. I was a transmigrator, but I had crossed over into this world's Evelyn Sterling when I was six years old. Three years ago, after I had eaten endless bitterness, the three Sterling brothers found me in tears, saying I was their long-lost biological sister, and brought me back to the Sterling estate. But upon returning, I discovered the family already had a beloved daughter: Chloe, the girl they had adopted. The moment I saw her, I recognized her. Back in the orphanage, she was the one who locked me in a dark closet so she could sneak out and take my place to be adopted by the Sterlings. For twenty years, Chloe enjoyed all the love and care of my family, while I bore all of her suffering. Yet, all she had to do was frown and pretend to be wronged, and my three biological brothers would unconditionally take her side and accuse me of being petty. Even Liam, the man I was arranged to marry since birth, only smiled at her while treating me with cold contempt. I was exhausted from this entanglement and pain. I didn't want to waste another ounce of energy arguing. I simply raised my hand and forcefully ripped apart the incision that had just been stitched. When blood and intestines spilled out, Julian screamed so loudly his voice cracked. "Evelyn! Are you crazy?! You're going to die!" Watching his panicked tears, I just pulled the corners of my mouth into a smile. "Die? That sounds wonderful." "Living another second with you people... makes me sick!" After saying that, I could no longer fight the heaviness of my eyelids. My head lolled to the side, and I passed out. I don't know how much time passed, but I woke up from the darkness. I thought I had already returned to my original world. But when I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar face of my eldest brother, Alexander Sterling. "You're finally awake." He had dark circles under his eyes, looking like he hadn't slept, but his tone was brimming with impatience. "You're a grown adult. Why are you so impulsive?" "Making life-and-death scenes over the smallest things. Where is the dignity of a Sterling heiress..." The thought of having to deal with this rotten world again made me feel completely drained. I had zero interest in defending myself. I interrupted him with hollow eyes. "You're right. I'm an embarrassment. I don't deserve to live." "So, let me die." Alexander's expression shifted drastically. He instinctively raised his hand to slap me. But when he saw my ghostly, bloodless face, his hand stopped in mid-air. "Evelyn Sterling! I'm warning you, stop talking nonsense!" His voice trembled. The impatience in his eyes faded slightly, hiding a sliver of panic that even he hadn't noticed. "I paid a massive price to pull you out of that mountain. It wasn't so you could lie here speaking garbage!" I gave a cold, temperatureless smile. Paid a massive price? He was probably just terrified that if I died, there would be no one left to act as Chloe's spare organ bank, and no one left for her to play the victim against. As I thought this, the hospital room door pushed open. My third brother, Julian, walked in carrying a bowl of medicine. Seeing me awake, a flash of joy crossed his eyes, but when he spoke, his tone was as aggressive as ever. "Drink this since you're awake. Don't make me force it down your throat!" He handed the bowl to me. The liquid was pitch black and smelled incredibly bitter. I turned my head away, closed my eyes, and refused. "No need. It's a waste of medicine." "You!" Julian's hand was shaking with anger, but he didn't force the medicine down my throat like he normally would. Instead, he placed the bowl on the nightstand and reached out to check my wound. When his fingertips touched the bandages, his movements were unusually gentle. For the first time, he showed a fraction of the tender care he normally reserved for Chloe. "As expected. Using the best medicine really speeds up the recovery..." He re-wrapped the bandages and glared at me fiercely. "You better behave. If that wound tears open again, I absolutely will not stitch you up a second time!" His words were harsh, but I clearly saw the bloodshot lines in his eyes and the subtle trembling of his fingertips. It seemed he had spent the last few nights staying up to watch over me. If it were the old me, I would have been moved by this tiny crumb of gentleness. I would have hugged him and cried about how wronged I felt. But now, I only found it ironic. I shook off his hand, violently threw off the blankets, and moved to rip my incision open again. Right now, living a single second longer was pure torture. As long as I could die faster, I didn't care how. "Are you insane?!" Alexander grabbed my arm, gripping it so hard it felt like he might crush my bones. But when I groaned in pain, he instantly loosened his grip, roaring at me with a voice choked with tears: "Evelyn, what the hell are you trying to do?!" "Die." My tone was as calm as if I were discussing the weather. "Letting me die is best for everyone." "You won't have to be conflicted anymore, and Chloe can peacefully be the sole Sterling heiress." "So, do me a favor and let me die faster." My words seemed to stab Alexander right in his sore spot. With red eyes, he raised his hand and slapped me—but it was lighter than any slap he had ever given me before. It felt more like an outburst of frustrated desperation. "I forbid it! You are the biological daughter of the Sterling family! Who would dare let you die?!" Julian panicked too. He stepped forward, pressed my shoulders down, and pinned me back onto the bed, his tone carrying a rare note of pleading. "Evelyn, stop this." "I know it hurts. But if you just focus on recovering... from now on... from now on, I'll spoil you more, okay?" Looking at the pleading in his eyes, I found it absurd. Where was this attitude before? When he was ripping out my kidney while I was fully awake, when he was making a mountain out of a molehill over Chloe's tiny paper cut—why didn't he think about "spoiling me more" then? I closed my eyes, refusing to look at them. I let Julian tuck the blankets back over me, and let him bring the bowl of medicine to my lips, but I kept my mouth clamped shut. During the standoff, my second brother, Nicholas Sterling, pushed the door open, followed closely by a pale-looking Liam. Seeing me, Nicholas's eyes turned red, and he rushed to the bedside. "Evelyn, thank God you're awake. You scared me to death." When I was first brought back to the Sterling family, Nicholas had been the kindest to me out of all my relatives. He took me traveling, showed me beautiful sights, and told me how much the family had missed me and searched for me over the years. He would often tear up when talking about it. But later, after Chloe wiped her tears and complained about me to him a few times, he completely changed his face. He accused me of being a two-faced hypocrite who betrayed the family's sincere love for me. Seeing him now only filled me with annoyance. I dodged his hand as he reached out to touch my face. Nicholas's hand froze in midair. With a bitter expression, he slowly pulled it back. Seeing this, Liam stepped forward and took the medicine bowl from Julian. "Let me feed her. She might listen to me." His confidence wasn't surprising. After all, over the past few years, anyone with eyes could see how much I catered to and tolerated this fiancé of mine. I had loved him to my very core. Just as he walked toward me, the hospital room door opened again. "Evelyn, I came to see you." Chloe, wearing a hospital gown and looking incredibly frail, walked in. Alexander immediately stood up and supported her. "Chloe, you just had a kidney transplant! Your body is still weak, why did you come over here?" Chloe shook her head, her eyes landing on me, full of fake guilt. "It's all my fault. If I had stopped Evelyn that day, things wouldn't have gotten this far." "I felt so guilty, I had to come and apologize to her." Saying this, she took the bowl from Liam's hands and sat down by my bed herself. "Evelyn, stop punishing yourself. Drink your medicine and heal. Everyone has been so worried about you." "I know you still blame me, but I truly never wanted to fight you for anything. Everything in the Sterling family was supposed to be yours..." Her words sounded like a humble retreat, but every sentence implied that I was narrow-minded, clinging to the past, and purposely gambling with my own health just to throw a tantrum. Before her spoon even touched my lips, I raised my hand and slapped the bowl away. With a loud crash, the porcelain bowl shattered on the floor. The scalding black medicine splashed all over Chloe, instantly turning the skin on her wrists and chest bright red. Chloe let out a sharp gasp, her eyes immediately welling with tears, her voice cracking. "Evelyn... how could you do that? I just wanted to feed you your medicine..." She bit her lip, looking like the ultimate victim. The tears swirling in her eyes were enough to make anyone's heart ache. "Evelyn Sterling! Are you insane?!" Alexander flew into a rage. He yanked Chloe behind him and glared at me viciously. "Chloe came here out of the kindness of her heart to feed you, and this is how you treat her?!" Julian immediately rushed over to check Chloe's burns, his voice thick with panic. "How bad is it? Are you burned badly? Call a doctor, quickly!" Nicholas also frowned deeply, his eyes full of profound disappointment. "Evelyn, you've gone too far! Chloe actively apologized to you. When are you going to stop this nonsense?!" Liam quickly stepped to Chloe's side, pulling out tissues to wipe her clothes, his tone full of reprimand. "Evelyn, can you stop acting like a child? Chloe meant well. Even if you didn't appreciate it, you shouldn't have attacked her." The four men crowded around Chloe, showering her with concern, completely ignoring me—the person who had just had a kidney carved out and whose incision was still throbbing with pain. Leaning against Alexander's chest, Chloe sneaked a glance at me. A flash of triumph crossed her eyes, though her mouth kept up the innocent act: "I'm fine. Please don't yell at Evelyn. She's just in a bad mood right now..." If this were the past, this "white lotus" act would have left me shaking with fury. But now, I just found it laughably absurd. Such a clumsy, amateur manipulation tactic. Anyone else would see through it instantly. Yet these four men—titans in their respective fields—willingly allowed themselves to be played like fools by Chloe. Or perhaps, it was a case of one willing to hit and the other willing to suffer. I was merely a prop in their twisted little game. "If your hearts are aching for this animal, please take your heartache outside. Don't dirty my hospital room." Hearing my freezing, detached voice, all of them trembled with anger. "Evelyn Sterling, it seems you haven't reflected nearly enough!" Julian looked at me with deep disappointment and snapped, "From this moment on, I am cutting off all your painkillers!" "When you finally figure things out, when you are willing to apologize to Chloe, then we will resume your medication." Alexander chimed in, "Exactly! Let her taste what real pain feels like. See if she dares to be this stubborn then!" Nicholas sighed, his eyes full of helpless resignation, but he didn't voice any objection. Liam stood to the side, nodding silently, clearly agreeing with the decision. I closed my eyes. I didn't argue, and I wasn't angry. Cut off my painkillers? So what? The pain of this physical wound was nothing compared to the twenty years of grievances and torment I had suffered. If anything, the pain would keep my mind clear as I waited for death to finally arrive. Seeing my completely unresponsive attitude, Julian immediately stepped forward and disconnected my pain pump. As an overwhelming, avalanche-like agony washed over me, the family I loved most, and my fiancé, nervously surrounded Chloe and walked out of the room. The door slammed shut with a heavy thud. Not a single one of them looked back. Enduring the blood leaking from my bitten lip, I reached under my pillow and pulled out a jagged shard of porcelain I had hidden away moments earlier. Without a second of hesitation, I dragged it across my throat. As I collapsed once more, I could feel the strength draining from my body. The pain from my wounds began to fade, and my heartbeat grew slower and slower... In the moment darkness finally descended, I actually smiled. This suffocating, agonizing life was finally over. ... Out in the hallway, after walking a fair distance, Alexander suddenly stopped in his tracks at the front of the group. "You guys take Chloe to get her burns treated. My heart feels uneasy. I'm going to go back and stay with Evelyn." As soon as he said that, Nicholas immediately spoke up. "No, I'll go. Evelyn is really angry this time. Out of everyone in the family, I've always been the closest to her. I should be the one to talk to her." Julian wasn't happy about that. "What kind of talk is that? As if the rest of us aren't her biological brothers!" "You guys are amateurs. What Evelyn needs most right now is a doctor. I'll go back." Seeing them all instinctively turn around to head back, Liam frowned and offered an apologetic smile to the still-confused Chloe. "They're all going. If I, her husband, don't go, it won't look right." "Anyway, your burns aren't that bad. Just go have them treated yourself. I'll come see you when I'm done." With that, without even giving Chloe a chance to respond, he hurried after the three Sterling brothers. But when they pushed open the hospital room doors they had left only moments ago... a thick, unmistakable stench of blood hit them square in the face.
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