On my eighteenth birthday, I climbed to the roof of a skyscraper. But when I got there, I found another girl already preparing to jump. Floating above her head was a stream of glowing text, like a live chat feed. [Another jumper? Is she backup sent by the villainess?] [The villainess is so dramatic. The heroine's family raised her in luxury for ten years, and now all they ask is for her to donate her heart to save the heroine. Why is she acting like it's the end of the world?] [Wait, why is the jumper girl walking towards her? What is she doing?] I grabbed the girl around the waist and tackled her onto the safe side of the roof. "Let me go first," I said. "I'm in a hurry." 1 "Let me go! Just let me die!" The wind at the edge of the roof whipped her hair across her face. Tears the size of beans rolled down her cheeks. "I found out today... in my family's eyes, I'm just an organ bank for my sister." The girl, Chloe, cried until her face was a mess. "The only reason I exist is to be sacrificed for her." "Don't try to talk me out of it. even if I destroy this body, I won't let them have what they want!" "I wasn't planning on talking you out of it," I said, watching her stunned expression. "I just saw you were hogging the spot, hesitating. That's why I pulled you down." "Why don't you take a minute to mentally prepare yourself? Let me jump first. I'm on a tight schedule." Chloe opened her mouth but couldn't say a word. Instead, the text above her head went wild. [Are people cutting in line for suicide now?] [This jumper girl seems mentally unstable. Don't let her corrupt the villainess! We need that heart healthy for our heroine!] [The villainess is just being dramatic. I knew she wouldn't jump. Who is she trying to scare with those tears?] Chloe stared at me, eyes wide with disbelief. "Why do you want to die so badly?" I sat on the ledge, swinging my legs carelessly over the abyss. "Because my parents want me dead sooner rather than later." 2 I was born a monster. I can't feel emotions. I only know how to mimic others—happiness, anger, sadness. Because of this, everyone around me hates me to the bone. Even my parents have said more than once: "I regret giving birth to you. Why don't you just die?" They're right. I am a monster who deserves to die. But I wanted to struggle a little first. I practiced smiling and crying in the mirror, trying to blend into the crowd like a normal person. But I kept failing. Like watching a comedy movie—I was the only one laughing out loud while everyone else was wiping tears, looking at me in shock. I didn't get it. Shouldn't you laugh at a comedy? Why were they crying? Or at a wedding, when the father hands the bride to the groom. Everyone was cheering and smiling, but I stood there with a mourning face. My mom saw me, dragged me out, and cursed me for being bad luck. I didn't understand that either. A daughter leaving her childhood home should be sad, right? Why was everyone smiling? After that, I became more careful. When a relative dies: head down, eyes lowered, corners of the mouth down thirty degrees. When receiving a gift: eyes wide, corners of the mouth up forty-five degrees. When seeing someone cry: knit eyebrows into a frown, let out a couple of dry sobs. "Today is my eighteenth birthday. Starting today, my parents don't have to support me anymore." "They gave me some money and told me never to come back. They're planning to adopt a new kid." I swung my legs, the wind blowing hair into my face. "See? I tried. But it seems I'm really not suited for living in this world." The text above Chloe's head went quiet for a few seconds, then popped up again: [Wait, her symptoms sound like Alexithymia or emotional detachment disorder?] [Who cares what disorder she has? If she's gonna jump, jump! Don't delay our heroine's life-saving surgery!] [Damn, this jumper girl really isn't normal. A monster, right?] Suddenly, Chloe grabbed my swinging hand and dragged me back from the edge with surprising strength. "No... you're not a monster." Her voice was still trembling, but incredibly firm. "My foster mom always called me an ungrateful wolf, said I didn't know how good I had it. But I know I'm not." "You're the same. I can tell you're just sick." I froze. This was the first time anyone had ever said something like that to me. Before, people either cursed me, feared me, or looked at me like a sideshow freak. Inside my chest, the heart they said was "empty" suddenly gave a light thump. Like a pebble thrown into a frozen lake, cracking the surface. I twitched the corner of my mouth, trying to mimic a sarcastic expression. "What's the use of saying that? It won't comfort me, and it won't save you." "At least we don't have to wait in line to jump." Chloe sniffled. Tears were still falling, but she wore a clumsy smile. "I thought about it just now. I'm not jumping either. They want to steal my heart? I won't give it to them. I'm going to live. I'll live until they're too old to move, watching me be healthy and happy, just to spite them!" The text above her head exploded. [The villainess is crazy?! She refuses to donate her heart?] [When is the heroine's family getting here? Hurry up and catch her!] [Where did this jumper girl come from? She's made the villainess lose her mind too!] Chloe didn't see the words. She just stared at me. "Don't jump either, okay? Even though I don't know how to cure your illness, living one more day is always good, right? What if something good happens tomorrow?" I looked into her shining eyes. I suddenly remembered seeing a mother teaching her child about fruits in the supermarket yesterday. The kid pointed at a durian and said, "It smells bad." The mother smiled and said, "Wait until you taste it. It just looks ugly on the outside." Maybe I was like that too? Just a hard shell, a strange smell, waiting for someone willing to open me up and taste. 3 The door to the roof burst open. A woman dressed in expensive clothes stormed in with several men in suits. She stared unkindly at Chloe's bleeding knee, her voice devoid of emotion. "Chloe, didn't Mom tell you your body doesn't belong to you? You're not allowed to get hurt." Beside her, a man with sharp features strode towards us. "Chloe, be a good girl and come back with your brother. Lily is still waiting for your heart." The floating text got excited. [Ooh, the male lead is here! The villainess can't escape now!] [Even though the male lead is the villainess's biological brother, the family only adopted him because of her. But in his heart, only the heroine, his adopted sister, matters. The biological sister has to step aside.] [Although after the villainess dies giving her heart, the male lead will suddenly remember her goodness and go dark, tormenting the heroine... don't worry everyone, it's just their little lovers' game. They get married and live happily ever after in the end.] "Come with me." The man, Ethan, reached out to grab Chloe's arm, his movement domineering and unquestionable. Chloe instinctively hid behind me. "Why should I give my heart to Lily?" "Why?" Ethan stared at her, his tone turning cold. "Because she is the only bloodline of the Stone family. If the Stones hadn't adopted us siblings back then, who knows where we'd be?" "Your very life belongs to the Stone family. What's donating a heart?" I grabbed Ethan's wrist. The wind snapped his sleeves. For the first time, I didn't mimic any expression. I just looked at him. "Don't force her." Ethan frowned. "Who are you? Get lost!" "Who I am doesn't matter." I released his wrist and pointed to my own chest. "A live heart donation means a life for a life. You want her life. Did you ask if she's willing?" "I'm not willing!" Chloe screamed, her voice hoarse. She clutched the hem of my shirt, her knuckles white. Ethan's face darkened like a storm cloud. "Chloe, stop making a scene. Lily is waiting in the operating room. Do you want her to die?" "What about me?" Chloe suddenly looked up, tearfully questioning him. "Brother, do you want me to die?" 4 [Isn't the villainess just a plot device? How dare she talk back!] [Why is the male lead hesitating? Just knock her out and carry her away! The heroine is waiting in the hospital!] [This jumper girl is so nosy. Just jump off your building! Stop playing hero!] "She said she's not willing. Didn't you hear?" I stepped forward, blocking Chloe. "Medically speaking, live heart donation is prohibited except in extreme cases. What you're doing is murder." Hearing this, even the wealthy-looking woman froze. Ethan was clearly enraged. He shoved me. "Who do you think you are, meddling in the Stone family's business?" I didn't dodge. I let his hand slam into my shoulder. "I'm nobody." I stared into his eyes and slowly raised my phone. A voice recording app was running, the sound wave moving across the screen. "But I know no one has the right to take another's life, even in the name of repaying a debt." "I've been recording since you burst in. If you dare touch her today, I'll call the police immediately." "Then let me go to jail," he gritted his teeth. "Lily is the Stone family's treasure. I will save her even if it costs me everything." "But I am my own treasure too." Chloe stood up straight. The pain in her knee made her tremble, but she didn't take a step back. "Ethan, you're my biological brother, but you never treated me like a sister. From today on, we're done." Complex emotions swirled in Ethan's eyes. Shock, anger, and a trace of panic he tried to hide. He took a deep breath and made his biggest concession. "One day. I can only give you one last day." "If you still refuse the surgery, don't blame your brother for being ruthless." Chloe grabbed my hand and walked towards the stairwell, step by step. I looked back. The Stone family didn't follow. I asked, "Where are we going now? On the run? or finding a different building to jump off?" The floating text said that in this novel world, the male and female leads are absolute gods. Police wouldn't help. So I was just bluffing earlier. I didn't plan to actually go to the police station. I thought Chloe would have a plan. But I never expected what she said next. "Let's find a place to buy a birthday cake first." I froze. The heart in my chest suddenly started beating like a drum. The feeling was so foreign. I looked down at my chest. So this heart could have such vivid moments. It wasn't beating to mimic someone else's emotion. It was beating because this girl, just pulled back from the edge of death, said she wanted to buy me a birthday cake. "Why are you standing there? Let's go..." Chloe stopped. She stared at the corner of my mouth. "You... you seem to be smiling."
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