Chapter 1 Chapter 1

After my adopted sister, Mackenzie Falk, accused me of swapping the graduation thesis she had prepared for three years, I suffered a sudden heart attack and collapsed on the spot. My three brothers, Marcus, Jeremy, and Andrew Graham, dragged me into the greenhouse as punishment. They locked the door tight after throwing me in. I cried as I explained. I pounded on the door desperately while begging them to believe me. Marcus' eyes were icy, and his tone was final. "The evidence is solid. Why do you think you can still argue about it? Mackenzie nearly failed to graduate. Stay in there and reflect on yourself!" Jeremy and Andrew looked at me with disgust and eyes full of disappointment. "Look at her pathetic pity act. It's truly sickening," Jeremy said with a scoff. "Mackie went into shock because of you. Stay inside until you learn your lesson!" Andrew sneered. After saying all that, they carried the unconscious Mackenzie away without so much as a backward glance. But Mackenzie was not unconscious at all. She turned back to wink at me and pressed the button on a remote control so that the pesticide would keep spraying inside the greenhouse. A pungent odor slowly filled the air. My consciousness grew hazy until I finally died of poisoning and suffocation. The next day, my brothers returned home with the recovered Mackenzie. "Don't worry, Mackie. We will find out the truth about the stolen thesis," they promised. I floated in midair and watched Marcus carefully help Mackenzie to the couch, his voice filled with concern. He used to treat me the same way. When I fell from a tree and broke my leg, he took leave to stay by my side for an entire week. I loved to eat apples but hated peeling them, so he personally peeled them for me. At first, his movements were clumsy, but he later became so skillful that he could shape the apple peels into a rose for me. Jeremy, the surgeon who always remained calm and composed on the operating table, was now massaging Mackenzie's head. His tender affection for her spilled forth from his loving expression. "Luckily, it's only mild fatigue. Any later, and you might have suffered from some long lasting damage," he said. This love once belonged only to me. When I got my first period and cried in fear, he blushed as he bought all the supplies and awkwardly made me a warm drink while saying soothingly, "Don't be scared. I checked. This is normal." Andrew, the movie star who charmed audiences on screen, lifted a cup of warm water to Mackenzie's lips and said, "Drink some water. It'll help you stay calm. We'll handle the issue with your thesis." He had once smoothed over everything for me countless times. But now, he chose to deal with me harshly for Mackenzie's sake. Last year, when my classmates mocked me for dressing dowdily, he spent his entire paycheck to buy me new clothes. He had countered, "My sister looks good in anything. They have poor taste." Once, my three brothers loved me so much. Now, they only had eyes for Mackenzie. It was as if they had completely forgotten me. Mackenzie's face was pale, and her unshed tears pooled at the corners of her eyes. She leaned weakly against Marcus' chest and said in a trembling voice, "It's all my fault… If it weren't for me, Bianca wouldn't have been locked up. She must hate me so much." Marcus immediately frowned upon hearing that. "You did nothing wrong. She was jealous of you and committed that vile act to ruin your future!""That's right," Jeremy said with disgust as he stood up. "We're too lenient on her by just locking her up for a day. If not for the fact that her body might not be able to take it, I'd want to keep her locked up for a few more days." I listened to their words and laughed soundlessly. I said mournfully, "But Jeremy, I'm already dead. Your real sister had truly 'learned her lesson' inside there." Beside them, the housekeeper, Sofia Bloom, wrung her hands in anxiety. She said in a small voice, "Mr. Marcus, Mr. Jeremy, Mr. Andrew… Ms. Bianca has been in the greenhouse for a whole day. It's all quiet inside…" Marcus' expression immediately soured. One cold glance from him silenced Sofia at once. He rebuked, "Sofia, Mackenzie just got discharged from the hospital. Why bring up unpleasant things?" Sofia tried to say more, but Andrew stopped her with a sharp glare. "She must be playing dead in there. Let her stay until she figures things out and is willing to apologize. We'll let her out by then," he said scornfully. One corner of Mackenzie's mouth curved into a subtle smirk, but she quickly concealed it. Her eyes teared up as she tugged pitifully at Marcus' sleeve.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Mackenzie said through sobs, "Marcus, could it be that Bianca thinks… I'm trying to steal you away from her? I didn't mean to. I was… I was just too scared that I wouldn't graduate." Marcus' expression softened considerably as he gently patted Mackenzie's head. "Silly girl, how could we ever abandon you?""Even if we're not related by blood, you're still our sister," Jeremy chimed in. "From now on, don't think about such things. As long as we're around, we'll never let anyone bully you," Andrew promised as well. I floated in the center of the living room, listening to their gentle and comforting words toward Mackenzie. They were such a sharp contrast to the cold words I heard before I died. It was utterly laughable. I murmured, "From now on, you have only one sister." They soon stopped talking about me. To them, I seemed to be nothing more than insignificant trash. With that, the atmosphere in the living room became cheerful and harmonious once more. Mackenzie nestled in Marcus' arms, acting coy. Jeremy told her amusing anecdotes from the hospital. Andrew sat nearby and was capturing this warm scene with his phone. My soul drifted through the wall and back to the greenhouse where I was imprisoned. Dead silence filled the space, and the air reeked with the smell of pesticide that was mixed with the rotting fragrance from the flowers. It was nauseating and foul. My body remained in the same position as when I died. I was curled behind the door with both hands gripping the doorframe tightly. My broken fingernails wedged into the cracks. That very day, I had planned to show them the offer I had just received from the Seinland Cardiovascular Research Center over dinner. I had wanted to surprise them. I wanted to tell them that I, too, could become someone they would be proud of. I had even contacted specialists there for Mackenzie. There was a possibility that her congenital heart disease could be cured. But Mackenzie's single scream shattered all my fantasies. In front of the entire campus, she cried and accused me of swapping out her graduation thesis, which she had spent three years preparing. I had no way of defending myself because I had indeed copied the thesis from her computer. I could not understand why her paper, which supposedly carried three years of her effort, had turned into a rough draft full of flaws. My brothers ignored all my explanations and dragged me into the greenhouse to lock me in. "You're so ruthless, Bianca!""How could the Graham family produce a disgrace like you!" My final memory was of Andrew personally locking the greenhouse door. Mackenzie had stolen my remote control and pressed the button labeled "Timed Pesticide Spray". It was a remote my brothers had developed to help me care for the flowers, but she used it to kill me. Andrew once joked with a smile, "From now on, the greenhouse is yours to manage. If anyone dares to bully you, I'll stuff them into the flowerbed and let them become fertilizer." That playful remark was absolutely ironic now. Looking at my lifeless body, I couldn't help but feel that this was all so absurd. In the living room, Mackenzie suddenly let out a soft "Ah!" while pointing at her temple. She turned to Marcus and said pitifully, "It hurts so much… Whenever I think of Bianca's ferocious expression that day, I can't stop trembling with fear." There was a small bruise on her fair forehead. I had accidentally hit her while struggling against my brothers as they dragged me away. But now, it had become yet another evidence of my cruelty. Marcus' expression turned incredibly grim as he fumed, "She was clearly in the wrong! How could she do that to you?" Anger flared in Jeremy's eyes. "It seems locking her up for one day is too easy on her. She hasn't learned her lesson at all!" Andrew set down his phone with a glacial gaze. "Marcus, Jeremy, we can't let her off so easily. I say we make her come out and apologize." A flash of excitement flickered in Mackenzie's eyes, but she quickly hid it and hurried to dissuade them. "Please don't… Bianca didn't mean it. What if she's still angry…" The more she spoke like this, the more furious my three brothers became. They exclaimed, "You're simply too kind, Mackie!"

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

Marcus gnashed his teeth and said, "When dealing with someone like her, we can't show mercy. Today, I'll drag her out myself and make her apologize to you." With that, he suddenly stood up and made his way toward the greenhouse in long strides. Jeremy and Andrew followed close behind, their faces wearing the same cold and ruthless expressions. Sofia tried to step forward to stop them. Jeremy shoved her aside, sending her staggering and crashing into the wall. "Get out of the way! This is none of your business!" Jeremy barked. My soul floated silently behind them, watching this ridiculous scene with icy detachment. Go on. Go see the masterpiece you created with your own hands, which Mackenzie perfected with a fatal touch. At the greenhouse door, everything was silent. Marcus stood before the sealed entrance and shouted angrily at the door, "Bianca! Have you learned your lesson?" Only dead silence answered him. "Are you playing dumb now?" Marcus gave a cold laugh and quickly entered numbers on the keypad. The greenhouse code was my birthday. Back then, he had smiled and said, "This way, you can come in anytime to enjoy the flowers." Following a beep, the lock released, but the door seemed stuck. It would only open up to a narrow crack. Jeremy stepped forward, his tone dripping with contempt. "How dare she block the door from inside? What a cheap trick!" They thought I was deliberately going against them. Andrew said nothing but stepped up to push at the door together with Marcus. With one forceful push, the door opened halfway, blocked by my curled-up body. Following the second push, my body toppled to the ground due to the force. Mackenzie and Sofia came over. Hiding behind the others, Mackenzie looked on excitedly, as if she were waiting for a good show. Sofia's face was pale, and her lips trembled as if she had sensed what awaited them. She stammered, "Mr. Marcus… Ms. Bianca… seems to be… dead…" Marcus cut her off snappily, "Shut up! Say one more word and you're out of the Graham household! I'd like to see how long she can play dead." A combined stench of pesticide, rotten flesh, and despair instantly poured out from the greenhouse. The overwhelming foulness made my brothers wince and gag. "Ugh…" Jeremy was the first to bend over uncontrollably and cover his mouth as he rushed aside to retch. Andrew also turned pale and retreated far away while fanning his hand in front of his nose with a disgusted expression. "What the hell? What did she do in there? Why does it stink so badly?" Marcus frowned hard. Fighting his nausea, he switched on the greenhouse lights. My body lay curled on the ground, completely unresponsive. "What are you playing at, Bianca? Get up now!" Marcus roared. He thought I was retaliating by doing something revolting to express my dissatisfaction toward them. My soul stood right beside him. I watched as his face grew more furious at my silence and thought what a tragedy this was. Mackenzie pinched her nose and cast a look of repugnance before letting out an exaggerated scream. "Oh my god! How repulsive! Did she mess with the pesticides in here? That's so dangerous!" Her words effectively spurred Marcus to get even madder at me. They had forgotten how they once celebrated my 18th birthday inside this greenhouse. Marcus had said, "From now on, you will make wishes here every year." Jeremy had promised, "I'll always protect you." Andrew had vowed, "We'll always have your back." Now, they didn't even want to take a glance at me. Marcus turned to the trembling Sofia and barked an order. "Get someone to carry her out! Since she likes to play dead, she can die outside!" He still thought I was alive. He thought I was simply using this extreme method to protest against them. He didn't even bother to step closer to take a good look at me. When the workers in protective suits entered and moved the body, one of them let out a terrified scream. "A-Ah! It's a… a corpse!""What?" My three brothers were startled by the cry. They peered inside again in disbelief. When they finally drew close enough to my body, they all gasped.