ManyWriters

On his deathbed, Dad warned my sister and me.
Whoever betrays you, never choose forgiveness.
Always leave them behind.
So when my sister abandoned me for the ninth time to comfort our stepdad's depressed son, I didn't cry or make a fuss. I simply ordered 999 gallons of gasoline online.
My childhood sweetheart saw it and mockingly asked, "Planning to set yourself on fire to join your dead dad?"
My sister, feeling guilty, tried to explain: "After learning his dad and our mom had an affair, Nolan became depressed. His emotions are unstable. You need to be understanding."
My childhood sweetheart chimed in: "I don't know why you insist on dragging Nolan into the mess of the older generation. You're so petty."
"Besides, I've told you that once Nolan's depression gets better, I'll fulfill our childhood promise and marry you."
This time, I didn't argue with them.
They had no idea I had scheduled a fake death service.
I'm looking forward to the reactions of those present at Nolan's birthday party next week after my appearance as a charred corpse.

After their Betrayal, I Faked My Own Death

This is not the first time Vienna and Melody have defended him without limits.


Just because Nolan has depression, he's allowed to go crazy and tear up my homework that took me over ten days to complete, deliberately throw away my admission card before the college entrance exam, and even burn my college acceptance letter after the results came out.


As long as his eyes turn a bit red, I'm expected to forgive him.


Two weeks ago, I finally found a job and settled down. But on the very day I was moving out to completely separate myself from them, Nolan had another 'depression episode' and stood on the roof of our company building.


Afterwards, he apologized to me with red-rimmed eyes and a grin: "I'm sorry, Yen. I didn't mean to get you fired. It's just this depression, you know? It's like a curse, like the Grim Reaper haunting me. I can't help it..."


I understand now. His depression is all fake.


Using depression to gain sympathy, torturing me in just the right way, getting revenge on me - that's his real goal.


I took another deep breath and said with tears in my eyes, "I can let the jersey incident slide."


"But you took the cassette tapes from my room, didn't you?"


Back then, Dad was afraid that my sister and I would be left alone after he was gone, so he left us many recordings on those tapes. Over the years, whenever I felt down, I would take it out to listen to my dad's voice.


But the next moment, Nolan revealed a meaningful smile. "Oh, that..."


"You know I like to listen to some music when I'm feeling depressed. It's in my room, you can go get it."


I immediately had a bad feeling and rushed to Nolan's room to find the tape.


However, I discovered that the tape that originally contained my father's voice had long been replaced by Nolan with chaotic, grating music!


My mind went blank, and rage rushed to my head. I lunged forward and grabbed Nolan's collar.


Roaring like an enraged beast, "How dare you... You did this on purpose, how dare you..."


But the next moment, accompanied by a sharp rebuke—


I looked up with disbelief and reddened eyes at the person who had hit me while shielding Nolan behind her.


My sister, Vienna! She actually slapped me for the sake of an outsider?!Vienna seemed startled as well, withdrawing her hand guiltily. She put on her elder sister act and scolded me, "Everything was going fine until you had to ruin it like you always do. Nolan didn't mean any harm."


"Exactly. It's your own fault for not keeping your things safe. How is this Nolan's problem? Besides, who wants to listen to some tape from a dead person? Aren't you afraid it'll bring bad luck, or worse, summon a ghost in the middle of the night?"


"Nolan was just trying to help by getting rid of it. The least you could do is be grateful instead of making such a fuss."


Chapter 4