The Day I Died

The day Evan finally made it official on his Weibo account, announcing to the world that I was his girlfriend, I was already dead.

By the time he went on a frantic, world-turning search for me, I was no longer among the living.

1

That last day was so ordinary it was almost boring.

I went out for drinks with some friends and happened to run into Evan. His arm was wrapped around my sister, May. I watched him whisper something in her ear, and her cheeks flushed instantly.

"Evan, you're so bad," she said.

He laughed out loud, then, right in front of everyone, he cupped the back of her head and gave her a deep, passionate kiss. She pounded her fists against his chest, but in the end, she just shyly buried her face in his arms.

My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice, aching and swollen with bitterness.

He had never introduced me to his friends.

I found out May was back in the country through an online post. Her return hit the top of the trending charts alongside another headline: Evan & May EternalLove.

As the youngest Best Actor winner in history, Evan always claimed in interviews that he had a secret lover. Now, it seemed, his wish had come true. My feed was flooded with nothing but well-wishes.

But the person who had been by his side for seven years was me.

Evan's friends finally noticed me.

"Isn't that Claire?"

A rich kid named Huang shouted at me, "Hey, you didn't actually fall for Evan, did you?"

Everyone was waiting to see me make a fool of myself. Several people pulled out their phones.

My friends' faces went pale. They rolled up their sleeves, ready to charge, but I stopped them. I calmly nodded at the group.

"Yes. I love him."

His friends burst into laughter.

It was strange. Maybe when the pain reaches its peak, you just go numb. I nodded at them again and turned to leave.

Someone posted the video online. My social media accounts exploded.

Xander asked me, "Want me to help bury the comments?"

I shook my head. "No."

I must have looked too calm. My friend kept staring at me but couldn't find anything wrong.

When I got home, I sat in silence for a long time. Then I got in my car and drove away.

On the mountain road, I drove straight off the cliff.

2

May brought Evan to my parents' house.

My parents were almost always abroad, so I lived there alone. The sight of them made me nauseous. I didn't need to guess—this was a show meant for me. There is no crueler way to destroy someone than to break their heart.

They couldn't even wait. They were kissing the moment they stepped through the door.

That face I had once loved so deeply was now gazing at another woman with the same adoration. He kissed her, held her, threaded his fingers through her hair, as if he wanted to absorb her into his very being.

But that wasn't enough. Evan scooped her up and swept everything off the table.

I watched the photo of him and me crash to the floor and shatter into pieces.

The hallway light flicked on.

As if waking from a nightmare, Evan stopped.

"Evan, what's wrong?" May's dress strap was back on her shoulder, her arms still looped around his neck, her face flushed.

"Nothing." He sounded like he had been doused with cold water, breathing heavily with irritation. But he still tried to soothe her. "Someone filmed what happened today and posted it online. I need to call my agent. If this blows up, it'll be bad for my image."

My sister looked annoyed, but she was a master at pretending in front of Evan. She just pouted and shook his arm, putting on a pitiful act.

"I think I upset my sister today. It's all my fault."

"It's not your fault." Evan bent down and rubbed his nose against hers affectionately. "I've always loved you, and only you."

May pursed her lips. "And what about her?"

She had been pulling this trick since we were kids.

Evan pinched her nose, a gesture of intimacy, then blew a warm breath in her ear. "Don't you know who I love?"

May blushed.

"Want me to make you some noodles?" he whispered.

"Evan—"

He laughed, spun her around in his arms, and gently set her down on the sofa.

"Wait for me, baby."

A wave of palpitations surged up from my feet. Even my scalp prickled with fear. I didn't want to watch anymore.

But I couldn't leave.

It was as if some strange force was trapping me by Evan's side, forcing me to watch him flirt and make out with my own sister.

It was disgusting.

They say suicides are doomed to relive the moments before their death over and over again.

I never thought the hardest part wouldn't be the car plunging off the cliff, but this—the slow, deliberate destruction of my heart.

3

The kitchen light fell across his broad shoulders. How sweet and thoughtful he looked.

I watched Evan clumsily wash the vegetables, water soaking his ridiculously expensive shirt. But his eyes were shining—nothing like the perfunctory act he put on with me.

When we were together, Evan never touched housework. He took everything I did for him for granted. Even our intimacy felt like a charity he was granting me.

He was perfectly comfortable with it.

I wasn't above begging him to cook for me just once. But he always refused, saying he was too busy or watching his diet.

The only time was when I had such bad cramps I was rolling on the bed in pain. He made me a cup of brown sugar water.

I was over the moon.

Back then, I really believed people could change.

Now I see they can. Just not for me.

Until one day, I accidentally saw his chat history with a friend.

"You're still with that girl?"

"Just having fun," he replied casually. "Easy. Clean."

4

My family was well-off. From the moment I first saw him, I was a goner.

But he was too famous. Countless rich girls were chasing after him. With my background, I didn't even rank.

I added him on WeChat but didn't know what to say. He was always pinned to the top of my chat list. Even just looking at his posts every day made me happy.

He was my god.

So when he agreed to date me, I felt more fear than joy.

I couldn't understand why he would choose me. The entertainment industry was full of beautiful women. Even if I was decent-looking, I was nothing in that world.

I was at a booth playing dice with my friends when he walked over.

In that moment, the lights hit his face, and I felt like my god had descended to earth. I couldn't say a word.

He smiled at me and held out his hand.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

My friends all knew I liked him. But we were all seasoned night owls. A confession in a bar like that? It was a hundred percent a dare.

Even so, I reached out and took his hand.

And from that moment on, I stepped into a disaster from which there was no return.

5

After May finished her noodles, they cuddled for a while but didn't go all the way.

Watching them be intimate made me sick.

This house had always been mine alone. That meant they were sleeping on my bed, messing up my things, making love in my only sanctuary. They left me no room to breathe.

May was using the man I loved in every possible way, and then she would act coy with him.

"Say it. Say you love me."

My head throbbed even more.

Evan's phone kept buzzing. He was famous and controversial, always trending for one thing or another.

Once May fell asleep, Evan went out to the balcony to smoke, afraid the smell would bother her.

The light from his phone screen cast an eerie gloom across his face.

I leaned in and saw that the trending topics were all about me—calling me a shameless homewrecker.

There were also forwarded messages from his friends, full of "HAHAHAHAHA that stupid bitch got what she deserved."

I watched him scroll through them, close the app, then check his missed calls. There were none. His face darkened.

Of course there wouldn't be.

I was dead.

He called his agent. I heard him ask why the trending topic hadn't been taken down yet.

His agent laughed. "Didn't you say you didn't care? It's fine. The fans are used to it. Last time—"

"Take it down," Evan said. "I don't want May to see it and get upset."

"Fine," the agent agreed readily. "True love really is different. I'll handle it."

Evan took a long drag of his cigarette and said nothing.

"Oh, by the way," the agent asked. "Has she been bothering you?"

"No," Evan replied quickly. "I'm hanging up."

A faint, sharp pain began to rise in my chest.

I knew it. How could it ever be because of me?

Of course. Now that May was back, he needed to clean up all the rumors around him.

I won't bother you anymore.

Never again.

6

A few days later, it was our seventh anniversary.

A celebrity's birthday usually belonged to their fans, so for me, our anniversary was the most important day that was just ours.

Normally, I would give him a gift first thing in the morning, followed by a series of surprises, and end with a candlelit dinner. Then, when we got home, lovers would do what lovers do—or, for him, it was probably just fulfilling a duty.

A perfect day.

That morning, I watched him knot his tie in front of the mirror, as if it were an important day.

I was forced to follow him like a ghost to his company.

At the entrance, he frowned and looked around. He paused for a long time before going in.

What was he waiting for?

Then I remembered. In our first year together, I had worn a bulky bear costume, hopping and skipping to bring him flowers. I was almost mistaken for a crazy fan and thrown out by security.

How embarrassing. When I took off the headpiece, I was drenched in sweat. But I was so happy. I waved the flowers wildly and shouted his name.

What was he doing?

He stood far away, a look of disgust on his face, and walked right in.

Later, his agent scolded me: "Evan is a Best Actor. How could you be so thoughtless?"

After that, I learned my lesson and stopped being so flashy. But I still made sure the flowers were delivered to his office, to be signed for by "Dear Mr. Evan."

The last time I sent flowers, I happened to be at the company. I took the stairs and saw the cleaning lady pulling the bouquet out of the trash. She shook it, and a card fell out.

I knew that card well.

Because I had written it myself.

"Dear Mr. Evan, this is our sixth year together. I hope I can stay by your side forever."

It felt like my face was being ground into the dirt. I covered my mouth, took the card from the cleaner, tore it up, and flushed it down the toilet. I stumbled out of the stairwell, my heels bleeding.

As if that would erase the sight of my trampled heart.

Looking back now, he must have been so annoyed.

No wonder he never turned on the lights when we were together.

He only ever wanted to trace my outline in the dark.

After all, May and I were sisters. We looked alike.

7

Evan seemed distracted all morning.

That was strange. He was famously a workaholic.

The only person I had ever seen him reply to during work hours was May.

Around noon, there was a knock at the door. Evan instinctively straightened his tie and hurried over to open it.

"Surprise!" A huge bouquet of red roses was raised high. Behind it was May's delicate face.

"Were you waiting for me?" She bounced over like a little rabbit, adorable.

I couldn't help but laugh at myself. Everything from this morning made sense now. Did I really think he was anxious because he hadn't received my roses?

Impossible.

Evan looked at her with adoration and tapped her nose. "What are you doing here today?"

"I came to check on you." She said it with such entitlement. "To see if you have another woman hidden in here."

"Impossible." He laughed. "No other woman has ever been up here except you."

"Not even Claire?" May wrinkled her nose. "I thought you might have forgotten your promise to me."

"Of course not." He said it lightly. "Hasn't it always been just you?"

"Then what about her?"

Evan looked at her but didn't say anything.

May buried her face in his chest, her voice muffled. "Evan, I love you so much. I regret it. I shouldn't have been away for so long."

She looked up, her eyes sparkling. "But I'm glad you're still here."

I found it laughable. *He* was still here? What about me?

I suddenly remembered why I had taken the stairs on our sixth anniversary.

That day, I had planned to surprise Evan at his office. I waited for a long time, but in the end, I saw May walking out of his office with her arm linked through his. The way he looked at her was a tenderness I had never seen before.

I couldn't describe how I felt at that moment.

He had been in there with May the whole time.

And I had been sitting outside, like a fool.

Just then, my phone lit up.

"Meeting. Not coming back."

My message from that morning sat there, lonely and pathetic: "Honey, come home early today. I have a huge surprise for you!"

My clumsy, stupid love.

"Evan," May said, shaking his arm. "When are we going public?"

For some reason, Evan seemed distracted. He snapped back to reality only after she shook him. "What did you say?"

One of his business partners walked in. When he saw May's profile, he paused, then laughed. "Mr. Evan, you brought your little girlfriend again?"

*Again?*

I saw May's face darken.

8

That evening, May pestered Evan into taking her out to dinner.

"What do you want to eat?" He was always indulgent with her.

She smiled and named my favorite private kitchen restaurant.

I was furious.

No! You can't go there! That's my secret place!

That's where I stammered out my first confession to Evan. That's where all my beautiful memories with him lived. You promised you would only go there with me! Why are you taking her?!

I tried again and again to block them with my body, but I could only watch them pass right through me.

It was futile.

"It's a bit cold," May said, shivering.

But Evan looked thoughtfully in my direction.

For a split second, I thought he could see me.

But he couldn't.

9

Once they sat down, May coquettishly held Evan's hand and made him order.

I watched helplessly as he casually used the dishes I had so carefully chosen to please May.

"I came here with someone else before," Evan said. "I always wanted to bring you here."

And I, of course, was that insignificant "someone else."

When the food arrived, May excitedly pulled out her phone.

"Wait, let me take some pictures."

I watched as she systematically erased every trace of the memories Evan and I had shared. She took photos, posted them, and uploaded them.

Finally, she added a picture of their hands tightly intertwined.

"Your heart is like my heart."

The evidence of my existence, just like me,

vanished into thin air.

Soon, fans swarmed her Weibo, identifying their "brother's" hand, then gleefully flooding the forums with blessings.

For every person who wished them a long and happy life, there was probably another cursing me in my comments.

Ever since I started dating Evan, my private messages had been a forbidden territory I dared not open. Countless fans sent me horror pictures, gore, curses, insults... They seemed to think that was the only way to express their hatred for the evil woman who dared to covet their "brother."

And all of this,

was because of the man sitting in front of me.

While May was busy, Evan watched her with the same adoring eyes. But I noticed he kept glancing at his phone.

What was he waiting for?

Watching May post on Weibo, knowing I would be attacked, was he waiting for me to beg him for help?

Curious, I walked behind May and looked at her screen.

My blood ran cold.

It was a familiar alt account.

When my depression was at its worst and I had attempted suicide several times, this account had sent me messages one after another, demanding:

"Bitch, why aren't you dead yet?"

"Didn't you say you were going to kill yourself? Go ahead! Go! GO!!!"

This was from my own sister?

Did she have that sweet smile on her face when she sent those?

I shuddered.

10

I watched May send me a video, deliberately showing her and Evan's clasped hands and the hickey on her neck.

"Sister, where did you go?"

"We came home to sleep last night. Why didn't I see you?"

"I'm so worried about you."

I clenched my fists. This was her usual trick. She was so innocent and pure, as if the whole world was persecuting her.

Then she looked up with tear-filled eyes. "I texted my sister, but she didn't reply. She must be angry."

Evan frowned, his face full of annoyance. "She's a lunatic. Ignore her."

May lowered her head. I saw the corner of her mouth curl up.

I watched her put on her one-woman show and couldn't help but want to laugh.

Dead people can't reply to texts.

I wonder what they'll do when they find out I'm dead.

"Evan, I'm not leaving this time." May got the answer she wanted and forced a smile. "Mom and Dad want to have dinner with you. Are you willing?"

I thought he would agree immediately, but this time, Evan hesitated.

"Let's wait a bit."

For some reason, I felt like Evan wasn't as obedient to May as he used to be.

Hadn't he been desperate to marry her?

My mother died early. The moment she was gone, my father couldn't wait to bring May and her mother into the house. That was when I found out I had a sister who was only half a year younger than me.

My father never wanted to hold me, but he couldn't bear to let May suffer even a little.

Everything I ever dreamed of, she could get effortlessly.

My father. Evan.

I guess love always flows to those who already have it. People like me, who have nothing, deserve to end up with nothing.

11

That night, Evan stood by the window, smoking alone.

After May posted that Weibo, my comment section was completely destroyed.

His finger hovered over the screen for a long time. Finally, he deigned to open my chat.

And sent a message:

"Need my help?"

A red exclamation mark popped up!

Blocked?!

Now I was truly surprised.

I was already dead. Who could have blocked Evan?

Evan's expression turned ugly. He cursed under his breath, and his innocent phone shattered into pieces on the floor.

He never did have a good temper.

12

I always thought Evan liked me.

In our fifth year together, one of Evan's friends mysteriously told me that Evan was going to be on a dating show.

"You have to come," his friend said over the phone. "You can show up as a mystery guest!"

"It'll be a huge surprise for him!"

I was overjoyed and accepted the invitation.

And then,

I was destroyed.

It was a show imported from Korea, focusing on the interactions between male and female guests. During the day, they would participate in activities together, and at night, they would vote for their "heartthrob."

But I didn't expect the host to introduce me like this:

"This is Mr. Evan's fan. She went to great lengths to get on the show just to get close to her idol."

His tone was dripping with innuendo. "It's so touching, the lengths some fans will go to."

Evan's face darkened when he saw me. I tried to go to him, but he wouldn't even talk to me.

The other celebrities treated me like a plague. What had I done wrong?

I went to his room and knocked. He finally let me in, his face grim.

"What are you doing here?"

I was confused. "Didn't you ask me to come?"

"Claire, who do you think you are?" His expression was terrifying. "Don't think you can use this trick to make me acknowledge you as my girlfriend. Dream on!"

I was stunned. "Your friend told me to—"

He grabbed me by the collar. My head hit the wall, and I saw stars.

"Do you know I'm at a critical point right now? I can't afford any scandals. Do you think you can blackmail me?"

"I never knew you were so scheming."

He sneered in my ear. "You thought wrong."

I looked at him in disbelief. I couldn't believe he would say such things.

He didn't even let me explain. He shoved me out the door, and I fell hard onto the floor.

In the empty hallway, I felt like a complete clown. I pounded on his door, crying, asking him why.

But no one came out.

By then, I knew I had been set up.

I was a joke. I came in disgrace, and I left in disgrace.

When Sasha picked me up at the airport, I collapsed in her arms and sobbed.

"What did I do wrong? Why is he treating me like this?"

After I told her everything, Sasha cursed him out. "Why do you still like a man like that? I told you, that confession was just a game to him!"

Back then, I still hadn't suspected Evan.

I thought it was just his friends playing a cruel joke on me.

But birds of a feather flock together.

Until May showed up as a surprise guest on the show.

Until their ship became the hottest topic online.

Until their sweet interactions dominated the trending charts for an entire week.

I watched my boyfriend smile tenderly at my sister. I watched the whole internet scream, "It's love!"

Until May sent me a taunting message.

She was holding Evan, smiling sweetly.

"Sister, let me introduce you to my boyfriend."

13

But I didn't know the show could be edited so maliciously.

While May and Evan's scenes were sweet, mine were cut to make me look repulsive.

During the show's peak, a video quietly circulated online.

It was edited to look like I had gone to Evan's room late at night and was rejected. The footage showed me relentlessly pounding on his door, making me look like a desperate stalker.

The video was captioned with a huge question mark.

CanStalkersHarassCelebritiesLikeThis?

Evan's fans exploded.

"WTF! What a shameless woman!"

"She thinks showing up late at night will make him like her?"

"Can the production team protect the guests? This woman practically threw herself at him. Can we sue her for harassment and have her arrested?"

The video was strategically edited to show my profile.

The fans, in full detective mode, dug up my entire background within a day.

The fan groups went into a frenzy.

"What? A rich girl trying to use her money to get our brother?"

"He's too nice!"

"I want to tear that bitch's face off!"

Right at that moment, Evan's studio released a statement.

They formally protested the production team's failure to ensure the safety of their artist.

They demanded a full investigation!

No unauthorized personnel should be allowed into the hotel!

The other celebrities on the show acted like they were blind.

No one admitted to seeing me. No one protected me. No one spoke for me.

Evan allowed it all to happen.

He let the tide of malice drown me.

That night, I swallowed two entire bottles of sleeping pills.

I had already been diagnosed with mild depression before that.

It was my first suicide attempt.

Unfortunately, I was saved. Looking back now, maybe it would have been better if I had died then. I would have been spared all the suffering that followed.

14

After May finished making her mark on the show, she returned overseas to continue her studies.

Leaving me to deal with the wreckage.

Evan, who had disappeared, came back.

He dropped everything to stay by my bedside in the hospital, apologizing.

He explained that he had been competing for a role with a famous director who hated scandals. When the news broke, the director decided Evan had questionable morals and gave the role to his rival.

At that time, Evan was just one Best Actor award away from the top. That director's film was his best shot.

My friends wouldn't let him into the room, so he curled up on the bench outside the ward all night.

Paparazzi even caught him, but he didn't bother to deal with it.

Was he crazy?

Didn't he want to be a star anymore?

I cried and begged him, "If you don't love me, please just leave me alone. Stop showing up in front of me!"

But Evan took my hand and kissed each of my fingers.

"I'm sorry, Claire. I love you."

"I'm not afraid of losing my career. I'm only afraid of losing you."

In that moment, I knew I had lost again.

Everything was real.

Except his heart.

Later, when he was drunk, I went to pick him up and overheard his friends laughing.

"She's so stupid. She never suspected you? I remember you hired that paparazzo. Tsk, I almost feel sorry for her."

"No," Evan said, laughing. "She shouldn't have pissed off the wrong person."

"So, when is your precious one coming back?"

"Her?" Evan's voice suddenly became gentle. "Soon."

I felt like I had fallen into an ice pit. My whole body trembled violently.

I never understood why he never wanted to introduce me to his friends, and why I always felt so out of place when I was with them.

I thought it was because we moved in different circles.

It wasn't.

All his friends saw me as a joke.

15

Evan called me.

I watched with amusement as he smashed another phone.

Strange.

Who had blocked his number this time?

Then I watched him call Sasha, asking where I was.

Sasha, as always, was a force to be reckoned with. She cursed him out over the phone.

"Don't you know what you did to her? Can't you see the videos flooding the internet? Aren't your rabid fans the ones trashing her comment section?"

"You can't even control your own dogs, and now you're asking where she is?"

"What, you want to sweep her grave?"

Then she hung up in a huff.

Just then, his secretary knocked and handed him a package.

When I saw the packaging, I remembered what I had sent him.

I couldn't wait to see his face when he opened it.

16

Evan's face went pale.

Inside was a disc.

What if I told you I knew him long before that night at the bar?

What if I told you I was Evan's first patron?

What if I told you he once promised to repay me?

What if I told you that young man said to me over the phone:

"If you appear before me, I will recognize you. I will give you all my love."

"My soul. My muse. My light of life."

And when I finally showed myself to him, what did I get?

Evan started trembling. He frantically tried to call me.

Of course, the calls wouldn't go through.

I watched his panic with malicious satisfaction.

I wanted to see what would happen when he realized he had personally driven the woman he promised to love forever to her death.

Evan, you will get what you deserve.

17

Evan started as a singer.

That was his first demo, sent to my friend's company. I was bored and fished it out of a pile of demos destined for the trash.

I was blown away.

I remembered the passion and determination in his VCR.

I remembered the light in his eyes.

He said, "I truly love singing. Please give me a chance!"

Then he bowed deeply to the camera until the screen went black.

A person like that couldn't be bad, could he?

I was having a rough time with my family then. I contacted Evan, saying I was a small employee at an entertainment company and was interested in his music.

He was a little disappointed, but he added me anyway.

We became friends.

I had never seen anyone with such passion for singing.

He shared everything about his life with me.

The sweet old lady he met at his part-time job. The boring customers at the nightclub where he sang. His heavy schoolwork. His unwavering dream...

He shone like a diamond.

My own life was dull and unremarkable. Listening to him, it felt like I, too, was blooming from the cracks in the concrete.

It was wonderful.

I don't know when it started, but I stayed up talking to Evan every night until dawn. Every time I saw his message, my heart would race.

I tried to hide my feelings.

But a girl in love can't fool anyone.

I saved every voice message he sent me and played them over and over.

I couldn't stop smiling just thinking about him.

I was a foolish moth, drawn to the smallest light.

18

After the first online attack, I developed depression.

One of the side effects of the medication was memory loss.

I watched Evan frantically contact everyone he knew, searching for me like a caged beast.

Until he called May.

"May," he asked. "Do you remember the first time we met?"

May sounded like she had just woken up. "Evan, what are you talking about?"

Evan stared at his phone, as if confirming something. His voice was soft and gentle, but his jaw was clenched so tight the veins in his temples bulged. "I mean, the first time we met. Do you remember what I gave you?"

May paused, then laughed softly. "Of course. A CD."

I saw Evan visibly relax.

"It's nothing, baby. Go back to sleep."

But I saw that he was still tense. He chain-smoked several cigarettes, then made another call.

"Find Claire."

A dull ache throbbed in my chest.

Why was he looking for me?

To interrogate me again?

Suddenly, a thought I had been ignoring surfaced.

Why didn't Evan recognize me?

How did May know about the CD?

A crack appeared in my hazy memory. I suddenly remembered.

Because May had noticed something was off with me back then. She had asked me more than once:

"Sister, are you in love?"

She had snuck into my room more than once. Once, I even caught her red-handed!

Before I could confront her, she flashed a triumphant smile.

Then she slapped herself hard across the face and ran crying into our father's arms.

"Sister hit me!"

She sobbed, so innocent and hurt. "Sister has been ignoring me lately. I was worried she was hanging out with the wrong kind of people, so I went to check."

My father slapped me hard across the face and made me apologize to May.

"Is this how you act as an older sister?"

My face was swollen and red. I fell to the floor, my stomach churning.

May was still putting on a show. "I printed out her chat logs."

"Look, Dad. She's gone bad!"

She actually handed that stack of paper to my father!

I instinctively reached out to grab it.

"Give it back! That's mine!"

Then I saw my stepmother put on the same fake, worried expression as May. "Claire, Claire, are you okay? Oh my god, you're not pregnant, are you?"

My father took one look at the papers and flew into a rage. He threw them in my face.

"How did I raise such a daughter!"

He slapped me again. I hit the ground hard, my ears ringing, blood streaming from my nose.

A piece of paper floated down. I saw that it wasn't my chat logs with Evan at all. It was a series of obscene, vulgar conversations—their "proof" that I was a slut.

I had been set up!

Behind my furious father stood the two venomous snakes, mother and daughter, wearing identical fake smiles.

And that day, Evan said to me:

"Let's meet."

May went in my place, happy to oblige.

And I was locked in my room on the second floor, beaten black and blue, my face swollen.

She smiled at me through the door.

"Your mother was an idiot. And so are you."

"Why don't you just die? Then everything you have would be mine—*sister*."

19

Just then, Evan received a second package.

Even I was curious.

Who was it?

Someone who blocked Evan but was sending him things in my name.

Evan's face darkened.

He opened the package. Inside was a thick stack of chat logs.

As he read, his hands began to tremble.

I leaned in to look. It was impressive.

Someone had printed out all the insults from my comment section. They say words are like knives. Seeing them all together like that was more than twice as devastating.

At the top was written:

"Is this how you repay kindness, Evan?"

At the very end was another yellowed record.

It was my old chat logs with Evan.

A pink sticky note was attached. I saw my younger self, full of love and anticipation, write:

"I'm going to meet him tomorrow."

"I'm going to wear that pink dress!"

Countless memories flooded back. I saw that naive young girl carefully dressing in front of the mirror, her eyes full of hope and joy. Then came the frame-up, my father's rage, and the unjust confinement.

She almost broke her leg jumping from the second floor. Dirty and disheveled, she still held her head high and ran joyfully to the meeting place.

Ignoring the stares of everyone around her.

I screamed at her. Don't go! Please, don't go!

All you'll see is him with someone else.

He says he loves you, but he mistook you for someone else.

Love yourself a little. Don't put your hopes in others.

No one is coming to save you!

Then I watched Evan's face slowly fall.

I watched him go to his study and pull out a small box. Inside were neatly arranged old items.

A photo of him and May.

But May was wearing a white dress.

Watching his furious expression, I couldn't help but cover my mouth and laugh.

My god. Who was this righteous hero, delivering justice?

20

Evan's suspicions didn't disappear.

Over the next few days, he tested May on details from their supposed "past." Her answers were all over the place. She stammered and even got angry.

But May wasn't one to give up easily.

Even if she had originally enjoyed stealing things from me, now that Evan was successful, she wasn't ready to give up the benefits of being the "longtime girlfriend of a Best Actor." She tried to use her old tricks to sweet-talk him.

But this time, it didn't work.

I watched her twist the truth in front of him, playing the victim.

If I weren't the one involved, I might have believed her.

She even had the "evidence" ready.

I watched her dig up my old things and pass them off as her own. I watched her awkwardly try to imitate my past self, like a cheap copycat.

You loved her artifice so much. Do you think taking your anger out on her now absolves you of your sins?

Evan told her to get out.

I watched her go crazy with rage, yet still try to keep up appearances in front of him. It wasn't funny. It was just sad.

All he had to do was ask a few more questions. But he had chosen to look the other way for years.

I tried to prove myself. What did I get?

His humiliation. His mockery.

He asked me: "Do you think you can replace May?"

"Who do you think you are?"

Now look at her. Look at what she is.

21

I watched Evan grow darker and more irritable by the day.

He dropped everything and went on a frantic search for evidence from the past.

The more evidence he found, the clearer the picture became.

When he finally tracked down the company where I had sent his demo, he found Xander, the son of the owner.

Xander didn't want to talk to him at first. Finally, annoyed beyond belief, he sneered:

"The only one who saw potential in your music was that idiot Claire!"

"Did you really think you were some kind of chosen one? Your crappy song was eliminated from the start. Without her begging and pleading to get you a chance, you'd still be singing in some underground bar, you idiot!"

Xander's eyes were blazing. He grabbed Evan by the collar.

"I've wanted to punch you for years!"

"If I had known you were such an ungrateful bastard, I would never have let her near you!"

Evan was stunned. It took several punches before he reacted. His face was swollen, and he was trembling. "What are you saying?"

Xander threw old recordings and contracts in his face. The sharp edges cut Evan's cheek, and blood dripped down, staining the papers.

But Evan didn't bother to stop the bleeding. He instinctively tried to wipe the blood off the contracts with his sleeve, only making a bigger mess.

Xander sneered.

"I'm saying you and your demo are both garbage. You're not worthy of her!"

"Don't let me see you again."

The truth was out.

I had never seen Evan so utterly defeated. A twisted sense of satisfaction began to rise in me.

Of course, he hadn't watched the video.

He had thrown