I used two revival chances to save Dad and Mom.
The next year, they had Grace. They still loved me then.
But when Grace turned ten, everything changed.
She suddenly told them that the car accident years ago was my fault—that I had tampered with the brake pads.
I was shocked. I explained desperately, weeping with anxiety, but they didn't believe me. Their hearts turned cold.
The very next day, I went to pick Grace up from school. At an intersection, a drunk driver plowed into us. Grace was critically injured.
I used a revival chance to save her.
When Grace woke up, she didn't thank me. She cried and told our parents that I had pushed her into the path of the car. She claimed I did it to punish her for telling the "truth" about the brakes.
"Big Sister told me she can revive me anyway, so I wouldn't die!" Grace had screamed, pointing a finger at me with absolute certainty.
My face went numb with shock. I demanded to know why she was lying.
But Dad just looked at me with eyes like ice. "She is a ten-year-old child. Is she capable of such a lie?"
Mom roared in fury. "Michelle Fox! You rely on this System to act lawless!"
"If we don't discipline you now, you'll end up rotting in prison!"
"You like using revival so much? Fine! I'll let you use it until you drop!"
From that day on, I never saw kindness in their eyes again. Their control became suffocating. The slightest mistake earned me harsh verbal abuse. Whenever Grace got sick or scraped a knee, they forced me to use a revival on her.
I held a thousand grievances in my heart, but I had no way to voice them.
I fell silent. Eliana didn't pry. She just hugged me gently and patted my back.
Her embrace was warm. It reminded me of how Mom used to hold me when I was sick as a child.
That memory gave me strength—the strength to fulfill my final wish.
I wanted to say a proper goodbye to Dad and Mom. Then, I would find a quiet place to die alone.
As I reached the front door of our house, my parents were just walking out.
When Mom saw me, her expression darkened instantly. She pulled the car keys from her purse and threw them at me. They hit my chest with a dull thud.
"Do you have no shame?" she hissed. "Does this family starve you? Do we deny you water?"
"You actually ran to the streets to act pitiful in front of a sanitation worker? Begging her to buy you porridge?"