“Don’t blame Bella! I know I’m not her real sister. It’s only fair if she doesn’t want to help me.”
“Brother, I guess it’s just my fate. Maybe in our next lives, we’ll be real siblings.”
My dad frowned, his voice sharp with disappointment.
“Bella, since when did you become so selfish?”
“It’s just blood, not an organ! You can just eat something to make up for it!”
But he didn’t think about the fact that my mom was already eight months pregnant.
Tanya eventually recovered fully.
But my mom didn’t make it through childbirth.
My dad was devastated, wracked with guilt, and cried until he fainted several times.
Tanya comforted him,
“Brother, you have to take care of yourself. Let me look after you and the baby.”
“Bella only ever made you sad. But me? I’d never hurt you like that.”
And so, a white sheet covered my mom’s body, while a wedding veil adorned Tanya.
But my dad didn’t know that my mom’s death wasn’t just a tragic accident.
There was something more sinister at play.
In my ghost mom’s version of the story, my dad was just too soft-hearted, letting Tanya weasel her way into our lives.
But even as a kid, I knew better. He wasn’t kind or blind.
He was just a plain jerk.
To everyone else, he and my stepmom were the picture-perfect couple, and we looked like the ideal little family.
The only thing left of my mom was that necklace, ‘Tears of Love’. Every other trace of her had been wiped away.
But there was no way I’d let them live in peace.
So, I made a habit of pretending to have nightmares and barging into their bedroom in the middle of the night.
I’d throw myself around Tanya’s neck, sobbing like my life depended on it.
“Mommy, I dreamed you died! Please don’t die!”
My dad would try to laugh it off, telling me it was just a nightmare and not to bother Tanya.
But she’d play the doting mother, smiling as she held me,
“It’s okay if I lose some sleep. Sienna’s well-being is what matters.”
Please, who doesn’t know how to play the victim?
I’m the real little victim here!
Then I’d turn and snuggle into my dad’s arms, rubbing my eyes and whimpering in the sweetest voice I could manage,
“Daddy, I dreamed Mommy died and told me to take care of you. You were crying so much!”
“It’s okay if Sienna dies, as long as Daddy is happy!”
Tanya’s face would immediately darken, darker than the night itself.