"My mother was seven months pregnant. Seven months. That was my little sister. She never even got to see the world."
"How can I not hate you, Chloe? I want to kill you."
He spoke the cruelest words.
But his hands... they slowly loosened.
He knelt on the ground, his palms marked with the crescents of his own nails.
I knew—from the moment his parents died.
Our love had curdled into nothing but endless hatred.
A war that would only end when one of us stopped breathing.
I kept my head bowed as Mason walked past me, Rebecca cradled in his arms.
Clatter.
A small box landed at my feet.
Allergy medication.
I'd been born with hypersensitive skin—my list of triggers could fill a medical textbook. When Mason first learned about it, he'd started carrying these pills everywhere.
I picked up the box, popped it open, and placed a white tablet on my tongue.
Bitterness flooded my mouth instantly.
Just like my wretched life.
The red welts on my skin began to fade. I struggled to my feet and made my way to the kitchen.
Once the congee was ready, I carried it up to the second floor. I was about to enter when I heard voices drifting through the door—low, intimate.
"Mason, why do you keep that woman around? The one who killed your whole family?" Rebecca's voice dripped with false concern. "Don't tell me you still have feelings for her."
I heard the soft pop of a button being undone.
"I keep her close for a reason." Mason's voice was flat, unreadable. "To torment her. Day and night. So she can never live, never die—only remember the debt her family owes me. Forever."
A sharp pain lanced through my chest.
My grip on the door handle tightened until my knuckles went white.
I know.
This hatred will only end when I'm dead.
Good thing I'll be gone soon.
That night, I was heading back to my room when a sound split the sky.
Fireworks.
Brilliant cascades of light bloomed across the darkness. I stood there, transfixed by the fleeting glow.
Then a voice slithered up behind me—familiar and razor-edged.
"Beautiful, aren't they? The fireworks made from your family's ashes?"
I spun around.
Rebecca's eyes gleamed with triumph.
My pupils contracted. "What did you just say?"
She sauntered closer, lifting one manicured finger toward the bursting colors overhead.