The heart monitor screamed. Staff rushed in, hands pressing, machines whirring.
Their movements were frantic, but I felt nothing.
My body grew impossibly light, drifting up from the bed, pulled toward somewhere unknown.
Old people say the dead return home.
But my soul didn't go home.
It drifted to an unfamiliar villa in a wealthy part of the city.
A luxury van idled at the entrance. The driver opened the passenger door.
A painfully familiar figure stepped out.
Dad.
Dad—who always wore threadbare work clothes—was dressed in an expensive suit.
The villa door opened. A girl in her twenties walked out, looking exactly like me.
She hooked her arm through his. "Daddy, everyone's ready. We're just waiting for you!"
Daddy?
Did Dad have another daughter?
My soul followed them inside.
Pristine white carpet. Blinding luxury. And...
Mom.
My mother—who had been "bedridden" year-round—was draped in glittering jewelry.
She uncorked a bottle of wine with practiced ease, poured it into an exquisite decanter, then divided it among four stemmed glasses.
On the table sat a massive cake. The words on top read: Happy 18th Birthday to Lily Gilbert.
The woman who looked exactly like me raised her glass with a smile.
"Daddy, Mommy—let's wish my little sister I've never met a happy birthday!"
The three of them clinked glasses and drank it all in one go.
The remaining glass was probably meant for me.
Lily Gilbert was my name.
The ones celebrating my birthday were my parents and my older sister—the one I'd never seen.
But I had never truly known any of them.
All at once, confusion and panic swallowed me whole.
Mom sighed. "If only Lily could be here."
Dad's expression hardened. "One month left. She'll take the college entrance exam and complete the task. We can't give up halfway now!"
I froze.
A task? What task?
Mom dabbed at the corner of her eye. "It's all thanks to your 'raise her poor' plan. That's how we trained Lily to excel in both character and academics—to endure hardship and work hard."
"Raising her has worried me half to death."
"Pretending to be bedridden all day. The figure I worked so hard to maintain with yoga is going to ruin."
Dad drained his glass. "These years haven't been easy for me either."
"When Lily was home, I didn't even dare smoke a cigar. Held it in until my whole body ached."
Serena cut cake for them, her tone soothing. "Once my sister gets into college, we can come clean."