Chapter 3

Mom ended up cooking a full spread of Lily's favorite dishes.

The three of them sat around the table, laughing and chatting, looking like the picture-perfect, happy family.

Feeling lonely, I drifted closer to Mom.

Then I noticed a bakery box sitting on the side chair. A birthday cake.

Could it be for me?

I had never eaten a birthday cake. Every year, I could only watch Lily blow out her candles. I had always wondered what cake tasted like.

Just one tiny bite would have been enough.

Mom picked up the box and handed the whole cake to Lily. She even lowered her voice, as if afraid I'd hear.

"Sneak this into your room to eat, okay? If your sister finds out, she'll throw another fit."

I'd cried once, years ago. Mom had held it against me ever since.

As if I was always the unreasonable, dramatic one.

I wasn't even that sad anymore.

Even if we drew cards, I'd end up with a reversed one. That was just my luck.

Suddenly, a decorative vase on the shelf tipped over.

It crashed down, knocking Lily's cake to the floor.

Lily's hand got clipped, leaving a red mark.

She burst into loud wails.

Mom immediately grabbed a heavy metal music binder and hurled it violently against my piano room door.

"Hannah! Did you do this on purpose to hurt your sister? Did you set that up to fall?!"

When there was no answer, Mom was completely beside herself with rage. Dad caught her arm.

"Forget about her! Take Lily to urgent care. We'll deal with Hannah when we get back!"

By the time they returned, it was past midnight.

Mom and Dad pounded on my door. When I still didn't answer, they lost patience.

They decided to just ignore me.

Mom had bought Lily a brand-new princess dress.

Lily twirled around, showing it off outside my door.

"I cried when they cleaned my scratch, so Mom felt bad and bought me a pretty new dress and a big steak dinner!"

"You've never had steak, have you? Sucks to have bad luck! If you could draw an upright card, Mom would buy you dresses and steak too!"

Inside the room, my blood had seeped through the gap under the door.

Lily stepped on the slick pool, slipped, and crashed down. She shrieked at the top of her lungs, bringing Dad and Mom rushing over.

"What happened?! Where did all this blood come from?!"

Dad stared at the gap under the door, his face pale. "It's coming from Hannah's room. Hannah?"

His dread was cut short by Lily's sobs.

"I just wanted to show Hannah my new dress, and she yelled at me to get lost! That's my blood! My head hurts so bad!"

Without checking a single thing, Mom exploded.

She kicked my door furiously.

"Hannah! Get your ass out here right now! You made your sister bleed this much and you dare hide in there?!"

This time, Mom was desperate to break in.

She kicked harder and harder.

Inside, my lifeless body was being slammed repeatedly by the jarring door, growing more mangled by the second. I wondered if they would be terrified if they saw me like this.

The door wouldn't budge. Mom gave up and went to check on Lily. "Vicious little wretch," she muttered as she walked away.

Lily only had a tiny scrape. But neither of them ever considered that Lily might be lying.

It wasn't the first time.

Ever since we were little, whenever Lily messed up, she would cry first and blame me.

Mom was always "fair." She'd say, "I don't care who started it. We're drawing cards. Whoever draws a reversed card gets punished."

And every single time, I was the one who got beaten.

If I were still alive right now, I probably would have received a punishment far worse than before.

I floated downstairs. Suddenly, my eyes caught something on the living room floor.

Tears spilled from my eyes.

Finally, I understood why I had never drawn an upright card in eleven years.