Chapter 1

My stepsister Vivian came sobbing to my three older brothers and my fiancé, telling them she could see the Comments.

She said the Comments had told her I suffered from persecutory delusional disorder, and that at my eighteenth birthday gala my condition would worsen and I would strangle her to death with my own hands.

Even the doctor said Vivian had suffered a shock and was hallucinating.

But no one believed I wasn't sick.

They think I should be sent to a mental hospital, as Vivian suggested.

Julian, my eldest brother, signed the Involuntary Commitment Form on the spot.

Ethan, my second brother, called ahead to a private psychiatric facility.

Caleb, my third brother, and my fiancé Sebastian Hayes personally dragged me inside as I cried and begged.

"It's only a year."

"Once Vivian gets through her birthday safely, we'll bring you home."

But every time the day came to bring me home, Vivian cried and said the Comments were still there.

One year became three.

Inside the facility, they forced pills down my throat.

Every time I denied being sick, they ordered another round of ECT.

By the end, all it took was hearing the name Vivian Lockhart, and I would drop to my knees and confess.

Three years later, Vivian finally said the Comments were gone.

Only then did my three brothers and Sebastian come to collect me.

Then did they finally come to take me home.

Sebastian held out his hand.

"She's safe now. You're home. It's time we got married."

But at the word home, I dropped to my knees and hid my hands behind my back.

"I confess."

"I wanted to kill Vivian Lockhart."

"Please don't shock me anymore."

They froze in stunned silence.

Sebastian's outstretched hand froze in midair, his face drained of color.

They all thought Vivian was the one who could see the Comments.

But when I lifted my head, a line only I could see was drifting across my vision.

【Life Countdown: 7 Days.】

【When the countdown ends, you may return to your original world.】

***

Vivian couldn't see the Comments at all.

I was the one who could.

This world, to me, was nothing more than a livestream someone was watching.

I didn't belong here.

Seven more days, and I could go back to my real home.

In the car on the way back, Sebastian sat beside me.

Several times he reached for my hand.

The moment his fingertips brushed mine, I pulled my hands behind my back, lowered my head, and waited for him to fasten the restraint straps.

Every treatment at the facility had started exactly that way.

No struggling. No arguing. Never look the doctor in the eye, or they'd turn the current up.

Sebastian looked at the layered scars on my wrists, and his eyes went red.

"Never again."

"No one is ever going to lock you up or hurt you again."

Three years ago, he had said the same thing.

And then he had personally forced me into the transport van.

The car pulled up in front of the Lockhart house.

Julian told me they had renovated the entire ground floor to welcome me home.

But when the door opened, what I saw wasn't a bedroom.

It was a Seclusion Room.

Transparent isolation door. Twenty-four-hour surveillance. A lock that could only be opened from the outside.

A narrow meal slot cut into the wall.

Not a single mirror, pane of glass, or sharp object inside.

Identical to the room where I had lived for three years.

Julian followed my gaze and explained under his breath.

"Vivian only just confirmed the Comments are gone."

"We can't take away all the safety measures at once."

My old bedroom had become Vivian's walk-in closet.

The racks were full of her dresses.

The piano my mother had left me was buried under her unopened gifts.

Caleb said quietly.

"Vivian has had nightmares for three years."

"She can only sleep in your room, where she can be sure you aren't there."

"She's used to it now. Just let her have it."

That evening's welcome dinner, Sebastian had wanted me at the table with everyone else.

I sat down, but I didn't touch the silverware.

At the facility, you only ate after the bell rang.

Reaching early counted as trying to steal food.

Ethan placed a piece of fish on my plate.

"This used to be your favorite."

"You're home now. You don't have to wait. Eat whenever you want."

I was staring at the fish, had just picked up my fork, when footsteps came down the staircase.

Vivian was coming down.

The moment she saw me, the color drained from her face.

"The Comments…"

She clutched her chest, her voice trembling.

"The Comments say Elise is going to poison the soup."

The dining room went silent.

Every dish had been prepared by the household staff.

I hadn't gone near the kitchen since I came home.

Julian knew perfectly well it was impossible. He still set down his silverware.

"If Vivian is afraid, then we check."

Ethan took my plate away and carefully searched my pockets.

"It's a routine check."

"Just cooperate."

Caleb crouched beside me, his eyes rimmed red.

"Vivian only just started getting better."

"Be good one more time. For me?"

In the end, it was Sebastian who guided me into the Seclusion Room.

When we were children, some classmates had once locked me in a supply closet.

He was the one who broke down the door and carried me out, exhausted from crying.

Back then, he had said.

"As long as I'm here, I'll never let anyone lock you away again."

Now, he closed the transparent isolation door himself.

He even bent down to check the lock twice.

"Just a few days."

"When Vivian isn't afraid anymore, I'll let you out."

Through the transparent glass, I watched them go back to the dinner table.

Vivian sat in what used to be my seat.

My three brothers gathered around her, coaxing her not to be afraid.

Sebastian gently rubbed her back.

Vivian, eyes wet, had the staff pass my food through the meal slot.

"Even through the door, Elise is having this family dinner with us."

Everyone praised how kind she was.

When the lights in the Seclusion Room went out, everything went black.

I hugged my knees and curled up quietly in the corner.

The Comments drifted into view again.

【Life Countdown: 6 Days.】

For the first time, I wasn't afraid of being locked in.

It was fine.

Six more days, and I would go home. I would leave this world for good.