My stepsister, Chloe Sterling, framed me for leaking business secrets at the family's charity gala.

So, my three older brothers locked me in the airtight emergency panic room of our estate.

I pounded futilely against the heavy alloy door, begging them to listen to my explanation.

Before activating the lockdown procedure, my eldest brother, Griffin Harrington, a Wall Street legend, pierced me with his icy gaze:

"Cora, you betrayed the entire family. You can stay in here and reflect on what you've done!"

My second brother, rock superstar Jasper Harrington, and my third brother, genius painter Myles Harrington, added coldly:

"After everything we've done for you, you still dare to defend yourself? Just stay in there!"

With that, they swept a "frightened," trembling Chloe under their wing and headed straight for their victory party.

A thunderstorm knocked out the power, and the air circulation system failed right after.

I felt every breath was like swallowing hot glass, and eventually, my life faded away in the suffocating darkness.

Three days later, when my brothers returned from New York City with Chloe, they finally remembered me.

They had no idea that I had long since died of suffocation in the very tomb they'd built for me.

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1

I died of suffocation in the emergency panic room.

When I awoke again, my soul was floating beside my three brothers.

They had just returned to the Long Island estate from New York City. Griffin and Jasper were gathered around my stepsister Chloe, their voices dripping with praise:

"Thank God you were here, Chloe. We never would have managed this crisis so calmly without you."

Myles’s voice was laced with concern:

"The doctor said you were badly frightened and you're still shaken up. You need to relax."

As he spoke, he poured Chloe a glass of warm milk.

The butler, Mr. Davis, standing nearby, couldn't remain silent. "Gentlemen, Miss Cora has been in the panic room for three days without a sound..."

Griffin snorted coldly, cutting him off. "Today is for celebrating Chloe. Why bring up that traitor?"

The butler wanted to say more, but the stern glares from Jasper and Myles silenced him.

"That wretched girl... She must have leaked the proposal on purpose, trying to ruin everything."

"And to think I thought she was starting to accept Chloe. Turns out it was all an act!"

Chloe put on a show of fear, shrinking back as she spoke:

"Cora is being punished because of me. She's been in the panic room alone for so many days... she won't hate me even more when she comes out, will she?"

Griffin's face was cold as he replied:

"Chloe, don't be afraid. We were too lenient with her before. She was never taught a proper lesson."

"After this, she definitely won't dare to hurt you again."

As he spoke, he subconsciously pulled up the security system interface, constantly refreshing the status of the panic room, but the log showed it hadn't been opened in three days. Griffin's eyes grew angrier.

"This wretched girl, it's been so many days, and she hasn't even sent a message through the internal communication system to ask about Chloe!"

At this moment, Chloe reached out and grasped Griffin's hand, her voice on the verge of tears:

"Please don't let Cora misunderstand. I just want her forgiveness, I'm not trying to take anything away."

Griffin quickly put down the tablet and stroked Chloe's head, his voice filled with sympathy:

"Chloe, you're still so kind. Unlike her. She's just an ungrateful stray we never should have brought home."

Jasper’s thoughts turned to me, his eyes filled with cold indifference:

"Exactly. How dare she attack the family out of jealousy? Utterly vicious!"

Myles nodded in vehement agreement, scoffing:

"After being locked up for three days, if she doesn't come out on her knees begging Chloe for forgiveness, I'll recommend the board remove her from the family trust!"

I floated nearby, listening to their words, and found the whole scene laughable.

But as a soul, I was invisible to them, my actions leaving no trace in their world.

After our parents passed away, my three brothers had showered me with all their love.

Until one day, I said I wanted a playmate my own age, and they adopted Chloe from an orphanage.

I welcomed Chloe's arrival with all my heart, but in front of my brothers, she framed me time and again, pushing them further away from me with each passing day.

This time was no different. My brothers gave me no chance to explain, locking me in the cold panic room.

I struggled with all my might, only to feel the air in the sealed space growing thinner and thinner.

Banging on the heavy alloy door, I pleaded with them to let me out.

But my brothers just looked on with indifference, scolding me angrily:

"What are you yelling for? This is what you get for betraying the family! The Harrington Group wouldn't be facing this disaster if it weren't for you!"

"Clearly, we've been too good to you, and now you think you can test our limits. Stay in there and reflect on what you've done!"

As he spoke, Jasper set a complex password, activating the highest level of lockdown. Myles even had a heavy sculpture moved to block the door, extinguishing my last sliver of hope.

Now, watching Chloe flash a fake smile at my brothers, I let out another disappointed, mocking laugh.

Griffin, Jasper, Myles… you fools. The only sister in the world who ever truly loved you has just been killed by your own hands!

Chloe tugged on the corner of Griffin's jacket, her voice thick with manufactured pain:

"Griffin, don't be angry. It's my fault Cora misunderstood. She must have been confused for a moment, please don't blame her!"

Griffin's expression instantly darkened, his face cold as he spoke:

"That girl... We've been far too indulgent. It's made her arrogant and disrespectful!"

Jasper's eyes flashed with a surge of fury:

"The older she gets, the more petty she becomes. If it weren't for her, the family's century-old reputation would have been destroyed!"

Just then, Chloe deliberately exposed her wrist to the three brothers, revealing a faint scratch.

Myles tenderly caressed the red mark.

"Does it still hurt, Chloe?"

Chloe lowered her head, her voice trembling as if she were about to cry:

"I'm not in pain... I'm really not..."

That was all it took to ignite Jasper's fury, and he shouted:

"If you hadn't discovered it in time, the entire future of the Harrington Group would have been destroyed by her! And after all these days, she hasn't even sent a single apology email. She shows no remorse!"

Griffin spoke with even greater anger:

"Go drag that girl in here to apologize to Chloe! Let's see how stubborn she can be now!"

Jasper and Myles echoed his fury:

"Isn't her stubbornness just a result of us spoiling her? Now that she's done something wrong, she must face the consequences!"

With that, they turned to the butler, Mr. Davis, their voices blazing with anger:

"What are you still standing there for? Go get that ungrateful wretch and bring her to me! Also, get the head of security in here. If Cora hadn't deliberately leaked those secrets, Chloe wouldn't have had to endure so much pressure for her sake!"

"It's time for her to pay the price for her actions!"

The butler, not daring to disobey, scurried toward the panic room.

I let out a desperate, bitter laugh. My brothers hadn't even bothered to investigate the truth, simply jumping to the conclusion that it was my doing.

Three days ago, it was Chloe who used my computer to send the encrypted bid proposal to a competitor.

She even made a point of deleting the sent record right in front of me, leaving me unable to defend myself.

Griffin was supposed to be a titan of business, yet he couldn't see through such a simple frame-up. What was that, if not blatant favoritism?

In my brothers' hearts, I would never be as important as my stepsister Chloe. Sorrow chilled me to the bone.

But it didn't matter anymore. I was already dead in the panic room. My brothers could now lavish all their favoritism on Chloe.

"Young Master, we've been calling Miss Cora on the internal communication system for a long time, but she hasn't responded."

"We checked the vital signs monitoring system, and it shows 'Error'!"

Griffin's brows knitted tightly. He shot up from his seat, his face a mask of cold fury:

"What kind of trick is she playing now? Does she think bowing her head to Chloe is too humiliating?"

"Does she even understand that she almost ruined everything this time!"

Chloe tugged on the corner of Griffin's jacket, speaking with feigned sadness:

"Griffin, it's okay. I'm just an adopted daughter. I'm not worthy of Cora apologizing to me."

The anger in Griffin's heart was thoroughly ignited:

"Using a cheap trick like sabotaging the equipment… does she really think I can't see through it?"

"Fat chance. Does she think she can get away with it by playing dead? It seems her punishment was too light!"

"Let's go! We'll drag her out ourselves! I want to see how she can hide then. She must kneel and apologize to Chloe!"

I couldn't help but follow in my three brothers' footsteps, my heart growing ever more desolate.

Fueled by a storm of rage, the three of them arrived in front of my panic room.

"Cora Harrington, do you think you can escape punishment by hiding in there and not making a sound?"

But not a single sound came from within the panic room.

Jasper's face grew even darker:

"Cora, what are you still pretending for? Come out and kneel to apologize to Chloe!"

"Don't think that by hiding in there, breaking the comms, and ignoring us, you can escape the fact that you betrayed this family!"

Myles's eyes were also blazing with fire, and he spoke with fury:

"Cora, you've really gotten bold, haven't you? You can't stand seeing us treat Chloe well, so you're deliberately using silence to provoke us!"

"Do you really think hiding in the panic room and defying us will make us cave first?"

The panic room remained utterly silent.

Griffin, however, looked at the trembling security guards beside him and spoke coldly:

"What are you all trembling for? Tell me the truth. Is there a secret passage? Did you secretly let her out?"

Jasper snorted.

"With her vile personality, she probably couldn't stand it inside and had you open the door for her after we left."

Myles's eyes showed complete disappointment:

"You're the one who almost ruined the Harrington Group, yet you can't even take responsibility for your mistake. Is this really the sister I knew?"

"Did you really think you were our only sister?"

The butler finally found his voice, though it trembled as he spoke:

"Mr. Griffin, without your orders, we would never dare to let her out!"

"Miss Cora has really been in the panic room for three whole days."

Griffin looked at the still-silent panic room, a flicker of unease crossing his eyes.

He stepped forward and entered the password, but the screen displayed "System Locked."

"Cora Harrington, are you ever going to stop? Did you think that by sabotaging the system from the inside, I'd be helpless?"

I looked at the sturdy alloy door and could only smile bitterly.

As I was suffocating, I had slammed against the door, trying to save myself, thinking only of survival.

But the door to this panic room was exceptionally strong; I couldn't even make a crack. I could only suffocate to death inside.

Brothers, I hope when you see my body, you can find even a sliver of love for me and bury me in the family cemetery.

Griffin grew more agitated. He barked at the head of security, "Activate the emergency protocol! Force open the door!"

With the roar of cutting tools, a crack appeared in the heavy alloy door, and a thick, putrid stench wafted out.

The butler, standing beside them, couldn't stop trembling as he spoke: "That smell... it's the smell of a corpse!"

The other two brothers, still full of rage, also walked up.

"What smell of a corpse? She obviously ran away long ago and threw a rotten animal carcass inside to trick us!"

"Cora Harrington, do you think we're that easy to fool?"

Their patience worn thin, the three brothers surged forward and, with their combined strength, shoved the panic room door wide open.

With a loud bang, the door was violently thrown open, and along with an even stronger stench of decay, the small, dark interior was exposed to everyone.