Tristan had spent seven relentless days near the mountain, where the landslide had turned the once-familiar landscape into a graveyard of mud and rubble. At first, his expression was still full of hope, but as days passed by, the hope of finding me alive had long since faded. Despite that, Tristan didn’t want to stop—not until he found me, even if it meant recovering only my cold, lifeless body.

Every time his hands plunged into the mud, uncovering another body caked in dirt and suffocated by the weight of the earth, I could see the pain etched deeper in his expression. His mind tormented him with the thought of how I might have suffered, trapped beneath the suffocating ground, fighting for every breath until there was none left.

"Stop, Tristan. Please stop... I'm already dead..." My voice trembled, though I knew he couldn’t hear me. I reached out, trying to touch him, to soothe him, but my hand passed right through him. A bitter smile formed on my lips—how foolish of me to forget I was just a ghost now, unable to touch the living or stop Tristan from tearing himself apart in his desperate search.

Hours passed, and Tristan’s hands remained covered in dirt, his face streaked with a mixture of sweat, mud, and despair. Just when it seemed like his body would give out, his phone rang. He hesitated for a moment before accepting the call.

"Tristan, Maddy wants to see you. Can you come over?" Adrian’s voice was cold and indifferent on the other end of the line.

The moment I heard his words, I couldn’t help but clench my fists. Even now, with me buried somewhere beneath this rubble, Adrian's only concern was Madilyn.

If I hadn’t returned to the Monticello family, Tristan would have broken off his engagement with Madilyn. The Blake and Monticello families had always been close, and their engagement was an unspoken agreement arranged by their parents. Tristan, who excelled at everything, had no time to grow close to Maddy, despite their childhood friendship.

When Tristan first learned of the engagement, he had gone to the Monticello family to break it off. It was the same day I had returned home for the first time. The moment he saw me, he recognized me—not as his fiancée’s sister, but as the girl who had excelled in the city’s middle school exams. When he found out I was the rightful daughter of the Monticellos, he thought the engagement would naturally shift to me.

But I was wrong to believe my return would mean anything. Yes, I was their daughter by blood, but I was never truly one of them. They didn’t even consider changing my last name.

I remembered how, the day after I came home, Lauren had promised to take me to legally change my name. But when Madilyn fell ill with a fever, crying hysterically for her mother, Lauren abandoned our plans without hesitation. I stood in the living room, feeling small and insignificant, while Adrian passed by with a sneer.

"Serves you right," he spat. "Do you really think you deserve the Monticello name?"

Those words hadn’t hurt as much as they could have. After all, it was just a surname. I had survived worse. Life with the Smith family had been brutal—I was nothing more than a servant to them. I had barely escaped being married off to an old bachelor to pay for their son’s education. The Monticellos had saved me from that fate, and for a time, I had been grateful, even to Adrian, despite how he treated me.

But I soon realized he was as cruel as those who had raised me. The only person who had ever shown me kindness was Tristan. He visited the Monticello mansion not for Maddy, but for me. He brought me books, asked about my interests, and treated me like I mattered.

Of course, Adrian noticed. His hostility toward me grew with each visit. Unable to confront Tristan directly, he aimed all his anger at me.

"Aliyah, what are you trying to do with Tristan?" he once asked, his voice dripping with venom. "You know he’s going to marry Maddy, don’t you?"

That was the moment I learned Tristan and Maddy were engaged. At first, I had only seen him as a friend, but over time, I had fallen for him—the only person who made me feel seen. And now, I felt ashamed, like a thief, for harboring feelings for someone who wasn’t mine to love.

I tried to distance myself, but Tristan found me in the library a few days later. That was when he told me the truth—the engagement had been arranged, but not specifically for Maddy. It was just an understanding between the families, and now, with my return, everything had changed.

As Tristan’s call with Adrian ended abruptly, I heard Madilyn’s soft, tearful voice in the background. “Tristan, I don’t feel well. Can you come see me?”

“Maddy, calm down,” Adrian murmured, his voice full of the same gentle coaxing he always used with her.

And there it was again—that familiar, icy numbness spreading through me. I had been missing for days, buried beneath the earth, but Adrian’s only concern was for Madilyn, the daughter they had raised in my place.

I let out a bitter laugh as I watched Tristan shut off his phone without a word. Even now, he stayed by my side. Even when everyone else had moved on.

After three days of relentless efforts, Tristan finally found my body, but the sight was unbearable. My nose and mouth were clogged with soil, and the first signs of decay had already set in. Overcome with grief, Tristan collapsed beside my corpse, his hands trembling as he tenderly cleared away the dirt. His movements were slow, as though he feared even the gentlest touch might cause me to vanish completely.

I heard Tristan’s choked voice calling my name, his sorrow palpable. “Aliyah… Why did you try to please them? They owe you, not the other way around!”

"I wished I stopped you from going..." he sobbed.

The rescue team quickly notified Lauren, who arrived almost immediately. Her face turned pale at the sight of my decayed body, and she nearly retched from the stench and horror. Paul, her husband, gently patted her back, trying to shield her from the painful reality.

“Don’t look, honey. She’s gone. Let’s just find a cemetery and lay her to rest,” Paul said softly, though his tone was cold.

Lauren nodded, her face carefully controlled, hiding any hint of guilt. After all, she had been the one who insisted that I join the ill-fated expedition in the first place.

Madilyn and I had been competing for a spot in a physics competition. For me, winning first place meant securing admission to a prestigious university, a dream I had worked tirelessly towards. My academic record, especially in science, was outstanding, while Madilyn’s performance was just above average. Even without me stepping aside, she had no chance of being selected.

But Lauren had other plans. She insisted that I compete under Madilyn’s name to ensure her daughter would get the spot. I firmly refused. This competition was too significant to me.

My professor had emphasized that my grades were among the best in the province and encouraged me to seize this rare opportunity that could open countless doors.

Then, with tears in her eyes, Madilyn clung to Lauren, playing the wounded sister. “She doesn’t want me to succeed,” she sobbed. “If she won’t help me, I’ll leave and go back to the Smith family.”

Enraged, Lauren slapped me hard across the face. The sting echoed in my ears, reviving painful memories of my time with the Smith family. When I looked up, Lauren’s voice cut through the haze, cold and seething.

“You ungrateful brat,” Lauren spat. “Maddy is your sister. You should be grateful she can take your spot.”

Grateful? My heart sank. Grateful for what—being used again? It was painfully clear—my biological family was no different from the Smiths. They saw me as nothing more than a tool to exploit.

I had sacrificed so much since childhood, always giving in, always compromising. But this time, my future was at stake. For the first time, I stood up to my biological mother.

“Give me back my ID and household registration,” I said, my voice steady but resolute. “I’m leaving.”

Lauren’s face went pale, not from fear of losing me but from the thought of losing the attention and prestige my accomplishments had brought them.

“Aliyah,” Lauren’s voice softened as she approached, her eyes brimming with false tears. “If you hadn’t upset me, I wouldn’t have reacted this way.”

I stared at her, feeling numb. Upset her? I was just trying to protect what was mine. How could that be upsetting?

I realized Lauren had never seen me as a daughter, never cared for me beyond what I could provide. Despite our blood ties, I had always been an outsider in my own home.

When Adrian arrived, he immediately sensed the tension and instinctively blamed me for being unreasonable.

My head buzzed, my thoughts spinning, but I didn’t respond. My silence only fueled Adrian’s anger. Without warning, he shoved me hard, sending me crashing into the corner of a table. A sharp pain shot through my back, and a cold sweat broke out on my skin.

“Maddy just wanted something from you, but you’re acting like a spoiled brat, threatening to leave. Tsk. You’re nothing but a miserly pauper,” Adrian sneered, his words dripping with disdain.

Each word felt like a blow, eroding what was left of my resolve. All I wanted was to escape, to break free from the toxic grasp of the people I once considered family. But the upcoming competition loomed over me, and without my ID, I couldn’t even register.

Seeing my distress, Lauren finally relented, pulling me to my feet with a forced smile that lacked warmth. “Alright, let’s not bring this up again. Maddy just signed up for an expedition activity,” Lauren said. “Why don’t you accompany her? It’ll be good for both of you.”

Madilyn naturally invited me as a gesture of reconciliation, leaving me with no choice but to agree.

“Don’t come near her!”

Tristan’s sudden shout cut through my memories, dragging me back to the harsh reality.

“Leave Aliyah alone!” he yelled, blocking the Monticello family from approaching my lifeless body. “You’re not worthy to touch her!”

As I floated, watching the scene unfold, I was struck by the cold indifference of my family. Lauren’s shock and desperation were palpable as she tried to convince Adrian to come and persuade Tristan to hand over my body. Her voice was laced with urgency, and I could sense her fear of what this scandal might do to their reputation.

“Son, can you come here and convince Tristan to hand over Aliyah's corpse?” Lauren pleaded into her phone.

Adrian’s response was a harsh denial. “What? Aliyah is dead?