My twin sister died on her 18th birthday.

She died of respiratory failure in a dark corner of a hotel after being raped.

Her dearest friend, Joanne Lowe, whom she always cared for and supported, turned around and anonymously spread photos of my sister being raped.

I then slowly ruined the face which had so badly wanted to replace my sister with a knife.

With blood everywhere, I cradled Joanne's face as if it were a piece of art and said, "My beloved sister is gone, and you people who harmed her won't be let off so easily."

1

I was called Shannon Jackson, and my twin sister was called Riley Jackson.

"Courageous and wise."

This was our parents' greatest expectation for us.

But not long after we were born, my father destroyed this expectation with his own hands.

He cheated.

In a fit of rage, my mother took me away and insisted on claiming that I had died abroad.

Meanwhile, my twin sister grew up to be a kind and gentle person in a home where our biological father didn't care for her and her stepmother made things difficult.

We had kept in close contact and were looking forward to reuniting.

But—

The dream was shattered now.

Who would have thought that our reunion 18 years later would be a permanent farewell.

She died on our 18th birthday.

Along with her, the 18-year-old me, Shannon, also died.

2

This is my first return to the country since I was taken away as a baby.

I followed the location my sister told me about and secretly found her.

I held the baby's breath she loved the most, hoping to secretly celebrate our 18th birthday together.

A scene we had dreamed of countless times.

Maybe we would embrace with excitement.

Maybe we would cry together in emotion.

But everything was shattered.

What I saw was a cold body.

Her clothes were torn apart, and her skin was exposed to the freezing night of Oceanwood.

And now, this face identical to mine was left pale.

Her eyes were wide open in panic and fear, staring up at the ceiling.

In the dark corner of the hotel, completely cut off from the noise,

I lost my dearest sister forever.

I kept silent because I knew the real culprit was not just the man who raped my sister.

I wanted to catch the real culprit behind all of this and make her pay with her blood.

And, from preliminary investigations, the time of death was after the raping, which undoubtedly increased the severity of the punishment for the criminal.

I sadly buried my sister in a flower field filled with baby's breath.

Everyone thought she was deliberately hiding after the birthday party, and no one truly cared about her.

Later, I removed the mole from my face, applied the gentle makeup that my sister loved, and appeared in front of everyone.

3

"Riley, why have you been missing for so many days? Do you know how anxious I was searching for you?"

Taking on my sister's identity, the first person I saw was her close friend, Joanne.

This was the person my sister always talked about the most when chatting with me.

"Shannon, do you know? Joanne is really pitiful. Her father drinks and hits people, but she still lives like a little sunshine. I was thinking of giving her some financial support for her birthday"

"Joanne said today that I wasn’t good with words. I feel the same way. I'll try not to talk much in the future."

"Shannon, Joanne said the 18th birthday cannot be taken lightly. She helped me find a very nice hotel..."

When I first heard Joanne's name, a trace of unease flashed in my heart.

It wasn't until later that my internal radar kept ringing that I decided to warn my sister.

"I think her behavior is like brainwashing you, why do you listen to everything she says?"

"Just helping her get by is enough. Riley, you're almost making her a rich woman."

But it was all in vain.

The woman in front of me with a face like a snake always found a way to make my sister obey her.

"I haven't been anywhere, just went through some bad things. I'm going out to clear my mind."

I also let a hint of nervousness and fear show on my face.

As expected, Joanne's lips curved slightly before she put on a concerned expression.

"Has someone bullied you, Riley? Tell me, and I'll deal with them for you."

I squeezed her shoulders tightly, pretending to recall something unpleasant.

"I'm fine, don't ask any more, okay?"

Deep down, I wished that I could rip her to pieces.

"It's you, the murderer. The last person to call my sister."

4

My sister's phone shows that the last person she was in contact with was Joanne. Based on the timeline, I roughly could tell that Joanne must have invited my sister out, claiming she wanted to meet in a corner to give her a surprise. But instead of a surprise, what awaited her was something more terrifying than a shock—a nightmare and death.

Further confirming my suspicion was my thorough investigation into Joanne. This person who played the "unfortunate family" and "little sunshine" roles in front of my sister was actually a rebellious girl who smoked, drank, and enjoyed fighting in. Among her shady friends was someone named Liam Chester, who recently received a large sum of money in his bank account. The amount exactly matches the money my sister had given to Joanne.

Once I compare the fluids extracted from him and my sister, I could ensure that both he and Joanne would end up behind bars together. With this thought in mind, I tightened my grip on Joanne's hand a bit more.

"Riley, you're hurting me. Don't you know I get hurt easily?" She pulled her hand away from mine, angrily accusing me.

"If it hurts, then get lost. Stop hanging around my house every day." Unlike my sister, who was always tolerant and considerate, I would explode at even the slightest annoyance.

"How dare you speak to me like that? Riley, did the raping mess up your brain too?" Realizing she had spoken out of turn, she immediately covered her mouth and looked at me nervously.

I pressed closer to her. "What do you mean? Do you know something? Or are you hoping for me to be bullied? OMG, you are such an evil person! Stop talking nonsense. I could sue you."

Before she could stammer out a response, I had the butler throw her out. ‘My sister might have indulged you, but I won't. I'm going to make sure you suffer, Joanne.’

5

Joanne abandoned her usual arrogance and repeatedly sent me apologetic messages on WhatsApp.

"Riley, today was my fault. Those words were just nonsense. Don't take them to heart."

"I didn't do anything. I'm your best friend. How could I bear to bully you?"

I didn't reply to any of her messages. I was waiting for her to slip up in her desperation.

What I didn't expect was that her hidden actions would be so devastating. She had someone post photos of my sister. The princess crown on her head had fallen to the ground, her dress was torn to shreds. The photos showed humiliating tears, desperate eyes, and futile struggles.

The photos of my sister being bullied were posted online. In anguish, I smashed my computer, tears streaming uncontrollably. My poor sister, why did she have to endure such humiliation even after she was gone?

Fingers flying over the keyboard, I quickly traced the IP address of the poster. I expected it to be from Joanne's place, but it wasn't. The IP was traced to my own home. And it was less than 200 meters away from me!

My heart sank. I put on my slippers and knocked on the door of my dad’s bedroom.

The person who answered the door was the mistress who caused the breakup of my mom and dad, Linda.

“Lin... Linda, where’s my dad?”

In order to not give anything away, I had no choice but to call her by her name.

The door was only opened a little. My stepmom’s eyes seemed very alarmed.

”Your dad’s not home. Leave and don’t disturb me.”

6

I pushed the door open with such force that Linda stumbled and was nearly knocked over.

"Riley, what the hell are you doing in my room in the middle of the night?"

I hooked my lips.

"Nothing, just verifying my guess."

I raised my eyes to look at the laptop on the bed with its back to me, the white light reflected on the screen said it all.

Following my gaze, she didn't care about her sprained waist, and took a step over to cover the computer.

"What do you want to verify? What's there to see here?"

I playfully met her sheepish eyes and said, "No, I just want to know if you're still messing around when my dad isn't around. After all, a dog can't change its ways."

"What do you mean, you little bitch? You want to say that I'm cheating, right? Don’t you even know what kind of filth you are?"

Originally, I was going to turn around and leave after I scolded her, but now she had gone over the line.

"Riley? Filthy thing? Is that how you casually define the gentlest and kindest person in the world? Who do you think you are, bitch? Who can be more filthy than a coquettish slag like you?

Before my sister's accident, I rarely used foul language.

Because my sister once told me. "It's other people's business to be evil, we can't be like them."

So, my sister was always tolerant and was bullied.

So much that she ended up suffering such a great injustice.

‘But Riley, do you see? I’m taking revenge for you.’

There were some things that couldn’t be solved by tolerating alone.

Sometimes the fist would be needed in order to make some people back off.

7

I deleted all the pictures about my sister on the internet.

But it was found out by my own father who was a busy man.

I knew it was a move by the sympathetic Joanne and Linda.

Not only to make my father ashamed of me, but also to make the Lawson family withdraw from the marriage.

My sister was engaged to James Lawson, the son of the Lawson family, a long time ago.

The two of us were destined to be sacrificed for our dad’s business alliances.

This was why my mom insisted on claiming that I had died.

It was to keep my dad from knowing about my existence.

But now, those photos were being passed around in the upper class circles of Oceanwood.

How could an affluent family like the Lawson family tolerate their daughter-in-law to have such a history before getting married?

"Do you know that I spent all these years training you so that you could marry into the Lawson family? But now you've lost your virginity and your reputation has been ruined. James won't dare marry you."

I was silent.

Because the corners of Linda's mouth couldn't grin any wider.

In the end, I sank my face and said, "First of all, to turn your daughter into a marriage tool, have you asked me if I'm willing or not? Secondly, Mr. Jackson, we’re not in medieval times anymore, so don't try to use the old ways with me. A woman’s loyalty isn’t determined by her virginity. I’m the victim. You have time to accuse me, don't you have time to catch the person who victimized me?"

"Enough, Riley!" He interrupted me angrily. "When did you become so articulate. You still want to catch the rapist, do you think it's not a big enough deal? Why can’t you think of what you’ve done wrong?"

This was it felt like to have a suffocating father.

He then put me in solitary confinement.

I stayed in the room where my sister used to live for a full month.

In the drawer of the dressing table, I accidentally found my sister's diary.

In the young girl's beautiful handwriting, she not only recounted the joy of secretly chatting with me and the memories of spending time with Joanne.

There was also a name that was hard to ignore, James Lawson.

It turned out that my sister liked him.

Even if it was a business marriage, there would have been no feelings at all.

But my sister had developed feelings for him early on.

A glimpse at the cocktail party and a few simple sentences of conversation were enough to keep her calm for a long time.

But now, my sister was gone.

But now that my sister was gone, how could I live with myself if I meet James? What would I do?