My mom gave birth to a pair of twins.

While I lived with my grandma in the countryside since young, my younger sister, Katrina Coffey, got to live with our parents.

I only got to live with my family after I got into a high school in the city.

I thought I'd be able to experience what it feels like to be loved by my family. What I didn't know was that this would be the start of my nightmares.

My family alienated me, treating me as though I were an outsider. My status was even lower than that of Katrina's dog.

Later on, Katrina forcibly stuffed a piece of mango, which I was allergic to, into my mouth. Her excuse was that she wanted to help me get rid of my allergy.

I tried to plead with my parents for help with great difficulty, but they merely glanced at me icily.

"What's with the complaints? Are you saying that we can't have mangoes anymore because of you from now on?"

"What allergy? All you have to do is eat more mangoes, and you'll be fine!"

What they didn't know was that people actually die from severe allergies.

My breathing grew shallow and rapid as a wave of suffocation washed over me.

The three of them just stood there, watching me with cold indifference. I managed to push myself up and started toward the bedroom to get my allergy medicine.

But Katrina stepped right into my path.

"Chelsea, where do you think you're going? You haven't even finished the mango!"

She tried to force the remaining mango into my mouth.

I shoved her back hard. She'd always been coddled, while I'd spent years doing heavy farm work back in the countryside. Thus, she didn't stand a chance against me.

Katrina stumbled backward, the mango slipping from her hand and hitting the floor. Then, she turned to our parents and said pitifully, "Chelsea hit me."

My father, David Coffey, strode over and kicked me to the ground.

"You ungrateful little brat. How dare you lay a hand on Katrina?"

I lay there gasping, my breathing growing more labored by the second. With tremendous effort, I forced the words out.

"Give me my allergy medicine. I'm going to die."

Mom pulled Katrina protectively into her arms and shot me a look of pure disgust.

"You can drop the act. I've never heard of anyone dying from eating mangoes."

Katrina, still nestled against our mother, glanced at me and said with feigned innocence, "Chelsea, I bought this mango especially for you. You mustn't let it go to waste."

At that, Dad bent down and picked up the mango from the floor. Then, he forced it down my throat.

I closed my eyes in despair. Was this the family love I'd always longed for?

Katrina and I were twins.

But right after we were born, Mom left me—the stronger one—in the countryside to be raised by Grandma. The reason was that Mom couldn't take care of two babies at once.

Grandma was too old to take good care of me, so I was always dirty and looked like a wild child. The other kids in the countryside often mocked me, saying my parents had abandoned me.

From that day on, I dreamed of living with Mom and Dad.

They only came back for a few days during Christmas.

Katrina, who had grown up by their side, looked like a little princess in her cashmere coat and stylish little leather boots.

Meanwhile, I was stuck in an old, worn-out cotton jacket that barely fit and did nothing to keep me warm. Standing next to Katrina, I felt like I looked no better than a beggar.

When I was seven years old, I finally gathered the courage to ask Mom and Dad if I could go live with them in the city.

Mom looked me up and down with disdain. "You look like a total country bumpkin. If anyone found out you were my child, I'd be a laughingstock."

Dad shook his head firmly. "Do you have any idea how expensive it is to go to school in the city? Besides, I still have to pay for Katrina's dance and piano lessons. If you go, we'll have nothing to live on!"

I burst into tears and buried my face in Grandma's arms. Later, she gave them a thorough scolding. Only then did they promise that once their financial situation improved in a few years, they'd bring me to the city.

I held onto that promise, waiting year after year. It wasn't until I graduated from middle school and got into a high school in the city that they had no choice but to finally take me in.

The swelling in my throat from the allergic reaction made it impossible to swallow. I started vomiting uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Dad kicked me again. "You little brat. Are you trying to gross someone out on purpose?"

Mom pulled Katrina closer and stepped back a few paces, as if I were something filthy.

My vision began to blur, and large patches of red rashes spread across my arms. Driven by survival instinct, I reached out to them one more time.

"M-Mom, save me."

Mom frowned at the rashes covering my arms. "What if something's really wrong? Maybe we should just give her the medicine."

Katrina immediately said, "I know where Chelsea's medicine is. I'll go get it."

She hurried inside and emerged moments later with a pill in her hand. Then, she bent down as if to help me take it.

But I recognized immediately that it wasn't my allergy medicine. I pressed my lips together in protest.

Without hesitating, Katrina grabbed my jaw and shoved the pill into my mouth. Then, she leaned close and whispered in my ear, "You can't blame me for doing this, Chelsea.

"If you'd just stayed in the countryside where you belonged, none of this would be happening. But no, you had to come here and compete with me for Mom and Dad's love. Today, I'm going to make you regret it if it's the last thing I do."

When I first came to the city for high school, I was nothing special academically. The gap between rural and urban education was just too wide.

And after years of exposure to the sun and wind back in the countryside, I looked plain and faded, like everything about me had been dulled.

Because of this, my parents and Katrina all thought I was an embarrassment. None of them wanted to be associated with me in public. In fact, when it came to school opening ceremonies, they only ever went to Katrina's.

Desperate to earn their attention, I threw myself into my studies. Finally, during the final exams of my freshman year of high school, I got first place in the entire grade.

The school publicly recognized my achievement and even awarded me a scholarship.

For the first time, my parents' attention shifted just slightly from Katrina to me. They tossed me a scrap of acknowledgement, as if it were charity.

"Your father and I will be there with you at the opening ceremony of your sophomore year."

That single sentence was enough to send me over the moon with joy. I thought that if I just kept working hard, someday my parents would love me the way they loved Katrina.

It was never my intention to compete with Katrina for anything. I just wanted Mom and Dad to acknowledge my existence. After all, they were my parents too.

Never did I imagine that this simple wish would drive Katrina to want me dead.

With nothing but resentment and hatred burning in my eyes, I bit down hard on the finger Katrina had used to force the pill into my mouth.

She let out a bloodcurdling scream. "My hand!"

Seeing this, Mom and Dad immediately slapped me across the face several times. Then, they pried my jaw open and pulled Katrina's finger free.

The moment he saw the deep teeth marks on her skin, Dad kicked me again without mercy and roared, "You animal! Katrina is your sister! How could you be so vile?"

Yes. She was my twin sister, and yet she had just tried to kill me.

Holding Katrina's hand gently, Mom frantically cleaned the wound with alcohol and put a Band-Aid on it.

Dad hovered close by, showering her with concern and comfort.

The three of them huddled together, forming a tight little circle.

No one noticed me, lying on the floor, dying.

Katrina nestled in Mom's arms, her face full of wounded innocence.

"Mom, how could Chelsea do this to me? I was only trying to help."

Mom shot me a furious glare. "She grew up wild in the countryside, and now she's completely uncivilized. I'm sending her back there to work the fields right now."

Dad nodded in agreement. "Exactly. With a heart this poisonous, keeping her around is just asking for trouble. She belongs in the countryside for good."

With that, he reached down and yanked me up from the floor.

But my eyes were shut tight, my whole body convulsing and trembling. I couldn't stand at all. The moment he let go, I collapsed straight back down.