Thera’s eyes were red, her face pale, and her voice trembled with disbelief.

Harriet’s expression shifted instantly. Panic filled his face as he rushed to pick Thera up and tend to her wound.

She shot me an angry glare before turning away.

I stood there, feeling dazed.

It was just like a few years ago when I had broken a ceramic bowl while bringing him chicken noodle soup and hurt my hand. He had the same look on his face then.

Even when he saw my hands covered in blood, his eyes reddened with worry.

He had quickly treated my wound while muttering to himself in self-blame.

“It’s all my fault. I should’ve gotten it for you. Does it hurt a lot, Cathy? You can hit me if you want. If you hit me, it won’t hurt anymore.”

I shook my head, but he insisted.

He made me hold the stick and hit him twice before he finally backed off.

“Cathy, I promise I’ll never let you get hurt again. I’ll take better care of you.”

His words were still fresh in my ears.

And like a fool, I believed him.

Until the poison he injected into me. Until the endless stream of inferior antidotes he pumped into me.

That was when I finally understood.

His heart wasn’t with me anymore.

I snapped back to reality. Thera’s wound wasn’t deep.

After treating it, Harriet walked toward me with a cold expression, and slapped me across the face with a force neither too light nor too heavy.

“Cathy, what happened to you? How could you be so malicious? You knew the ceramic pieces were on the floor, and you still pushed Thera. You did it on purpose!”

“She came to visit you with good intentions, and not only are you ungrateful, but now you’re trying to harm her! They were right, people like you deserve to die from illness!”

I swallowed the metallic taste in my mouth.

I calmly looked at Thera, who was glaring at me from a distance, and said softly, “I’m sorry.”

Harriet froze, her words cutting off as she swallowed the rest of her anger.

She stood there for a long while until the sound of Thera’s crying snapped her out of it.

“Still pretending, Cathy? Is this some kind of game for you? Thera may be kind and a little naive, but I won’t let you deceive me! I’ll protect her. Don’t you ever try to hurt her again!”

With that, Harriet turned and left, taking Thera with her.

Looking at Thera’s victorious smile, I found it laughable.

Before leaving, she threw a pitiful glance my way.

“Cathy, tomorrow’s my birthday. I hope you’ll come too. Let’s forget the past and start fresh, okay?”

She smiled, carefree.

Harriet furrowed his brows and gently pinched Thera’s cheek, his tone playful.

“Forget the pain after the wound heals? You’ve already forgotten she poisoned you? How can you be so easily fooled? What would I do without you?”

After lying for so long, Harriet began to believe it.

But the truth was, it was Thera who had insisted on picking that unknown plant, even after I warned her over and over not to.

When Harriet found out, he looked at me with blame in his eyes.

“Cathy, you’re the older sister. Why didn’t you warn Thera more? If you had told her the plant was poisonous, would she have picked it? You have some responsibility in this too.”

Thera, pale from the poison, clung to Harriet, crying.

“Cathy, you majored in plants in college. How could you not recognize it? Why didn’t you warn me when you knew it was poisonous? I just thought it looked pretty and wanted to give it to Harriet…”

She looked at me, her gaze cold, with Harriet’s reproach mirrored in her eyes.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

I let them ride off on their mountain bikes, leaving me to “punish” myself by walking home.

It took me all night.

By the time I finally reached the bottom of the hill, my feet were bleeding, and I had no idea how many times I had tripped.

But then Harriet found an excuse to take me away.

And she locked me up for five years.

That night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Without a phone, without a watch, I had no way of knowing what was happening outside.

Just as I was about to drift off, I was jolted awake by the voice of Bill from the lab.

He sounded a bit excited.

"Thera's getting married! She's living with Harriet now, right? They're both wearing matching couple rings in the photos!"

"What does the caption mean? 'Someone else in the world to love you'? Could she be pregnant?"

"Some mistress, no matter how much she bullies Thera, at least Thera’s finally getting her happiness!"

It was as if they were trying to make sure I heard it.

Bill even shoved his phone in my face, pointing to the man's hand with the ring.

There was a small mole on the tip of the index finger—a mark that belonged only to Harriet.

"See? Harriet wouldn’t want someone like you—poisonous and toxic! He and Thera are fine! You’ll never tear them apart!"

"Mm."

He could say whatever he wanted.

It didn’t matter to me anymore.

After all, I didn’t love him anymore.

I didn’t attend Thera’s birthday party.

Instead, I lay on the cold bed in the lab, staring blankly at the monitoring equipment.

Richard, who was still somewhat on good terms with me, spoke up.

The toxins in my body were too mixed, too deeply ingrained. They had already invaded my internal organs.

Even if he tried his hardest, all he could do was extend my life by a few more years.

It couldn’t be cured.

Like a wilting rose, no matter how much water you pour, it would only rot away slowly.

"Cathy, let’s go abroad. Maybe there's still a slim chance over there."

Richard’s eyes were bloodshot, his face bruised.

But when he looked at me, he still forced a smile.

I bit my lip, looking at the hopeful expression in his eyes, and reluctantly nodded.

"Alright."

"But this time, I don’t plan on coming back home."

I couldn’t understand what was going on in Richard’s eyes, nor could I understand why he wanted to spend all his savings on me.

Wouldn’t it be better for him to use that money to live his own life?

When I woke up, the sky was covered in dark clouds, the last sliver of sunset completely gone.

The door was slammed open.

Harriet, his face dark with fury, threw a stack of photos at me.

I glanced at them; they were all pictures of when Harriet and I were together, when we were in love.

"Why didn’t you go to Thera’s birthday? Did you send Richard to her birthday party to say those things? Do you know what people are saying about her? They’re calling her a mistress who stole her sister's boyfriend!"

"Cathy, Thera has been good to you, hasn’t she? Do you really have to destroy her to survive? You can’t stand to see her happy, can you? How shameless are you?"

I remained silent, watching him lose control.

By the time he was done, he was frozen in place, stung by the calmness in my eyes.

As if suddenly remembering something, he lowered his gaze, defeated.

But in the next moment, he straightened up, emboldened.

"What’s going on between you and Richard? Just because he’s defending you, do you think you’re innocent? I’ve seen him follow you more than once in secret! Can you really believe nothing’s going on between you two?"

"You cheated first! Did I do something wrong by being with Thera? Cathy, you can’t have everything! Aren’t you the most shameless one?"

"Go clear things up with everyone! Clear Thera’s name! Otherwise, I’m not going to work on your antidote anymore! You need to know that only I have the formula for it! If you don’t want to die, go apologize to Thera on your knees!"

I stayed silent for a long time.

Before his impatience reached its peak, I agreed.

Harriet’s family was wealthy and powerful—Richard couldn’t compete with him.

It didn’t matter what happened to me.

It was just a meaningless reputation. It wasn’t important.

Anyway, I didn’t have much time left.

Maybe because I agreed so quickly, Harriet looked at me with a complicated expression.

A flicker of emotion passed through his eyes.

"If you’d just listened sooner, would all of this have been necessary? Cathy, Thera was right. Your temper would’ve settled if you just tried."

"After this is over, I’ll come and take you home."