That day, Mom brought me some mushroom soup.

I pulled out the donor form I'd found in Dad's bag and immediately asked, "Are you planning to have me donate blood to Kieran?"

Mom's hand froze in the air. She looked at me, then at Dad.

Dad looked guilty as he said, "Evangeline, you faint at the sight of blood. We were only worried about you."

I cut him off, saying, "I want to do it! I may faint at the mere sight of blood, but his life matters more."

In my last life, my refusal had caused Kieran to miss the best window to receive a blood transfusion.

In this life, however, all I needed to do was cooperate, and he would be fine.

Thus, I signed my name on the form without thinking twice.

Mom looked at me with tears in her eyes as she said, "You've matured, Evangeline. You've become so thoughtful."

This time around, Mom and Dad took me to the hospital to donate my blood.

When I woke up after the procedure, I felt sore everywhere.

As soon as I got out of bed, I started coughing nonstop, and I even hacked up several clots of blood.

Knowing that it was blood, I looked away right away. But my head spun from the sudden movement.

Was my immune system always so weak? Why had a simple blood donation affected me this deeply?

Before I figured it out, the door slammed open.

It was Brielle. She charged in and started shouting at me, "You murderer! You killed Kieran!"

"How did he die? He received my blood. He should've been fine!" My mind went blank at that.

I couldn't understand why things still ended the same way they had in my last life. I'd obeyed Mom and Dad and done the blood donation instead of listening to the calls, yet I still could not stop Kieran from dying.

Brielle ignored my confusion. "Stop pretending. You did it on purpose! You have HIV, yet you still let them use your blood on him.

"He received blood with a virus. The complication killed him on the spot! Why would you do this? Is it because he drove your BMW and damaged it? How could you be this cruel?"

"HIV? Me? Impossible!" I thought.

"I did no such thing! I would never hurt Kieran," I tried to explain.

She screamed back, "Liar! How did he die, then?

"Evangeline, you never learn until you hit a wall. I will test it right now," Brielle shouted as she grabbed my blood sample and stormed off to get it checked.

After a while, she came back in a rage and slapped me across the face. "Here is your proof! Let's see how you deny it now!"

I covered my swelling cheek and stared at the test sheet that she'd just thrown at me.

The blood I donated to Kieran had indeed tested positive for HIV.

My eyes went wide in shock.

I lived a clean lifestyle. Every test I ever took was perfect. How could I suddenly have contracted HIV?

Brielle grew even more unhinged in her insults. She kicked and hit me over and over again. "He treated you like a treasure since you were little, yet you did this to him! He won't rest in peace because of you!"

Pain tore through me. Brielle's words echoed in my head.

"Did I really kill Kieran?" I asked myself.

"Enough! Brielle, Kieran is gone now. Stop blaming Evangeline. Go home!"

Brille uttered one last cruel insult my way. "I wouldn't touch you even if I had gloves on! You dirty thing!"

In the end, after my parents begged her to stop, Brielle shot me a hateful glare and finally left to deal with Kieran's funeral.

"I'm sorry, Dad, Mom."

Guilt crushed me like a tidal wave. I felt like the worst person to have ever lived.

"I never wanted to hurt Kieran. I only wanted to save him. I don't know why the test says that I have HIV."

I kept apologizing.

Mom shook her head and pulled me into her arms. "No more of this, Evangeline. Come home for dinner."

Yet again, the phone rang, and my own voice drifted out of the speaker.

"You killed Kieran. They hate your very existence now. If you go home, they will end their lives and take you with them."

In my last life, I'd listened to the mysterious caller and kept my distance from Mom and Dad after Kieran's accident. Thus, I had not been there when danger came for them.

I decided that I could not trust that voice again.

I held Mom's hand as I said, "Let's go home together."

At dinner, the room felt heavy because of Kieran's recent passing, but Mom and Dad still kept putting food on my plate.

They were sad, but they did not seem to hate me. They even asked if I had enough to eat.

I thought about that phone call and inwardly remarked, "See? They're fine. I'm still their precious daughter. That phone call really misled me in the wildest way possible."

The next day, Mom and Dad told me they wanted to stay home instead of going out.

I almost instinctively agreed to it. But then, the image of their cold bodies from my last life flashed in my mind.

There was only one way to stop the same thing from happening.

"Mom, Dad, Kieran is gone now. You two are everything to me, and I cannot lose you, too. Let's move houses."

Thus, I moved them into an old apartment building.

The building was old, but the area was safe. Besides, there were many older neighbors, so Mom and Dad would not feel lonely when they went out for their walks.

Over the next few days, I reminded them not to open the door to strangers every morning before I left.

I also joined them on their walks after dinner. And just like that, life seemed simple and warm once more.

However, I failed to stop what came next.

That day, I was carrying groceries home and opened the door. Inside, I saw nothing but ash.

"How could this happen?" My heart dropped.

The whole place was dark and looked to have suffered through a raging fire.

Firefighters soon showed up, but even they could not find Mom's and Dad's bodies.

One of them said, "The fire started because the wiring was old. Did you check the power before you left your home?"

"I… "

I fell to the ground in a heap.

Was I the one who killed Mom and Dad, too?

I had tried to protect them. But my fear had become the sole thing that trapped them.

Brielle rushed in when she heard the news. She pointed at my face and screamed, "You're a jinx!

"You're not even human. Was killing Kieran not enough? Now, your parents are gone without a trace. Will you only be happy when the whole family is dead?"

"No, that's not it. The world is a dangerous place. I just wanted to keep them safe…" I tried to explain, but the words died in my throat.

"You locked them in here, and they had nowhere to run. What you did was pure evil! I will expose your evil sins online. I want everyone to see you for the monster that you are!"

As she said she would, Brielle posted that I gave Kieran HIV-tainted blood and caused the complication that killed him. She also revealed that I burned our parents alive in the house.

People on the Internet went wild, and everyone rushed to side with her.

"She's no sister. She is death in human form."

"Poor woman. She cared about that family, but the biological daughter never cared at all!"

"I think she did it on purpose. That fake concern for her parents means nothing. She should be arrested and thrown in jail!"

"I found her name—Evangeline Parker. Don't let her walk free."

Some people soon found my personal information, and they sent me threats by the hordes.

I felt broken, while my conscience had been shredded to bits. My body and mind were drained and exhausted both.

"I am a sinner. I killed Kieran. I killed Mom and Dad," I thought.

Of course, Brielle came to my place every day and hurled a new round of insults at me each time.

"You killed the whole family. How do you still have the nerve to stay alive?"

In the end, I broke at last. I climbed to the rooftop and stared at the street below.

Looking down at the world from above, I thought about ending everything.

"I failed you, Brielle."

Brielle followed behind me and kept cursing at me regardless. "Don't think acting like this will fix anything. Do you even have the guts to jump?"

I looked at her eager face, and everything finally clicked into place.

I said, "You've been waiting for me to jump, haven't you, Brielle?"