My cousin, Amy, and I were in a car accident at the same time and both of us were disfigured.

Because my condition was severe, I was taken to the operating room first. However, as the attending physician, my mom Linda decided to save Amy first.

"My daughter has always been ugly; it makes no difference if her face is ruined or not. Save Amy first! Amy is going to be a big star in the future!"

Missing the optimal treatment time, I became a freak with only half an ear.

My classmates mocked me, and my company fired me.

In pain, I questioned, "Mom, why are you doing this to me?"

She hugged Amy tightly and comforted her gently, "Don't be afraid, Amy. Your sister has a temper; it's not your fault."

Later, Amy incited her boyfriend, David, to break into my door...

I finally fulfilled Linda's wish by giving everything good to Amy.

Including my life!

——

At the door of the operating room, Linda frowned and called the doctor who was ready to operate on me out.

"What are you all doing here? Amy was the first to get off the ambulance; you should operate on her!"

Her tone was stern, as if the person lying on the hospital bed, curled up in pain, was not her biological daughter but an enemy.

The doctors glanced at my injuries and explained, "Director, Emily's injuries are too severe! There can't be any delay!"

Linda's eyebrows shot up immediately.

"What do you mean by no delay?!

"I'm her mother; I know her better than you!

"This girl has always loved competing with Amy! She'll do anything to harm her cousin! She's pretending right now!

I was already on the operating table, but Linda wanted to take my doctors away to treat Amy!

Even though I've been used to her favoritism for over twenty years, at this moment, I was still choked with pain and grievance.

"Mom, you might not believe me, but can you at least look at me, please?"

Hearing my plea, Linda's mouth twitched. She stood outside the operating room, mocking me without moving.

"Emily, stop pretending to be pitiful!

"How many times have you used this trick since you were little?!"

Her words left me speechless, stabbed by the disgust in them.

Just then, the alarm went off in Amy's ward too.

Linda's expression immediately turned anxious, and she threw out a command.

"Hurry up and help Amy with her surgery, or I'll fire you all!!"

She took all the doctors from the operating room with her.

From beginning to end, she didn't look at me once or ask if I was in pain.

The other doctors walked with her, asking, "Director, if Emily ends up disfigured because of delayed treatment, won't you regret your decision?"

"Regret what?" Linda said each word deliberately.

"Emily has always been ugly; it makes no difference if her face is ruined or not.

"But Amy is going to be a big star in the future!!

"No matter what, Amy can't be disfigured!"

Linda's love for Amy was like a tailor-made sharp knife for me.

Her words stabbed me like a knife, making me wake up from the dream with a start.

It had been over six months since the car accident that sent both Amy and me into the operating room.

But every night, I had the same dream.

In the dream, Linda repeatedly abandoned me for my cousin Amy.

After waking up from the dream, I carefully took out the small mirror from under my pillow, examining my scarred face inch by inch before bursting into tears.

This night was no different. Once I woke from the dream, I couldn't fall back asleep.

Bang, bang!

The continuous rain outside and the sudden knocking made me think it was my imagination.

Until David's greasy and sinister voice squeezed through the door crack, snapping me back to reality.

It was two in the morning.

What was David doing here in the middle of the night?

"Emily, are you there??

"I'm David!

"Open the door; I have something to tell you!"

David had dropped out of middle school and became a notorious thug in the neighborhood.

Since it was late at night, I cautiously kept silent.

After banging on the door for a while, David finally quieted down.

"Amy, didn't you say you'd give me Emily as a toy if you broke up with me?!

"Why isn't she opening the door when I knock?!"

After the knocking stopped, I heard David talking to Amy outside.

I couldn't believe David came here for this reason.

In a panic, I quickly dialed Linda's number.

My rented apartment was close to her place, only a seven or eight-minute walk away.

I was afraid the police wouldn't get here in time to save me, so I nervously clutched my phone, praying she would answer soon.

But it was too late...

"Emily, why are you calling in the middle of the night?"

Before I could speak, Linda cursed and hung up the phone.

Meanwhile, David picked my door lock with a wire and smiled at me with a mouth full of yellow teeth.

"Dressed so sexy! Emily, you're just like your sister said, a slut!"

David approached me step by step.

I desperately threw things at him, but I couldn't match his strength.

He taped my mouth shut and yanked open the curtains. "Emily, save your energy!

"Look, you called your mom for help in the middle of the night, but she didn't even turn on a light for you!

"She doesn't care about you! Your own mother doesn't care about you! What's the point of you living?"

David covered my head with a black cloth, tied my hands with a rope, and dragged me out while cursing.

"Emily, your face is so disgusting!

"You used to be prettier than Amy, but now she's about to debut! And you?

"Before you got disfigured, how much did that agency offer you? Today I get to taste what it's like to be with a star!"

The rain outside started and stopped, stopped and started again.

By the time the sun rose from the heavy clouds, David had finally pulled up his pants and thrown my dazed body into a pit.

The wet soil was thrown on me, and at first, I wanted to struggle.

But soon, someone stomped heavily on my head.

All my strength left me, and I lay in the pit, feeling as if I were sealed in cold cement.

I didn't know how many mistakes I had made in my life to die in such pain and suffocation.

I wanted to leave; there was nothing in this world worth lingering for.

But a burst of white light came at me, binding me tightly to Linda.

Linda was the vice president of the hospital and very busy every day.

But today, she, who was usually engrossed in her work, patiently and gently chatted with the person across the table.

"Amy, come closer and let me take a look."

She gently held Amy's face in her hands, carefully examining the healed wounds, and finally concluded, "You're healing well. The scar under your ear is hardly noticeable.

"It won't affect your debut next month!"

Linda spoke lovingly, pulling out a pair of gold earrings from her bag and handing them to Amy.

"I bought these as a gift for your debut. Try them on?"

Amy's face lit up with joy as she grabbed the box.

"Ten grams of gold, this must have cost a lot!"

"I'm happy to spend any amount on you, Amy." Linda said, personally putting the earrings on Amy.

Their closeness and harmony were more enviable than what I had with Linda. Watching them, I suddenly remembered my name.

Emily, meaning "extra."

I had died because of Amy, yet Linda was still giving her gifts.

Amy put on the earrings and happily posted on social media, receiving a wave of compliments. She then lowered her head and softly asked, "Aunt Linda, why haven't I seen Emily today? I remember we have our follow-up appointments on the same day.

"Is she still mad at me for what happened six months ago?"

Amy's innocent eyes could deceive anyone.

If I hadn't overheard her conversation with David last night, I might have believed she was genuinely concerned about me rather than probing.

"I don't know what's wrong with that girl. It's her face, and if she doesn't come for her follow-up, I would not beg her."

Linda said impatiently.

Amy quickly patted her back to calm her.

"But Aunt Linda, if Emily never forgives me, what about my debut night next month?

"Emily's fans all know I took her place to debut. If she doesn't come, I'll be cursed by her fans!"

As she spoke, tears like pearls fell one by one.

Linda, deeply distressed, grabbed her hand.

"Don't worry, Amy! I'll make sure she goes! If she dares not go, I won't recognize her as my daughter anymore!"

Hearing this, Amy smiled brightly and soon left with her bag.

After she left, Linda immediately called me.

The phone rang once, twice, three times... but no one answered.

This would never have happened on a normal day.

Because of Linda's love for Amy, every time she called me, I felt so excited.

But today, she called for a long time, and I didn't answer.

Amy's matter was very important, and Linda couldn't allow anything to go wrong with her.

So, she left work early and headed to my place.

On the way, she muttered while driving.

"Emily, you're such an ungrateful woman!

"If it weren't for Amy giving us that money back then, we would have starved on the streets!

"You're still holding a grudge over the order of the surgeries? I really raised you for nothing!"

I was clearly a soul now.

But hearing my mother's merciless belittling, my entire being ached as if my soul was being wrung.

All my life, she always said we owed Amy.

But she never thought about where a fifteen-year-old Amy got such a large sum of money to lend us back then.

Nor did she wonder why my scholarship money disappeared from my account without a trace...

When Linda arrived downstairs at my apartment, the property manager was leading a landscaping crew planting trees.

In her hurry, she saw the crew digging furiously with shovels in the soil, and for some reason, a sudden unease gripped her heart.

I, too, was startled.

Yesterday, when David buried me, I was barely conscious.

But now, as a soul, I could feel my body just below where the landscaping team was working.

Maybe, in the next second, they would dig me up.

"Hey, look what I found!" one of the gardeners shouted.

My heart leaped into my throat.

It was broad daylight, and I had died so disgracefully. It would be too horrifying to scare strangers.

Before I could see what was being dug up, Linda clutched her chest and went upstairs, complaining all the way.

"Why did she insist on living in this lousy place? So close to home, yet she wasted money on this!"

She didn't have a key to my place, so she knocked on the door twice, then called me again, annoyed.

"Emily, answer the phone!

"Emily, what are you doing?"

Through the door, she heard my phone ringing again and again.

But inside, there were no footsteps approaching to open the door.

After waiting five minutes, Linda lost patience and called a locksmith.

The locksmith worked quickly, and after receiving the payment, the door was opened in no time.

Linda stormed into my apartment, demanding. "Emily! What kind of nonsense are you up to now?!

"Your cousin is making her debut next month. You're coming with me to support her so people don't misunderstand and your fans don't criticize her!"

After saying this, she got no response, frowning as she rushed into the bathroom.

After the accident, I couldn't bear to face my mother, who had abandoned me, every day.

So I rented a place nearby to take care of her but still have my own space.

Unfortunately, after my disfigurement, my ability to earn money had greatly diminished. This one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment was the best I could afford within my budget.

The bedroom was empty. The bathroom was empty.

Linda picked up my phone from the floor, noticing it had run out of battery, and muttered, "Where did that girl go?!"

Puzzled, she lowered her head and spotted a crumpled cigarette pack under the bed.

I never smoked.

The cigarette pack was something I had left behind in a moment of quick thinking when David dragged me out.

Its purpose was to ensure that my death would be discovered and not be mistaken for a cowardly suicide.

Now, Linda stared intently at that cigarette pack.

I held my breath, knowing it had David's DNA on it. If she took it to the police, he would surely be convicted...