The sound of mechanical rotation interrupted my thoughts.

The door was open.

After I was dead, I walked into this house again.

As soon as I entered the house, Snowball rushed out of her nest.

Snowball was a stray dog that I picked up.

After sniffing around and realizing that I wasn't there, she whimpered and paced around the house.

When she was about to reach Wendy, my mom impatiently kicked her away.

"So filthy! Go away.

"How come it's still alive? It's so lucky."

Then she started complaining to my dad, "You shouldn't have agreed to let Violet bring it back. It's so annoying with dog hair everywhere."'

"If you didn't let her bring it back, she'd make a fuss for days. We won't be having it here for many days. She'll take it away when she goes to college."

My heart went cold again.

It hurt.

My dad wasn't talkative, and sometimes he'd even side with me.

Turned out that he just didn't want any trouble.

He found me annoying...

Hearing my parents arguing, Wendy smiled and mediated.

She was as beautiful as ever, and her voice was very sweet. "Mom, it's fine. Snowball is cute. I'll take care of her while Violet is away."

My mom instantly calmed down, and her eyes became gentle and doting again.

"Both you and Violet are my daughters. How come she's so different from you?

"If she could be half as sensible as you, I would be very glad."

The smile in Wendy's eyes became even stronger as she hugged Snowball, who kept retreating, and returned to her room.

As I expected, as soon as the door closed, she lifted Snowball high up.

Her face, which was always beautiful, was twisted.

I ran over at once, but Snowball passed through my palms and fell heavily on the floor.

"You're as disgusting as Violet."

Watching Snowball whimper in pain, I felt that my heart was torn into pieces, and it was killing me.

Snowball was afraid of Wendy, so she kept scratching at the door, trying to get out.

Wendy got annoyed, so she tied up Snowball's limbs and mouth and threw Snowball into the trash can as if Snowball were garbage.

Snowball was so small. When she curled up, she wasn't as big as a basketball.

My hands trembled as I wanted to pick Snowball up, but my palms couldn't touch her body no matter what.

The next morning, my mom threw Snowball out.

Because she bit Wendy.

But it was Wendy who tortured her first.

My mom cursed fiercely, "Go to hell! Violet's dog is as annoying as her."

My dad reminded her, "She will be back tomorrow. If she doesn't see the dog when she comes back, she will definitely go crazy. The money we've spent will be a waste."

So, I ought to be going home tomorrow.

I had been dead for five days...

My mom was furious when bringing me up. "I'm her mom. And a stray dog is more important than me to her?

"If she can't bear to part with that animal, she might as well die with it outside."

There was nothing but a red mark on Wendy's hand, and her skin wasn't even broken. Yet when my mom looked at her hand, she was so distressed. She rinsed it over and over with water.

Then she wanted to take Wendy to get vaccinated.

Snowball was very obedient. I told her not to bite people, or she'd be disliked.

She had always been meek.

If Wendy hadn't tied her up all night and cut off the collar on her neck with a knife in the morning, she wouldn't have bit Wendy.

I went to buy the materials together with Snowball and made her the collar. She loved it.

My dad sighed heavily, "Take Wendy to the hospital then. I'm gonna go search the dog in the neighborhood. It won't take long. I'm doing it so that when Violet comes back tomorrow, I can explain it to her.

"We've spent so much on her, and if she still makes a scene after she comes back, we'll be a laughingstock."

My mom glared at him fiercely. "Go ahead and spoil her. You'll regret it."

I felt like my chest was being pressed against a heavy stone, and I couldn't breathe.

Perhaps in my mom's eyes, everyone in the world should oppose me and curse me, hoping to see me dead.

Only then would she be satisfied.

But Mom, I'm dead already.

Are you happy now?

On the day I was going home, my parents started to get busy in the kitchen early in the morning.

They said they were going to prepare a big table of dishes to celebrate for me.

My dad reminded my mom, "Tell her the dishes are all for her. Once she gets happy, perhaps she'll forget about the dog."

But the dishes they prepared were all Wendy's favorites.

See? When someone doesn't love you, they won't even bother to put on a full act.

My mom's eyes were full of disdain. "She isn't a little girl anymore. I don't have to make her happy. Do you want me to feed her?

"The animal she raised bit Wendy. She owes Wendy an apology, OK? If she dares to pull a long face after she gets back, I'll send her back right away. She can stay there forever. Forget about going to college. If she gets into trouble, she might be beaten to death."

After they finished cooking, Wendy helped them bring the dishes to the table.

As Wendy looked at the dishes on the table, her stomach started growling.

My mom glanced at the clock on the wall and impatiently blamed my dad, "Did you call her? It's so late, and she hasn't come home yet. The whole family is waiting for her. Where are her manners?"

My dad was completely focused on the pet fish he raised and didn't even turn his head.

"I thought you had called her."

"Why would I?"

Wendy sensibly took out her phone and said, "Mom, Dad, take some rest. You must be tired already. I'll call her."

The call went through, but no one answered.

She called me five times, and then she heard from the phone that my phone was turned off.

My mom called the coach and knew that I had already left school at 8 o'clock in the morning, and her expression changed drastically.

Wendy whispered, "Mom, don't be angry. Perhaps Violet felt depressed there and went to her friends after she left."

She was implying something deliberately.

The words "depressed" and "friends" made my mom snap.

She slapped the table loudly.

"She's depressed? I'm depressed, OK? I'm so unlucky to have given birth to such an ungrateful girl!

"I spent all morning preparing food for her, and what did she do? The second she came back, she hung out with her cronies! She even turned off her phone!

"She didn't wanna come back? Fine! She should never come back! She's dead to me!"

The atmosphere in the room was intense.

I stood in front of them and smiled bitterly, enduring their malice.

Mom, I will never go back.

I'm dead...