My cousin, Isabelle Cox, dies of cancer. However, my adoptive parents, who have always loved her the most, don't shed a single tear. Instead, they go on an overseas trip with my adoptive brother, Cedric Cox.

After they return, they give me an exquisite doll and ask me to put it right next to my bed every night.

My adoptive mother, Vivian Mason, looks at my swollen eyes and smiles tenderly. "Why, you're such a grateful and sentimental kid. This is such a pretty doll. Let it stay by your side and accompany you like it's your sister, alright?"

I agree.

Later, my body becomes increasingly weak, and I sleep all day.

One day, when I wake up, I am horrified to find that I am trapped inside the doll and can't move at all.

My deceased cousin, Isabelle, became "me"!

Beaming widely, she cuts my hair and also my limbs one by one. Then, she throws my mutilated body into the fire.

As the flames engulf me, I see my adoptive family standing behind her. On their faces, they show happy and relieved expressions.

When I open my eyes again, I am back to the day when they give me the doll.

The room, with its curtains that had remained unopened for half a month, was cold. In fact, it was so cold that it jolted me awake.

After waking up, I was dazed for a long while. My scalp and limbs still seemed to throb with pain.

Then, I jerked out of bed and rushed into the bathroom. When I saw my reflection in the mirror and saw that I was unharmed, I burst into tears.

I was reborn!

Before long, the sound of a car came from the front yard. I pulled back a corner of the curtain and looked down at the people below. Instantly, a surge of hatred rose from deep within.

After they made their way into the house, my adoptive parents' expressions became tinged with sadness. They looked completely different from when they were outside. The excitement I had just seen on their faces from upstairs had vanished.

My adoptive mother, Vivian Mason, wrapped an arm around my shoulders affectionately. "Beth, are you still upset? I know Belle's death hit you hard, but life has to go on."

When she saw me staring at the family photo, she smiled and said, "What a sentimental and grateful child."

Cedric Cox, my adoptive brother, carefully held out a large gift box in his hands. "Don't look so gloomy. Mom and Dad bought you a present."

I said hoarsely, "Thank you."

In the center of the gift box lay a doll. It had curly hair with two sapphire hairpins and delicate features. It was wearing beautiful clothes. They had even bought a whole separate bag of accessories and outfits for it.

However, if you stared at its bright, glassy eyes for too long, they began to feel eerie…

Vivian stroked the doll's hair gently with a tender expression.

"Isn't this doll pretty? From now on, keep it by your side. Think of it as your late sister. Let's call her Baby from now on," she said, trying to stuff the doll into my arms.

My eyes widened in fear, and I instinctively dodged. My palms began to sweat.

A hurt expression appeared on my adoptive parents' faces. "Beth, are you blaming us for not taking you along? Back then, you promised Belle you would stay home and copy scriptures for her for a month after her funeral. Since you were so sincere, we didn't want to disturb you."

I quickly waved my hands to deny it. "I'm not blaming you. Mom, I…"

This was the first time they had ever given me something.

Cedric's smile faltered. "Then, what is it? Don't you like this gift? Mom and Dad were worried you'd grieve for too long, so they had this custom-made overseas. Belle once said girls like these things."

I lowered my head and wiped my eyes before looking at them gratefully. "No, I really like it. It's just as pretty as Isabelle. It just… reminded me of her."

The moment I took the doll, I met those black, shadowy eyes again. It felt as if they were staring straight at me.

The gentle expressions on my adoptive family members' faces were something I had never seen before. No… That wasn't quite right. It wasn't that I had never seen it. It was just that they had never shown me that expression. That kind of affection belonged only to my cousin, Isabelle Cox.

Isabelle was the little princess everyone envied. When people mentioned the Cox family of Norvale, the first thing that came to mind wasn't their thriving business but their precious daughter.

Ever since she passed away, my adoptive parents seemed to treat me like I was their own daughter. They cared about my feelings and took the trouble to learn my preferences. They were willing to give me the love and sense of security I had always lacked.

In my previous life, I lapped it all up gratefully like an idiot. I did whatever they said, hoping things would stay this way forever.

In reality, I ignored the fact that they had never liked me in the past. They had often treated me like I was air in the house. Sometimes, they even seemed to despise me.

Cedric would scold me and look down on me. He would accuse me of being greedy and disgusting. And all those insults stemmed from Isabelle once giving me a piece of her new jewelry.

He had said he hated my face the most. He told me that even if I looked somewhat like Isabelle, I couldn't compare to her in the slightest.

However, did they really dislike my face just because I resembled Isabelle?

Back then, they adopted me because Isabelle had fallen seriously ill. She was diagnosed with bone cancer. They wanted to fulfill her wish of having a younger sister, and I happened to be the one she took a liking to.

My adoptive parents used instilling proper upbringing in me as an excuse to forbid me from acting unladylike or eating too excessively. I had to stay by Isabelle's side and keep her happy.

Only Isabelle treated me well and regarded me as family.

Gradually, I began to depend on her. I cherished her kindness and agreed to her requests…

Snapping back from my memories, I looked at Vivian.

She patted my hand and said, "I'm glad you like it. I had a small wooden bed custom-made for her and placed it by your bedside. I've already asked someone to take it upstairs to your room."

They relaxed, and satisfied smiles appeared on their faces.

"There are other gifts too. Later, we'll help you decorate your new room," Vivian added.

I thought about the room I had already been living in for half a month…

My heart suddenly sank into my stomach.

Then, I coughed a few times. "Mom, I think I've caught a cold. Can I open the windows for some fresh air?"

Vivian's voice rose slightly. "Are you sick?"

She immediately brushed my arm aside and took the doll back into her arms. I looked at her in confusion.

She averted her eyes for a moment and said, "Of course. You should move back to your old room for now and stay there for the next few days. I'll keep Baby with me. It wouldn't be good if it got contaminated. Karen, take a few maids with you upstairs and open the windows. Clean and disinfect everything."

My adoptive father, Jasper Cox, called out to Cedric, who was about to go upstairs. "Cedric, have a doctor come over later."

"Dad, it's not necessary. It's just a minor cold. I'll be fine after taking medicine for a couple of days," I said.

At that moment, my mind was racing for a solution. Once I moved into that carefully prepared room, it would be hard for me to ever leave.

In my previous life, I placed the doll on that willow bed every night. The next morning, it would mysteriously change positions. At the time, I didn't think much of it. I assumed Vivian came to check on me at night.

I slept very deeply at night, and it was extremely hard for me to wake up. Later, I became more and more lethargic. My complexion grew increasingly pale too.

I thought I was sick and wanted Jasper and Vivian to take me to the hospital.

However, they had insisted that I only needed proper rest and hired a caregiver to brush me off.

I lay in bed all day. How could I have known that my soul was slowly being stripped away from my body?

I started sleeping longer and longer. One day, I realized I couldn't move or speak at all when I woke up.

Suddenly, a pair of pale hands—so pale that the veins were visible—gripped me tightly.

A familiar face wore a vicious smile as she said, "It finally worked…"

"I" was smiling at me! Who was inside my body? And where was I trapped now?

The moment I saw my adoptive parents, I tried to scream in panic. I had hoped they would save me, as I was suffocating…

However, they just stared at me indifferently.

"That thing's useless now. Just get rid of it as soon as possible. Don't let it taint our home," urged Vivian while handing "me" a pair of scissors.

"I" took them with eyes full of malice and ranted, "Why should I have to endure all the torment from being ill. It hurts so much that I can't sleep all night, while you run around happily like an idiot every day! Do you know how badly I want a healthy body?"

She tore at my hair with her bare hands. Next, she cut apart my limbs with the scissors.

Pain spread through every inch of my body, but I couldn't make a sound.

"Burn it, Belle. Once it's burned, she won't have any lingering resentment, and her soul will disappear completely," Vivian urged again.

Only then did I realize that the one inside my body was Isabelle, the person who had once treated me the best!

In that instant, I finally understood. The person who promised that I would always be her favorite little sister had only lured me to her so that I could die in her place.

I spent the entire night drawing up plans in my room. Then, on the fourth day, I went out carrying a thick volume of hand-copied scriptures. I even put it in a fine wooden box and wrapped it up with a piece of red cloth.

I went to a shrine and had the two maids who followed me out bury it in front of Isabelle's tombstone. When they were busy doing that, I retrieved the items I had ordered two days earlier and secretly hid them away.

When I got home, Vivian came up to greet me, holding the doll in her arms.

She took my hand and said gently, "You're our precious darling, Beth. Come on, I'll take you to see your room."

The curtains were wide open now, and the floor-to-ceiling windows made the whole room look bright and spacious. Yet somehow, the sunlight still couldn't quite reach inside.

On the dark brown willow bed meant solely for the doll were expensive silk beddings. The bed wasn't small. In fact, it could fit an adult.

At the center of the room hung a dazzling crystal chandelier. Two new bedside lamps had been added as well. They were covered with bud-shaped lamp shades, and at the foot of the bed stood two round floor lamps pressed against the wall.

If one ignored the carpets, murals, and various decorative dolls and vases, and looked only at the lights, their abstract arrangement seemed to form the shape of a seated person. My bed and the doll's bed were positioned in the middle. Its bed was placed horizontally, facing the head of my bed.

In my previous life, I had been dazzled by these luxurious and beautiful things. How could I have noticed such unusual details?

Now, there was a trace of wariness in my eyes.

Vivian said, "These lights are all quite dim. Don't worry about wasting electricity. Just leave them on every night when you sleep. Belle said girls like cute and cozy rooms like this. She went on and on about ambient lighting.

"I don't really understand these things. Take a look and see if there's anything else you'd like to add."

I replied, "Thank you, Mom. This is already perfect. There's no need to add anything else."

The bedside cabinet was filled with expensive aromatherapy oils. The bottles glowed faintly with a soft orange hue.

Vivian took out one bottle and held it in front of me. "I know you haven't been sleeping well lately, so I specially bought you a fragrance that induces sleep."

She took a whiff and smiled. "There's a slight lilac scent. Light one every night. Once you use these, you'll be able to sleep well for a long time."

I forced down the wave of nausea rising in my stomach.

I put on a look of surprise and delight as I exclaimed, "You're so thoughtful, Mom!"

Vivian stroked the doll's smooth hair, placed it on the bed, and even tucked it in under the blanket.

She said, "She'll keep you company from tonight onward. Tomorrow, I'll bring new clothes and accessories for her to change her outfit."

I responded in confusion, "Mom, does the doll need to change every day? Maybe we can do it less often, so it's not too much trouble for you."

Her tone turned indifferent, and it carried a hint of an enigmatic emotion. "It has to be changed. It also needs to be washed every two days. After all, you'll be holding her every day. If she gets dirty, that wouldn't be nice."

I sneered inwardly. So, she thought I was dirty.

After she left, I locked the door from the inside and sat on the bed.

Then, I let out a sigh and muttered, "But this doll is really ugly. I feel so annoyed looking at it."

The very next second, I saw those black pupils shift ever so slightly from the corner of my eye.

My lips curled into a faint smirk.