"Mom!" I exclaimed excitedly.

However, Mom walked right through my body and went past me.

So, as it turned out, I couldn't touch Mom anymore.

I followed her and carefully made my request in a very small voice, but Mom couldn't hear me at all. Also, she hadn't come back for me. She'd just forgotten to bring her car keys with her.

When Mom's eyes paused at my bedroom door, I hurriedly explained myself as if I'd just been caught red-handed.

"I didn't mean to die on purpose, Mom! I'm also sorry for making a mess in the house. I'm sorry, Mom, I promise that I…"

I trailed off sadly before adding, "I can't clean up after myself anymore. I… I'm dead now…"

Mom stood at my closed bedroom door, speaking in a nonchalant tone.

"How dare you not come out to greet me after knowing that I'd come back? You think you're all grown up now, don't you? You've got a fine temper now, don't you? Is that how you behave with your mother now?

"But let me tell you that there's no use even if you keep sulking like that. You were the unlucky one for getting the short end of the stick. You have no one else to blame but yourself."

When she realized that I still didn't open the door for her, she got a little angry and grabbed the door handle. Just then, Anabelle ran into the house.

"Mommy! Hurry up! The amusement park is going to open very soon!"

Mom gave up on trying to enter my room. She just grabbed her keys and left with a huff, leaving for the front door.

"We're going to be out until late at night. We're not coming home for dinner. Eat the chicken leg at the table as your dinner. And don't you dare complain that I'm not being fair to you.

"Your sister hasn't even eaten it yet, and you didn't even have to draw lots for this meal. I'm already being very kind toward you by favoring you now."

The chicken leg was actually Anabelle's leftovers from yesterday.

Mom had come back from the grocery store yesterday with this chicken leg. She then made us draw lots, and I drew the short one again.

I hadn't had meat in a very long time, so I touched the chicken packaging, feeling a little greedy for it. And then, Mom slapped me so hard on the wrist that my skin turned a bright red immediately.

She yelled at me in disgust and said, "Have you forgotten all about the rules, Isabelle Madden? You got the short end of the stick, which means that the chicken leg belongs to Anabelle! You're absolutely not allowed to touch it!

"If you try touching it again, I'm going to chop every single one of your fingers off!

"Really, I haven't seen anyone as greedy as you! You're making it seem as though I've been abusing you and starving you all day!"

However, Mom suddenly let me eat it without having to draw lots.

She was so kind to me after all.

I was very happy at first. However, I forgot that I was just a floating spirit now, and I couldn't touch or hold the chicken leg anymore.

Meanwhile, a stray cat hopped in through the open window and snatched the chicken leg away.

It hissed angrily at me, and there was no way for me to stop it from stealing my chicken leg. The only thing I could do was to go into a corner and cry sadly.

A long while later, Mom, Dad, and Anabelle finally came home. They all looked very happy and had radiant smiles on their faces.

"Mommy! The polar bear had such long fur on its body! It's so fluffy too! I like it a lot! Can you buy it for me, please, Mommy?"

Mom kissed her on the forehead affectionately and playfully scolded her.

"Unfortunately, I really can't do that, Ana."

Anabelle scoffed and took a step back.

"Don't kiss me! We haven't drawn lots yet. If Isabelle sees us, then she's going to cry loudly again and say that you're not being fair to her!

"But maybe she's already crying in a corner of her bedroom today right now. It's her birthday today, after all."

Mom glanced at the table and saw that the chicken leg was already gone. She chuckled nonchalantly and said in a very certain tone, "Well, if she can draw the long end of the stick, then I could have kissed her too! But she's such an unlucky thing who has never been able to get it.

"Also, she's already eaten the chicken leg on the table. She's just not coming out to greet us on purpose. Don't bother about your sister. She's just a petty little bitch."

Nobody could see me, and nobody knew that I had already died in my bedroom.

Mom began preparing supper. She called out in a weird and sarcastic tone, shouting at my bedroom door, "Well, is somebody not coming out to draw lots for supper? Then, I'm just going to make Anabelle's favorite food now! Don't you dare come crying to me about me being unfair later on!"

Dad, who was watching TV, lost his patience and said irritably, "Why do you even still care about her? Forget about drawing lots. Just make Anabelle's favorite food and let her starve if she wants to!

"We were the ones who brought her up. It's bad enough that she doesn't know how to be thankful, but to think that she still has the nerve to hold grudges against us? What an ingrate!"

I stood to the side, thinking to myself.

What was the point of drawing lots? It's been ten years, and every time, the table was always only filled with Anabelle's favorite dishes, while I could only eat plain spaghetti noodles every single time.

But still, at the very least, Mom and Dad didn't exactly starve me to death. Wasn't that right?

In the end, Mom still made Anabelle's favorite dishes.

Mom, Dad, and Anabelle sat together at the table, chatting and laughing among themselves, looking like a big, happy family.

I felt a little lonely and went over to Mom.

Suddenly, I realized that there was a cake box on the chair right next to her. I then turned to the stray cat at the window and began boasting to it, saying, "See that? That's the cake Mom and Dad bought for me. They didn't forget my birthday today."

The stray cat just glanced at me briefly, almost as if it were making fun of me.

Mom then took the cake and gave it to Anabelle, saying she had bought it especially for her because Anabelle had wanted it just now. She also spoke in a low voice, as if she was worried that I'd overhear her.

"Bring it to your bedroom secretly and eat it there. If not, Isabelle is going to come crying to me again."

I had actually only cried one time, but Mom wouldn't stop bringing it up for ten years.

Actually, I wasn't very upset about it because I knew that even if I got the chance to draw lots, I would most probably get the short stick again. There was no helping it. I just had terrible luck each time.

Anabelle was still the one who'd get the cake after all.

"I've never had cake before. Have you?" I asked the stray cat.

It suddenly jumped into the house through the window, knocked over the cake in Anabelle's hands, and scampered out of the window immediately.

The cat had also scratched Anabelle on the hand, and she burst into loud tears.

However, Mom just grabbed the nearby vase and smashed it angrily at my bedroom door instead.

"Isabelle Madden! You did this to your sister on purpose, didn't you? Why didn't you close the window while you were home?"

Seeing that I still wasn't coming out of my room, Mom flew into a rage. However, Dad came over to her and held her back.

"That's enough. Don't bother about her. We just need to get Anabelle to the hospital as quickly as possible. We'll get even with Isabelle after we've come back!"

By the time Mom and Dad finally came back, it was already at the crack of dawn.

Mom and Dad knocked on my door at the same time. They couldn't hear anything behind the door either, and they finally lost all patience, grabbing a hammer and getting ready to smash my door down.

In the end, the neighbors complained to them about the noise, so Mom and Dad gave up on the idea and instead launched a barrage of angry insults at my door.

Mom then bought a beautiful princess gown for Anabelle. She twirled around happily in it to show it off.

"I cried when the doctor gave me the vaccine jab, and Mom felt so sorry for me that she bought me a new dress and took me out for steak!

"You've never had steak before, have you? It's your fault for having bad luck! If you got the long end of the stick, Mom would also bring you shopping for new clothes and getting steak for dinner!"

My blood then seeped out through the crack at the bottom of the door.

Anabelle slipped on it and fell. She screamed at the top of her lungs, immediately drawing Mom's and Dad's attention to her.

"What happened? Why is there so much blood on the floor?"

Dad stared at the slit in the door in panic and horror. "It looks like it's coming from inside Belle's room. Belle—"

However, his suspicions were interrupted by Anabelle's loud screaming.

"I just wanted to show Isabelle my new dress, but she told me to get lost! That's all my blood! My heart hurts!"

Mom blew her fuse immediately. She began kicking heavily at the door in a rage.

"Isabelle Madden! Get out right now, right this instant! How dare you make Anabelle bleed everywhere like this and still stay in there without coming out?"

This time, Mom really wanted to ram the door down, kicking at the door harder and harder with all of her might.

My body was mangled beyond recognition from the repeated slamming of the door against myself. I didn't know if they would be scared to see me like this now.

They didn't manage to get the door open. Mom had no choice but to bring Anabelle away to bandage her up, but not before calling me every derogatory insult under the sky.

Actually, this wasn't the first time Anaballe framed me like this.

Growing up, every time she did something wrong, she would immediately burst out crying first before blaming everything on me while screaming at the top of her lungs.

Mom was always very fair. She would never care who the real culprit was and would make us draw lots first. Whoever got the short end of the stick would be the one receiving the punishment.

Of course, I was the one who always ended up getting punished.

If I were still alive, I wondered if they would lock me up in the attic without food or drink, or make me stand outside in the rain for the entire night this time.

I floated all the way downstairs and suddenly realized something.

Tears instantly streamed down my face.

I had finally found out the reason why I never seemed to draw the long end of the stick for ten whole years.

Someone had knocked the lottery box over, and it had fallen to the ground.

As it turned out, there were no long sticks inside at all.

I finally learned that Mom and Dad never loved me. Grandma had been right. They were only using the lottery box as a front so that it looked like they were being fair while they were secretly favoring only Anabelle instead.

I began to feel cold, despite the fact that I was supposed to be a spirit now.

Mom and Dad thought that I was still being sulky. So, when they came back from the hospital this time, they began treating me like thin air, pretending that I didn't exist.

They wouldn't set out my plate and bowls at the table for food. They stopped calling me out to draw lots. Instead, they purposely began spoiling Anabelle even more blatantly now.

It was as if I never existed in this family at all.

It wasn't until our neighbors began realizing that something was amiss and came knocking on the door.

"Mrs. Madden, our window is right next to Belle's window. Don't you think there's a stench coming from her room?" our neighbor, Mrs. Richards, asked Mom.

"It smells like something is rotting inside. Also, Belle hasn't been seen outside of the house lately. She never even went to school for days."

Mom was in the midst of peeling crab legs for Anabelle and didn't even bother looking up at Mrs. Richards.

"She's sulking. She's not even coming out for food, so forget about going to school. As for the stench…"

Mom suddenly rose to her feet angrily and went over to my door, hammering and kicking at the door with all her strength.

"Isabelle Madden! Did you or did you not poop in your own room? What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you trying to shame me by making the neighbors think that I never taught you how to behave properly?"

There was no answer even after shouting for a long time. Mrs. Richards began to realize that something was wrong.

"Could something have happened to her? Belle is still a little girl. She can't hold up if she doesn't eat or drink for a long time."

I looked at Mom from the corner where I was crouching. However, I didn't see the look of concern I hoped I'd see on Mom's face. Instead, her face was filled with contempt and disdain.

She said sarcastically, "She was the one who sent Ana to the hospital twice! How could anything have happened to her? What could possibly have happened to her?

"Ana even got a huge gash on her head because of her! Ana is the one who had had something happen to her!"

Mrs. Richards looked at Anabelle's teary face and didn't say another word.

After Mrs. Richards left, Mom dumped the dinner leftovers into the trash can.

"You're still sulking at me, aren't you? Fine. Let's see how much longer you can sulk. I'm not leaving any food out for you at all!

"Since you don't want to come out, then I'm going to tell your teacher that you're dropping out of school tomorrow! Saves me all your school fees anyway!"

My body was decomposing quite terribly, and the stench was getting worse too. Even Mom and Dad could smell it now too.

However, they didn't think that the stench was because I was dead. Instead, they thought that I'd just turned into a lunatic who peed and pooped everywhere in the room.

However, Mrs. Richards couldn't stand it anymore and reported it to the police.

When Mom saw the police officers at the door, she slapped the table in fury.

"What the hell is this? Why are you bringing a whole bunch of police officers to arrest us? Are you saying that we're a bunch of murderers or criminals now?"

"Officers, she locked her daughter up for many days without any food or drink. Isn't that child abuse?

"Also, I think that there's something wrong with her head. She has two daughters, yet she insisted on making them draw lots for everything, saying it was only fair that way. But they always end up spoiling the younger one only!

"I have a suspicion that their eldest kid has already been tortured to death by them," Mrs. Richards said.

Mom laughed loudly in anger when she heard that.

"It's none of your business how I discipline my kids! It has absolutely nothing to do with you! Stop poking your nose into matters that don't concern you!

"Officers, my daughter is alive and well! Mrs. Richards is the one who made a false police report! Arrest her instead!"

However, the police officers who entered the house had already smelled the abnormal stench in the air. They were prepared to break down my door.

However, Mom blocked them from the door and shouted, "You're illegally trespassing on private property! Get out of my sight!

"My daughter is not dead! She's just sulking and holding a grudge against us! That's why she purposely peed and pooped in her own room to make us mad!"

Dad pulled Mom away in frustration and said, "There's no use talking sense into them. Let them open the door instead.

"What a sick joke! Neither she nor I have ever abused any of our kids before! Isabelle is just being a sulky brat! How could you make such wild assumptions just because of that!

"Tell Isabelle to come out herself and show you that she's alive and kicking! This insolent brat is really getting out of hand!"

The door was finally pried open, and the stench hit the officers immediately.

At once, everyone saw my mangled corpse on the floor.

I floated mid-air, glancing instinctively at Mom and Dad.