Chapter 3Shadow of the Sun

"Sister, I'm leaving."

The next evening, my sister had a small knapsack on her back, looking like she was ready to say goodbye.

"You're leaving? Why?"

I repeated, confused.

Suddenly, a splitting headache hit me, and images flashed before my eyes.

My sister's battered, scarred body covered with a white sheet.

My father's cold, dead eyes and my mother's face, pale without a drop of blood.

And then, curses sharp enough to pierce the heart.

"If only it were Mia who stayed, why did it have to be you? Why wasn't it you who died!"

"I should have known you were rotten inside. Mia is so sweet; you must have instigated her to run away. Such a vicious heart at such a young age! Go die and give me my Mia back!"

Those were my mother's screams, filled with extreme hatred.

"It's a pity. A smart kid like Mia could have led this family back to its former glory. Why are we left with an average nobody like Chloe?"

Those were my father's sighs of infinite regret.

The woman propped up her sick body and slapped me hard across the face. Pain exploded on my cheek, but I stayed silent, letting myself be beaten to the ground in an act of atonement.

Finally, the chaos ended the moment my mother suddenly collapsed.

"Mia, you don't have to leave."

"I'm the one who should go."

I looked at my trembling hands. In my previous life, it was these hands that had cowardly clenched into fists, failing to stop my sister from running away.

If I made her stay this time, would my father and mother not be disappointed?

"No, I have to go."

Mia, who usually had a blank expression, now showed a rare look of determination. She glanced at me.

"Sister, you've been unhappy these past few days. Is it because of me?"

"Dad has been acting so strange lately, talking about grooming me. His face looks scary. I don't like being controlled by him. Anyway, one of us has to leave. Let me go instead of you."

I stared at Mia, my feelings complicated.

With things developing as they had, it wasn't that I didn't have dark thoughts.

In the agonizing pain of the night, vicious ideas would sometimes take over my mind, making me wonder—if I had been the only child born, without my sister, would I have been happier?

Since I exist in this world, why does Mia have to exist too?

Those unspeakable resentments suddenly vanished into thin air in the face of Mia's smiling farewell.

I lowered my eyes, a wave of self-loathing washing over me.

Actually, the one who truly shouldn't have been born was me.

"They all don't want me, they all despise me, and now even you are going to abandon me and leave?"

I stepped forward, grabbed her sleeve, and shook it. "Stay with me, okay? If you leave, I don't know how I'll survive in this house. Please."

Mia looked up in surprise. Her usually empty eyes reflected my image as she whispered, "Sister, do you really not want to be apart from me?"

"I thought you'd be happy if I left."

I nodded firmly. In this life, Mia absolutely could not leave. Ultimately, the total failure who had no right to stay here was me.

"Mia, have you thought about this? What will you encounter if you run away alone? There are a lot of bad people out there, and they don't have a conscience. You're only eight; your thigh isn't even as thick as an adult's arm. What will you do if you run into them?"

"If something happened to you, how could I ever be happy!"

I initially meant to just act a little to make her stay, but I didn't expect that when I actually spoke the words, they were mixed with genuine feeling.

I really, really didn't want to see Mia get hurt again.

"Don't cry, Sister. I won't go. I promise I won't go. I'll stay with you!" Mia frantically tried to wipe away my tears.

I... was crying?

Could someone like me, who was willing to watch her own twin sister walk away for her own selfish gain, actually cry?