Chapter 1
My younger sister, Lila James, had a heart attack. The doctors tried their best, but she died.
On the day we buried her, the men she had been involved with showed up. One was an unhinged lawyer, and another one was a powerful heir from Jovaris. Yet another one was a messed-up top celebrity.
When they heard that Lila was dead, they lost it. They tried to dig her out and torture her.
I blocked their way and begged them, “She’s gone! If you need someone to blame, take it out on me!”
That was the moment I became Lila’s stand-in. They tortured me in every way they could think of.
They beat me until my skin tore open and forced me to film humiliating videos.
I somehow escaped and tried to bring them to justice.
The unhinged lawyer threatened to ruin my life!
The powerful heir used his influence to shut every door in my face.
The messed-up top celebrity leaked the videos and claimed I had seduced him.
I became the center of a national scandal, and my reputation was irreparably damaged.
My parents even published a statement and cut all ties with me.
I went home to confront them. When I reached outside their door, I heard Lila’s voice. She sounded immensely pleased.
“Mom, Dad, your plan to fake my death saved me! I can finally get away from those lunatics.
“Good thing we had Yara! Otherwise, I would’ve been the one in all these scandals.”
I broke down. I rushed into the house. I was ready to drag Lila to hell with me, but my parents killed me first.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Lila had her heart attack.
Chapter 1
“My poor Lila… you’re only twenty. How could you die so young?
“You left us behind! How’re we supposed to live without you?”
The doctor announced with regret that Lila James had died. My mom clung to my dad and cried.
I watched them coldly and could not stop sneering inwardly.
In my past life, I was fooled by her skilled acting. I truly believed Lila had died.
I let my mom scold and hit me. When those three lunatics tried to dig up Lila’s grave and torture her, I even stepped forward to protect her dead body!
I feared that my parents, already grieving the loss of a daughter, would suffer again.
But the truth was that my parents knew Lila had faked her death to escape those three lunatics and live a nice life.
I walked straight into the hands of those three lunatics and suffered every kind of torment imaginable. In the end, my parents killed me and left my body in the wilderness.
Thinking of that, I hurried forward and fell to my knees in front of the operating room door with a loud thud.
I raised my voice and shouted at the operating room.
“Lila, you can go in peace now! I’ll take care of Mom and Dad for you!
“If you miss them, visit them in their dreams. I’m sure they’d be happy to join you!”
My mom stopped sobbing. She turned and glared at me.
“You brat, what on earth are you saying? We’re not going to join her!”
My dad looked at me disapprovingly. “Who curses their parents like that? Are you out of your mind?”
I forced out a few tears and stared at them, completely heartbroken.
“You spoiled Lila for twenty years. You gave her everything she wanted! Aren’t you willing to fulfill her last wish?”
My mom had no words in response.
After a long pause, my dad finally said flatly, “That’s not true.”
I wiped the tears from my face and promised my parents in a trembling voice that I would give Lila a grand funeral.
“I’ve already posted the news of Lila’s death on social media. I’m sure our relatives will arrive soon.
“I’ll make sure Lila has a grand funeral, and she can finally rest in peace.”
Then, I took out my phone and called the funeral home.
My mom panicked. She ran over and knocked the phone out of my hand.
“Who told you to call the funeral home? Delete that post immediately!”
My parents’ phones rang repeatedly. Everyone who knew about Lila’s death was calling to offer their condolences.
I watched my mom panic and struggle to explain herself. I smiled in satisfaction.
Even in this life, they wanted to help Lila fake her death and escape those three lunatics! I would never allow it!
Chapter 2
My mom finally finished dealing with all the relatives. When she saw me reaching for the phone to call the funeral home, she could not stay calm.
She fell to her knees in front of me with a thud. Her loud cries drew people from the other wards to peek and see what was happening.
“I’m begging you! Just let Lila go in peace!
“We don’t want her to have a grand funeral, and we don’t want you using her memory to make money.”
My mom even prostrated on the floor as she pleaded.
She cried so hard that her tears streamed down her face. Anyone watching would have thought she was a devoted, loving mother.
The onlookers talked all at once. They demanded that I respect my parents’ wishes. Some even mocked me.
“Your sister’s dead, but you’re still trying to take advantage of her! You’re nothing but a greedy villain!”
“You won’t even let your sister rest in peace! Your parents raised you all those years for nothing!”
I clutched my chest and stepped back. I stared at my mom in disbelief.
“I just want Lila to leave with dignity. What did I even do wrong?
“She’s my sister! How could I possibly hurt her?”
The onlookers saw how sincere I was and turned to my mom. They urged her to let Lila have a proper farewell.
My mom had no way to oppose me and could not say a single word in refusal.
If Lila truly had a grand funeral, her plan to fake her death and escape those three lunatics would fail.
While my mom was unsure of what to do, my dad stepped forward.
He made the final call and said we would keep the funeral low-key.
He tried to make it sound reasonable. “The funeral procedures back home are complicated. We don’t have the time. A simple ceremony with just our family will be enough.”
I smiled and agreed. Then, I turned to the doctor who had just emerged from the operating room.
“Lila registered for organ donation. As her family, I want to respect her wishes.
“Please determine which of her organs can be donated and ensure they reach people who need them,” I said.
The doctor’s eyes lit up. He took my hand and thanked me.
Without delay, he handed me the organ donation agreement to sign.
My mom was so terrified that she slipped off the hospital bench and rushed over to stop me.
She grabbed the agreement from me and tore it to pieces.
She fought to keep her temper in check and snapped, “Who said you could consent to organ donation? Lila is my daughter. If I say no, it’s a no!”
I opened Lila’s organ donor card on my phone and held it up for her.
“Lila made this decision on her eighteenth birthday. It isn’t our place to change it now.”
The doctor spoke up and explained the law to her in front of everyone.
My mom refused to listen. She would not allow them to take Lila’s organs.
She even threw herself down in the middle of the hallway and yelled at the doctor, “If you want my daughter’s organs, you’ll have to step over my dead body to get them!”
Among the onlookers was a woman whose child was waiting for a transplant. She saw an opening and refused to let it pass.
She pushed her way forward and cried as she tried to sway my mom.
“My son is only eight. He’s waiting for a transplant. Our whole family is counting on you!”
The people around us also tried to persuade my mom. They tried to convince her that organ donation could save many families and that she should not refuse.
But Lila was not actually dead. My mom could not agree to donate her organs.
She would never put her daughter’s life at risk.
She cried so hard she could barely breathe, but she did not budge.
No matter how much they tried to guilt-trip her, she only said, “No!”
When they realized they had no chance, they slunk back into the crowd.
My mom stood there like a victor. She looked around, then turned to me.
“Lila is your sister! Do you really want her to be left in pieces even after death?”
Chapter 3
I could not help but laugh inside. ‘My sister?’ I thought.
Did they mean the sister who pushed me to death?
In my past life, Zeke Quinton and two others showed up on the day Lila was buried.
My dad pretended he had to take care of my mom and hid away. I had to deal with them alone.
They realized Lila had toyed with their feelings. They hired someone on the spot to dig up her grave to torture her dead body.
“Even if Lila is dead, she has to pay!”
I foolishly stood in front of Lila’s tomb and told them to take it all out on me instead.
I was forced to become Lila’s stand-in and take all their anger.
They beat me until my skin tore open, and there was not a single spot on my body left unscathed.
Then, they forced me to make all kinds of degrading videos. That period of my life felt like living in hell.
I barely escaped and tried to take them to court, but every effort failed.
First, Yaron Leslie, the lawyer, threatened me. “We can kill you as easily as stepping on an ant.
“Stop wasting your time, or I’ll ruin you.”
Then, Zeke, the powerful heir from Jovaris, put pressure on everyone behind the scenes. He only told them that I had lied about everything, and no one would listen to me after that. The police even detained me for a week for “obstructing official duties.”
I thought I had already reached the darkest moment of my life, but it was only the beginning.
Yarden Lewis, the top celebrity, released the videos I had been forced to film and claimed that I had tried to seduce him.
His team pushed the story onto the trending list and even hired people to flood major gossip accounts with claims that I was well known for trading intimacy for influence in the industry.
I became famous overnight but was completely ruined. I had to stay alert on the streets because anyone could try to attack me.
When I saw my parents announce in the newspaper that they had cut ties with me, I finally understood that I had been abandoned.
My mom kept refusing to sign the organ donation agreement.
I could not help wondering if she would have fought this hard if I were the one about to donate organs.
Maybe she would have signed right away and said it was a blessing for me.
My dad gave the doctor a flattering smile and pulled him aside.
I could not hear what he said, but I saw him gesture to him.
The doctor did not mention organ donation again, and my mom finally let out a sigh of relief.
She looked at me with a furious glare. “Take Lila home! And just you wait! I’ll make you pay for this when we get back!”
I watched my mom rush toward the morgue and smiled meaningfully.
I just hoped that once we got home, Lila could keep it together and not slip up in front of the relatives.
Chapter 4
We had not even reached home when we saw that the front gate was wide open.
My mom frowned and asked, “Did you leave the door open when you went out?”
We had just parked. Before my mom could rush inside, the relatives surrounded us.
My dad looked at them in surprise. He did not like their sudden visit.
“Why did you all come without warning? You could have called me first to warn me.”
My grandmother hit my dad’s leg with her cane. She glared at him and said, “Lila is my granddaughter! How could I not come?”
The other relatives scolded my parents and showed off the altar they had set up.
They even carried Lila’s body out of the car as they talked.
My parents looked terrified. They were afraid the relatives would notice something was wrong, but they could not refuse.
I heard someone whisper, “A body that just died should be different. It’s still warm!”
My dad broke out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly lifted Lila into his arms and walked straight to her room.
I called out loudly, “The altar is in the living room! Why are you taking Lila to her room?”
My uncle thought my dad was too grief-stricken to remember where the living room was. He rushed forward to help.
The moment he grabbed Lila, she fell to the ground.
I saw her eyebrows furrow a little in pain, but she did not dare make a sound. She bit her tongue and held it in.
My mom stared at Lila on the ground and felt her heart skip a beat.
“If you can’t handle her properly, stop trying to help! You’re just causing her pain!”
“How can a dead person feel pain? Stop joking around!”
My dad was afraid that their plan to fake Lila’s death would get exposed, so he stepped in to explain on behalf of my mother.
When he saw that no one suspected anything, he was relieved. He did not want any more trouble. He quickly placed Lila on the funeral bed.
My aunt suggested hiring a mortician for Lila, but my mom refused.
“That’s for putting makeup on the dead. It brings bad luck. Absolutely not!”
My aunt looked at my mom in confusion. “Isn’t Lila already gone? If she weren’t, who would even suggest a mortician?”
She glanced at Lila on the funeral bed and grew even more suspicious.
“Yara, are you sure the doctor was competent enough to declare her dead? What if Lila’s still alive?”
I insisted it was impossible, but I did not just sit there. I pinched the spot that hurt the most.
“A dead person cannot feel pain! One pinch is all it takes to know for sure.”
Chapter 5
Lila’s face went pale when I pinched her. Her whole body was tense, but she did not dare furrow her brow.
My mom pushed me aside with all her strength. She wanted to protect Lila.
“I saw Lila die with my own eyes! She cannot be alive!
“You just want to use this chance to mistreat her body! I won’t allow it!”
I sighed. “Mom, can you stop making a scene?
“She’s my sister. If she’s alive, I’d be happier than anyone else in this room.”
My mom cursed and stood in front of Lila. She refused to move, no matter what anyone said.
My aunt stepped in and tried to back me up, saying I meant well. A few of the other relatives also tried to reason with her.
I looked at my mother acting so hysterical and pretended to give in.
“You’re right. We should pick a day and bury Lila as soon as possible.”
My mom was afraid that waiting would cause more problems. She did not even check the calendar and insisted on a burial the next day.
The relatives thought it was too rushed, but they agreed to my mom’s demand.
That evening, my parents volunteered to watch over Lila. They said they wanted to stay by her side one last time.
I stood outside the door and listened to Lila complain.
“Yara pinched me so hard! My arm is all bruised!”
My mom looked at the small bruises on Lila’s arm with concern. She thumped her chest and swore I would pay for it.
I took out my phone and sent a text to the pinned number.
[I sent you the address for Lila’s burial. Don’t be late tomorrow.]
After putting my phone away, I watched my family inside. They were so happy and cheerful.
I hoped they would smile just as happily tomorrow.
The next morning, my dad suggested giving Lila a proper burial to help her escape.
I hurried over to my parents and pretended to hesitate.
“Everyone is asking for a cremation. I even arranged a hearse from the funeral home.”
My dad intended to play along with the mistake. On the way to the crematorium, he planned to help Lila slip away.
His plan sounded perfect, but he froze when he opened the door.
A large group of relatives had arrived to pay their respects. They looked at my dad disapprovingly.
“Good thing we came early! Otherwise, you three would’ve had to handle everything!
“We also want to see Lila off on her last journey.”
I tried to persuade my dad. “Dad, at least let everyone come to the funeral home and say their goodbyes to Lila!”
My dad broke out in a cold sweat. Agreeing with everyone meant sending Lila to her actual death.
My mom looked at the room full of relatives waiting to pay their respects and became even more determined to have a burial.
She sat on the floor and threw a tantrum.
“I won’t agree to a cremation! It must be a burial!”
With so many people watching, helping Lila escape seemed impossible.
Only a burial could give her a chance to survive.
The relatives tried to reason with my mom, but it was useless.
I sighed and pretended to give in.
“Then, let’s have a burial! Everyone can come to pay their respects then, right?”
My mom could not refuse anymore and had to agree.
On the way, people stayed close to Lila’s coffin the entire time. My parents could not even find a moment to speak to her.
They had to write a note and, when no one was looking, secretly slip it into the coffin.
Burials were not allowed in our hometown, so we had to pick a random spot on a barren hill near the cemetery.
By the time we arrived out of breath, it was almost too late to bury her.
“If we wait any longer, it’ll bring bad luck! Delaying Lila’s burial could ruin everything!”
Grandma could not stay still when she heard that. She instructed the relatives to dig the grave.
Just as they were about to bury Lila, I looked at the time. The sun was setting. It would soon be too dark to bury Lila.
A cold, sinister voice rang out.
“Who allowed you to dig a grave and bury a body here?”
Everyone, already feeling guilty, hurriedly filled in the hole.
They were terrified someone might catch them secretly burying Lila. They packed the dirt down hard and left no room for her to breathe.
By the time the newcomers arrived, the ground looked untouched.
My relatives assumed they were just park staff, so they smiled awkwardly and tried to play it off.
But I recognized them immediately. They were the three lunatics who had made my past life a living hell.