Chapter 4
When I woke up again, I was in a hospital.
I turned my eyes to glance at the clock outside the window. There were only three hours left before I died.
Beside me sat Emily, my childhood friend, eyes red from crying.
Years ago, Emily had tried everything to stop me from marrying Sebastian. She said he wasn’t someone I could entrust my
life to.
But I didn’t listen. We ended up having a huge fight, and she didn’t even show up at my wedding.
I knew I shouldn’t have bothered her again now.
But aside from her, I truly had no one left in this world.
“What happened to you?” Emily choked out. “Weren’t you living the perfect life after marrying Sebastian?”
“Wasn’t it a happy little family? How did it come to this? Why did the doctors say there’s no way to save you?”
I struggled to breathe and forced a weak smile in her direction.
When we were little, we made a promise: if one of us ever reached the end of our life, the other would help take care of everything left behind.
I couldn’t speak anymore, so I raised a trembling hand and pointed at the small box I’d brought with me.
Emily opened it and took out a few property deeds and contracts. After reading them, she nodded silently and tucked them into her bag.
Thankfully, the bond between us had never changed. We didn’t need words to understand each other’s intentions.
There were only three hours left.
I had already refused the doctor’s offer to use mandrake to prolong my life. After another fainting spell, I regained consciousness.
Emily showed me a stack of letters-Ophelia’s handwriting.
“Eleonora, I still won in the end! I got everything that belonged to you.”
“You really thought you could compete with me? The truth is, you’re just not good enough. It’s not my fault your parents adore me.”
“Be smart and get out of the Nocturne family and the estate. Your husband, your child, your parents-I’ll take them all.”
Emily broke down crying, cursing through her sobs.
I let out a bitter sigh.
In my entire life, I had only one regret: letting Father bring Ophelia into our home.
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I first saw her in the depths of an alley crowded with beggars.
I had gone with my teacher to deliver donations, and it was snowing heavily that day. All the children had huddled in a broken-down courtyard to keep warm.
Only Ophelia was in the back, rummaging through a garbage bin for leftover bones to eat.
I couldn’t bear it. I begged Father to bring her home with us.
From that moment on, we became inseparable.
The next year, Father enrolled her in my school and had her sit beside me in class.
Ophelia’s charm and intelligence quickly won over our teachers and classmates.
Whenever someone praised her, I felt proud too.
But things started to change.
My friends began to drift away from me and grew close to Ophelia instead. Boys who once liked me turned cold and
began to openly court her. Even my parents began to have us share everything-meals, rooms, even the garden.
Eventually, they split my room in half and gave her the other half as her own.
Looking back, I was far too naïve. I never imagined Ophelia’s true talent lay in stealing everything through carefully curated
praise.
By the time I realized what was happening, it was already too late.
The courtyard I had lived in for years was no longer mine. My family no longer belonged to me. Everything I had built had
been taken away by Ophelia.
I once asked her why she did it.
Her reply chilled me to the bone:
“Eleonora, do you really think I’d be grateful to you for saving me? How could I possibly thank you?”
“I can’t stand seeing you act so high and mighty in front of me. I want to take everything you have.”
“I want to see the look on your face when you realize you’ve lost everything.”
I once believed I could drive Ophelia out.
I believed I could make Father, Mother, and Sebastian see her true face.
But I was too naïve.
I had underestimated Ophelia-and overlooked how much my family adored her.
I lost completely.
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Now, with only a few minute of life left, my consciousness was beginning to slip. My vision blurred.
Even then, I could still see Emily holding a letter written in Mother’s handwriting:
“Eleonora, have someone replace the wallpaper in your old room. Your sister prefers the kind from that shop on Third Street.”
“Also, she’ll be fully recovered in half a month, so move more of your things out. Ophelia needs space for hers.”
Even at the very end of my life, Mother was still thinking only of Ophelia.
It seemed I had never mattered to her at all.
Well then… so be it.
I could faintly hear Emily screaming and sobbing beside me, but her voice had grown distant.
After fighting for so many years, I was simply too tired.
I could finally sleep peacefully.
On the eve of the new year, Eleonora passed away-without even seeing the first spark of fireworks.
