After My Death, Their Love Began

At my wedding, my whole family received a distress video from Anais Brown.

"Dad, Mom, Noah! I've been kidnapped, please come save me!"

Everyone panicked, including my fiancé Oliver Smith.

They interrupted the wedding ceremony to go find Anais.

I begged them through tears not to leave. I said this was just a stunt Anais staged herself. "There's only ten minutes left in the ceremony. Can you just wait ten more minutes?"

Mom and Dad called me an ungrateful wretch. My brother Noah Miller pried my fingers off his sleeve. "Chloe, stop being so selfish! Even though Anais isn't your real sister, how can you be so heartless!"

"You only care about your own wedding. Do you want to watch her die?"

Oliver also looked at me with disappointment. "Let's cancel our wedding. I'm only now realizing that the person I care more about is Anais."

Watching them rush away, I locked myself in the bridal suite with a knife.

My soul drifted out of the room and saw the whole family happily bringing Anais back home.

"I'm sorry, Dad, Mom, and Noah. The distress video and suicide note were just a joke. I just didn't want to be ignored by you."

But everyone didn't care at all. They were just glad to have found Anais and didn't even notice I wasn't home.

It wasn't until Anais's birthday that they received my scheduled birthday message, but they still thought I was just throwing a tantrum.

"If she's got the guts, she can stay away forever!" my dad said.

Mom chimed in, too. "Chloe has been spoiled by us. She knows today is Anais's birthday, but still wants attention. Just ignore her. She'll come home in a few days!"

Anais's eyes immediately turned red. "Chloe must be mad at me. It's all my fault for falling in love with someone I shouldn't have."

She sounded so wronged, and the man beside her—my former fiancé Oliver—immediately pulled her into his arms to comfort her.

"Anais, this isn't your fault. Besides, it's your birthday. You should be happy."

Floating in mid-air, I suddenly remembered the wedding day.

The wedding photo on the screen had changed to Anais's suicide note.

Dad, Mom, and Noah left without a moment's hesitation.

And Oliver, who had always been gentle with me, seemed like a different person.

He looked at me with undisguised disgust and was incredibly disappointed when I tried to stop him. "That's your sister, a living human being. How can you be so selfish?"

I didn't understand why everyone who once loved me gradually took Anais's side.

Later, they found her by the sea.

And I stayed at the wedding, enduring those mocking looks as I saw the guests off by myself.

That night, sitting on the bed in the bridal suite, I received a photo from an anonymous user.

Anais was surrounded by my family, while Oliver knelt on one knee proposing to her.

I felt so cold, I could only hug myself.

Was there anything in this world that still belonged to me?

My favorite Barbie doll from childhood became just one of Anais's countless toys.

Noah's time helping me with homework became bedtime stories for Anais.

Dad no longer lifted me over his head, and Mom no longer held me in her arms.

Now, even my lover had abandoned me.

When I came to my senses, I had already dialed Mom's number.

The phone rang a few times before she answered.

"Chloe, do you have to push your sister to her death?" Mom's voice was full of impatience.

I was silent for a while before saying that secret in a trembling voice. "Mom, actually, I'm sick... Could you please come..."

"If you're sick, then go die!"

The last sound I heard was Oliver gently calling Anais's name.

He had been my therapist and knew I was really sick.

But he said nothing.

My hand gripping the fruit knife tightened slightly, and everything before my eyes turned crimson red.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself trapped by some invisible force beside Oliver, only able to watch him take care of Anais every day.

Even when Anais said she was afraid I hated her, Oliver would comfort her gently. "It's enough that I like you."

I wanted to hit him, to yell at him, but I couldn't touch him, and he couldn't hear my voice.