Betrayal: The Day I Died

　　I died on my wedding day.

　　I sat down in front of the mirror, trying to hold down my tears. My fingers trembled as I touched my face, my reflection blurry through the veil of water gathering in my eyes. I began to question my decision, why do I still want to get married to Daniel after all he did to me? After all the pain I had gone through the past few years.

　　And last night, I saw him with Lucy, my sister, having sex on the balcony.

　　My heart felt like it wanted to drop from my chest. My knees weakened, and I stood frozen behind the curtain, breath caught in my throat. How could he do that? Our wedding was the next morning and he was there, pounding into my sister like I didn't exist.

　　Everything sucks.

　　I approached them, each step slow, heavy with disbelief. Daniel turned and his eyes widened, mouth parting in shock as he saw me. He looked like he had been caught stealing. Meanwhile, Lucy didn't flinch.

　　Her expression didn't change, calm, smug, unbothered-as if I was disturbing something unimportant.

　　Daniel slowly slid out of her and reached for his pants, his hands fumbling like a boy caught doing something shameful. He wanted to say something, maybe some excuse, but I cut him off.

　　"Why did you do this? God, our wedding is tomorrow and you're here making out with my sister?"

　　You know what he said? He said it's not what I was thinking.

　　He looked at me like I was the crazy one. His voice came out soft, laced with guilt and manipulation. I saw right through it.

　　So I'm a psycho now. He tried to gaslight me, to make me think what he wanted me to think.

　　I looked at my sister and shook my head. Her face stayed blank, indifferent, as if none of it mattered.

　　Then I turned and walked away from them. My legs felt like they were about to collapse beneath me.

　　Now, sitting in my wedding dress with tears in my eyes, the only thing on my mind was that I wished I could die. My mascara had already started to run down my face, black trails over my skin.

　　I don't want to live like this.

　　I love Daniel so much-and that scares me more than anything. After all he did, I'm still sitting here, thinking that he might change after the wedding, that he might walk through this door and reassure me that he won't do anything to hurt me anymore.

　　But I'm just delusional. That's my problem.

　　I needed fresh air, something to help me breathe again. I cleaned my tears with the back of my hand, even though my makeup was already a mess, and walked out of the room.

　　I stepped into the cool night air, my heels clicking softly against the stone floor as I walked outside and sat close to the pool. I wrapped my arms around myself, letting the cold brush against my skin.

　　It was too cold, but I felt like I deserved it. My skin prickled, my bare arms tightening as the breeze whispered over my wedding dress. I closed my eyes as the cold washed over my body.

　　And then it happened.

　　I felt a sharp pain in my chest. My eyes snapped open, lungs locked as if the air had been punched out of me.

　　I looked up and saw him.

　　A masked man.

　　I could see the curve of a smile beneath the mask, like he was enjoying this. I gasped, trying to push myself up, but my body was slow, my limbs weak. He stabbed me again, this time in my stomach.

　　My mouth fell open, no scream came. Just a tear-warm, slow-rolling down my cheek.

　　Is this how my life ends?

　　Even as I bled, the only person I was thinking about was Daniel. I hated myself for it. Somewhere deep down, I hoped he would come running, come save me.

　　My white wedding dress was now drenched with blood, clinging to my skin like wet tissue. Summoning the last bit of strength I had left, I cried out, "Daniel, save me."

　　But no one came.

　　Slowly, I couldn't feel myself anymore. My fingers grew numb. My heartbeat slowed. My eyes drifted shut-and I saw darkness.

　　They say that after death, one may experience reincarnation.

　　If there was truly another life, I hoped I would never cross paths with Daniel again.

　　But fate had different plans.

　　When I regained consciousness, I found myself inside the hall. My body was light-too light. Something was wrong.

　　And Lucy and Daniel were standing on the altar, saying their vows. Vows that Daniel and I were supposed to say together.

　　I tried to reach out to them, my hand trembling, but it passed straight through their bodies.

　　My chest tightened.

　　I looked down. My body was transparent. No one seemed to notice me. I waved. I screamed. Nothing.

　　It hit me, l was dead. And my spirit ended here.

　　Watching them smile and kiss each other, I felt my heart twist. Even though I was dead.

　　I wish I couldn't see this. I wish my spirit would go somewhere else.

　　I tried to walk out of the hall, but I couldn't pass through the doors. An invisible wall stopped me.

　　It seemed that whether I was dead or alive, I could not do anything other than watch my sister with my fiancé kissing so passionately. Both his parents and my parents were cheering for them like it was the happiest moment of their lives.

　　And it came to my mind-did they even like me? Was I ever visible to them all these years? Were they wishing that I would die?

　　Nobody seemed to be worried that I was missing.

　　Instead, they replaced me with my sister, trying to keep their fucking reputation.

　　Funny how I wished I could die minutes ago, and here I am-dead. My spirit wandered around the people who I thought were family.

　　A security guard came in, holding something small in his hand. He brought out my diamond earring and handed it to my mother.

　　"I saw it close to the pool," he said. "There was blood all over the place... but I didn't see anyone."

　　I reached up, touched my ear, and noticed that my second earring was missing.

　　Daniel walked over and held the earring in his palm, his face pale. "This is Elizabeth's earring."

　　At least... he knew it was mine.

　　Then Lucy's voice cut in, sharp and cold. "Maybe she's just trying to pull a prank. Remember, she likes getting attention."

　　A sad laugh escaped my lips.

　　Daniel frowned, turning to the guard. "Take us to the place where you found it."

　　They got to the poolside and saw blood on the floor.

　　Where is my body?

　　This was where I was killed. Or did the killers hide my body?

　　Daniel said, "What if something really happened to her?"

　　And Lucy rolled her eyes. "Remember when she faked a car accident just to get your attention, and you missed a great deal with your clients because of her?

　　She's just planning another thing. She put blood here to make it believable."

　　Then my mother said, "Elizabeth just wants to ruin the family's reputation. Let's not focus on her. Let's not give her the attention she's looking for."

　　I felt like I should disappear totally. I didn't want to witness my family saying these things about me. They didn't even bother to check the CCTV footage or anything.

　　People who I thought loved me.

　　People who I thought cared about me.

　　Even though I am not their biological child, I didn't expect them to treat me like this.

　　Lucy had planted bad things against me.

　　There was one time when Lucy was 15 and I was 16 years old-she fell into the pool and accused me of pushing her. She accused me of wanting to kill her.

　　Of course they would. I'm just an orphan. Who would believe an orphan over their biological daughter?

　　Lucy had always lied about me and made her parents dislike me.

　　They all went back inside to celebrate.

　　While I was dead.

　　And my body was nowhere to be found.