Chapter 1
Emma's POV
The crystal chandelier cast warm light over the grand living room as I walked down the marble staircase. Pink roses filled every corner, champagne glasses clinked, and laughter echoed through our Silicon Valley mansion. For a split second, my heart skipped.
'Maybe they remembered after all.'
But as I reached the bottom step in my plain jeans and t-shirt, reality hit like a slap. All eyes were on Yvette, radiant in her designer dress, clutching a Stanford acceptance letter.
"To our genius daughter!" Dad raised his champagne glass high, his voice booming with pride. "Stanford Computer Science! The Morrison family's pride and joy!"
The room erupted in applause. Mom beamed, Tyler grinned, and their Silicon Valley elite friends showered Yvette with congratulations. I stood there invisible, watching the celebration that should have included me.
"Dad..." I whispered, barely audible over the noise. "Today is my birthday..."
Tyler turned toward me with that familiar sneer. "Emma, don't fucking ruin Yvette's big day. What's there to celebrate about your existence anyway?"
He grabbed the small store-bought cupcake I'd secretly bought myself and stomped on it with his expensive sneakers. "Oops. Happy birthday, Emma."
The chocolate crumbs scattered across the marble floor like my shattered dreams.
My room felt suffocating as I sat on the bed at eleven PM.
I'd found my MIT application hidden in Mom's desk drawer earlier – the one I'd spent months perfecting. Across my personal statement, Yvette had drawn in red marker: "LOSER" and "WASTE OF SPACE."
My hands shook as I held the ruined paper, listening to the voices replay in my head:
"Yvette's Stanford acceptance is worth celebrating. Your grades, no matter how good, will never be enough for the Morrison name."
"She doesn't deserve our investment. Blood relation doesn't guarantee worth."
I pulled the crushed cake pieces from my pocket – half a cupcake Tyler had destroyed, my only birthday "gift." The chocolate had melted between my fingers, sticky and sad.
Three years of this shit. Three fucking years of trying to earn love from people who saw me as a mistake.
I crumpled the MIT application and threw it in the trash.
'No more,' I thought. 'I'm done.'
The rooftop wind cut through my jacket like ice.
I clutched the ruined MIT application in one hand, the cake crumbs still sticky in my pocket.
The wind carried voices from inside – more celebration, more praise for perfect Yvette.
"If I die," I whispered to the night sky, "will they finally hold me? Just once?"
I closed my eyes and stepped forward.
But before the ground rushed up to meet me, I heard it – Yvette's voice drifting from an open window below: "She's probably up there being dramatic again. God, she's so fucking exhausting."
Laughter followed.
Even in my final moment, I was still just a joke to them.
I floated above my broken body, watching the blood pool around my head like spilled paint. The MIT application scattered beside me, Yvette's cruel words still visible in red ink.
Dad appeared first, shaking his head as he spoke to the arriving police officer.
"Officer, she's been threatening suicide since she was little. We honestly stopped taking it seriously years ago."
'Threatening?' I screamed silently. 'When did I ever—'
Mom rushed out, immediately pulling Yvette close and dabbing at her fake tears. "Don't let your sister's mental illness stain your beautiful dress, sweetheart. This isn't your fault."
'Emma's mental illness?' The words hit harder than the pavement had.
Tyler was already on his phone, but not calling for help – he was taking photos. I watched in horror as he snapped pictures of my corpse and started typing.
"Family group chat," he muttered, grinning. "Guys, who else is relieved? Finally don't have to look at her pathetic crying face anymore."
His phone buzzed with laughing emojis and thumbs-up reactions.
Dad continued talking to the officer: "Between you and me, we saw this coming. Some kids just can't handle not being the favorite. She was always jealous of our daughter's success."
"daughter." The words echoed in my fading consciousness.
'But I am their biological daughter!'
Mom nodded sympathetically. "We tried our best."
As my vision dimmed, I felt something dark and furious building in my chest. Not sadness anymore – pure, crystallized rage.
'If I could do this over,' I thought as everything went white, 'I'd make them fucking pay for every single moment of this.'
I gasped and shot upright, my heart hammering against my ribs. Sunlight streamed through familiar curtains. My hands flew to my face – young, alive, fifteen again.
The guest room. Three years ago. The day they'd brought me "home."
I stared at my reflection in the mirror – young face, but my eyes held the fury of someone who'd learned the truth about family love.
"Emma!" Dad's voice called from downstairs. "Come down! We need to establish some ground rules!"
I smiled at my reflection, and for the first time in either lifetime, it wasn't desperate or hopeful.
"Coming, Mr. Morrison," I called back sweetly.
This time, I wasn't here to win their love.
I was here to destroy them with the same methodical precision they'd used to destroy me.