Before my brother ended his life, he drove his car straight at my eldest sister, hurt her leg and then stepped off the thirtieth floor.
Lying in his own blood, he smiled cheerfully and talked to me, “Alfred, I’ll be waiting for you on the other side!”
I realized he chose death to escape this world.
Later that night, I prepared a birthday cake and sent a message about my departure to my family group chat.
As my second sister, a doctor, responded coldly, she sent only “1.”
My third sister, a global pop star, replied with a mocking voice message.
“If you’re going to die, then die already! You always envy Camden. If you die today, I’ll stream live and eat shit!”
My parents stayed silent, but they kept posting one photo after another of Camden celebrating his birthday at a world-class motorsport event.
Only my eldest CEO sister tried to keep herself from crying as she sent voice message after voice message.
“Alfred, you know where Gideon went, don’t you?!”
“Please, tell me…”
But I stayed silent and ate the cake by myself because I was about to see my real parents and sister.
——
After I finished the last bit of cake, I chose a suicide option inside the system.
[Host, do you really want to use this suicide option?]
[This kind of death will bring a lot of pain. I advise you to pick a different one.] The system’s flat voice reminded me.
I didn’t pay attention to it and pressed confirm.
Once I completed that, I finally checked my phone.
I noticed the family group chat was still blowing up with messages.
It was Camden’s eighteenth birthday and the Granger Family had given him a huge coming-of-age celebration.
My second sister, who worked as a doctor, pushed aside several surgeries and took the whole day off to keep him company.
My third sister, an international superstar, stopped her entire national concert tour just so she could sing him a birthday song.
Only my oldest sister, the CEO, had her leg snapped by Gideon and was lying in the hospital, sending voice messages heavy with regret.
“Alfred, please tell me where Gideon went?”
“I’m begging you…”
After hearing a few messages, I switched off my phone.
The rest of the cake, I tossed into the trash can and, following the system’s directions, walked toward the suicide spot.
St. Luke’s Medical Center.
Right as I reached the hospital entrance, my phone was ringing.
“Alfred, what did you say to Camden?!”
“Why did he swallow sleeping pills to end his life?!” My third sister’s loud scream shot through the phone and hit my ears hard.
Holding the phone without emotion, I tried to think back on how many times this had happened.
How many times had I been blamed, cornered? But I couldn’t remember.
It had happened so many times that I couldn’t recall.
“Is he dead?” Calmly, I asked, ending the call before more shouting could land on me.
Into the hospital, I walked alone, looking for a spot to rest, waiting for the system to tell me the suicide time.
Barely had I sat down when a slap struck across my face.
“Alfred, you have gone too far!” My second sister, wearing a white coat, showed clear anger in her eyes.
“I used to think you were just a little troublesome, but I never thought you carried such nasty thoughts!”
“Just like a rapist’s and a trafficker’s kid, you’re rotten all the way through!”
“Taken in by the Granger Family for eighteen years and you’re still nothing but bad from the start!”
“Kneel outside the emergency room and stay there until Camden wakes up safely!”
Yanking my arm, my second sister, Dakota, dragged me upward.
I fought against it, my head crashing into the wall and darkness swept over me.
As warm liquid ran from my forehead, Dakota let go of me. Her eyes showed shock and panic.
“Dakota, I have never harmed Camden!”
Wiping the blood from my forehead, I spoke in a calm voice. “I will not take blame for something I didn’t do!”
