Chapter 32

Dead.

I was dead to my family. Non-existent. Unimportant. The words ring repeatedly in my ears and I tried to convince myself that I misheard him somehow or that he was wrong and they had just made a mistake. But deep down, I knew it was true,

After that night, my family never truly saw me as one of them. Father pretended like I was invisible, conversing only when necessary, Dahlia made sure to rub it in my face that she was the jewel in the family, she pretended to be nice outside but at home, she was a real devil. My mother was worse, it was almost like she'd erased my existence from her mind. She never looked at me, talked to me or even acknowledged me.

I hadn't realized it then but I was dead to them all these years.

The only reason they dropped their pride to speak to me was because their lives were in danger and I was the only person who could rectify the damage. I exhaled shakily,

All this time I'd had been living with pent-up guilt, I thought that I was betraying them...that