Used and Discarded for Her Angel

My mother, Agatha Carper, is obsessed with playing the devoted-mother role. To show what a kind and loving person she is, she has spent years sharing her journey of caring for her adopted daughter, Bonnie Lowe, online. "Bonnie, even if I have to spend every last penny I have, I'll cure you." To make that happen, she treats me, her biological daughter, like a walking blood bank and drains me for everything I'm worth. Just as the internet is praising her for being the perfect mother, Bonnie has another relapse and urgently needs a blood transfusion. Agatha storms into the hospital emergency room with a swarm of reporters and a camera crew, kicking the door open. "Where is Julia Lowe, that ungrateful brat? She eats my food and lives off me. Now that her sister's sick, she's hiding away and pretending she's dead?" She rushes straight to the nurses' station and starts wailing in front of the cameras. "Everyone knows how much I've sacrificed for this family! Yet, that ungrateful brat has the nerve to refuse to donate blood! Draw 800 cc from her right now! She can survive that much!" The head nurse steps out, her expression cold, and slams a death certificate in front of the camera. "There's nothing else to take. You forcibly drained her of her blood a month ago, and she died from massive blood loss after developing complications." Chapter 1 "Where did you get that death certificate? Under some shady overpass?" My mother, Agatha Carper, pointed a finger right in the head nurse's face and started berating her. The reporters practically shoved their cameras into the nurse's face. But the nurse didn't back down an inch. She looked coldly at the impeccably dressed woman standing before her. "Mrs. Lowe, this is an official certificate issued by the city. It bears the official government seal. "If you don't believe me, you're welcome to call them right now and verify the certificate number." Agatha's red-polished finger froze in midair. Then she let out a deeply contemptuous laugh. "That brat sure has some nerve. She'd go as far as playing dead just to get out of donating blood to her sister. How much did she pay you to help her put on this little act?" The reporters instantly caught the story's explosive angle and clicked their shutters even more frantically. "Mrs. Lowe, does your biological daughter often resort to such extreme measures to avoid responsibility?" "You've devoted everything to your adopted daughter, Bonnie, yet your own daughter, Julia, is so cold-blooded. How do you feel about that?" Agatha turned to the cameras, her eyes instantly filling with tears. She lifted a handkerchief and dabbed delicately at the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry you all have to witness our family drama play out like this. Julia grew up in the countryside, so she can be a little extreme. She's always thought I favor Bonnie, but how could I? They're both my daughters. "Bonnie has a rare blood disorder, and Julia's blood type is the only one that matches hers. I only asked her to donate a little blood. It's not like I was going to take her life. "How could she make up such a cruel lie and curse herself with her death?" I floated near the ceiling of the hospital corridor, my translucent body passing through the harsh fluorescent lights. I watched my mother sob in front of the cameras as she accused me of things I had never done. A month ago, it had happened right here, too. Agatha had people pin me down in a blood-draw chair while a thick needle was shoved into my vein. I cried and begged her to stop, telling her I felt like the world was spinning around me and that my heart ached badly. At that time, she covered her nose with the same handkerchief. She looked at my pale face with nothing but disgust. "Quit the act. The doctor said taking 800 cc won't kill you. Bonnie is in the ER, waiting for your blood!" Steady footsteps came from the end of the corridor. The crowd automatically parted to make way. My fiance, Jonah Samson, walked over alongside my biological brother, Zack Lowe. Jonah wore a perfectly tailored designer suit. His eyes, seen through his gold-rimmed glasses, held their usual cool, rational detachment. "Is Julia done messing around?" he asked calmly, utterly devoid of emotion, though a note of condescension peeked through. Zack strode forward and snatched the death certificate from the nurse. He barely even read it before he tore it cleanly in half. "I know you're hiding somewhere nearby, Julia!" He buzzed around, his voice frigid. "You think you can scare us with a fake certificate? Bonnie is in the ICU right now, fighting for her life because she lost too much blood. If you're still human, get out here and face us!" The nurse was shaking with anger. She bent down to pick up the torn certificate from the floor. "You people are unbelievable! Julia Lowe was forcibly drained of blood here on the 25th of last month, which caused severe complications. She collapsed alone in the alley behind the hospital. "By the time she was brought to the emergency room, she was already suffering from multiple organ failure. "The community authorities had to step in and arrange for her body to be picked up because you, so-called family members, couldn't even be bothered to answer the damn phone!" Jonah frowned slightly. He lowered his head and adjusted his cufflinks. "Nurse, you can be held legally responsible for spreading misinformation. Do you know that? "Julia has a 150-thousand-dollar allowance deposited into her account every month. There's no way she could've died alone in an alley." He turned to his assistant, Elijah Thorne. "Check her recent spending records and freeze all of her bank cards. If she wants to play this disappearing act, she'll have to suffer a little out there. "I'm certain she'll come crawling back to apologize within three days." I hovered silently in the air, watching the absolute confidence on Jonah's face. He had always been so full of himself. He thought I couldn't live without him and that every act of defiance of mine was just my way of getting his attention. Little did he know, I hadn't touched a single penny of that allowance. Bonnie had taken my supplementary card long ago to buy limited-edition designer handbags. Chapter 2 The hospital security chief arrived with a team and forcibly escorted Agatha and the reporters out of the emergency department. Jonah and Zack didn't leave. They took the elevator to the VIP ward on the top floor. I floated after them and slipped inside. The room was warm and cozy, the scent of lilies teasing in the air. Bonnie Lowe was propped up against a soft pillow. Her face was indeed pale, but in her eyes was an unmistakable hint of smugness. When she saw Jonah, she quickly squeezed out a few tears. "Jonah, Zack… Is Julia still refusing to see me?" She reached out weakly and tugged at the hem of Jonah's shirt. "Did I do something wrong that upset her? If that's the case, I'd rather not get treatment anymore. I can't let you two fight because of me." Zack sat beside the bed, his heart breaking for her. He reached out and gently stroked Bonnie's hair. "Silly girl. What are you talking about? Julia is just selfish and can't stand seeing you do well. "She went and bribed a nurse and even got a fake death certificate made just to fool everyone." Bonnie covered her mouth in feigned shock. "A death certificate? How could Julia joke about something like that? She must be mad because she thinks I've taken all your attention away from her. "The truth is, I've been thinking about moving out for some time. It's time I give everything back to her." Jonah sat in the armchair beside them. He crossed his long legs and picked up an apple from the table, peeling it slowly. "You did nothing wrong. She's the one at fault." The paring knife glided steadily through the red peel, carving out a long strip. "She thinks she can force me to give in by pulling something this extreme. Well, she clearly doesn't know me well." He cut the peeled apple into bite-sized pieces, stuck a toothpick in each, and held them out to Bonnie. "Have some fruit. The doctor said you need more vitamins." I hovered above the couch armrest, my eyes fixed on the sharp paring knife. A month ago, I had dragged my blood-drained body outside the hospital. I was shaking so badly from the cold that it seemed like nothing in the world could warm me up. I used the last bit of my strength to call Jonah. It took him a long while to pick up. "Jonah, help me. I'm freezing." My voice was so faint that I could barely hear myself. But Bonnie's coy laugh came from the other end of the line. Even through the phone, Jonah sounded exceptionally cold as he said, "Bonnie has a low-grade fever right now. Can you stop getting jealous for once? Do you really think pretending to be sick to get my attention is cute?" He then hung up without a second thought. Those were the last words I ever heard alive. The hospital room door opened. Agatha walked in carrying a thermal food container. A warm smile had replaced the anger on her face from earlier. "Bonnie, I made you fortifying chicken soup. Drink it while it's hot. It'll help rebuild your strength." As she poured the soup, she started complaining, "That brat is getting more ridiculous by the day. When she comes back, I'm going to break her legs myself." Zack snorted coldly. "Mom, you're spoiling her. We can't let her off this time. She needs to kneel and apologize to Bonnie. Then we'll take 1000 cc of her blood as punishment." Jonah pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I've already had her bank cards frozen. I've also notified all the major hotels and airlines. She's penniless now, with nowhere left to go. "She'll call and beg for mercy before tonight is over." He raised his wrist and checked his watch, sounding so sickeningly calm and confident. "We'll wait right here. Let's see how long she can keep up this act." I lowered my head and looked at my own translucent hands. They would probably never get that call they were waiting for. After all, the dead couldn't make any phone calls. Chapter 3 Time flew by, minute after minute. The clock on the wall kept ticking. The sky had darkened outside. Jonah's phone sat untouched on the coffee table. His usually composed expression had begun to show a trace of barely concealed impatience. He picked up the coffee and took a sip, but his frown only deepened. The coffee had gone cold. Normally, by this time, I would've already replaced it with a warm latte. He remembered that I hated the bitter taste of coffee, yet he had grown used to the warmth I placed beside him at the same time every day. Zack paced back and forth around the room. "It's already 8:00 pm. How has Julia still not made a move? She couldn't have actually run off to some godforsaken backwater to hide, could she?" Agatha sat beside the bed, massaging Bonnie's calves. She let out a cold laugh. "Someone who's been used to a life of luxury could never handle going back to living in some backwater. She's probably been taken in by some shady man. "I swear, those bad habits she picked up growing up in the countryside will never die." Bonnie timidly tugged at Agatha's sleeve. "Mom, don't say that about Julia. What if something really did happen to her? You mentioned the head nurse sounded certain when she said it. I can't help feeling uneasy." Jonah slammed his coffee cup down on the coffee table. It landed with a dull thud. The entire room fell silent. "What could happen to her?" His voice remained unperturbed, but he spoke noticeably faster now. "She's just figured out that we're desperate for her blood, so she's playing mind games with us. If she wants to play, I'll play along until the very end." He picked up his phone and called Elijah. "Get in touch with a few media outlets we have connections with. "Put out stories about how Julia faked her death certificate, how she refused to support her family, and how she abandoned her seriously ill sister. "Pay for those topics to go viral. I want everyone in the city to know her true colors." Elijah paused in hesitation. "Mr. Samson, don't you think that's a little too much? She's your fiancee, after all. If the public backlash gets out of control—" "Just do as I say," he said coldly, interrupting him. "She started it. She can't blame me for hitting back twice as hard. Only when she's cornered will she realize who she can truly depend on." I floated in the air, watching Jonah coldly issue the order to destroy my reputation. Strangely, I felt unbothered. There was no anger or sadness, just a profound sense of emptiness. I had to give it to him. He always used that supposedly rational mind of his to calculate exactly how to crush my pride. He thought that if he destroyed all my options, I would come crawling back to his feet. Unbeknownst to him, I had already been through the kind of desperation he could never imagine. Less than 30 minutes later, the backlash online snowballed. Someone edited the footage of Agatha causing a scene in the emergency room and uploaded it online. It came with an inflammatory headline. "Heiress Fakes Her Own Death Certificate to Get Attention, Even Going So Far as to Curse Herself Dead!" The comments were filled with abuse directed at me. "What an evil woman. She doesn't even care if her own sister lives or dies." "Agatha must have the worst luck in the world to end up with such an ingrate." "Quick, dox her! Hold her down until she gives blood!" Zack read through the comments on his phone, a satisfied smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "Let's see where she hides now. Maybe she'll finally regret it when the internet tears her apart, and she's too scared to go outside." Just then, Jonah's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, and his eyes instantly sharpened. It was Elijah. When he answered, his voice carried a hint of smug condescension. "So? Has she finally decided to use her bank card?" Elijah sounded urgent. "We found her! Her supplementary card was used ten minutes ago near a scrap collection yard in one of the run-down neighborhoods." Jonah shot to his feet. His gold-rimmed glasses caught the light. "Get the car ready." Chapter 4 The black Rolls-Royce struggled its way through the narrow, filthy streets of a run-down neighborhood. Its tires splashed through the puddles of dirty water, spraying mud everywhere. Agatha sat in the back seat, covering her nose with disgust. "Only she can stand living in a dump like this. Once we drag her home, I'm going to make her take a bath with disinfectant first." Zack looked out at the rundown streets contemptuously. "You can dress a lowlife up in a crown, but they'll never become royalty." Jonah sat in the passenger seat, silent all the way. His slender fingers tapped absently against his knee, exposing his inner chaos. He had assumed I would be hiding in some motel or maybe at an obscure friend's apartment. He never expected the spending record to show up in a slum so rundown that even the GPS couldn't locate it. The realization left him irritated, as though things were slipping beyond his control. At last, the car stopped outside a shabby pharmacy. Jonah opened the door and strode out. His leather shoes landed on the oil-stained concrete with dull thuds. Next to the pharmacy stood a makeshift rental shack cobbled together from corrugated metal sheets. The door was left ajar, letting out a faint yellow glow. Elijah pointed at the door and lowered his voice. "Mr. Samson, the tracking data shows this is the last location where the supplementary card was used." Jonah took a deep breath. He straightened his suit jacket and put that familiar, arrogant look back on. He thought that once he opened the door, he would find me in a miserable state. He had even rehearsed his opening line. "The game is over, Julia." He raised his foot and kicked the rickety metal door open without mercy. The door slammed against the wall, causing a bang. Everything inside was laid bare before them. "The game is…" Jonah's voice died. I wasn't there. There was no trembling, helpless fiancee waiting for him, just as he had imagined. The cramped room was piled high with cardboard and empty plastic bottles, filling the air with a nauseating, musty stench. An old scavenger with graying hair and tattered clothes squatted on the floor. He held a piece of clothing in his hand, trying to pick something out of its pocket under the dim light. The sudden commotion made him flinch. Whatever he was holding slipped from his hands and fell to the floor. It was a black supplementary bank card, the one Jonah had given me as a symbol of his affection. That piece of clothing was a white shirt, now stained with large patches of mahogany red. The fabric had gone stiff with dried blood, and under the dim light, it appeared lifeless and eerie. Jonah stared at the shirt. He recognized it. A month ago, I had worn that shirt when they forcibly dragged me away to take my blood. There was even a little white bellflower brooch pinned to the collar, one he had fastened there himself. Now, the brooch was stained a dark brown with dried blood. The scavenger stared at the well-dressed strangers crowding the doorway and instantly shrank into a corner. "I-I found this card. I didn't steal anything. I swear." Zack frowned as he walked in, kicking an empty plastic bottle out of his way. "Where's Julia? Did she give you the card and tell you to put on this little act?" The scavenger frantically waved, his voice trembling with tears. "What? I don't know who that is. I found this shirt and the card a few days ago in a medical waste dumpster behind the hospital. "The shirt looked like it was made of good material, so I thought I'd take it home, wash it, and wear it. The card just fell out of the pocket." Jonah's eyes were rigidly wide. He held his breath.