After the Replacement Daughter Died, They All Went Mad

After my sister, Elina Spencer, died, I became her replacement. I copied everything she did and bent over backward to please them, all because I wanted to matter to them just a little more. But there was only ever room for Elina in their hearts. They never stopped reminding me that I was nothing more than her substitute, that I should never dream of taking her place. Then one day, Elina—the one everyone thought was dead—came back. At last, I was free. I left this world in peace. Only then did they regret everything. They cried as they chased after me, pleading for me to return, begging for my forgiveness. But I was already dead. Chapter 1 I walked out of the hospital clutching my test results, my stomach twisting with relentless pain. Dr. Emmett Henderson's words still echoed in my ears. I had late-stage stomach cancer. At most, I had six months left. His eyes had been full of pity. He felt sorry for me, dying so young. But I was strangely happy. When I got home, I shut myself in my room. By the time I woke again, it was already the middle of the night. The pain in my stomach was unbearable. I forced myself out of bed and felt my way to the kitchen in the dark, looking for something to eat. There was nothing. Of course, there wasn't. Why would they ever save any food for me? Maybe they'd forgotten I still lived here. I was used to it after all these years. Without a word, I pulled out the pasta I'd hidden away and made myself a bowl. Pasta wasn't allowed in the house because my sister, Elina Spencer, didn't like it. But ever since I was little, it had been the one thing I could rely on to fill my stomach whenever I was punished and denied dinner. Early the next morning, one of the housekeepers woke me. Today was my birthday party. Or rather, Elina's. The house would be packed today. Mom and Dad had invited practically every prominent family in Fairmont. I knew exactly how people laughed at me behind my back, but I'd never had the right to object. Now, though, I was going to die soon. Three years of trying so desperately to please them suddenly felt pointless. I didn't want to attend the party anymore. "Miss Spencer, the makeup artist is waiting downstairs." "Send them away. I don't want my makeup done." The housekeeper stared at me in disbelief. I couldn't blame her. This was probably the first time I'd ever refused something my parents wanted. I locked my bedroom door and refused to come out. A little while later, footsteps approached. "Feli, come out, sweetheart. It's your birthday party today. You need to look your best for everyone. You're our little princess," Mom coaxed through the door. "Sweetheart, didn't you say you wanted a pink sports car? Daddy ordered one for you. Come out and see it." The pink sports car was something Elina wanted, not me. Elina was my older sister. She'd been sickly when she was born, and my parents had wanted her to live a long, peaceful life without suffering. They'd treasured her from the beginning. By contrast, I was an unplanned pregnancy. My parents hadn't even wanted another child. Grandma was the one who convinced them to keep me. Even my name reflected the reason I existed. "Felicity" had been chosen with the hope that I would somehow bring Elina luck and keep her safe. When I was one, my parents sent me away to live with Grandma. I didn't return to the Spencer family until Grandma died when I was twelve. The first time I saw Elina, she was wearing a beautiful princess dress. The jeweled clip in her hair glittered in the sunlight. Then I had looked down at my own faded, worn clothes and lowered my head in embarrassment. "Why are your clothes so shabby?" Elina looked me up and down with disgust. "Even the staff dress better than you." The housekeepers covered their mouths, trying to hide their laughter. "You can stay downstairs. Don't come up and make my space dirty." And just like that, I was put in a storage room on the first floor. It was barely a hundred square feet, with no windows. Even the staff bedrooms were better. When I first came back, Mom and Dad did pay some attention to me, probably because they felt guilty about abandoning me for so many years. Elina thought I was stealing their love from her, so she started tormenting me. After school, she would leave with the driver and make me walk home alone. The walk took two or three hours. Then she'd tell our parents I'd been hanging out with boys after school, and that was why I'd come home late. Mom and Dad called me shameless and punished me by making me stay outside. "That's not true," I protested. "Elina left with the driver without me." Elina would immediately turn teary and throw herself into Mom's arms while crying, "I didn't! She was the one who wouldn't come home!" The moment Dad saw his precious daughter crying, he became even angrier with me. He told the staff not to make me dinner, so I'd learn my lesson. But when Mom and Dad weren't looking, I saw Elina smiling at me. After it happened enough times, my parents grew to hate me more and more. Whenever I finally made it home, the lights were already off, and the kitchen had been cleaned. There was never so much as a bite of food left for me. There were always little cakes in the refrigerator because Elina liked them. I wasn't allowed to touch them. If I did, I'd be punished. Once, I was so hungry that I secretly ate one. The next morning, Elina told our parents I'd stolen something from her. They didn't even ask what I'd supposedly stolen before Dad hit me twice, and they forced me to kneel on the jagged gravel path until my knees were scraped bloody. By the time they finally let me up, my knees were raw. After that, no matter how hungry I became, I never dared touch anything in the refrigerator again. Maybe that was when my stomach problems started. As I got older, I learned to hide pasta in my room. Whenever the hunger became unbearable, I'd sneak into the kitchen, make myself a bowl, then clean everything so thoroughly that no one would know. Over time, I stopped appearing in front of my parents whenever I could avoid it. I became invisible in the Spencer house. So when did Mom and Dad finally notice me again? It was three months after Elina died. That was when they suddenly realized how much I looked like her. Elina had worn her hair long, while mine was short. So my parents took me to get hair extensions. Once they were done, I looked almost exactly like her. After that, they started calling me by the same pet name they'd used for Elina. They moved me into her bedroom. They dressed me in the clothes and jewelry she'd left behind. I did my best to imitate the way Elina talked, moved, and behaved because it made them happy. None of it was what I wanted, but that was okay. If it made me matter to them even a little more, I could live with it. Mom and Dad treated me better and better. I thought they'd finally accepted me. In the end, I'd only been fooling myself. On the first birthday after Elina's death, my parents had a makeup artist come to the house to get me ready. I'd forgotten it was Elina's birthday. I thought Mom and Dad were throwing the party because they finally wanted to formally introduce me to all the families in their social circle. Then the birthday cake was brought out. The smile froze on my face. "Mom, Dad... did you get the date wrong?" I forced myself to smile at them. "Today isn't my birthday." That had to be it. They must have remembered the date wrong. But Mom and Dad only smiled at me. "Of course, today is your birthday, Felicity." "Look. It's the ruby necklace you wanted. Come here and let me put it on you." Mom beckoned me over, holding up a glittering ruby necklace. Only then did I finally let myself understand the truth. I really was nothing more than Elina's replacement. And that was when I understood the smiles on all those guests' faces. I'd thought they were smiling kindly at me. They weren't. They were laughing at me. I would never have a birthday that belonged to me again. Maybe I never had. Chapter 2 The crash of my bedroom door being forced open snapped me out of my thoughts. Before I could react, a slap landed across my face. My cheek swelled almost instantly. "Felicity, have we been too easy on you? You actually locked the door and refused to come out!" Dad's furious voice rang in my ears. I stayed where I was, numb, with no desire to move. "Robert, what are you doing? Feli still has to get her makeup done." Mom ordered a housekeeper to bring an ice pack for my face. See? From beginning to end, neither of them cared whether I was in pain. "Feli, come on. We need to get downstairs and do your makeup. We're running out of time." I let her pull me out of the room, repeating the same thing to myself. Just this once. After today, I'd finally be free. Once the party began, I stood onstage looking out at the guests below, my stomach churning uncontrollably. "Today, I have an announcement to make. My daughter will be marrying the heir of the Carter family, Nathan Carter, three months from now. We hope you'll all join us for the wedding!" I watched the man walking toward me from the crowd, and for the first time that day, I felt something stir inside me. Nathan Carter, my boyfriend of two years. Other than Grandma Martha Spencer, he was the only person who had ever truly cared about me. I still hadn't told him about the stomach cancer. He'd probably cry when he found out. The last time I'd accidentally cut my finger, he'd cried for ages. Who would've guessed that someone who seemed so cold and aloof could be such a crybaby in private? "Feli, are you happy?" Nathan asked with a smile, curling his finger around mine. "I am." But I couldn't bring myself to smile. Of course, I was happy. I was finally going to marry the man I loved most. But I was going to die soon. I couldn't do that to him. A party like this always came with endless networking. After we stepped offstage, Nathan went to greet some business associates. I found a quiet corner and sat down by myself. Maybe I was too far out of the way, and the lighting was too dim for them to notice me. Or maybe they knew I was there and simply didn't care. "Look at Felicity. You think she'd be living like this if Elina were still around?" "Exactly. Someone like her isn't good enough for Nathan." "Did you see how happy she looked up there? Everyone knows today is Elina's birthday. She's nothing but a replacement." I knew those girls. They had been Elina's little entourage. Whenever Elina bullied me, they were always part of it. "Oh, right. Those photos. Send them to Nathan and see if the Carter family still wants a daughter-in-law like her. Hahaha." My hands clenched into fists. The photos! They still had copies! The photos had come from a hidden camera Elina had planted in my bedroom years ago. When I'd discovered it, I'd told Mom and Dad, but they hadn't believed me. They thought I was lying. Before I could get the photos back, Elina died. I'd thought I'd never have to worry about them again. I never imagined these girls would still have copies. I stepped out of the shadows. "Give me those photos!" Nathan absolutely could not see them. "Oh, look who it is. Elina's little replacement." The girl in front laughed. "You want the photos? Too bad. Come take them if you can." I lunged at her, and we started fighting. But with late-stage cancer ravaging my body, how could I possibly overpower someone healthy? It didn't take long before I was losing. The commotion quickly drew everyone's attention. Mom and Dad motioned for the security guards to separate us. "Mr. Spencer, Felicity just attacked us out of nowhere! You have to do something!" "Elina was always so quiet and gentle. Felicity is nothing like her. She's so violent!" The girls twisted the truth as they complained to my parents. "I didn't. They were—" A slap cut me off. "You ungrateful child! You attack someone and still refuse to admit you were wrong? Is this how we raised you? You're an embarrassment!" Dad glared at me furiously. "Take Felicity back to her room," Mom ordered the staff. My lips parted, but in the end, I said nothing. I hadn't eaten all day, and my stomach began cramping again. I sat on the edge of my bed, clutching my abdomen as cold sweat poured down my body. Then I couldn't hold it back anymore and rushed into the bathroom. I threw up violently. The water in the toilet turned red. Weak and exhausted, I dragged myself back to bed. There was no way I'd have the strength to sneak downstairs and make myself pasta tonight. I might as well sleep. Once I was asleep, I wouldn't feel the pain or the hunger. "Feli, what do you think of this one? It's beautiful. You'll look amazing in it." "Come on, Feli. Go try it on for me." I looked at the excited man in front of me, unsure how to tell him that I was going to die soon. "Nathan, I..." No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't force out the rest. "Feli, what's wrong? Don't you like this one? Or are you not feeling well?" "No. It's beautiful." In the end, I still couldn't tell him. I took the wedding dress and went into the fitting room. Forget it. I'd tell him next time I had the chance. Even if I could never actually marry him, getting to try on wedding dresses with him still made me happy. "Nathan? Earth to Nathan." I waved a hand in front of his face. Nathan suddenly stood and pulled me hard against his chest. "Feli, don't leave me again. Please don't leave me again," he murmured. I wrapped my arms around him and gently patted his back, but I couldn't make him any more promises. I don't want to leave you either, Nathan. "Feli, you don't look well today. Do you want Mom to take you to the hospital?" Maybe I looked so pale that they'd finally noticed something was wrong. "No," I refused. The report confirming my late-stage stomach cancer was sitting right there on my vanity. If they paid even the slightest bit of attention to me, they would see it. "As long as you're fine. I've invited a spiritual adviser to the house today, and we can't delay this." Mom immediately relaxed. Today was the anniversary of Elina's death. It was also one of the most important days of the year for the Spencer family. Every year, they held a memorial ritual for their precious daughter, believing their prayers would bring her peace and happiness in whatever came after this life. Ridiculous, wasn't it? But they believed in it. The ritual required a close family member to kneel for three days while painstakingly copying out prayers by hand, and that family member was me. For the past two years, I'd obediently gone along with it, doing everything I could to make them happy. This year, I didn't want to. "Feli, how dare you! She was your own sister!" "Feli, just do what they ask." Nathan had come too. For the past two years, he'd always stayed by my side through this. "No!" I shook my head firmly. "Feli, you've become more and more disobedient lately." Mom frowned deeply. This was only the second time I'd refused them. The old me would never have dared. "Then I'll have someone tear down Grandma's old house." My hands curled into fists. Slowly, I bent my knees and knelt. Grandma's house was the only thing she'd left me. The three days were agonizing. By the time I finally stood up, my stomach lurched violently again. I coughed up a mouthful of blood. My body gave out beneath me. "Feli!" "Get the car! We're going to the hospital!