Chapter 1

Tags: Middle Child, Toxic Favoritism, Ghost POV, Invisible Child

I was the middle child in my family.

Forever invisible.

I wasn't the firstborn daughter, so I never had my dad’s adoration.

I wasn't the baby boy, so I never had my mom’s affection.

So when my little brother was diagnosed with leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant, I became the default choice.

After the surgery succeeded, my parents held my brother and wept tears of joy.

Mom even bought me a tiny cupcake—a first in my entire life.

I thought that maybe, just maybe, they had finally started to love me.

Then came the earthquake.

Mom and Dad took my older sister and little brother to an amusement park.

They locked me inside the house, completely alone.

And I was the only one who died in that rubble.

I was the least-wanted child in our home.

My older sister, Emily, was born during the honeymoon phase of my parents' marriage. Dad absolutely doted on her.

When Mom got pregnant the second time, Grandma made it very clear how deeply disappointed she was that the first child hadn’t been a boy.

Mom desperately wanted a son to shut Grandma up and prove her worth.

Instead, out came another girl. Me.

From the moment I drew my first breath, neither my parents nor my grandparents ever gave me a kind look.

Later on, Mom finally got her wish and gave birth to my little brother, Leo.

The whole family was ecstatic.

Mom treated Leo like a little prince.

How far did it go?

The juiciest piece of fried chicken was always his.

His clothes were always brand new and expensive.

Meanwhile, I wore Emily’s ragged hand-me-downs forever.

Dad loved Emily.

Mom loved Leo.

And me? I had nothing.

During my seventh-grade year, Leo fainted at school. He was only in fifth grade.

Our parents rushed him to the ER, and not long after, the diagnosis came back: leukemia.

Mom collapsed on the spot from the shock.

Grandma called me and dragged me straight to the hospital.

The second we stepped into the ward, Grandma shoved me roughly in front of the doctor in his white coat.

"Take whatever you need from her! Save my grandson, I’m begging you!"

"He’s the only boy carrying on our family name! He can’t die, not my precious boy!"

The doctor looked deeply uncomfortable.

He tried to calm her down. "Ma'am, please, calm down. Bone marrow donation requires strict compatibility testing. You can't just harvest it from anyone."

Grandma shoved me forward again, handling me like a piece of meat on a butcher's block.

"She'll match, she has to! Draw her blood and test her! As long as it saves my boy, it doesn't matter if it kills her!"

Everyone in the crowded hallway turned to stare at us.

My face burned, turning bright red and then pale with humiliation.

What hurt even more was Dad standing right beside us. When I looked up at him, silently pleading for help, he just stared back at me with dead, cold eyes.

I turned to Mom, who was lying in an observation bed.

I parted my lips, trembling, wanting to say something.

Mom cut in, her voice icy.

"Test her. She’s tough anyway; she survived everything else."

"Besides, she’s owed our family from the day she was born."