After her marriage, Veronica had slowly wasted away from an illness of unknown cause.

It had been only a month since she had barely made it past her second wedding anniversary. Now she could no longer move.

Strangely, however, her mind remained clear. She had no trouble hearing or feeling anything.

Every day was agony, trapped inside her own body, unable to do a thing.

She wished she could simply die.

What set Veronica’s heart ablaze was the sound of two people talking beside her as she lay there like a corpse.

“Mary, you’re certain half of House Medlin’s fortune will come to me when that woman dies, aren’t you?”

The person asking about her birth family’s fortune was Carter, the husband she had loved with all her heart.

“Yes, I’m certain, Carter. I checked the will that was made public when Count Medlin died.”

The woman declaring that she had checked her recently deceased father’s will was Mary, the older half sister Veronica had always thought of as a full sister.

Veronica was the only connection between the two of them.

So why—

“Ah, Carter.”

Why did their voices sound so sultry and thick with desire?

“I thought I’d go mad from missing you.”

The rough rustle of clothes being stripped away. The wet sounds of urgent kisses as they sought each other. The sound of skin rubbing against skin.

Having spent two years as Carter’s wife, Veronica could hardly fail to understand what those sounds meant.

She could not believe the filthy, wet noises filling the room.

The dreadful sounds continued until she felt the large bed shift.

“Whew. I suppose a daughter is still a daughter, however much he hated her. I thought he wouldn’t leave her a thing.”

“I know. That bastard acted as if he’d leave everything to me.”

Neither of them said whom they meant, but Veronica knew they were talking about her father.

But why were they discussing his will now?

She distinctly remembered her father, who had given her nothing but his blood, warning her not to covet the family fortune even after his death.

Veronica could scarcely comprehend the behavior of the two people she had trusted until the moment she collapsed.

She felt a weight settle on one side of the bed, shifting the covers.

Their voices grew louder, along with those filthy, sickening m*ans.

“Make certain of it, Mary. I spent two years living with this tiresome woman and poisoning her every day on your word alone. You know that?”

“Hmph. How could I not? I’m the one who supplied all the poison.”

Veronica’s mind, which had been working perfectly well until a moment ago, faltered as though it had forgotten how to think.

‘Did I… understand that correctly? I’m lying here like this because of them…?’

“Just wait a little longer, Carter. The other half of the fortune will come to me.”

‘Because of the enormous fortune Father left in my name?

‘So they can take every last thing belonging to House Medlin…?’

“Ah!”

The wet sounds they continued to make dragged Veronica into an abyss.

“Then you’ll come to me, and we’ll say we fell in love while you were comforting me as I grieved for my dead sister.”

Perhaps the mere thought delighted him. Veronica heard Carter mumble against Mary’s skin.

“That’s right. But don’t let your guard down until this b*tch is dead, Carter.”

“Of course. Make sure you take care of things, too. Erase every trace of the poison purchase. Especially anything that could reveal you’re that swindler’s daughter, understand?”

“I’ve already made sure no one in the world can find out, so—ah—don’t worry.”

“Heh. I wonder if that fool Count Medlin knows. He had his real daughter right beside him, yet he left everything to you when you don’t share a drop of his blood.”

“He must. I whispered it to him before he died.”

“You’re cruel.”

“Isn’t that why you like me?”

“Of course, my queen.”

For a moment, silence fell between Mary and Carter.

It seeped into Veronica until she thought her heart would burst.

The silence soon shattered.

Their sharp, chilling m*ans filled the room.

The shocking truths that had struck her all at once refused to take shape in her mind. Every attempt to make sense of them broke apart.

She wanted to scream at them, but all she could do was listen to those humiliating sounds until the end.

Their lovemaking did not last long.

“Ah, I wish I could just stay like this.”

“Go on, Carter. I’ll be waiting here.”

“I’ll be right back, so don’t go anywhere.”

“Don’t worry. I have to stay here to play the kind, foolish older sister nursing her dying sister.”

“Pfft. Right.”

Veronica heard them getting dressed, kissing each other again and again.

After Carter said goodbye to Mary and left the room, Mary sat on the edge of Veronica’s bed once more.

“My poor little sister. My Belle.”

Veronica wanted to leap up, spit in that hypocrite’s face, and slap her.

Her heart seemed to stutter and seize with rage.

“The doctor says today or tomorrow will be the critical point. What does that mean? It means you’ll be dead soon.”

Mary spoke with a smirk, then suddenly burst out laughing.

“You know, I told Count Medlin the truth, so I’ll tell you, too.”

Unable to do anything, Veronica felt as though tears of blood were dripping inside her chest.

“One day, I happened to find out what was in Count Medlin’s will. Would you believe he wasn’t going to leave me a single penny?”

As Mary began speaking, Veronica felt her dreadful touch against her fingertips.

Mary seized the hand that had grown stiff from lying motionless for so long.

Veronica could not so much as twitch, but she felt the pain with perfect clarity.

“I wanted everything House Medlin had, so I put on that ridiculous act with that man’s help all this time… It wasn’t fair.”

A faint pain spread through her palm as Mary’s nails dug into it.

“So I decided to take it all.”

Mary leaned closer and gently stroked her cheek.

“Very conveniently for me, Count Medlin had this ridiculous misconception that I was his real daughter, not you. Funnily enough, he thought you were the product of his late wife’s infidelity.”

That could not be true.

It might have been a political marriage, but her mother would never have been unfaithful.

Mary, who had been speaking in an eerie voice between giggles, suddenly seized Veronica by the hair.

The force of her grip dragged Veronica’s head upward.

“Your death is the final step in my plan. So…”

Mary’s lips whispered a chilling curse into her ear.

“Won’t you hurry up and die?”

At those words, pain surged through Veronica, soaking into her soul.

She felt as though she might weep tears of blood.

As if her unresponsive body understood the depths of her sorrow, a tear welled beneath her closed eyelid and spilled over.

“Oh my.”

As Veronica felt the tear trail down her cheek, she heard Mary’s delighted exclamation.

“You… heard everything, didn’t you?”

Mary gently stroked her cheek.

The gesture might have looked tender, as though she were caressing something precious, but her touch was chilling.

After stroking her for a long while, Mary let out a breathy laugh and delivered her final words.

“My beautiful little sister, Belle, so kind it makes you a fool. Hurry up and die so I can be happy. You’ve always worked so hard for my happiness, haven’t you?”

Mary roughly flung Veronica’s head aside and rose to her feet.

She looked down for a brief moment at Veronica, who seemed utterly devoid of life, then left the room.

Veronica felt her strangely lucid mind begin to fade.

No, it was more than a feeling.

Just as they had said, death was drawing close.

As she felt her pounding heart gradually slow, her clear thoughts began to cloud, as though someone had stirred pale paint into them.

Only on the verge of death did Veronica understand with certainty.

She had trusted Mary and followed her as her older sister. All along, she had been a pawn in her hands.

She did not want to die like this.

Her life, spent suffering at their hands, seemed so pitiful that she could not bear to die.

Veronica struggled desperately to hold on to her fading consciousness, but no human strength could keep a dying life from slipping away.

‘Please, someone, anyone, spare me even a moment’s breath.

‘No, turn back time to when I met them. Please.’

Perhaps God was not on her side. She felt herself slowly sinking, as though into a deep swamp.

Only now did Veronica struggle against the fury blazing within her.

Hoping her soul’s desperate plea would reach someone, she flailed, fighting to hold on to her consciousness as it scattered into an ever-whiter haze.

But soon, it was all over.

As futile as the bitter death Veronica met, utterly alone.