They All Went Mad After I Died

You think being their real daughter means anything? Stellas voice was a shard of glass, sharp enough to pierce my eardrums.
I shot her a cold look, clutching my puppy, Buddy, a little tighter, and moved to pass her on the other side of the grand staircase. But just as I drew level with her, she let out a piercing shriek and, as if her balance had vanished, tumbled down the stairs.
"Stella!" My brother Julians voice cracked through the air. He scrambled down the steps, gathering her into his arms.
Stella clutched her head, tears streaking her face. "Julian, don't blame Aria," she whimpered, her voice trembling. "It was my own fault, I was careless" But her eyes darted toward me, glittering with triumph.
Julians head snapped up, his gaze cutting into me like a knife. I opened my mouth to protest, to explain, but the words were trapped in my throat, choked by a knot of disbelief and despair.
"Aria Paige!" His voice was glacial fury. "How could you be so heartless to your own sister? Just wait until I get back. You'll pay for this." With that, he swept Stella into his arms and rushed out the door.
I stood frozen on the landing, a bitter storm raging inside me. Why? Why could they never see the truth?
It wasn't long before my father returned, flanked by two of the household staff. His face was a thundercloud, dark and menacing.
"Take her outside," he commanded, his voice devoid of any warmth. "She will kneel."
I rose silently and let them lead me out.
The snow was coming down hard now, a swirling white blanket that settled on my shoulders and sent shivers wracking through my body.
Buddy must have sensed my cold and loneliness. He pressed his small, warm body against my leg, a futile but touching attempt to share his warmth. I reached down and stroked his head, a wave of affection washing over me.
But the warmth of that small gesture was quickly extinguished by the brutal reality of my situation. My parents were at the hospital with Stella, leaving me to kneel alone in the blizzard. I stared up at the endless cascade of snowflakes, my heart a hollow cavern of desolation.
Stella was the daughter of our familys chauffeur. Five years ago, hed died in a car crash while protecting my father. Even though it was later discovered hed been driving drunk, my father, in a grand gesture of "humanitarianism," adopted his orphaned daughter.
The first time I met her, she hid behind my father, peeking out at me with wide, curious eyes.
"Aria," my father had said with a smile, "from now on, this is your little sister, Stella. I want you to take good care of her."
I was ecstatic. "That's wonderful! I finally have a sister!" Id thrown my arms around her, never suspecting that this was the beginning of a nightmare.
At first, Stella shadowed my every move, and I was happy to have a playmate. Until one day.
I watched with my own eyes as she deliberately pushed her own music box off the edge of her desk. It shattered on the floor. I stared at her, stunned, but she had already spun around to face my older brothers, Alex and Julian. "Alex! Julian! Look what Aria did! She broke my music box!"
They rushed in at the sound of her cry. Seeing the broken pieces on the floor and Stellas tear-streaked face, they didnt hesitate. "Aria! How could you do that to your sister?"
"I didn't! She pushed it herself!" I protested, but Julian cut me off. "You're the older sister, Aria! You should be more mature!"
I looked desperately to my mother, hoping she would see the truth. But she only had eyes for Stella, rushing to her side. "Oh, Stella, darling, don't cry. Are you hurt? Let Mommy see"
"Mommy, that was my favorite music box," Stella sobbed, burying her face in my mothers embrace, her small body shaking with manufactured grief. "My daddy gave it to me for my birthday. When I looked at it, I felt like he was still with me. I took such good care of it, and I saw her I saw Aria smash it!"
My brothers gathered around her, cooing and comforting her. They looked like a perfect family, and I was on the outside, separated from them by an invisible wall.
I stared at Stella as if seeing her for the first time. The girl who had always trailed behind me, calling me "big sister," had finally shown her true colors.
My mothers gaze turned on me, hard and severe. "When did you become so cruel? I am so disappointed in you. Go to your room and think about what you've done." Before I could utter another word, she shoved me into my room and locked the door.
It was the first time she had ever treated me that way. At that moment, I felt like my world was collapsing. I didn't realize it was only the beginning. In the years that followed, such "misunderstandings" became the norm, leaving me increasingly isolated in my own home.
Slowly but surely, my parents and brothers began to dote on Stella, sometimes forgetting I even existed. I went from being the apple of their eye to a stone in their shoe.
One day, Stella paraded in front of me in a custom-designed dress, her voice dripping with malice. "Mom and Dad had this made just for me. I'm going to take everything that's yours, Aria."
She stared at me, waiting for a reaction. When my face remained impassive, her triumphant smirk soured into a scowl. "Do you still think you're the princess of this house? Dream on. Youre not even worthy of being my servant!" She stormed off, leaving her poison hanging in the air.
At first, I thought it was just a child's fantasy, that my parents wouldn't take her seriously. But I was wrong. They granted her every wish. One day, on the flimsy pretext that "Aria doesn't want to go to school with me," they transferred me to the worst high school in the city. They didn't even consult me. By the time I found out, the paperwork was already done.
I stormed into my fathers study to confront him. He just looked at me, his eyes cold and distant. In the reflection of his indifferent pupils, I was nothing but a hysterical clown. "Stop this madness," he said flatly. "As if you deserve to be in the city's best school."
As if you deserve it. Those words shattered me. He was the one who used to tell me I deserved the very best the world had to offer. I turned my tear-filled eyes on Stella. "This was you, wasn't it? What did you do?"
Before I could say more, my fathers hand swung through the air. The slap was so hard the world dissolved into a dull roar, the edges of my vision blurring. In the last moment before I blacked out, I saw Stellas mocking smile and the look of utter disgust on my father's face.
My brothers? They wished I was dead.
No matter how poorly Stella did in school, they would pull her into a hug and comfort her. "Our little princess already has a family that adores her. Even if you fail every test, we'll take care of you for the rest of your life."
But if my grades slipped even slightly, I was locked in the confinement room for a day and a night without food. When I was finally let out, my brothers would sneer, "You're nothing like a Paige. Youre not as pretty as Stella, not as sweet as Stella. Why dont you just die?"
They had no idea what it was like in that tiny, three-square-meter room. It was torture. My sight was stolen by the absolute darkness, leaving me with only the faint sensations of touch and sound to confirm I still existed.
The gnawing emptiness in my stomach eroded my sanity. Id curl into a ball, hugging my belly as if that could stop the hunger. I tried to distract myself, but the darkness and starvation were twin blades, carving away at my body and my mind.
In that suffocating space, there was nothing but despair. I would eventually break, clawing at the door, sobbing out apologies for crimes I didn't commit, only to be met with even more brutal humiliation upon my release. My brothers would look at me as if I were something crawling out of a sewer. "Looks like we'll have to do this more often," theyd say with a cruel chuckle. "Seeing her like this is actually kind of fun."
On Stella's birthday, they made me walk ten miles to buy her a cake. They had completely forgotten that it was my birthday, too. When I finally limped home, my feet raw and bleeding, clutching the cake box, I found them all gathered around Stella, singing "Happy Birthday." A different, much more extravagant cake sat glowing in front of her.
Of course. Stella didn't need me to buy her a cake. It was just another way to torture me.
"What took you so long?" Alex sneered as he and Julian approached. "We wouldn't eat anything you touched anyway. It's disgusting." He knocked the cake from my hands, sending it splattering across the floor. He didn't even try to hide his malice. "Too bad you didn't get hit by a car on the way, huh? Hahahaha!"
After they left, I knelt and dipped my finger into the ruined frosting on the floor, then brought it to my lips.
So sweet. And yet, so bitter.
Stella lived a life of effortless luxury. All she had to do was pout, and the world was handed to her on a silver platter. I accepted it. I knew that the unwanted have no right to ask for anything. But even that wasn't enough for her.
One morning at breakfast, Stella emerged from her room looking pale and unsteady.
My mother rushed to her side. "Stella, darling, what's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
Stella collapsed into her arms. "Mommy, the light in my room is so bad. I can't sleep at night." Her eyes flickered to me. "Aria looks so well-rested. Her room must get wonderful sunlight." She put on that innocent face again, the one that made it seem like the entire world should bend to her will.
I looked at her, a cold laugh bubbling in my chest. That room? The room my parents had designed for me themselves, the one they swore would always be mine, even after I was married? She thought she could take that?
But to my horror, my mother didnt even glance at me. "Aria, pack your things. You're giving your room to your sister."
My eyes widened in disbelief. "Mom, have you forgotten?"
"Forgotten what?" she snapped, her patience gone. "Can't you see your sister is unwell? Now hurry up and move out!"
"You and Dad promised that room would always be mine! I'm not leaving!" I ran to the room and locked the door, as if that could keep my mother's love from slipping away, too.
I heard Stella's choked sobs from the hallway. "Mommy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make Aria angry. Did I do something wrong?"
"Oh, my sweet girl, of course you didn't do anything wrong! Mommy will make her move. I won't let my precious daughter suffer for a second!"
But I was her daughter. Her real daughter. She used to call me her precious girl. Why had everything changed?
A few minutes later, a key turned in the lock. Alex and Julian dragged me out and threw me into a dusty storage closet. "You had your chance to do this the easy way," Alex grunted. "You should be grateful Stella even wants your room. From now on, you can sleep in here with the junk."
By the second year of Stella's arrival, I had become utterly despised. I had four more years of this hell to endure.
At first, I argued. But after suffering more and more humiliation from my own family, I learned to be silent. I hid my face behind a curtain of hair and sealed myself away in my own mind. I no longer had a place in this home. I was an intruder.
The snow fell heavier.
Kneeling in the freezing cold, I felt like a forgotten ship, foundering in an icy sea. Snowflakes landed on my eyebrows and shoulders, melting into a chilling dampness that seeped into my bones. I weakly raised a hand to push Buddy away. "Go on, Buddy. Go back inside. You'll get frostbite."
But the little dog just whined, circling me anxiously and tugging at my shirt, trying to pull me back toward the house. I used the last of my strength to stroke his fur. "I'm sorry, Buddy. I'm just so tired. So very tired. This time... I don't think I can hold on."
Meanwhile, Stella was lying in a warm hospital bed, surrounded by my family, showered with concern, the room filled with flowers and baskets of fruit.
I don't know how much time passed. My consciousness began to fade. In the haze, I saw a memory: me as a little girl, perched on my father's shoulders under a soft sunset glow. My small hands were tangled in his hair, feeling completely safe and secure. "Ready for liftoff, my little bird?" he'd say, holding my legs steady.
My mother would be watching from the sofa, her smile warm and gentle. My brothers would be building with blocks nearby, calling out, "Daddy, we want to give Aria a piggyback ride, too!"
"Haha, you two are still too small," my father would laugh, his voice full of love. "When you're bigger, you can carry your sister all you want." Every step he took was firm and steady, careful not to jostle his precious cargo.
Why? How did it come to this? The memories of the past five years flashed through my mind, ending with my father's disappointed glare and my brothers' undisguised disgust. Finally, I closed my eyes.
It's better this way. When you're dead, nothing can hurt anymore. A small smile touched my lips as I collapsed into the snow.

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