My Ashes Will Never Forgive Her
Her voice was cold, distant. Hes the one you want. Owen Reed. Take him.
In the dark, suffocating backroom of the illicit gambling operation, they stripped my dignity first.
They tore my fingernails out, then used a steel pipe to methodically shatter my ribs, one by agonizing one.
When the pain crested, I was a whimpering mess, groveling on the concrete floor like a beaten animal. Utterly without honor.
They offered me one moment of "mercy": a chance to call for help.
Holding onto a sliver of hope, I dialed Sloan.
Her voice on the line was colder than the ice in my veins.
If you hadnt been so selfish, Travis would never have been desperate enough to gamble.
Even if you die in their hands, youll just be getting what you deserve.
The dial tone, flat and final, was the last sound I heard in my world.
Later, I did die, just as she predicted. Yet, Sloan didn't wear a single smile.
She seemed to go mad, her eyes bloodshot, tearing through every back-alley operation in the city.
Sloan, why would you cry for me?
1
When my little sister, Lily, carried my ashes home, Sloan kicked the door open.
She scanned the empty living room, her tone icy. Where is Owen Reed? Tell him to get out here.
Lily huddled in the corner, clutching the urn tighter to her chest.
She looked up and smiled at Sloan. Brothers right here.
Sloans brow furrowed sharply.
Her gaze fell on the cheap wooden box, then moved to Lilys innocent, tear-stained face.
She let out an impatient, low scoff, reaching out to snatch it.
Dont be an idiot. Where is he hiding? Hes using you and this piece of junk to fool me.
Lily clung to it desperately, tears welling up in her eyes.
Brother is here. Inside. Be gentle, youll hurt Brother.
Sloan looked as if shed heard the funniest joke in the world.
She roughly swatted Lilys hands away.
The wooden box dropped. My ashes spilled across the floor.
Owen Reed, that parasite, you think he knows pain? When he was ruining Travis, did he ever consider how much he hurt others?
Stop this pathetic act. Tell him to come out now.
Lily froze.
She stared blankly at the ashes scattered on the ground.
After a few seconds, she lunged forward, scrambling on the floor, trying to scoop up the gray dust with her bare hands.
Brother, Brother, dont be scared. Lily will protect you.
Sloan watched her dirty hands and her tear-streaked face. The last vestige of her patience snapped.
Keep acting, keep playing the fool. A retard and a viper, what a perfect match.
She sneered, tipping her head toward her bodyguards.
Search the place. I want him dragged out. He thinks he can fake his death and trick me? Ill make him kneel and beg Travis for forgiveness.
The bodyguards moved instantly.
Furniture was roughly toppled. Dishes shattered.
The entire house descended into chaos.
Lily screamed in terror, trying to stop them, but they pushed her aside easily.
She could only curl up beside the ashes, attempting to shield me with her small body.
I clenched my back teeth, charging toward Sloan.
Im dead! You got what you wanted! Why wont you leave me alone?
But she didnt even glance my way.
I stared blankly at my transparent, useless hands, my entire being freezing in place.
Right. I was dead.
The bodyguards didnt find me.
Sloans rage peaked.
She walked up to Lily, looking down at her.
Where is your brother?
Lily sobbed, digging something out of her pocket, holding it out carefully.
Brothers signet ring. Take it. Dont hit Brother.
It was the vintage silver signet ring Sloan had personally put on my finger on my eighteenth birthday.
I hadnt taken it off since that day.
Now it lay, covered in dust, in Lilys small, grimy hand.
Sloans pupils contracted, and she snatched it away.
She stared at the ring, her chest heaving.
The next second, she violently smashed it against the floor.
The silver ring cracked and fractured into several pieces.
Hes even willing to use this for his act? Hes really throwing everything he has into this!
Her voice was raw, whether from anger or something else, I couldnt tell.
No! Brother is dead! Brother is gone!
Lily crawled over, trying to fit the pieces back together.
Sloans eyes fixed on Lilys face.
Still lying.
Lock her in the basement. As long as Owen doesn't show up, she doesnt eat. I want to see how long he can hide.
A bodyguard grabbed my sister, who was crying hysterically, and tossed her into the cellar.
Lily lay on the cold floor, unable to get up for a long time.
I floated down and looked at her. My spectral eyes immediately welled up.
To retrieve my ashes, she had gone to the loan sharks.
There was no way those men would let her leave easily.
For three days and three nights, she endured. When she finally walked out, her legs were shaking.
But she hadnt cried. She had smiled, hugging my urn to her chest.
She said, "Brother, Ill protect you from now on."
I watched as she carefully opened her palm.
The fragments of the signet ring had sliced her skin, drawing blood.
She just smiled a little.
Brothers favorite ring. Ill keep it for Brother until he comes back.
She was visibly shivering from the cold, but she tucked the fragments safely into her pocket.
I couldnt hold back anymore. I cried out, a soundless, desperate wail that no one could hear.
After our parents died in that car crash when I was eighteen, the trauma had kept Lilys mind fixed at the age of eight.
We only had each other.
I never imagined she would go to such lengths for me.
I looked at my sister.
I didnt want anything anymore.
I just wanted my sister to live.
The next day, Sloan didnt send food to the basement.
Naturally, she didnt see that Lily had already collapsed with a fever.
It was three days later when Sloan finally remembered the girl locked below.
The basement door was pushed open. The smell of mildew and a faint metallic, bloody scent rushed out.
Lily was curled up in the corner.
Her face was flushed crimson with fever, her lips cracked and bleeding.
Her breathing was so shallow, the rise and fall of her chest was barely visible.
Sloans footsteps paused. Her brow instinctively furrowed.
How did she get like this?
Just as she was about to turn and call someone, Travis Millers voice, choked with tears, came from behind her.
Lily.
He rushed forward, then stopped a few feet away.
The corners of his eyes were red, his body shaking.
Its my fault, Sloan. I shouldnt have crossed Owen. Now Lily is paying for it.
Ill go to Owen now. Ill apologize, Ill get on my knees, Ill do anything he wants. Just tell him to let Lily go.
As he made to fall to his knees, Sloan grabbed him instantly.
You did nothing wrong. The fault lies entirely with the selfish, cruel Owen Reed.
Hes willing to use his own sisters life as a bargaining chip just to avoid apologizing? How despicable.
She actually thought I had caused Lilys illness?
Sloan sneered.
Fine. If hes willing to sacrifice her, I have nothing to lose. Close the door.
She gave my sister one cold glance on the floor and turned to walk away.
I rushed forward, shouting in front of her.
No! Sloan Beckett, dont!
Save my sister! Please save her!
She always called you Sister Sloan! Do you really have the heart to do this?
Just as the words left my ghostly mouth, Sloan paused.
A flicker of hope sparked in my heart. I thought shed finally found her conscience.
But she turned around, her voice dangerously cold.
Who gave her this water? Didnt I say not to give her any food or drink?
The housekeeper hurried in from outside.
Ms. Beckett, it was me. The young lady
She was cut off before she could finish.
Remember who signs your paycheck. If I ever find out you give her anything again, youre fired.
The housekeepers eyes flashed with sympathy, but she lowered her gaze.
Sloan lifted her foot and viciously kicked the bowl away.
Water splashed onto Lilys sleeve.
The shock made Lily stir, and she let out a painful moan.
A crumpled piece of paper fluttered out of her hands.
It was my official death certificate.
Sloans gaze slammed onto it. Her pupils shrank.
She stood frozen for several seconds, completely motionless.
Travis saw it too.
His face paled, but he quickly stepped forward.
Sloan, this must be something Owen made to trick us. We havent received any official notification of his death.
Sloan seemed jolted awake by his voice.
She looked at Lily again, her eyes filled only with annoyance.
I underestimated the acting skills of this idiot.
A death certificate that shows up now, of all times? Its too convenient.
She cast a final glance at my barely breathing sister on the floor, turned, and didnt hesitate.
Leave her there. If Owen doesnt show up, dont open that door for anyone.
My whole body trembled.
I was already dead.
Yet, in that moment, I felt the searing taste of a broken heart.
I rushed over, kneeling before the woman who couldnt see me.
No! Dont do this!
Save my sister! Shes dying!
Lily was being ravaged by an unstoppable fever.
Now, without food or water, she wouldn't last.
But no one could hear my cries.
I could only watch as the door slammed shut again.
I stood there, spinning in frantic, useless circles.
Then, I heard a faint whisper.
Brother.
It was Lily calling me.
I flew to her side and saw her eyes flutter open.
She was looking in my direction, her eyes bloodshot.
Brother, is that you?
Before I could speak, she smiled faintly.
I must be seeing things. Brother hasn't come back yet.
She reached out a hand.
Brother, Lily hurts so much. I cant hang on anymore.
She closed her eyes again.
This time, no matter how desperately I called her name, she didn't answer.
And just beyond that closed door, I heard Sloan, using a tone of voice I had never heard before, speaking to Travis.
Dont be afraid, Travis. Im here. No one will ever hurt you again.
I promise you, Ill drag him out and make him kneel before you and apologize.
Hearing that, my heart was utterly still.
The pain had finally numbed me.
Before my parents' accident, Sloan and I had grown up together, inseparable.
The year the crash happened, and my uncle stole our company, I fell apart. Sloan held my hand and promised she would always stand by me.
I thought that was forever.
But when Travis Miller appeared, her focus slowly shifted away from me.
He was the scholarship student our family had sponsored.
Even after my parents died and my uncle took everything, I still scrimped and saved to help pay for his university education.
Yet, he spread lies that I abused him, starved him of living expenses.
I became the villain in everyones eyes.
Even Sloan began to favor Travis.
Looking at Sloans profile now, I had a sudden, morbid curiosity.
Would she regret my death when she finally knew the truth?
2
Sloan used every connection she had, but she couldn't find a single trace of me.
That crumpled death certificate was the only lead.
In the hospital, the scent of antiseptic was acrid.
Sloan marched straight to the doctor on duty. Have you had anyone brought in recently from the downtown gambling dens?
How ridiculous.
The den was practically on Sloans territory.
She could have freed me with a single word.
Instead, she let me be tortured.
The doctor pushed up his glasses, recalling the case.
Yes, about five or six days ago. A young man. He was already beyond help when they brought him in.
It was gruesome. Almost every bone in his body was broken. All ten fingernails had been pulled out. His skin... there wasnt a single clean patch.
He died from massive blood loss and organ failure. We did everything we could, but we couldnt save him.
Sloans heart plummeted. Her fingers went icy cold. What what did he look like?
The doctor shook his head sympathetically. His face was unrecognizable, damaged beyond repair. He seemed like a tough one, though. Didnt cry out once, even at the end.
It couldnt have been him.
Sloan abruptly cut him off.
Hes not that strong. Hes not that tough.
Sloan desperately tried to convince herself.
But deep inside, something began to fracture.
She all but fled the hospital, driving back to the house where Lily was imprisoned.
She pushed the door open. A suffocating silence.
She rushed to the basement. The steel door was slightly ajar.
Lily was curled in the corner. Her clothes were torn and disheveled.
The exposed skin was covered in vivid bruises.
She was hugging herself tightly, her eyes vacant, her body uncontrollably shaking.
Standing over her, Travis's clothes were rumpled.
What had happened was clear to anyone with eyes.
My spectral eyes went blood red. All my ghostly composure evaporated.
I wanted to devour his flesh and drink his blood.
Travis quickly offered an explanation.
Sloan, you have to believe me. I didnt do anything.
I was just so worried about her. I came down to give her some water, and the second I walked in, she started taking her clothes off.
Lily isnt right in the head. She doesnt know what shes doing. How could she accuse me of something like that?
It was a transparent lie, yet Sloan believed him instantly.
Disgusting!
She took several steps forward and delivered a vicious slap across Lilys face.
Lily was already terribly weak.
The impact sent her tumbling to the ground, her forehead smashing hard against one of the broken signet ring fragments.
Lily lay on the floor, instantly losing consciousness.
Sloan finally panicked.
She ordered the bodyguards to rush Lily to the hospital.
They had barely arrived when they ran right into the leader of the gambling operation.
Well, well. Ms. Beckett, didn't know you knew this little lady.
Sloan leaned against the wall, her fingers trembling uncontrollably.
What are you talking about?
The loan shark licked his lips.
Gotta say, shes simple, but she put on quite a show for the guys, trying to get her brothers ashes back.
Shame, her brotherOwen Reed, was it?didnt have the stomach for it. Tapped out in a few days. But this little dummy, she was resilient. Kept the boys company for three days and three nights.
What are you saying?
Sloans voice was high-pitched and sharp.
The casino men exchanged amused glances, snickering.
Did Ms. Beckett forget? It was you who personally delivered Owen Reed to us.
A debts a debt. The kid just had soft bones, couldnt take it, and died.
The simple one, though, she was loyal. Just had to get that box of ashes back
Impossible!
Sloan stumbled back, hitting the wall.
Just then, the light above the operating room flickered off.
The doctor walked out, pulling down his mask, his face expressionless.
Im sorry. She was brought in too late. Severe internal hemorrhage combined with high fever. The trauma was too much. We couldnt save her.
Sloan froze completely. After a long moment, she violently grabbed the doctors collar.
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