Driven to Death by My Family: I Really Died

On my wedding day, my mom kneeled and forced me to give my husband to my sister.

My brother urged me, "Can't you be reasonable? Eva has depression, she can't handle any stress."

My dad slapped me hard across the face, "Why are you crying? Born a jinx, why didn't you die back then?"

It's okay, I will die.

But when the news of my death really came,

My brother's indifferent face showed a hint of panic, "It's fake, it must be a lie."

My father clutched his chest in pain, "How could it be, she was so capable!"

My mom was devastated, repeatedly telling me she was sorry.

But I was already dead.

It was all too late!

1

On Thanksgiving Day, my mom prepared a grand feast.

The whole family sat around the table, the scene warm and lively.

As the midnight bells chimed, fireworks illuminated the sky outside.

My family raised their glasses in celebration.

To wish my brother a successful career.

To wish my dad great wealth.

To wish my mom good health.

To wish my sister a smooth and happy marriage.

Not a single blessing concerned me.

No one remembered that there was someone missing from this family.

Until my mom's phone rang.

Anxiously, urgently!

It was a call from me.

She coldly hung up, impatiently.

And I lay in the cold earth, losing my last shred of hope.

I was dead.

Dead on the reunion night of Thanksgiving Day.

2

My soul returned to the house.

They were watching TV after the meal, while discussing my sister Eva Pope's wedding.

As they talked, her eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

"On the wedding day, I wanted to invite my sister, but she might still be mad at me. What should I do?"

My dad snorted, "You don't worry about that. We'll bring her over even if we have to tie her up!"

"Yeah, it's just a man, why is she so petty?" My brother couldn't understand.

My mom sighed, looking very sad.

"She always makes me worry. When I was pregnant with her, the doctor said she survived by taking her sister’s nutrients. Why can't she be more grateful...”

That same old line.

I've heard it countless times since I was a child.

It's the original sin I was born with.

Every time it’s brought up, it fuels my parents and brother's resentment towards me.

They instinctively exclude me, looking at me as if I were a murderer.

Even though I am just a child!

Under their scorn and resentment, I lived in constant fear, crying and helpless.

I longed for their love, but could only watch as they adopted another girl.

They called her "Baby."

They showed her a favoritism I had never experienced.

They demanded I sacrifice everything for her as if to atone for my sins.

Whatever my sister wanted, if I had it, I had to give it to her.

From something as small as a pen or a doll,

to larger things like scholarships and competition spots.

Even my husband.

Erik Bates and I were graduate classmates. We hit it off immediately and fell in love the second time we met.

We were supposed to be like most college couples—loving and getting married smoothly after graduation.

But in our third year, Eva also got...