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I wanted to tell him my heavy makeup was just to hide my cancer-pale face.
After the late showing,Sophie chattered about the film.
Ethan half-listened,distracted,staring at the moon—a symbol of family unity.
He stopped walking.
"Sophie,head home.I need a smoke."
Sophie pouted but complied when she saw the house nearby.
Ethan stood outside, not going in, and pulled out his phone.He sent me a few texts on Messenger:
"Where are you ?Get back here!"
"Stay gone forever if you're so tough!"
The sky darkened,but Ethan just stared into the night.
After a long sigh,he shakily redialed a number.
"Hello,this is Ethan Harper."
He paused,struggling."I’m Lily's brother."
"Oh,you're the brother Lily always talked about!Finally,a relative.She's been dead so long,and you didn't care…ugh."
"I've never seen such a cold family.A kid dies,and no one claims her…"
Ethan's grip tightened,his knuckles white."The body…is it a 23-year-old girl with a small scar on her collarbone?"
"What?You're Ethan Harper,her brother.Why doubt it?Come claim her body."
"It's almost too late.Some guy's pulling strings to have it cremated early…"
Ethan's eyes went hollow,his hand dropping,his heart sinking.
"No…it can't be…she was fine…how could she die?"
"They say curses live forever…how could she die?"
His voice trembled,almost sobbing.
After a moment,he processed it and rushed to the hospital by cab.
At the hospital entrance,he froze,then ran inside,muttering,"No,it's not true."
He burst into the ward,colliding with Jake,who held my body.
Ethan's gaze locked on the scar on my collarbone.
His suspicions were confirmed.
Head bowed,face shadowed,he growled,"Put my sister down."
Jake sneered,not glancing at him."You don't deserve to be her brother."
"You didn't visit during her illness,her surgeries,or answer her dozen calls before she died."
"Heartless."
Ethan's eyes flashed with grief as he fumbled,"I didn't know…I didn't know she had cancer…"
Jake's smirk mocked him."She had a bad reaction after her last surgery,nearly died."
