Chapter 4

After losing my dream, Mom said I'd grown up and could better take care of my sister.

To prevent Kayla from suddenly falling ill, I gradually learned to prepare water at 37 degrees, check her temperature three times daily, turn the air purifier on and off on schedule, carry an inhaler with me at all times...

She was like a fragile porcelain doll. If she so much as coughed once, Mom would become tense with nerves.

She'd blame me for not taking good care of my sister, for not shouldering my responsibilities as the older sister.

Gradually, I became quieter and quieter.

But Mom started praising me for becoming more like a proper older sister.

Just when I thought my sister's condition was stabilizing and life would slowly improve—

Kayla suddenly said she wanted to take a walk in the nearby park.

Mom disagreed, afraid that crowded spaces with bad air would make it hard for her to breathe.

"Just let me go, Mom. Julia will come too. Nothing will happen."

Kayla shook Mom's arm, acting adorably coy.

I watched quietly from the side, unsure what she was trying to do.

"Besides going to school, I can only stay cooped up at home. It's so boring. Just let me go out for a walk~"

Mom eventually softened and agreed to her request, ordering me to take good care of my sister.

I obediently took Kayla out and accompanied her as she walked around the small park.

This used to be my little sanctuary. Whenever I felt unhappy, I'd come here and stay for a while.

Looking at the tall trees, bright flowers, cheerful birds, and playing children.

Kayla wove through the crisscrossing paths, extremely excited.

Seeing the upturned corners of her mouth—she was genuinely happy—I felt relieved for the first time in a long while.

My sister must just have been cooped up at home too long, which was why she wasn't close to me.

Seeing her walk toward the flower beds, my heart tightened. I quickly caught up with her.

"Kayla, don't go over there!"

Before we even reached the flower beds, my sister suddenly collapsed on the ground.

I held her as she coughed violently and frantically searched for medicine in my backpack.

"Don't panic, don't panic. Come on, take a deep breath—"

"Kayla?!"

Just as I was fumbling to guide my sister through relieving her symptoms, Mom's shocked voice exploded in my ears.

A sharp pain shot through my shoulder. The next second, I was pushed away.

"Julia Hayes! Explain to me what's going on right now!"

"Kayla's condition has been so stable recently. How did she have an attack the moment she went out with you? What did you let her come into contact with?!"

Yes, her condition had been under control. I'd been so careful watching her too. What could have caused this?

Enduring the pain in my shoulder, I finally found the inhaler.

Mom snatched it away and pressed it to Kayla's face, which was red from coughing.

Before long, the ambulance arrived. I wanted to go with them, but Mom pushed me off.

"You can't even watch one person properly. You disappoint me so much."

The vehicle roared away. Where they'd left, I picked up a pink wild rose.

Looking at the stem clearly snapped by fingernails, and remembering the triumphant curve of Kayla's mouth before we left—

I couldn't help but smile bitterly, my heart growing desolate.