Chapter 2

When my soul left my body, I actually felt relief.

The burning agony in my stomach and the suffocating feeling of cold water filling my lungs—both finally disappeared.

I floated in mid-air, looking down at my own body.

Nothing but skin and bones, crushed under a heavy metal shelving unit in the murky, muddy water.

Strange. Even though I was dead, I could still "see" something at the location of my stomach—a dense mass of dark, ominous energy coiled there.

So that black cat hadn't been wrong after all.

I really was bad. Rotten to the core. Even my soul carried filth.

The hurricane lasted three days.

On the fourth day, the water receded.

I heard Mom and Jasmine coming home, laughing and chatting.

"Mom, thank god you made that quick decision. We got to stay in that downtown hotel for three days and even bought the latest gaming console."

That was Jasmine's voice, tinged with smugness.

"Of course. When have I ever steered you wrong?"

Mom's tone dripped with affection.

The door swung open. Seeing the mess and mud covering everything, Mom's face instantly soured.

She raised her voice, shouting into the empty house:

"Aria! Where the hell are you?! Even the cat made it home before you!"

A black cat gracefully stepped inside—Shadow, the "judge" who'd decided my fate.

It avoided the trash on the floor and leaped lightly onto the only clean surface left: the top of a cabinet.

I floated in front of Mom, my soul so weak it was nearly transparent.

I opened my mouth and used every ounce of strength I had left to shout:

"Mom, my stomach hurts so much. I'm right here..."

Of course, she couldn't hear me.

She just waved her hand irritably, like she was swatting away an annoying mosquito.

Just then, Shadow suddenly arched its back and let out a piercing shriek—directed at the spot where my body lay.

Mom's gaze immediately followed.

She looked at the collapsed shelving and debris. Her face showed no concern for her missing daughter. Instead, she sneered coldly.

"See? Even the cat can sense how unlucky this place is. That brat must have brought bad energy back home."

Jasmine chimed in gleefully:

"Aria probably thought cleaning up was too much work and ran off again. She's always been lazy."

Mom nodded approvingly.

"Exactly. A bad seed like her has no conscience. We don't need to worry about her."

"Starve her for a few days. She'll crawl back on her own."

I watched them, their casual cruelty so natural. A bone-deep chill pierced my soul.

Late that night, after they'd gone to sleep,

I drifted back to my corpse and stared at that pale, swollen face.

Memories flooded back—all those nights I'd been punished, forbidden from eating.

I'd hidden in back alleys, fighting stray dogs for scraps in dumpsters.

Spoiled buns. Moldy bread. Even rotten vegetable leaves covered in dirt.

That's when my stomach first started hurting—like a small knife scraping and burning inside me.

I thought it was just hunger.

It wasn't.

It was me. I was broken.