They Pretended I Didn’t Exist for Twenty Years… So I Disappeared Chapter 01

They Pretended I Didn’t Exist for Twenty Years… So I Disappeared Chapter 01

I was sexually assaulted.

I screamed for help. My family and friends were just on the other side of the wall, but none of them came.

I closed my eyes in despair. They were playing the Invisible Game again.

From the time I was five until I turned twenty-five, I’d spent twenty years being the invisible one.

No one wanted to lose the game and become the next person everyone ignored.

So no matter how desperately I screamed, they pretended I didn’t exist.

I dragged myself back to the hotel suite.

“I was sexually assaulted. Call the police.”

Not one of them so much as looked at me.

I gave up and said, “Fine. I lost. What gift does Lily want this time?”

The room immediately erupted in laughter.

Ryan frowned. “Who taught you to make up something this outrageous just because you can’t handle losing a game?”

Mason chimed in, “Exactly. You’re always fighting Lily over everything. You already have Ethan. Giving her a gift when you lose the Invisible Game is only fair.”

Lily doubled over laughing.

“I have to admit, Claire, those screams sounded pretty real. We almost bought it. Ethan was about to go help you.”

She grinned. “Good thing I stopped him, or I would’ve missed out on my gift.”

Ethan sighed.

“I promise this is the last time. Lily isn’t asking for much. On this trip, just let her pretend to be my girlfriend for a week. It’ll finally give her what she’s always wanted.”

I looked at the four of them as they took turns backing each other up.

Then I laughed.

If I was already invisible to them, walking out of their lives shouldn’t make any difference.

***

“Fine.”

My voice came out hoarse. I walked toward the bathroom in a daze.

Usually, whenever Lily made some outrageous demand, I’d cry, argue, and make a scene.

This time, I didn’t.

Only then did Ethan look at me.

The moment he saw the bruises and streaks of blood covering my body, his face went white.

It took him several seconds to find his voice.

“Claire… when you were calling for help…”

“Oh, don’t fall for it,” Ryan cut in dismissively.

“Don’t you remember the time she faked a stomachache as a kid just to get us to pay attention to her during the game?”

When I was seven, Lily had suggested the Invisible Game for the first time.

I had been chosen as the first invisible one.

No matter how much I shouted, cried, or tried to force them to acknowledge me, they ignored me.

Even when I developed acute appendicitis and begged Lily over and over for help, she acted as if I wasn’t there.

I finally collapsed, and a stranger took me to the hospital.

Only then did they panic.

By the time they arrived, I’d already been treated and was recovering.

From that day on, they decided I must have been bullying Lily.

Every time I gave in, they made me give Lily a gift before they’d let it go.

Mason, who’d grown up with me, started lecturing me.

“Claire, when are you going to stop competing with Lily over everything? Did you really go this far just to make us blame her again?”

“She’s only pretending to date Ethan for a week. You’re practically married to Ethan already. What’s seven days?”

Over the years, Lily’s demands had gotten worse.

When we were little, it had been a dress.

As we got older, it became my principal dancer role at the dance company.

Anything I had, she found a way to take.

Everything except Ethan.

Lily had asked for him before, too. She’d tried to make me give him up as another “gift” so she could be with him.

Back then, Ethan had refused without hesitation.

“A relationship isn’t something you gamble away in a game. Claire is the only one I love.”

That was why I’d endured the Invisible Game for so long.

At least I had believed Ethan was on my side.

But now he was standing with the rest of them.

Ethan nodded along with Ryan and Mason, and the tension in his face eased.

“Go wash up. You really went all out just to get out of the game. I’m the only one who’d put up with you like this. Come back out and I’ll take care of those injuries.”

I said nothing.

I walked straight into the bathroom.

I turned on the shower, drowning out the laughter beyond the door.

The icy water bit into my skin, making me shudder.

At the start of our weeklong fall getaway, Lily had suddenly announced that she wanted to be Ethan’s girlfriend for seven days.

I had refused.

So they had immediately started the Invisible Game.

I watched them book tickets for four as if leaving me out were second nature.

I was sitting right between them, but they talked across me, laughing about an itinerary that no longer included me.

For the first time, I hated the version of myself who always gave in because I couldn’t stand being isolated.

I had gone outside just to get some air.

That was when I was attacked.

What hurt even more was realizing that they had heard every single cry for help.

To them, my screams were just another weapon in some petty fight over Ethan.

When I came out of the bathroom, Ryan, Mason, and Ethan were gathered around Lily, grinning as she bossed them around.

“For the weeklong trip, Ryan, you’re in charge of taking good pictures of me. Mason, you plan everything.”

Then she shot me a challenging look and leaned in toward Ethan.

“And Ethan… you’re my boyfriend. So let’s start with a kiss. I need to know what I’m getting.”

Ethan froze and looked like he was about to refuse.

But Ryan and Mason immediately started egging him on.

In the end, Ethan cupped the back of Lily’s neck and kissed her deeply.

For a moment, he looked just like the men who had pinned me down not long before.

I rushed to the trash can and threw up.

While everyone stared at me in shock, I wiped my tears away.

“I’m done with the game,” I said. “And I’m done with all of you.”