My Mom Told Me to Die on My Sister’s Celebration Day Chapter 01

My Mom Told Me to Die on My Sister’s Celebration Day Chapter 01

The SAT scores were finally released.

I barely got any questions right.

But my younger sister Sienna earned a near-perfect score. She was accepted into a top college.

But Mom and Dad didn’t smile.

They didn’t dare show even the slightest hint of happiness.

Even Corbin Hale quietly hid the bunny cake he’d bought to celebrate Sienna.

Because this was the third year of my severe depression.

I looked at the disappointment in their eyes and forced the words past the lump in my throat.

“My hands wouldn’t stop shaking during the exam.”

“My depression… the physical symptoms flared up really bad…”

Mom snatched the appointment slip for Dr. Navarro out of my hand. She tore it to shreds.

Dr. Navarro was one of the best in the field. She’d tried her best to get that appointment.

But this time, she didn’t wrap me in a hug the way she had so many nights before.

She only looked at me with complete despair.

“Three years. When are you finally going to get better?”

“Your dad works all day and drives a rideshare at night.”

“I watch you around the clock because I’m terrified you’ll hurt yourself.”

“Sienna’s too scared to even study out loud anymore. She gave up her bedroom for you.”

“We’ve done everything we could to pull you out of this. What have you done?”

I felt a searing pain in my chest. I reached up to wipe away her tears.

She slapped my hand away.

“If you don’t even want to get better…”

She scrubbed her face hard, her eyes bloodshot.

“Then just die! Stop dragging Sienna down with you.”

Just die—the words echoed through the tiny living room.

I didn’t cry.

Instead, it felt like a weight had finally been lifted off my chest.

Okay, Mom. Whatever you say.

—

Corbin caught me staring at the cake behind him.

He sighed. “Eira, Sienna really crushed it this time.”

“I promised her this cake a long time ago.”

Someone had put painstaking care into decorating the bunny on top. It was Sienna’s favorite.

I nodded and dug my nails into my palm.

“Yeah… it’s really pretty.”

Seeing how empty my face looked, Corbin gently pressed the cake knife into my hand.

“Eira, why don’t you cut it?”

My eyes burned.

I didn’t want to ruin today. I knew everyone was doing their best for me.

My score had already made everyone miserable. I couldn’t make things worse.

So I wrapped my fingers around the knife.

But the second it touched the cake, my hand started trembling hard.

The knife slipped. The beautifully decorated cake collapsed into a mangled mess on the floor.

“I’m so—”

“What’s wrong now?”

For the first time, I saw it—impatience and exhaustion flickering in Corbin’s eyes. Like he’d finally reached his breaking point.

His voice rose without him realizing it.

“I drove all the way back from Alden today. I’m beat.”

“Your parents have spent the last three years taking care of you. They’re exhausted too.”

“Sienna got an incredible score today. Even if you have to fake it, couldn’t you at least pretend to be happy for her?”

So that was it. He thought I’d done it on purpose.

I looked at Corbin. Then at Sienna, whose eyes were red. Then at Mom and Dad.

Every one of them believed it.

I looked down at my shaking hands.

I’d never felt so useless. I was nothing but sadness. Nothing but endless tears.

I’d become a burden to all of them. A burden to this family.

I looked down and said, “I’m sorry.”

Corbin froze. He finally realized he’d gone too far.

He swallowed his frustration and slowly reached out to me.

“Forget what I said. None of this is your fault.”

“But Sienna deserves to celebrate today. Let’s all go to that restaurant downtown, okay?”

Mom and Dad looked at me too.

I nodded. My hands shook as I hurried to put on my shoes.

I watched everyone else getting ready so quickly and tried my best to keep up.

But the more I rushed, the worse it got.

Tears kept falling. One drop after another stained the pair of Mary Janes Mom had given me for my birthday.

I wiped my face over and over. I didn’t want to ruin her gift.

I tried so hard to smile. But the tears only came faster.

By the end, my face was covered with tears and snot. I looked like a monster.

At some point, the whole house fell into an eerie silence.

The sound of my muffled sobbing grew louder and louder.

Then Mom grabbed the cup from the table and hurled it. She collapsed into Dad’s arms.

“This again! This—all over again! I can’t do this anymore!”

“I’ve spent three years giving her everything I’ve got!”

“Her scores keep dropping, and this time she didn’t even make one percent of Sienna’s score!”

“I barely said anything. And here she goes again.”

“What else am I supposed to do to make her happy?”

Even Dad couldn’t hide how tired he looked.

“Eira, look what you’ve done to your mother.”

“Sienna finally has something to celebrate today, and you’re still walking around with that long face.”

“How are we supposed to go on like this?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

The night I was diagnosed, Dad stayed beside my bed until sunrise.

He kept saying that even if it cost them every last cent, he’d make sure I got better.

By morning, his eyes were swollen from crying.

But now… he was tired too.