They Forced Me To Die - My parents' adopted daughter took minors mountain climbing

• Unraveling the Lies One Chapter at a Time—Full Breakdown & Reading Info

Chapter 1

My parents' adopted daughter took minors mountain climbing, which got three people killed, and then they made me take the blame.My dad forced me to get on my knees before the victims' families."She used these legs to lead your kids into danger. I'll make sure she never climbs a mountain again!"My mom erased my name from the family registry."Rhea Stevens is destined to break mountaineering records. She can't have a disgraceful sister like you! She's given up so much because of you. It's time you paid her back."Even my childhood sweetheart stood by their side."Rhea has nothing. She wouldn't survive this. But you still have me. No matter what happens, I'll wait for you."They just want someone to blame. You won't go to jail. Once they've calmed down, you can come home."To protect the adopted daughter's reputation, he turned around and helped my parents forge evidence to send me to prison.They lied, saying it was to keep me safe from retaliation.But they had no idea that I'd already given up on all of them.***Harsh lights hit my face as I stared at the empty doorway, then calmly walked toward the house that no longer felt like home.On a giant screen outside the mall, a video played of Rhea breaking a mountaineering record—my parents and Henry Cadwell beamed in the crowd, cheering for her.It seemed like they forgot it was the day I got released.I walked for over three hours before Henry finally showed up in a rush.Noticing something off with my leg, he hurried over and grabbed my arm to steady me."Jessica, what happened to your leg? Did someone hurt you in there?"His concerned gaze only felt like a joke to me."Weren't you and my parents the ones who threw me in prison before my leg had even healed, just so Rhea's reputation wouldn't take a hit?"Because of that untreated injury, I'd never be able to climb a mountain again.Henry looked away awkwardly, his voice dry as he tried to explain."We were just worried the victims' families might come after you; that's why we did it. And even if there's something wrong with your leg, I'd never turn my back on you. I'll take care of you from now on."I didn't bother arguing. But as I opened the car door to get in, I saw Rhea sitting inside."Why is she here?"Henry quickly shut the door. "Some friends are throwing a party to celebrate Rhea's win. It wouldn't be appropriate for you to come.""Not appropriate? A killer gets to go, but I, someone who was falsely wronged, don't?"At my words, Henry glanced nervously at Rhea in the car. When he saw she hadn't heard, he let out a sigh of relief.Then he turned to me, unhappy. "Rhea's already traumatized from what happened. Are you trying to push her over the edge with comments like that?"You can find your own way home. I've already wasted enough time looking for you. I still need to get Rhea to her party."Henry left in a hurry after saying that like he'd forgotten I just got out and didn't have a single cent on me.After another hour of walking, I finally made it home. My leg was burning with pain.Just as I reached the door, I heard loud, cheerful voices coming from inside.Chapter 2"Yeah, Rhea's amazing. Good thing we adopted her back then. Who knows where we'd be without her now?"Don't mention Jessica. Ever since that incident, we haven't had a single good night's sleep. Rhea was heartbroken, and kept saying she should've taken the blame for her sister."That's when I knocked on the door.The moment my mom saw me, her smile vanished."What are you doing here now? Go wait outside. We have guests. Don't embarrass us."She shut the door without hesitation. Just before it closed, I heard her tell the relatives inside, "Don't worry, just some trash collector from downstairs."That night, I was finally allowed back into the house, only for my dad to slap me to the ground."You knew today was important for Rhea, but you just had to come back and ruin it. Would it have killed you to stay one more day? If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be a joke!"My mom looked at me with disgust, then hurried to put Rhea's trophy away, like she was afraid I might taint it just by being near."She clearly came back today on purpose. Rhea's life has already been hard enough, and she still has to deal with her bullying. Why didn't they lock her up a few more years?"Since Rhea was adopted by my parents, I had lost count of how many times I had heard that kind of thing. I was used to it by now.I looked at my parents coldly. "Are you trying to deceive yourselves? Don't forget. It was Rhea who killed them!"As soon as the words left my mouth, I heard a heavy object hit the floor behind me.My parents rushed to Rhea's side, immediately comforting her. "Don't listen to her nonsense, Rhea. That incident was just an accident. It has nothing to do with you."And if Jessica had warned you how dangerous mountaineering was, would you have taken those three kids? I think Jessica just wanted to see you get hurt. She's done it before, hasn't she?"Why don't you hurry up and apologize to Rhea?"Henry shot me an annoyed look and said coldly, "Jessica, what you just said was completely out of line."When Henry started walking toward me, Rhea quickly grabbed his hand, giving him a hurt look."Mom, Dad, Henry, don't blame her. She's probably just upset after getting out of there and seeing me win. But I really earned this award on my own, not because of the things you left behind."If it'll make you feel better, I'll throw this trophy away! I can leave this house, so you don't have to be bothered by me."With that, Rhea snatched the trophy from Mom's hands and slammed it onto the floor before rushing out of the house."Rhea!"Henry shoved me aside in a panic and rushed out after Rhea. I fell onto the shattered pieces of the trophy, the broken glass cutting into my skin, making me gasp in pain.The floor quickly turned red with blood, but my parents acted like they didn't even see it. Instead of showing any concern, they tossed me some glue."When you're done gluing that trophy back together, you can get up. Otherwise, just pretend we never had a daughter like you."Hearing those words didn't stir anything in my heart, because ever since Rhea entered this house, their whole world had tilted toward her.Chapter 3After Rhea's biological parents were arrested for their crimes, she was sent to an orphanage. With her good grades and sweet talk, my parents, who had always funded the orphanage, decided to bring her into our home the moment they saw her.At first, I felt sorry for her, who had a tough past.But the night after she came home, she purposely cut my hand with a knife and then poured glue on the wound.When my parents arrived, she immediately cried and threw herself into their arms."I'm sorry, Mom, Dad. I just wanted to help fix my sister's hand. It's all my fault. She was right to be angry and hit me. Please don't blame her."The wound on my hand stung painfully as I raised it to explain what had happened to my parents, but they didn't believe me. They were convinced I'd tried to hurt Rhea and accidentally injured myself.From that day on, whenever something happened between Rhea and me, they always blamed me.Even when they almost got into a car accident because of brake failure while taking Rhea out, they still thought I had sabotaged the car.I struggled to get up from the floor, planning to tend to my wound, but as I passed by my parents' room, I overheard their conversation."The trophy's broken beyond repair. Letting her glue it back together won't help. It's too easy for her!""Gluing the trophy is just an excuse. I'm worried she'll interfere with Rhea and Henry. Do you really want to see Henry marry Jessica?""Of course not. I wish she'd stay locked up forever. It'd only make Rhea sad if she came out anyway."The last bit of hope inside me seemed to shatter instantly. I returned to the room Rhea had taken over and started gathering my old things.As I finished organizing, I saw a familiar video on my phone, one from years ago, a recording of a mountain climbing trip. But now, Rhea had posted it on her account.In the video, I was bundled up so much that no one could recognize me.Once the video was posted, the comments section was filled with praise for Rhea."Turns out Rhea climbed such a dangerous mountain so early. She's truly my favorite influencer!""It's a shame someone as amazing as Rhea has a sister like that. Out of jealousy for Rhea's success, she secretly took three minors to climb and ended up getting them killed!""How can someone so selfish live with themselves after causing three deaths?"Soon, my personal information was dug up, and the online insults were relentless.But amidst the hate, there were a few rational voices.