My sister, whom I raised, has turned evil after faking her death for three years.

Cui Ying held her phone, the light from the screen reflecting on her face, making her usually gentle eyes appear somewhat dim and uncertain.

She recalled the video call a few days ago, in which Cui Jiayi appeared on the screen with a swollen and deformed face. An irregular bump bulged on her left cheek, and purplish-blue bruises spread from her cheekbone to her jawline. Her lips were broken and covered with a layer of dark red scabs.

She was only average-looking to begin with, relying entirely on makeup to make up for it. Now that the foundation and lipstick are gone, the flaws in her face shape are exposed: her cheekbones are too high, her chin is too short, and when she cries, her whole face looks like a crumpled piece of paper.

She cried her heart out on camera, saying that her brother-in-law sided with outsiders and let them beat her in the office in front of so many people.

When Cui Ying looked at that distorted face, she felt not heartache, but anger. What had she done to Jiang Yi?

Those words, those actions—weren't they all copied verbatim from Cui Jiayi?

That day, Cui Ying did not offer her usual gentle words of comfort.

She propped her phone up on the table and, in a cold tone that even she herself found unfamiliar, berated Cui Jiayi from head to toe.

Then Cui Jiayi became hysterical, her shrill voice bouncing back and forth in the room through the phone speaker, asking her if she had forgotten what her father said before he died, and if she remembered that her father told her to take good care of her younger sister.

Cui Ying didn't respond. She was all too familiar with this tactic. Every time she was in the wrong, Cui Jiayi would bring up her father.

Before her death, her father did hold her hand and say, "Jiayi is a child with an unstable temperament. As her older sister, you should take good care of her."

Cui Ying remembered and used these words for over a decade. Every time she used them, the bond of kinship between her and Cui Jiayi wore down a little.

Cui Jiayi cursed until her voice cracked, then suddenly fell silent.

After a long silence, he spoke in a calm, almost unfamiliar tone that Cui Ying rarely heard, saying that he knew he was wrong, that he shouldn't have taught Xiao Yi bad habits, and that he wouldn't do it again.

After speaking, I hung up.

In the days that followed, Cui Jiayi neither appeared nor called again.

Jiang Mingyuan mentioned once at the dinner table that Cui Jiayi was not allowed to enter the Jiang family again. Cui Ying did not speak up for her sister, but just hummed in agreement and continued to serve food to Jiang Yi.

Cui Ying was indeed somewhat surprised when Cui Jiayi suddenly sent her a message tonight.

When she opened the message, she saw that Cui Jiayi's tone was very urgent. She had sent several messages in a row, asking Xiaoyi if she was alright, if she was injured, and where she was now.

Cui Ying's first reaction was confusion. How did she find out about this so quickly? But then she thought that perhaps Cui Jiayi knew other people outside the Jiang family, and someone had passed the news to her.

After all, she used to visit the Jiang family often and was familiar with several of the nannies and drivers.

Thinking this way, Cui Ying's doubts were overshadowed by another, softer emotion: she was worried about Xiao Yi's safety.

That's quite rare.

Every time Cui Jiayi sends a message, it's either asking for money or asking her to help clean up her messes. It's rare for her to genuinely care about the children at home.

Cui Ying leaned back on the sofa armrest and typed a few lines on the screen, telling her that Xiao Yi was fine, just a little scrape on her knee, and that she had arrived home safely, so she didn't need to worry.

Cui Jiayi was silent for a few seconds, and then, unusually, she didn't ask for anything. She just replied with a few words like "That's good," "Let your little sister rest well," and "Stay close to your parents when you go out in the future."

As Cui Ying looked at these lines of text, a soft spot in her heart was gently touched. She thought, perhaps this time he has truly repented.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

On the other end of the phone screen, Cui Jiayi was curled up on the mattress in her apartment. The room was dark, the curtains were drawn tightly, and the only light source was the pale, cold light from the phone screen.

After seeing Cui Ying's message, "Xiao Yi is fine," her heart, which had been hanging in her throat, didn't settle down; instead, it started beating even faster.

  

The four thugs she hired took her money and assured her they would handle things cleanly. Now, not only did they fail to get the job done, but they were also caught red-handed by the police and even revealed their employer's identity.

Although she was bundled up tightly that day and deliberately chose to meet near an alley without surveillance cameras, she knew the Jiang family's methods all too well. If they really wanted to investigate, they could turn the entire North City upside down and find something.

What she feared was not anything else, but prison. Given Jiang Mingyuan's personality, once the investigation reached her, he would definitely not let her off the hook for Cui Ying's sake.

At that point, let alone the monthly allowance deposited into her account, it's uncertain whether she'll even survive.

She bit her finger, the edges of her nails were already jagged and rough, and a trace of blood seeped from her fingertips.

Why is it always like this? Nothing she does goes smoothly; even the people she hires are unreliable!

Cui Ying was just lucky; she married a rich man and will never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of her life. She lives in a big house, has people to wait on her, and everyone revolves around her.

And what about her?

She lived in her older sister's shadow since she was a child. Everyone said that her sister was more sensible, prettier, and luckier than her.

Even the person who kept saying "Dad loves you the most" didn't tell her to live a good life before he died, but instead told her to continue taking care of her, as if she was destined to be a good-for-nothing burden!

When she painstakingly planned that incident back then, she thought that Cui Ying would go crazy if she lost her child, and if she went crazy, she would be rejected by the Jiang family and fall from that high position.

The results of it?

Cui Ying not only didn't go crazy, but also gradually recovered under Jiang Mingyuan's care, and firmly maintained her position as Mrs. Jiang.

Now she's having people ambush Jiang Yi at the amusement park, not for any other reason than to cause trouble for the Jiang family and to take the opportunity to provoke Cui Ying again, so that her ever-gentle, ever-generous and tolerant mask will finally crack.

But then Su Qing, who appeared out of nowhere, ruined everything!

Cui Jiayi gritted her teeth, tasting the rust seeping from under her fingernails on her tongue, mixed with the blood seeping from her gums, creating a nauseatingly sweet and pungent flavor in her mouth.

It's that brat again.

The sensation of slapping her in the office last time still lingered on her face. With old and new grudges piled up, she wished she could rush out right now and scratch that pretty face to pieces.

However... there's plenty of time in the future.

Cui Jiayi pulled her bitten finger out of her mouth, grabbed a tissue and wrapped it around her finger twice, gave a sinister laugh, and reached for her phone, which she had thrown at the foot of the bed. The screen had a thin crack.

She dialed a number, which rang for a long time before being answered.

The person on the other end didn't say their name, but asked in a low voice, "Things are tight lately, how dare you make a phone call?" in a flustered tone.

Cui Jiayi didn't answer him, but said in a very soft voice, "It's nothing, I just wanted to confirm that you would never tell anyone about what happened back then, right?"

The other person seemed to have been choked, remaining silent for a long time before finally squeezing out a "crazy person" through gritted teeth and hanging up the phone.

Cui Jiayi flipped her phone face down on the bed, lay back in the crumpled blankets, stared at the flickering light bulb on the ceiling, and slowly curled the corners of her mouth into a smile.

It's okay, she can wait.

Her greatest skill is waiting.

She needs to keep a low profile lately, because if she gets caught, that idiot in the Jiang family who could be used will be wasted.