When I Die

"I was Claire Vitale, the lost daughter they forgot, the bride my lover betrayed—and the dying girl they failed to notice.For five long years, I lived like a stranger in my own home. The Vitale mansion was a beautiful prison, where every kind word hid a lie, every promise was false, and even Lawrence, the man I was supposed to marry, cared more for Vanessa than for me. None of them saw how my body weakened each day, how the pain grew sharper. They were too busy watching their precious Vanessa.Vanessa—the perfect adopted daughter, was the girl my parents loved more than me. She came into our family when I was lost, and when I returned, I found my place already taken—by her. Just as the illness was quietly taking my future.Now she was gone, and they all pointed fingers at me, convinced I was behind her disappearance.The machine they strapped to my head would pull memories straight from my mind. "Where is she?" my father roared. My mother sobbed in the corner. Lawrence, my fiancé, stood silent—his accusing eyes louder than any shout. But I knew the truth would shock them—how Vanessa hurt me, how she faked accidents, how she made sure no one ever believed me.The machine would show them everything.As the machine began its work, I trembled—from fear and exhaustion. After all these years of being unheard, would they finally see?"