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They Pretended to Be Poor Until I Died
Novelix
Completed
"I died of brain cancer the day before my billionaire family planned to save me. For three years, I believed my biological parents were poor. Dad worked construction, Mom cleaned houses, and my brother and fiancé delivered food just to pay for my medicine. Then I learned the truth. They were billionaires. They could have given me the best treatment from the beginning. Instead, they pretended to be poor and let my illness get worse just to test whether I wanted them for their money."
Chapters (3)
第1章
The year I am diagnosed with brain cancer, I finally find my biological parents.
They aren't billionaires. They aren't even rich.
They're just ordinary working people.
Dad works construction from dawn to dark. Mom cleans houses and takes housekeeping jobs wherever she can find them.
My older brother, Ryan, delivers food in the freezing winter and brutal summer heat.
So does my fiancé, Adrian.
All of them work themselves to the bone just to buy my medicine and pay for another round of treatment.
For three years, I watch them struggle because of me.
And now, my cancer is advanced.
My hair is gone.
My body is so thin that my bones show beneath my skin.
Today, I finally decide to stop fighting.
I sit at my desk with a pen in my hand and begin writing my goodbye letter.
Then I hear my mother's voice outside my bedroom.
“Our family owns Bennett Medical. We have the best doctors and cancer specialists in the country. We could have treated Nora from the beginning.”
Her voice shakes.
“Are we really going to keep watching her suffer like this?”
My hand freezes over the paper.
Ryan answers almost immediately.
“We agreed on three years.”
Three years?
My fingers tighten around the pen.
“We need to know why she came back,” he continues. “How else are we supposed to know if she wanted us because we're her family or because she found out we're rich?”
I stop breathing.
Rich?
Mom says something I can't hear.
Then Adrian's voice comes through the door.
Calm. Cold.
“There are only two days left.”
I stare at the wall.
Adrian continues.
“When the test is over, we'll tell her everything and get her the best treatment possible.”
A short silence.
Then he adds, “Maybe suffering a little isn't a bad thing. At least this way, we'll know she won't resent Olivia after she officially joins the family.”
My grip tightens until the pen almost snaps.
Two days.
They think I have two days.
I look down at the unfinished letter in front of me.
They don't know.
I don't have two days left.
I can barely make it through one.
For a long time, I just sit there.
The voices outside keep going, but I can no longer make out the words.
My eyes slowly move toward the mirror on my desk.
The girl staring back at me has no hair.
Her face is pale.
Her cheeks are hollow.
Her body has been eaten away by years of treatment and pain.
For a moment, I barely recognize her.
Three years ago, when the DNA results came back, Mom and Dad held me and cried.
They told me I was their daughter.
Their baby.
They said they had spent years wondering where I was and what kind of life I had lived without them.
Dad held my shoulders and promised, “I don't care what it costs. We'll get you through this.”
Mom cried harder.
“Even if we have to sell everything we own, we'll save you.”
I believed them.
For the first time in my life, I thought I finally had a family.
And for the next three years, they made sure I believed it.
Dad picked me up for hospital appointments on an old e-bike.
On my birthday, he once brought home a damaged cake he said he'd found on clearance.
He looked so proud when he handed it to me.
I was proud too.
Mom cooked noodles when I couldn't keep anything else down.
She bought me cheap dresses whenever she had a little money left over.
When the pain became so bad that I couldn't sleep, she sat beside my bed and sang the same lullaby her mother had once sung to her.
Ryan knew I hated being trapped inside.
So every time he took me to treatment, he pushed my wheelchair through the park afterward.
When I got depressed, he stayed with me.
We watched movies.
Played games.
Talked about everything except cancer.
And Adrian...
I still remember the night I break down completely.
The pain is unbearable.
The future feels empty.
I stand on a bridge, convinced I can't do this anymore.
Adrian runs after me.
He grabs my shoulders so hard his hands shake.
His eyes are red.
“Nora, I know you're hurting.”
His voice cracks.
“But there are people who love you.”
He pulls me against his chest.
“So if you can't keep going for yourself, do it for us.”
And I do.
I keep going.
For them.
For three years.
I take the cheapest medication available.
I accept the most basic treatment because I think that's all my family can afford.
I swallow every pill while calculating how many food deliveries Ryan must have made to pay for it.
I endure every hospital visit while wondering how many houses Mom had to clean.
Until last month.
My doctor finally tells me the tumor has progressed too far.
It's pressing against the nerves in my brain.
Soon, I'll spend less and less time awake.
My hearing will fade.
So will my vision.
Maybe that's why they stopped being careful.
Maybe they thought I couldn't hear them anymore.
Maybe they thought I was already half unconscious.
A bitter smile pulls at my lips.
I turn the medical report over.
On the blank back page, I begin to write.
Mom. Dad.
I'm sorry.
I'm leaving.
Thank you for giving me a family before I die.
Even if the family you gave me was never real.
At least, for a little while, I believed it was.
Soon, I won't have to hurt anymore.
I won't have to be tired anymore.
My pen stops.
Someone knocks on the door.
A second later, Mom walks in carrying a glass of water and a handful of pills.
Dad follows her.
In his hand is a cheap glass jar filled with brightly colored candy.
Mom smiles at me.
“Nora, sweetheart. Time for your medicine.”
Dad lifts the jar and gives it a little shake.
“We know you hate the taste.”
He smiles too.
“So we brought you something sweet.”
第2章
I've been taking this medicine for three years.
It doesn't treat the tumor.
It only dulls the pain for a while, and the side effects are severe.
Years ago, doctors already classified it as a high-risk medication that should only be used with extreme caution.
But it's cheap.
And cheap fits the life my family wants me to believe we have.
So they keep giving it to me.
Again and again.
The candy isn't any better.
It's the cheapest kind from the grocery store downstairs, made with artificial sweeteners and food coloring.
A huge bag costs only a few dollars.
Even details this small are part of the act.
For three years, they have thought of everything.
I open my mouth.
My throat feels dry.
“Do I have to take them?”
Mom immediately sets the tray down and walks over.
She touches my forehead.
“What is it, Nora? Are you feeling worse?”
Dad lets out a long sigh.
His shoulders sink.
“It’s my fault,” he says.
“If I made more money, we could afford better medicine.”
He looks at the pills in Mom's hand.
“But this is all I can give you.”
Behind him, Ryan suddenly kicks the doorframe.
“Nora, seriously?”
I look at him.
His face is full of anger.
“Do you have any idea what this family has gone through because of you?”
He points toward Mom and Dad.
“Dad works construction all day. Mom cleans houses until she can barely stand.”
Then he points at himself.
“Adrian and I take delivery after delivery just to pay for your medicine.”
His voice rises.
“Everyone in this family is working around you.”
“And you're complaining about the pills?”
I say nothing.
Ryan looks even more offended.
“You should be grateful we can afford anything at all.”
The performance gets better every second.
Olivia steps forward too.
Her eyes are already red.
“Nora, please just take them.”
She presses her lips together.
“That medicine costs almost two hundred dollars.”
She looks down at her dress and pulls lightly at the fabric.
“I work all day at the café and still can't make that much.”
Her voice trembles.
“I've been wearing this same dress forever.”
She gives me a sad little smile.
“Because every extra dollar goes toward your treatment.”
I stare at her.
The white dress is plain.
Cheap-looking.
Carefully chosen.
Of course it is.
Adrian stands near the door.
He doesn't come closer.
He only looks at me and says quietly,
“Take the medicine.”
That's all.
For a few seconds, no one moves.
Then I hold out my hand.
Mom places the pills in my palm.
I swallow them.
The familiar bitterness slides down my throat.
A few seconds later, pain twists through my stomach.
Mom finally relaxes.
She smiles and strokes my head.
“Good girl.”
Her voice is warm again.
“That's our Nora.”
Dad nods quickly.
“You were never a burden to us.”
His eyes turn red.
“You're our daughter.”
“We'd sell everything we own if that's what it takes to save you.”
I almost laugh.
Instead, I close my eyes.
A few minutes later, they leave.
The door clicks shut.
Their footsteps fade down the hall.
The room finally goes quiet.
They think I've fallen asleep.
Then voices start drifting in from the living room.
Olivia laughs first.
“God, Ryan. That was actually good.”
I open my eyes.
She keeps talking.
“All that guilt about everyone working themselves to death?”
She laughs again.
“She had no choice but to take the pills.”
Ryan sounds pleased with himself.
“You weren't bad either.”
“What was that?”
He copies her voice.
“‘I work at a café all day and still can't afford your medicine.’”
Olivia laughs.
“And the dress.”
Ryan snorts.
“You were acting like you haven't bought new clothes in three years.”
“Meanwhile, you spent twenty grand on Chanel yesterday.”
Their laughter reaches my room.
I stare at the ceiling.
Mom doesn't laugh.
After a moment, she speaks.
“Are we taking this too far?”
The room outside gets quieter.
“I don't know how much longer I can do this.”
Her voice shakes slightly.
“She looks worse every day.”
“What if she doesn't make it?”
Ryan sounds irritated.
“The doctors said she has months left.”
My fingers curl into the blanket.
Months.
He continues.
“We've already come this far.”
“If we stop now, then what was the point of everything she's been through?”
A pause.
“It's only two more days.”
“Bennett Medical has treated thousands of brain tumor patients.”
His voice is completely calm.
“You really think we can't save one Nora Bennett?”
Dad sighs.
“Exactly.”
“This is when we learn the truth.”
“When someone has nothing left, that's when you find out what they really care about.”
He pauses.
“Nora is sick. She's scared. She's completely dependent on us.”
“If she still chooses this family now, then we'll know she never came back for the money.”
Mom speaks again.
“But—”
Olivia cuts her off.
“Mom.”
Her voice turns soft.
Almost hurt.
“Are you starting to feel sorry for Nora?”
A short silence.
“Or are you blaming me for suggesting the test?”
“I didn't say that.”
“But you were thinking it.”
Olivia's voice trembles.
“Don't you think the timing was strange?”
“She spent her whole life without us.”
“Then suddenly, right after she got sick and couldn't afford treatment, she went looking for her biological parents.”
My chest tightens.
Olivia continues.
“If she hadn't gotten cancer, would she ever have looked for you?”
“If she hadn't run out of options, would she have wanted this family at all?”
Her voice gets quieter.
“I just wanted to know.”
“When Nora came back, was she looking for Mom and Dad?”
“Or was she looking for someone to pay her medical bills?”
There is silence again.
Then Olivia speaks to someone else.
“Adrian?”
I hold my breath.
“You're her fiancé.”
“You're the one who's supposed to spend the rest of your life with her.”
“Do you think we're being cruel too?”
For one stupid second, I wait.
I wait for Adrian to say enough.
I wait for him to say I've suffered enough.
I wait for him to feel even a little guilty.
Then his voice comes through the wall.
Cold.
Steady.
“I'll marry Nora.”
My eyes burn.
“But the woman I marry can't be someone who chose me for money.”
A pause.
“So yes.”
“She has to finish the test.”
第3章
Early the next morning, I leave the apartment and go to a nearby pharmacy.
After three years of cheap medication and treatment, insomnia has become part of my life.
Some nights, I don't sleep at all.
My doctor has prescribed sleeping pills before, so getting another refill doesn't raise any questions.
I come home with a full bottle in my bag.
Mom, Dad, Ryan, Adrian, and Olivia are eating breakfast.
The second Mom sees me walk through the door, she stands.
“Nora? You went out?”
She hurries over.
Her fingers brush near my eyes, then my ears.
The movement is quick, almost nervous.
“When did your vision and hearing get better?”
I pause.
Then I slowly shake my head.
“They didn't.”
I lower my eyes.
“I still can't see much. And I can barely hear.”
“I just went out to buy something.”
Mom visibly relaxes.
So does everyone else.
Olivia smiles and holds out her hand.
“Did you buy me a birthday present?”
She gives me a playful look.
“My birthday's coming up too, you know.”
I look at her.
“Sleeping pills.”
I lift the bottle slightly.
“Want them?”
Her smile disappears.
“Nora.”
She pouts.
“You're so cheap.”
Then she sighs dramatically.
“You really don't like me, do you?”
I say nothing.
A month ago, Mom and Dad told me Olivia had always felt guilty about what happened when we were babies.
We were switched.
She grew up with my parents, in the life that should have been mine.
They told me she had suffered too.
They wanted me to give her a birthday gift as a sign that I accepted her as family.
So I tried.
I haven't been able to work since my condition got worse.
To save money, I asked the nurses at the hospital if I could help collect empty plastic bottles and cardboard packaging for recycling.
It takes me a month to save eighteen dollars.
There's a small hair clip in a store window that Olivia once stopped to look at.
It costs fifteen.
I was going to buy it for her.
But now...
I have something else planned for that money.
Something for myself.
Freedom.
Mom finally notices the bottle in my hand.
Her face tightens again.
“Nora, why did you buy so many sleeping pills?”
I force a weak smile.
“I can't sleep.”
That's nothing unusual.
I've taken them before.
No one questions me again.
A few minutes later, the alarm in the living room goes off.
Their daily signal.
Time to “go to work.”
Everyone moves at once.
Dad grabs his worn jacket.
Mom picks up the cheap tote bag she uses for cleaning jobs.
Ryan and Adrian reach for the delivery bags they keep near the door.
The show begins again.
Olivia grabs her purse too quickly and bumps into a chair.
Something falls out.
A brand-new phone box hits the floor.
Still sealed.
The model was released only days ago.
The entire room goes silent.
Olivia's face changes.
“I...”
She doesn't even finish.
Dad turns and slaps me across the face.
My head jerks to the side.
“Nora!”
His face turns red with anger.
“Did you buy this?”
I slowly look at him.
“Do you have any idea how much a phone like this costs?”
He points at me.
“Your mother and I work ourselves half to death. Ryan and Adrian take delivery after delivery.”
“We can barely afford your treatment.”
His voice gets louder.
“And you're wasting money on a new phone?”
“Can't you think about this family for once?”
My cheek burns.
Since the cancer got worse, my mind is often foggy.
My memory has started failing too.
So whenever something expensive accidentally appears in this apartment, they blame me.
Then they tell me I forgot.
Before, I argued.
I checked receipts.
I searched through bank statements.
I tried to prove the things weren't mine.
Today, I'm too tired.
“Sorry,” I whisper.
Everyone freezes.
Dad stares at me.
Mom looks at Ryan.
For a second, none of them seems to know what to say.
They expected me to fight back.
When I don't, they finally relax.
One by one, they leave for their fake jobs.
Olivia stays behind.
She looks at me for a little too long.
There's something nervous in her eyes.
“Nora.”
Her voice is careful.
“Did you find out something?”
I stare back at her.
“Find out what?”
The tension disappears from her face.
She smiles.
“Nothing.”
Then she picks up her bag and leaves.
A few seconds later, I hear her voice from the hallway.
She's on the phone.
“Is the story ready?”
I go still.
“Good. Push it everywhere.”
Her voice drops.
“Use something like, ‘Bennett Family's Biological Daughter Returns After Cancer Diagnosis. Olivia Bennett Forced Aside.’”
She laughs softly.
“I want everyone to think Nora only came looking for this family because she needed someone to pay her medical bills.”
My fingers tighten around the bottle in my hand.
Olivia keeps talking.
“And the birthday party?”
A pause.
“Destroy the cake Ryan and Adrian ordered for her. Say there was an accident during delivery.”
“The gift from Mom and Dad too. Hold it back. Say someone damaged it.”
Another pause.
“Tomorrow is my birthday.”
Her voice turns cold.
“There will only be one daughter everyone is celebrating.”
“And as long as I'm here, Nora Bennett will never take my place in this family.”
Her footsteps disappear down the hall.
I sit there without moving.
So that's her plan.
The rumors.
The ruined gifts.
The destroyed cake.
Every little accident is meant to keep me from officially becoming a Bennett.
She has worked so hard to make sure I never make it through that door.
But there's one thing Olivia hasn't considered.
What if I don't live long enough to walk through it?
