Goodbye for Ever, Dad

I knew that my father did not like me since I was young. When I wanted to commit suicide to end the pain caused by my illness, he was celebrating another child’s birthday. He hated my mother and me alongside her. So, when I told him that I was sick, he did not believe me. “Is this your new tactic to get money from me?” No one believed that the daughter of the Powell family could die because she was too poor to pay the hospital fees. My father did not believe it either. However, when he saw my dead body, the famous actor who hated his daughter actually went insane. Chapter 1 I died on my eighteenth birthday. The day was bright and sunny. I strained myself climbing to the top of the abandoned building, where I opened my arms and felt the wind. I smiled in relief. I had been sick for too long. The pain was unbearable, and I did not want to live with it for another day. Hence, I decided to kill myself before the illness completely destroyed me. The sun was blinding, and I started crying uncontrollably. Even though I had decided to die, sadness still surged within me when I was standing here. I did not know if my father would feel even a little bit upset when he heard about my death. I smiled mockingly at myself. My father would not care. After all, he hated me so much. He might even be happy that I died. That thought pained me. I decided to not hesitate anymore and turned around to face the ground that was extremely far away. I opened my arms and fell like a kite with a broken string. It was a freeing feeling. I hoped I would finally be able to rest in peace. I died after experiencing the anticipated pain. However, my soul did not move on. I was actually transported to my father’s side. It had been three days since my death. However, my father did not even know that I was missing. I had chosen an abandoned building to end my life, but I did not know that my father was filming in the exact same location. His crew was the first to discover my body. What a coincidence. Could it be the universe giving my father a chance to see me for the last time? I was hoping that would be the case. When everyone was surrounding my rotten body that was covered in wriggling maggots, my father, Alba Powell, grabbed Holly Abraham’s hand and stared at the crowd with a frown. He looked disgusted. “It’s too dirty. Don’t get too close. It’ll probably bring bad luck.” I felt my heart shatter into pieces. My dead body was lying just thirty feet away from him, but he was holding the hand of his other daughter and claiming that I brought bad luck. “Dad, it’s me. It’s me, your daughter! Go take a look… Even if you really hate me, please just see me for the last time…” I screamed while floating in mid-air. Tears streamed down my face, but no one could hear my voice. Chapter 2 Holly was staring curiously at the dead body surrounded by the crowd. “Poor thing,” she said with sorrow. Everyone around her praised how kind she was after hearing that. I was the only person who knew how vicious and shameless she truly was underneath her obedient facade. If it was not for her, I would not have ended up in a dead-end and had no other choice but to kill myself. However, it was too late now. My father had abandoned me for her. Both of them had indirectly caused my death. After the director called the cops, he said worriedly, “Our filming progress will be affected by this. But it’s truly a sad situation. Even though I can’t see the deceased girl’s face clearly, I can tell that she was young. What a shame.” Alba took a few steps back. His eyes were cold and callous. He said indifferently, “The children nowadays are too fragile. They kill themselves over any little challenge. Serves them right!” Did I deserve that? I laughed as tears rolled down my face. I could not even stand anymore. I curled up into a ball from pain. Was I not dead? My illness could not hurt me anymore, so why was I still experiencing such pain? Maybe it was because words could kill too. Holly said with a smile, “Alba, don’t worry. I’m not like her. But… When I saw this poor girl, it made me think of Paige Powell. She hasn’t texted me back in a few days. I’m a little worried about her.” Holly was still trying her best to make me look bad in my father’s eyes. Alba sneered. He said indifferently, “She’s quite stubborn and doesn’t listen to me. She’s exactly like her mother. Forget about her.” His smile turned even colder when he mentioned my mother. “But… it’s too dangerous for her to always roam around alone as a girl. What if she runs into some trouble? That’d be bad.” Holly looked a little bit hesitant. However, I could tell that even though her words were full of concern for me, her eyes were vicious. She really hoped I would get into trouble and die. Alba sighed and patted her head. “Holly, you’re too kind. That’s why she always bullies you. I don’t care about a daughter like that. I’d be relieved if she got into trouble and died.” His words pained me even more. Alba would not be upset about my death at all. Even if he found out that I was the dead girl lying in front of him, he would be indifferent about it. Chapter 3 I was not a planned child for Alba. He was the heir to Powell Corporation, but he did not want to inherit the business. Instead, he went into the entertainment industry. As an outstanding person, he succeeded anywhere he went. Hence, very soon, he became popular in the entertainment industry and a well-known actor. My mother, Sunny, was also an actress, but hardly known. They met at a banquet dinner. Someone spiked Alba’s drink, and he accidentally slept with Sunny. She got pregnant with me after that night. Alba thought that Sunny was the one who drugged him, so he began to hate my mother. He despised using any tricks in the industry. However, it was not Sunny’s fault. She was adhering to her company’s request to attend a banquet dinner when she lost her virginity. Then, Alba blacklisted her from the industry. She was forced to leave the career that she loved, and she fell into depression. Due to that, she did not realize that she was pregnant with me. When she found out, it was already too late to do anything about it. She could not bear to abort me, but her life became more difficult after giving birth to me. So she looked for Alba and told him about my existence. Due to that, Alba became even more convinced that Sunny was the one who plotted the whole thing and drugged him. That was why even though he had accepted me and raised me, he did not regard me as his daughter. My birth was a mistake. My father did not love my mother, so he did not like me either. But when I was very young, he used to hug me gently. Maybe he felt fatherly love after seeing me, or maybe it was due to some other reason. However, that stopped after Holly was born. Holly was the daughter of his best friend. He brought her back and raised her as his own. He treated her better than me, his biological daughter. Chapter 4 Actually, I could have lived longer, but I needed a lot of money. I suddenly started to have nosebleeds. When I could not stop the bleeding, I went for a check-up at the hospital. The doctor told me that I was too late, and I was already seriously sick. It was then that I realized the reason why I was having poor health for the past two years. I kept having various pains all over my body. Due to unpleasant childhood memories, I did not visit a doctor for the longest time. Hence, it was too late when I finally did it. When I was younger, Alba always liked Holly more than me, so I kept trying to copy what Holly did. I was very happy whenever I got even a small fraction of his attention. Holly noticed my changes. In her eyes, I was a lousy copycat and a laughing stock. However, she pretended to not know that. Instead, she taught me a horrible lesson. When I saw Alba taking care of Holly when she was sick, I pretended to be sick as well. That day, it was the first time Alba treated me so gently ever since Holly joined our family. He carefully carried me to the hospital and took my temperature by putting his palm against my forehead to feel its warmth. However, I was afraid that the thermometer would expose my lie. So when Alba was not looking, I tried to put the thermometer into a warm glass of water. Holly suddenly appeared behind me and grabbed my hand that was holding the thermometer. She said smugly to Alba, “Shame on Paige! She’s pretending to be sick to copy me! “Paige, this is not a good habit. As your elder sister, I can’t let you lie!” I did not know how to put up a front when I was younger, so I froze. Alba could tell that I was lying, so he looked at me with anger. “Dad, it’s not like that…” I sobbed as I tried to explain myself. The next moment, I could not breathe. It was because I saw how cold Alba’s eyes were while looking at me. “What a disappointment you are, Paige. “You’re as cunning as your mother. You’re lying to me at such a young age? “Tell me, how much money do you want from me?” I felt my blood run cold. “No… I just want you to see me and hug me more. I’m not plotting against you!” I cried. I could not prove myself, so I felt really wronged. Alba stared at me in disappointment for a while before he said in a low voice, “Initially, I thought you’re not like her. Now, it’s clear that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” He turned around and walked away with Holly in his arms. I was left alone in the hospital and cried all night. From that day onwards, I was terrified of hospitals. They were places that reminded me of that horrible memory. It was also from that day onwards that Alba started to distance himself from me. I was obedient and good at my studies. I tried my best to get good grades, but he felt that I was just pretending. When I was having a high fever and was unwilling to go to the hospital, he thought that I was feigning being sick to get his sympathy. Regardless of what I did, I was wrong.