9
Chloe quickly gasped for breath, her consciousness returning.
She tried to struggle, but the restraints held her tightly, preventing any movement.
“Let me go! You bastard!”
She roared at me fiercely.
No sooner had the words left her mouth than her head snapped to the side, as if someone had slapped her across the face.
“What exactly did you do? Why is the doll’s pain now on me!”
Hearing her question, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Chloe, I always thought you were pretty sharp, but it turns out you’re just as utterly stupid as Blake.”
I grabbed the doll and swung it around violently several times.
Chloe immediately felt the world spin, as if she’d been dragged onto a crazy rollercoaster.
“Stop… stop swinging it…”
Her face was pale, her stomach churning. She wanted to throw up but could only dry-heave, bringing up only bitter bile.
“I said stop swinging it!”
Seeing her beg so miserably, a wave of both coldness and satisfaction washed over me.
Before, when I knelt and begged her to stop tormenting me, what had she said?
“People like you are just a waste of oxygen. Being able to do something for my brother is like your ancestors burned high incense.”
“If you weren’t all alone, with no one to back you up, why would my brother even look at you?”
My parents died suddenly in an accident years ago.
After that, I ate alone, slept alone, and carried everything alone.
When I met Blake, I thought I finally had someone to lean on.
I never shied away from his requests, doing everything in my power, just hoping he’d have an easier life.
But how did he treat me?
He colluded with Chloe behind my back, making a fool out of me.
Thinking of all this, I tightened my grip on the doll.
I didn’t release it until she was on the verge of passing out from the pain.
“Chloe, you want to know how I transferred the pain to you?”
“Actually, I didn’t transfer anything. What you’re feeling is just the backlash.”
“As for why…”
I reached up and pulled off my wig, even ripping off some of my scalp.
Amid Chloe’s screams, a head as smooth as a peeled hard-boiled egg was revealed.
There was one time when I almost took my own life. I suddenly remembered Chloe, pretending to be sick, had ripped out a clump of my hair.
That spot never grew new hair again, becoming a permanent scar.
r
And it was from that day on that I inexplicably became connected to the doll.
I stayed up all night, confirming with a knowledgeable friend. After getting my answer, I went to the salon and shaved all my hair off.
With a bald head, I actually felt light enough to fly.
It turned out, my hair was the bridge between me and the doll.
If I didn’t do something, I would eventually be driven insane by the empathic link.
And Chloe could use the doll to transfer all her sickness and pain onto me.
My face, my luck, everything about me would eventually be taken by her.
Only if I died, could she live.
I used the pain of my past life as the price, finally severing this curse.
As for Chloe…
After hearing all this, she completely broke down. Her eyes unfocused, she rambled incoherently, looking utterly insane.
“It’s over… It’s all over…”
I watched her tremble, curled in the corner, and couldn’t help but wonder how far this
backlash would go.
Don’t disappoint me.
With a final glance at her, I grabbed the doll and walked out of the hospital room.
It was already morning.
I didn’t go to work. Instead, I called a car and headed to a certain place.
If I wasn’t mistaken, Blake was hiding there.
