Lifa, fast asleep, wasn't disturbed in the slightest by the squeaky hinges as the door slowly opened. She wasn't thinking about the mess she'd left behind before falling asleep, either: the IV line she'd yanked out and the sheets she'd rumpled into a disheveled mess.
Footsteps approached the stretcher. A handsome young man with facial features strikingly similar to Lifa's stood tall above her. Who else could it be but Carlos, the second son of the Fernandez family? His cold gaze pierced straight into the body of his younger sister lying there. Beside him stood a petite girl with shoulder-length hair and a cute headband adorning her head. Both of them were still wearing their school uniforms. Yet behind the faint smile curling on the girl's lips lurked thick deception. She was Putri Permata, Lifa's stepsister.
"Bro, didn't Mom say Ana was in a coma? Was Ana lying to us this whole time? Just look at the messy bed and the IV needle lying loose like that," Putri said innocently, though her tone was loaded with provocation. A faint smirk spread across the corner of her lips as she looked at Lifa, unnoticed by Carlos.
Carlos's chest rumbled at once. His jaw tightened, and both hands clenched so hard that his knuckles turned white. The small amount of worry he'd carried with him on the way to this room evaporated, replaced by a scorching sense of betrayal that set his emotions ablaze.
Seeing Carlos's face redden as he held back his fury, Putri smiled smugly to herself. *You're finished, Ana. I'll make sure you suffer even more this time,* she thought viciously.
Unable to hold back his emotions any longer, Carlos strode toward the stretcher.
*CRASH!*
Without the slightest bit of mercy, Carlos grabbed Lifa and shoved her off the stretcher, sending her sprawling hard onto the cold floor.
"Argh... my back!" Lifa cried, jolting awake from the harsh impact. She grimaced in pain as she rubbed her lower back. But when she looked up and saw the person who had just shoved her, her shock swallowed her anger.
"Wow, Ana! You've got some nerve, tricking all of us by pretending to be in a coma like this! Are you trying to get Mom and Dad's attention, making it look like Chelsea and I are incapable of taking care of you, huh?! All that worrying we did for you was a complete waste!" Carlos berated her, breathing hard, his eyes blazing.
Lifa was stunned for a moment. She sat there gaping at the stupidity of the man in front of her, who had barged in and started shoving her without knowing the situation. Her gaze then shifted behind Carlos, catching sight of the girl smiling happily at her suffering.
*Well, here comes the female lead. She showed up all by herself—I didn't even have to look for her. This is it? I'm still prettier than her in every way. How can every character in the novel fall for this kind of hypocrite?* Lifa sneered inwardly.
Seeing Lifa space out instead of responding to his anger, Carlos's temper flared even hotter. "Ana! Are you deaf?! I'm talking to you! Why are you staring at my precious little sister instead of listening to me?!" he roared viciously, stepping in front of Lifa and blocking her view of Putri.
Snapped out of her reverie, Lifa's expression twisted into disgust. She was sick of watching this cheap drama. *Ugh, I usually only read scenes like this in novels. Now I have to experience one firsthand? I feel like I'm going to throw up,* she thought bitterly.
"Hey, who are you to come in here and shove someone who's sleeping? And another thing, I'm not deaf! You don't need to yell. What, do you think this is your house? It's a hospital!" Lifa shot back, her eyes fixed fearlessly on him.
Carlos was taken aback. That response was the complete opposite of Ana, who usually trembled, cried, and begged for forgiveness whenever he scolded her.
"Wow, you're getting pretty bold now. You don't even feel like calling me 'Bro' anymore?"
"Who are you that I have to call you Bro? I don't have a Bro as ugly and stupid as you!"
"You—"
"Enough, Bro... don't be mad at Ana. She just woke up from a coma. Please, have some pity..." Putri suddenly interrupted. The girl clung tightly to Carlos's arm, putting on an intensely fake look of concern even as her heart cheered with delight.
"Enough, Putri! You don't need to defend Ana anymore! You can see for yourself—she even dared to fake a coma just to get sympathy!" Carlos snapped harshly.
Lifa almost snorted at his completely incurable level of self-confidence.
"Listen, I don't care who you are. And you," Lifa said, pointing straight at Putri's face, "I don't need to be defended by a hypocritical girl like you."
Putri acted as if she were terrified out of her mind, widening her eyes before hiding deeper behind Carlos's body.
"You're really asking for trouble, Ana! I'll remind you exactly how to make you obey me again!" Carlos shouted as he raised his hand, preparing to strike.
"STOP, CARLOS!"
A shout echoed through the room, cutting through the air. Papa Arga strode inside, breathing hard, with Mama following behind him. The atmosphere in the room instantly froze. Carlos held his hand suspended in the air, standing rigidly as he realized his father's presence.
Still on the floor, Lifa glanced at Putri from the corner of her eye and carved out a contemptuous smile. *Look, the hero has arrived.*
At that glance, Putri's expression hardened instantly. Her hands clenched tightly behind Carlos's back. *Damn it! Why did he have to show up at the worst possible time?!* she thought furiously.
Papa Arga, incensed with rage, strode toward his second son, and—
*SMACK!*
A hard slap landed squarely on Carlos's cheek.
"Carlos! What do you think you're doing?! You were going to hit your own sister?! She's your biological sister, and she just woke up from a coma! How dare you get physical with her?!" Papa Arga shouted, his voice trembling with restrained fury.
Carlos held his burning cheek, outrage churning inside him. "But, Dad, she—"
"Don't argue!" Carlos looked at Ana, who simply watched in silence and no longer defended herself as she usually did whenever Papa slapped him. *What's going on? Why is she so different? She's like... she's not Ana,* Carlos thought in confusion.
Unwilling to miss a chance to bring Lifa down, Putri forced herself to speak, her voice trembling with deception. "Mom, Dad... don't blame Bro. When we came in, Ana's IV needle was already out and the bed was a mess. We thought... Ana was only pretending to be in a coma to trick all of us."
"That's right, Dad! Carlos saw it himself! She was only pretending so she could get attention!" Carlos quickly chimed in, taking Putri's bait.
*SMACK!*
Another hard slap flew from his father's hand and struck Carlos's cheek. "D-Dad..." Carlos whispered in disbelief.
"Don't think I'm stupid! The doctors have been monitoring her condition for the past three months! Why would your sister pretend when she had to undergo major surgery on her head, huh?! Answer me!"
"She could've bribed the doctor, Dad!" Carlos argued, unwilling to back down.
"Carlos! This is a hospital owned by the Xavier family! Do you think a top-tier establishment like theirs would accept a bribe from a child?! And don't think I don't know how cruelly you've treated Ana all this time. I'll give you a severe punishment once your sister recovers!" Papa Arga declared mercilessly.
"But, Dad—"
"Enough!" Mama finally cut in, stepping forward. "You and Putri are going home right now. It's already late afternoon. Change out of your uniforms and reflect on what you've done at home!"
Putri bit down hard on her lower lip. Her chest felt tight as she held back her frustration over her plan falling apart. Reluctantly, she followed behind Carlos, who walked out with his face burning red.
On the floor, Lifa laughed triumphantly to herself as she watched them leave. Before the door closed completely, Lifa managed to throw Putri one last mocking look, making her even more furious. She had won today's drama outright without lifting a finger.