My sister, whom I raised, has turned evil after faking her death for three years.

The moment the door closed in front of Su Qing, she heard Xiao Ran's smiling words, "Sister, wait for me at home," and she also heard her own furious shout, "You stop right there!"

Then came Xiao Ran's light footsteps in the corridor, growing farther and farther away until they completely disappeared in the direction of the elevator.

Su Qing leaned against the door, the smile that Xiao Ran had made on her lips still lingering, but she slowly realized that she didn't seem to be able to smile as much as before.

The system spoke softly in her mind, still with that steady, almost monotonous, synthesized electronic voice, but with an added layer of subtle inquiry in its wording: [Host, your current emotional state is significantly different from before.]

[Dopamine levels are low, heart rate variability is high, and prefrontal cortex activity is increased—you're thinking about something that's bothering you.]

Su Qing did not answer immediately.

She stood there for a moment, pressing her forehead against the cold door, then asked herself very softly, "When did Xiaoran find out about you?"

The system was silent for a moment, and Su Qing could feel that the code was performing a brief calculation deep within her consciousness—probably weighing whether the question should be answered and to what extent.

Then its voice rang out again, a little softer than before: [The seventh day after Jiang Ran fell into a coma following the host's death.]

[After waking up, she threatened suicide, forcing the system to reveal itself.]

[According to the core protocol of the Fate Completion System, the system cannot allow an individual whose fate line has been repaired to have their life terminated due to unnatural causes.]

[Therefore, she learned of the system's existence.]

Su Qing's breath hitched for a second.

suicide.

This word was like an extremely fine needle, piercing the softest part of her heart without warning.

The system continued, its tone remaining calm and devoid of emotion, but every word felt like adding fuel to the fire: [At that moment, she showed no fear of death, even exhibiting an almost liberating emotional fluctuation.]

  

[Based on comprehensive analysis, her mindset at the time was—if she gambled correctly, she could get the truth about you.]

[If she bets wrong, she can come see you.]

Su Qing gripped the doorknob tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force.

She knew Xiao Ran would be sad, knew Xiao Ran would cry, and knew that the little mushroom who had always clung to her since childhood would be heartbroken after losing her.

But she never imagined that... Xiao Ran would take that step without hesitation on the border between life and death in this way.

What if the system didn't appear? What if that bet didn't exist? Was her Xiao Ran already... three years ago?

[Host,] the system's voice pulled her out of the suffocating abyss she was almost drowning in. Its tone remained calm, yet carried a subtle caution. [Have you discovered something?]

Su Qing walked back to the living room, sat down on the sofa, and unconsciously twisted the hem of her nightgown with her fingers.

Her voice was very soft, so soft it was as if she were talking to herself: "Xiao Ran used to be clingy to me too. She liked to hold my hand and kiss me on the cheek. I always thought it was because she lacked a sense of security since she was little, and now that she finally had an older sister, she was especially dependent on her. After she came back this time, I thought it was just because she hadn't seen me for so long and missed me so much that she was more clingy than before..."

"But if it's just sisterly affection... isn't what Xiao Ran did to me a bit too much?"

She didn't continue speaking, but the scene in the private room kept replaying in her mind: Xiao Ran hugging her from behind, encircling her completely, resting her chin on the crook of her neck, her fingers slipping under her clothes, pinching the soft flesh of her waist, looking down at her with a dangerous smile she had never seen on Xiao Ran's face before.

There was also the faint tooth mark on her shoulder, and the possessiveness, obsession, and intense, almost consuming energy surging in those eyes.

That's not the way a younger sister looks at her older sister.

[The host means that Jiang Ran's behavior has exceeded the normal way sisters should interact.] The system's tone remained calm, but its wording carried a layer of caution she had never heard before.

"Hmm." Su Qing lowered her head, looking at her clenched fingers that had turned white.

[Has the host considered that some of her own behaviors have already exceeded the proper way sisters should interact?] The system continued speaking before she could answer, its tone still that emotionless, synthesized electronic voice, but every word was as precise as a scalpel.

[Based on interaction data from the past seven years, the host's unconditional indulgence index towards Jiang Ran is as high as 97.4%.]

[The probability of the host refusing Jiang Ran's request is as low as two decimal places.]

[When making any decision, the host considers "whether Jiang Ran is happy" as the primary factor 89% of the time.]

[The host has repeatedly used "she's still a child" as a reason to justify her behavior, but according to statistics, the host's level of indulgence towards other peers such as Cheng Xiaoyu and Jiang Yi is far lower than this.]

Based on the above data analysis,] the system's voice was calm and measured, like reading a verdict: [Jiang Ran's current actions are highly correlated with the host's parenting style and emotional investment in her.]

From a behavioral psychology perspective, the host's role during her development was never just that of an "older sister."

[You are her primary caregiver, her only emotional support, her safe haven, and her primary frame of reference for understanding the world—and the intensity and intimacy of the emotions you give her far exceed that of ordinary sisters.]

In short—Jiang Ran's current actions are largely related to the host.

The living room remained quiet for a long time.

Su Qing looked at her hands, which were folded over her knees, her fingertips turning slightly white from clenching them tightly.

The living room curtains swayed gently in the breeze, and a ray of sunlight squeezed in through the gap, falling on the coffee table and casting a small, bright patch of light.

The light stung her eyes, and something seemed to well up in her eyes.

She never expected this to happen.

She never expected this to happen.

At that time, she just felt that Xiao Ran's background was too pitiful.

Such a small child, abandoned in a dilapidated apartment building, abused by his adoptive parents, without a father or mother, without anyone to care for him or love him, could only cower in a corner when bullied, not even daring to cry out loud.

When she first met Xiao Ran, the child looked at her with an almost desperate gaze, like a little animal abandoned by the whole world.

In that look, her heart was clenched painfully.

She knew she could only be with her for seven years.

The time limit for the Fate Completion System's mission was clearly stated: she had to leave after seven years, so she wanted to give all the tenderness she had accumulated over those seven years to that child.

She wanted her to know what it felt like to be cherished, loved, and treated like a precious treasure.

She wanted every day after the child met her to be sweet.

But she didn't know that the sweetness would eventually ferment into something like this.

She had no idea what kind of seeds those unconditional hugs and indulgences would plant in Xiao Ran's heart.

She didn't know that those promises of "my sister won't go anywhere" sounded to Xiao Ran not like they were describing a time limit, but like they were promising forever.

She just wanted that poor child to have a better life.

How did it turn out like this...?

The system paused for a moment, then asked in a very soft tone, as if it already knew the answer: [Is the host currently annoyed by Jiang Ran's approach? Or—has developed a dislike for Jiang Ran herself?]

"How could that be!" Su Qing suddenly raised her head, startled even by her own urgent rebuttal.

Her fingers gripped the hem of her nightgown tightly, her voice even softer than before, as if she were talking to her own heart, "How could I possibly hate Xiao Ran? I have never hated her, not even once."

How could she possibly dislike Xiao Ran...?

"But..." Su Qing clenched her fingers tightly until her knuckles turned white, a bitter smile appearing on her lips, "I am a girl now."

"Xiao Ran is also a girl."

"And someone like me..." She shook her head, her voice filled with a deep self-mockery, "I can't even do elementary school math problems properly, I've been memorizing multiplication tables for three years and I still miss half a sentence, while Xiao Ran could help me with the accounts when she was nine years old... I'm careless, forgetful, I can pour salt into the pot instead of sugar when cooking, and I can't tell which way is which after a few steps outside... But Xiao Ran is different, she's very capable, she manages such a big company now, and she can handle things that I can't even understand."

"She's so wonderful."

"She deserves better...she deserves someone a thousand times, ten thousand times better than me, not someone like me who struggles even with elementary school math problems."