The Desert Island Survival Was Just A Scheme For My Long-Lost Sister Chapter 05
My skin blistered instantly.
The pain was a white-hot knife. My shriek pierced the jungle.
On the beach, Ethan and Derek looked up.
“Did she have to scream like that?” Derek muttered. “It’s just a rope. Jenna was strung up for hours and never made a sound.”
My parents arrived in a dune buggy, holding flowers.
Ethan jogged over. “Did you see her on the cameras? She was screaming. Something happened.”
My mom waved a dismissive hand. “We were busy getting the boat ready. We didn’t see. And we hired that actor to keep an eye on her, didn’t we? What could go wrong?”
Reassured, Ethan stepped back as my parents rushed to Jenna.
“Your sister passed the test,” my mom said, hugging her tight. “We can all go home as a family now.”
Ethan rubbed Jenna’s head. “We’ll spin it as a rescue. It’ll be seamless.”
Derek beamed at her. “Nat will be thrilled. She always said she saw you as a sister.”
Jenna sniffled. “I feel so guilty. She didn’t even know…”
My mother hushed her. “It’s not your fault. That cruel girl from your foster home tortured you. You had trauma. We had to do this.”
—
My dad nodded. “And everyone’s fine. It’s the best outcome.”
I floated above them, a silent ghost, and laughed.
Because she had “trauma,” I had to pay for it.
I’d spent three years terrified of wild animals, never sleeping. I’d spent every waking moment scrambling for food for four people. I’d starved. I’d gone thirsty. I’d lived in a world of lies.
And they called it “the best outcome.”
“Disgusting,” I screamed into the void. “I’m your daughter too! I’m your sister!” But no one heard.
The Interface said I couldn’t return to reality until they completely shattered. Until then, I could only watch.
The boat had arrived.
Ethan glanced at his watch. “We’ll pretend the wild man poisoned Nat. We’ll use berry juice as an antidote.”
“Derek, you set up some torches for a fight. I’ll get her out.”
Derek nodded. They were about to split up when Jenna groaned.
“Jenna!” Derek rushed to her side. The whole family huddled around.
Ethan grabbed his radio. “Get the doctor off the boat!”
Jenna gasped. “What if… what if the roots Nat gave me yesterday were poisonous?”
The medic, once he arrived, took it seriously. “Many roots and tubers are toxic.”
—
Derek picked up the half-eaten root that Jenna had discarded and handed it to the medic.
The medic gave it a sniff. “We’ll need to run tests on this back at the lab.”
My parents were frantic—they’d originally planned to head back to the villa to avoid blowing their cover.
But now, with Jenna collapsing, they threw caution to the wind and boarded the boat right alongside her.
Derek furrowed his brow, thinking back. Then a suspicion crept into his voice. “You don’t think Nat did it on purpose, do you? She never ate those roots herself—she always gave them to Jenna.”
Ethan cut him off. “Drop it. Nat wouldn’t do something like that. Don’t jump to conclusions.”
I floated there, a bitter smile tugging at my lips. My chest ached with the irony.
Starchy food had always been scarce on that island. Fish we could sometimes catch, but carbs took forever to regenerate.
I’d known from day one that we were in for the long haul, so I’d planned carefully, rationing the staples, saving them for the others.
I’d barely touched any carbs myself, always giving my share to them.
And now, the moment Jenna got sick, I was the first person they pointed fingers at.
Suddenly, the actor playing the “savage” came stumbling out of the jungle, his face drained of all color. His lips trembled as he forced out
—
the words:
“Boss… Natalie… I think she’s gone…”