My Three Elite Brothers Shattered After My Death

Chapter 4

The cellar door creaked open, and a sliver of sunlight sliced through the darkness.

I drifted closer, my ghostly form trembling—there, lying motionless, was my own decaying body.

The cellar’s cool, sealed environment had slowed decomposition, but three days of death had still left me unrecognizable. My corpse was bloated, skin mottled with dark purple and black, the stench of rot thick in the air. Maggots writhed in the hollows of my eyes, my lips, my once-delicate fingers.

A wave of shame crashed over me. I didn’t want them to see me like this—not Alexander, not Nathaniel, not Benjamin. I reached out instinctively, as if I could shield them from the grotesque sight.

At least let me keep some dignity in death.

But my efforts were useless.

Alexander recoiled first, his face draining of color. His voice, usually so commanding, cracked with horror.

"What… what is that?"

The smell hit him next, and he staggered back, pressing a hand to his mouth. "Get it away from me! It’s vile!"

One of the servants, trembling, whispered, "Young master… that’s Miss Evelyn. That’s her body."

Alexander’s expression twisted into cold disbelief.

"Impossible. A body doesn’t rot like that in three days. This is some sick trick—probably just a pile of dead animals." His glare swept over the servants. "She must have slipped out while we weren’t looking. That’s why she never answered us!"

The servants fell silent under his fury.

Nathaniel and Benjamin quickly pulled Sophia back, shielding her.

"Don’t look, Sophia," Nathaniel murmured, his voice tight. "It’s disgusting."

Benjamin shuddered. "Who would leave something like that here?"

My heart—or what remained of it—shattered.

They didn’t even look.

If they had just glanced for a second longer, they would have seen the locket around my neck, the one Mother gave me. They would have recognized the curve of my wrist, the way my hair still clung to my scalp in familiar waves.

But they didn’t.

Alexander waved a dismissive hand. "Burn it. I won’t have this filth spreading disease in my home."

The servants nodded, pale-faced, as Alexander turned on his heel and strode away, Sophia clinging to his arm.

Nathaniel and Benjamin followed, their last glances at the cellar filled with nothing but revulsion.

I trailed after them, my spirit aching. Even in death, their rejection cut deeper than any blade.

They hadn’t just abandoned me in life.

They were erasing me in death.

Brothers… do you hate me that much?

I wasn’t even worth a proper burial.