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An Asphyxiating Life
An Asphyxiating Life
Author: Always Sleeping

Chapter 1

Author: Always Sleeping
I died in a cellar due to asphyxiation.

By the time I woke up again, I found that my soul had reappeared next to my three older brothers. The three of them had just returned to our huge villa.

The eldest, Ian Haldeman, and the second eldest, Will Haldeman, were holding our stepsister, Lorelei Surridge's hands. In a kind voice, one of my brothers began, "Thank goodness we got you to the hospital just in time. Otherwise, it might take you a longer time to recover."

Harry Haldeman, my third eldest brother, sounded really concerned. "The doctor has said that you're still weak. You need to gain more nutrients by having nutritious meals."

He scooped a big piece of meat onto Lorelei's plate while saying that.

A maid standing at the side could no longer bring herself to stay silent. "Mr. Ian, Ms. Rebecca has been locked inside the cellar for three days now. She hasn't made any noise for an extended period…"

Ian snorted and cut her off, "We're celebrating Lori's discharge from the hospital today. Why are you bringing that girl up?"

The maid wanted to say something more, but she stopped upon receiving Will's and Harry's stony gazes.

"That awful wench must be aware that Lori has a seafood allergy. So, she purposely made that seafood porridge!"

"I thought she was finally going to learn to accept Lori's presence now. It turned out she had come up with this nasty scheme!"

Lorelei adopted a fearful expression and said hesitantly, "Rebecca was punished because of me. Wouldn't she be angry about having been locked inside the cellar for so many days when we let her out later on?"

Ian had a frigid look on his face.

"Don't worry, Lori. It's our fault for spoiling her too much and not educating her properly in the past. She won't bully you anymore after we've punished her this time."

He took his phone out reflexively and started refreshing the chat window with my name on it. However, only messages from three days ago and older were shown in our chat history.

During the past three days, I had not sent Ian a message nor given him a call. His eyes burned with rage.

"That awful wench! It's been so many days, and she hasn't even sent a message to ask about Lori's condition!"

Lorelei held Ian's hand and said in a choked voice, "I don't want Rebecca to misunderstand me instead. I just wanted to have her company. I wasn't trying to steal anything from her."

Ian quickly put down his phone and patted Lorelei's head gently. He replied, "Lori, you're so kind. Unlike Rebecca, who's utterly heartless and ungrateful."

Will's eyes shone with a cold light as he thought of me. "Exactly! She harmed her family just because she wanted more attention for herself. That's absolutely vicious!"

Harry nodded in agreement and scoffed. "She's been confined in the cellar for three days. If she won't admit her mistakes and kneel before Lori to offer an apology, I'm going to kick her out of the house."

Standing to one side, I merely found it ridiculous as I listened to my brothers' remarks. However, no one in the room could see my soul or what I was doing.

My parents passed away due to illnesses when I was still young. Since then, my three older brothers had given most of their attention to me.

At some point, I wanted to have someone of similar age to be my playmate. So, my brothers eventually found Lorelei at an orphanage for that purpose.

I had treated Lorelei with nothing but sincerity ever since she came to our home. However, she lied to my brothers and slandered me time and time again, making my brothers grow distant from me gradually.

It was the same at that time. My brothers locked me inside the tiny, narrow cellar without giving me a chance to explain myself.

I pushed against the door with all my might, yet I could only feel the air inside the cellar growing thin.

I pounded on the cellar's door and begged my brothers desperately to let me out. Yet, my brothers scolded me expressionlessly instead.

"What are you shouting now for? You got what you deserved! If it weren't for what you did, Lori wouldn't have had to suffer from an allergic reaction."

"It's because we've been too nice to you that you keep bullying Lorelei. You should stay in there and repent for your mistakes!"

Will tied the chains around the door himself, whereas Harry placed a heavy object to block the door. They removed the slightest bit of possibility I had at self-preservation.

Looking at Lorelei, who had a fake smile plastered on her face, I smirked as disappointment set in.

My dear brothers, you had killed the sister who loved you the most in this world with your own hands!

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  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 2

    Lorelei tugged Ian's sleeve and said pitifully, "Don't be angry, Ian. It's my fault for being allergic to seafood. I'm sure Rebecca didn't do it on purpose. You shouldn't blame her anymore."Ian's expression hardened. He replied frigidly, "We've been too lenient on that awful wench. That's why she's grown to be so rude and overbearing."Will's eyes blazed with anger. "She's become more and more narrow-minded with age. If it weren't for her, Lori wouldn't have ended up looking like this."Lorelei purposely showed the brothers the part of her body where the symptoms of her allergic reaction had not gone away. There were still some red marks on her skin.With a pained look in his eyes, Harry lightly caressed the part of her skin that had those faint red marks. "Does it still hurt, Lori?"Lorelei lowered her head. Her voice was shaking a lot, as though she would burst into tears at any moment. "It doesn't hurt… It doesn't hurt at all…"Will's anger boiled over. He exploded, "Lori's l

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 3

    I had no control over my movements as my soul followed behind my three brothers. The hollow feeling in my chest intensified.My brothers stormed toward the cellar and arrived at the door fairly quickly."Rebecca Haldeman, do you think you can avoid your punishment if you just keep quiet and hide in there?"However, no sound came from inside the cellar afterward.Will's expression darkened. "Rebecca, what tricks are you trying to pull this time? Come out and kneel before Lori so that you can apologize for what happened."Don't think you can deny having harmed Lori by hiding in there, turning off your phone, and not contacting us!"Harry's eyes blazed with fury. He said angrily, "You think you're all grown up now, huh? You're keeping quiet now because you're upset about us being nice to Lori. Am I right?"Did you really think you could make us give in first if you hid inside the cellar and ignored us?"Still, they did not hear any sound coming from inside the cellar.Ian directe

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 4

    The light from outside streamed into the cellar, dispelling the darkness inside that space.I moved closer to look inside the cellar. My body was there.The cellar was a closed space, and the temperature inside was just right. Even though I had only been dead for three days, my body seemed like I had probably died for more than ten days.The body was badly decomposed. A large amount of maggots had hatched from the eggs, and they could be seen writhing over the corpse.The complexion on my face had turned dark due to asphyxiation. After so many days of decomposition, it was impossible to tell that the corpse was me.Suddenly, I panicked. I did not want my brothers to see my body, which was in such a horrid state. I quickly moved to block their path.At the very least, I wanted to preserve my dignity in death.Unfortunately, my efforts were for naught.Ian's face turned pale. As an uncomfortable silence fell over the room, he took a step backward anxiously. His lips trembled unco

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 5

    My brothers and Lorelei went back into the living room soon afterward.Before Lorelei could say anything pretentious, Ian hurried to make a phone call."Freeze all of the accounts tied to the bank cards Rebecca has. Also, I want a record of all of the transactions she's made recently. Have some men check all of the old properties under my parents' names as well."I want to know where she has been and what she has spent on for the past three days."Ian hung up right after giving those orders in a monotonous voice.Once he obtained the records, Ian could figure out where I had been for the past three days. After that, he was going to give me an earful and punish me.I snickered. Perhaps Ian had already forgotten how his company almost went bankrupt because of a mistake he made in the decision-making process. Many of their shareholders decided to pull back their funds back then.With Ian having no one else to turn to, I decided to invest all of my money in his company to help reviv

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 6

    By the time Ian came to his senses, his usually stoic face was wet with tears."How did I forget about that?" he pondered.My money had all been channeled into the company to help Ian back when he was facing the biggest crisis of his career.Since he was too upset earlier, Ian instinctively thought that I had taken the money I had and run away from home. Suddenly, Ian felt as if his insides were being torn into shreds. The terrible ache in his chest made him feel increasingly worried.Meanwhile, Lorelei maintained that pitiful look on her face as she picked up the phone from the floor and passed it to Ian.Ian's hands were shaking. He gripped the phone tightly. He scrolled through our chat history on his phone.Our final text messages were still from three days ago. Ian started tapping the back of his phone with his finger impatiently."Don't worry, Ian…"Lorelei tried to offer him words of comfort, but Ian immediately pushed her aside. He strode toward the direction of the cel

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 7

    Lorelei rushed into the room just then. Just as she placed her hand on Ian's arm, he slapped her hand away."Go away!"Lorelei was so taken aback by Ian's sudden outburst that she dropped to the floor. She blinked a few times, tears streaming from her eyes.However, her pitiful act did not evoke any sympathy from Ian.Ian's eyes were red as he looked at the maids, who were standing at the side and shaking in fear. He barked, "The body! Where did you move the body inside the cellar to?"Most of the maids shrank back a little. One of them plucked up the courage and said, "Mr. Ian, Mr. Harry said that thing was filthy, and he wanted us to burn it! We just finished burning it…"Ian's vision turned white when he heard those words. His legs threatened to go out.At that very moment, my phone, which was still clutched tightly in Ian's hand, rang. I took a glance at the screen. It was a call from Will.As soon as Ian pressed the answer button, we could hear Will sobbing down the line

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 8

    While Ian leaned against the wall for support, the phone in his hand started ringing again.I cast a glance at the screen, and it was a call from Harry.Harry was a genius painter who loved beautiful colors. Four days ago, I found an extremely rare red paint specially for him. I knew he would love the paint the second he saw it.I just did not expect that I would be dead before Harry could receive the surprise from me.When Ian picked up the call, Harry's tone had softened noticeably."Enough with this, Rebecca. You should stop throwing your tantrums. You were indeed wrong this time. I don't care where you are. Just hurry and come home. I'll take your side this time."While Harry was still blabbering on, Ian interrupted him, "Harry Haldeman, were you the one who instructed the maids to burn the dead body? That body was very likely our sister, Rebecca!"There was a moment's stunned silence.Then, Harry's voice started shaking. "That… Could it be… That's impossible. Rebecca could

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 9

    Ian tossed a phone in Will and Harry's direction.Both of them seemed confused as they turned on the phone. Yet, their expressions changed almost simultaneously the next instant.The phone contained evidence of all of Lorelei's evil deeds.From the moment she first arrived at the Haldeman residence, Lorelei had stepped on and broken her own toy. She made it seem like it was me who did it and got my brothers to scold me harshly.Up until three days ago, Lorelei gave me the item that would trigger her allergic reaction and used it to frame me.In every video, the moments where I was being scolded or yelled at by my brothers and the sound of Lorelei giggling softly were recorded.Harry was the first to kick Lorelei's face this time. His eyes were red. He shouted, "We misunderstood Rebecca for so long, and it was all your doing? Have you forgotten? It was because of Rebecca that you were able to live in our home! Why did you do that? Why?"Blood had smudged all over Lorelei's mouth.

Latest chapter

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 9

    Ian tossed a phone in Will and Harry's direction.Both of them seemed confused as they turned on the phone. Yet, their expressions changed almost simultaneously the next instant.The phone contained evidence of all of Lorelei's evil deeds.From the moment she first arrived at the Haldeman residence, Lorelei had stepped on and broken her own toy. She made it seem like it was me who did it and got my brothers to scold me harshly.Up until three days ago, Lorelei gave me the item that would trigger her allergic reaction and used it to frame me.In every video, the moments where I was being scolded or yelled at by my brothers and the sound of Lorelei giggling softly were recorded.Harry was the first to kick Lorelei's face this time. His eyes were red. He shouted, "We misunderstood Rebecca for so long, and it was all your doing? Have you forgotten? It was because of Rebecca that you were able to live in our home! Why did you do that? Why?"Blood had smudged all over Lorelei's mouth.

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 8

    While Ian leaned against the wall for support, the phone in his hand started ringing again.I cast a glance at the screen, and it was a call from Harry.Harry was a genius painter who loved beautiful colors. Four days ago, I found an extremely rare red paint specially for him. I knew he would love the paint the second he saw it.I just did not expect that I would be dead before Harry could receive the surprise from me.When Ian picked up the call, Harry's tone had softened noticeably."Enough with this, Rebecca. You should stop throwing your tantrums. You were indeed wrong this time. I don't care where you are. Just hurry and come home. I'll take your side this time."While Harry was still blabbering on, Ian interrupted him, "Harry Haldeman, were you the one who instructed the maids to burn the dead body? That body was very likely our sister, Rebecca!"There was a moment's stunned silence.Then, Harry's voice started shaking. "That… Could it be… That's impossible. Rebecca could

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 7

    Lorelei rushed into the room just then. Just as she placed her hand on Ian's arm, he slapped her hand away."Go away!"Lorelei was so taken aback by Ian's sudden outburst that she dropped to the floor. She blinked a few times, tears streaming from her eyes.However, her pitiful act did not evoke any sympathy from Ian.Ian's eyes were red as he looked at the maids, who were standing at the side and shaking in fear. He barked, "The body! Where did you move the body inside the cellar to?"Most of the maids shrank back a little. One of them plucked up the courage and said, "Mr. Ian, Mr. Harry said that thing was filthy, and he wanted us to burn it! We just finished burning it…"Ian's vision turned white when he heard those words. His legs threatened to go out.At that very moment, my phone, which was still clutched tightly in Ian's hand, rang. I took a glance at the screen. It was a call from Will.As soon as Ian pressed the answer button, we could hear Will sobbing down the line

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 6

    By the time Ian came to his senses, his usually stoic face was wet with tears."How did I forget about that?" he pondered.My money had all been channeled into the company to help Ian back when he was facing the biggest crisis of his career.Since he was too upset earlier, Ian instinctively thought that I had taken the money I had and run away from home. Suddenly, Ian felt as if his insides were being torn into shreds. The terrible ache in his chest made him feel increasingly worried.Meanwhile, Lorelei maintained that pitiful look on her face as she picked up the phone from the floor and passed it to Ian.Ian's hands were shaking. He gripped the phone tightly. He scrolled through our chat history on his phone.Our final text messages were still from three days ago. Ian started tapping the back of his phone with his finger impatiently."Don't worry, Ian…"Lorelei tried to offer him words of comfort, but Ian immediately pushed her aside. He strode toward the direction of the cel

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 5

    My brothers and Lorelei went back into the living room soon afterward.Before Lorelei could say anything pretentious, Ian hurried to make a phone call."Freeze all of the accounts tied to the bank cards Rebecca has. Also, I want a record of all of the transactions she's made recently. Have some men check all of the old properties under my parents' names as well."I want to know where she has been and what she has spent on for the past three days."Ian hung up right after giving those orders in a monotonous voice.Once he obtained the records, Ian could figure out where I had been for the past three days. After that, he was going to give me an earful and punish me.I snickered. Perhaps Ian had already forgotten how his company almost went bankrupt because of a mistake he made in the decision-making process. Many of their shareholders decided to pull back their funds back then.With Ian having no one else to turn to, I decided to invest all of my money in his company to help reviv

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 4

    The light from outside streamed into the cellar, dispelling the darkness inside that space.I moved closer to look inside the cellar. My body was there.The cellar was a closed space, and the temperature inside was just right. Even though I had only been dead for three days, my body seemed like I had probably died for more than ten days.The body was badly decomposed. A large amount of maggots had hatched from the eggs, and they could be seen writhing over the corpse.The complexion on my face had turned dark due to asphyxiation. After so many days of decomposition, it was impossible to tell that the corpse was me.Suddenly, I panicked. I did not want my brothers to see my body, which was in such a horrid state. I quickly moved to block their path.At the very least, I wanted to preserve my dignity in death.Unfortunately, my efforts were for naught.Ian's face turned pale. As an uncomfortable silence fell over the room, he took a step backward anxiously. His lips trembled unco

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 3

    I had no control over my movements as my soul followed behind my three brothers. The hollow feeling in my chest intensified.My brothers stormed toward the cellar and arrived at the door fairly quickly."Rebecca Haldeman, do you think you can avoid your punishment if you just keep quiet and hide in there?"However, no sound came from inside the cellar afterward.Will's expression darkened. "Rebecca, what tricks are you trying to pull this time? Come out and kneel before Lori so that you can apologize for what happened."Don't think you can deny having harmed Lori by hiding in there, turning off your phone, and not contacting us!"Harry's eyes blazed with fury. He said angrily, "You think you're all grown up now, huh? You're keeping quiet now because you're upset about us being nice to Lori. Am I right?"Did you really think you could make us give in first if you hid inside the cellar and ignored us?"Still, they did not hear any sound coming from inside the cellar.Ian directe

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 2

    Lorelei tugged Ian's sleeve and said pitifully, "Don't be angry, Ian. It's my fault for being allergic to seafood. I'm sure Rebecca didn't do it on purpose. You shouldn't blame her anymore."Ian's expression hardened. He replied frigidly, "We've been too lenient on that awful wench. That's why she's grown to be so rude and overbearing."Will's eyes blazed with anger. "She's become more and more narrow-minded with age. If it weren't for her, Lori wouldn't have ended up looking like this."Lorelei purposely showed the brothers the part of her body where the symptoms of her allergic reaction had not gone away. There were still some red marks on her skin.With a pained look in his eyes, Harry lightly caressed the part of her skin that had those faint red marks. "Does it still hurt, Lori?"Lorelei lowered her head. Her voice was shaking a lot, as though she would burst into tears at any moment. "It doesn't hurt… It doesn't hurt at all…"Will's anger boiled over. He exploded, "Lori's l

  • An Asphyxiating Life   Chapter 1

    I died in a cellar due to asphyxiation.By the time I woke up again, I found that my soul had reappeared next to my three older brothers. The three of them had just returned to our huge villa.The eldest, Ian Haldeman, and the second eldest, Will Haldeman, were holding our stepsister, Lorelei Surridge's hands. In a kind voice, one of my brothers began, "Thank goodness we got you to the hospital just in time. Otherwise, it might take you a longer time to recover."Harry Haldeman, my third eldest brother, sounded really concerned. "The doctor has said that you're still weak. You need to gain more nutrients by having nutritious meals."He scooped a big piece of meat onto Lorelei's plate while saying that.A maid standing at the side could no longer bring herself to stay silent. "Mr. Ian, Ms. Rebecca has been locked inside the cellar for three days now. She hasn't made any noise for an extended period…"Ian snorted and cut her off, "We're celebrating Lori's discharge from the hospita

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