Chapter 1
I was the apple of my parents' eye, and I had been the baby sister my two brothers had protected since the day I was born.
On my eighteenth birthday, I pushed them out of harm's way just as a wooden beam came crashing down and knocked me out cold.
When I came to, my body no longer belonged to me because a girl named Sussie Hayes had taken over, and she called herself a system invader.
At first, my family lost their minds trying to kick this intruder out.
Then one day, Sussie showed up with red-rimmed eyes and whispered her demand in a shaky voice.
She said, "I hate to impose, but Nina Ellis can only return if you love me to bits."
So they tried hard, and they bent over backward to treat her like family.
My parents went from giving stiff, disgusted replies to asking about her favorite foods, and eventually they started bringing home little treats she loved without even thinking about it.
My brothers stopped calling her the invader, and they began cooing her name, Sussie, as if she had always been their sister.
After a year, Sussie completed her mission, and I finally got my body back.
But when I opened my eyes and grinned like an i***t, all I saw was disappointment that they could not quite mask.
They threw a welcome party for show, but behind closed doors they hurt me time and again while hoping to bring their precious Sussie back.
After the ninety-ninth accident, I caught them murmuring where they thought I could not hear them.
One of them said, "Three more days. If Sussie doesn't come back, we'll just have to put up with Nina."
Little did they know that I had my own system waiting for me, and I had only three days left with them.
Then a loud crash echoed through the garden as a flowerpot smashed into my skull while I was walking past the rose bushes.
A searing pain split my head open, and blood ran hot down my neck in thick streams.
I had lost count of how many mishaps I had suffered in three months, but the bruises from my fall down the stairs had not faded yet, and the burns from the kitchen still looked angry on my skin.
Then this new wound was gushing blood, and the pain blurred my vision.
When I saw my family's pale faces rushing toward me, however, the pain did not seem so bad.
I knew I had been unlucky since coming home, but having them near made everything feel bearable for a moment.
Darkness swallowed me soon after, and the pain dragged me under like a heavy tide.
Somewhere in the fog behind my closed eyes, I heard hushed voices speaking in low tones.
My father, Joseph Ellis, let his voice c***k with desperation as he asked, "Did we do it this time? Is Sussie coming back?"
My eldest brother, Lucian Ellis, did not miss a beat, and his voice brimmed with certainty when he answered.
He said, "I think it will work. After all, Sussie only came after Nina was struck by that beam, and this was our closest match to the original damage yet."
My second brother, Silas Ellis, let his voice buzz with excitement as he added, "I remember how thick that falling beam was, so I picked the heaviest flowerpot and calculated every detail. This was a perfect recreation."
Then my mother, Ruth Reed, spoke as her shaking fingers traced the lattice of scars on my arm, and the touch made my half-healed burns sear with fresh pain.
For one foolish moment, I thought she might actually care about what I had endured.
Then her voice cracked again as she said, "But we cannot keep doing this forever. Sussie cannot stand pain, so imagine how upset she would be if she came back to this battered body."
Joseph immediately called an ambulance, and after he hung up, his tone turned clinical as he said, "If Sussie does not return this time, we will call it quits."
Silas sighed in resigned agreement and said, "We have been at this too often. Sussie would not want a damaged vessel, so let us let her heal before we figure things out."
