In Death I Obeyed You Most Chapter 01
Just because I asked why Chloe hadn’t been sent back to her real family, Mom forced me into an illegal AI behavioral modification program.
From that day on, every command she gave, I obeyed without question.
Until today. I followed her in secret to a charity gala and overheard her chatting over champagne:
“I had no choice. The moment that girl came back from the countryside, she started going after Chloe.”
“So I had her rebuilt into a docile, obedient daughter. It was all for her own good.”
Just then, the remote controller in Mom’s purse started vibrating—it had detected that I was no longer inside the house.
Her face darkened. Her manicured fingers jabbed at the screen, punching in the command:
【RETURN HOME IMMEDIATELY AND KNEEL AS PUNISHMENT.】
My body lurched forward, completely out of my control. I ran, blindly, into the street.
Halfway across, a speeding car slammed into me, sending me flying across the asphalt. My ribs shattered, but the chip didn’t care. I scrambled back to my feet and kept running, the same words spilling from my bloodied lips like a broken chant:
“I’m sorry, Mom. Going home to kneel. Going home to kneel.”
When Mom finally came home, she found me kneeling in the corner, head bowed. A satisfied smile curved on her lips.
But she didn’t know that the modification hadn’t produced an obedient daughter—it had created a remote-controlled puppet.
And the girl kneeling silently before her—
was already dead.
……
The sensor lights by the entrance clicked on. Mom stepped inside, holding Chloe’s hand. When her gaze fell upon me in the corner, a smug grin curled the edge of her mouth.
“Good girl. It’s nice to see you finally understand what you did wrong.”
I remained still as a statue, kneeling against the freezing marble.
Chloe wrinkled her nose in theatrical disgust. “Mom, Nora smells terrible. She’s filthy—like some homeless bum off the street.”
Mom smoothed Chloe’s hair, her voice oozing maternal affection. “Now don’t be naughty, sweetie. Nora knows her mistake. She’ll behave herself from now on.”
Turning toward me, her tone instantly reverted to sharp, icy authority. “Go upstairs and clean yourself up. You are not to take a single step out of your room without my permission!”
“Yes, Mom.”
My voice came out flat, stripped of tone. I rose with wooden rigidity and ascended the stairs.
At lunch the following afternoon, the long mahogany table was laden with gourmet dishes.
Mom continuously heaped the tenderest cuts of sirloin and braised ribs onto Chloe’s porcelain plate, speaking in a warm coo. “Chloe, sweetie, eat some salmon for protein. And here’s the steak—all your favorites.”
Chloe mumbled around a mouthful of beef, “Thanks, Mom.”
I sat at the far corner of the table, hands folded neatly in my lap, waiting for instructions.
Mom cast a careless glance in my direction. “Finish the broccoli on your plate. No picky eating.”
“Yes, Mom.”
My arm lifted on autopilot, gripping the fork and shoving the cold vegetables into my mouth.
The florets were dry and tough to chew, yet my jaw mechanically repeated the cycles of chewing and swallowing, completely divorced from my will.
I didn’t stop until Mom said, “That’s enough. Put the fork down.” I sat ramrod straight once more.
“Look at how obedient Nora is now, Chloe—not fussy in the slightest. Learn from her and finish your sandwich,” Mom remarked offhandedly, without a shred of genuine praise.
Chloe huffed with spite. Picking up her bowl of hot clam chowder, she thrust it deliberately toward my side of the table. “Here, Nora, your food looks so boring. Have some of my soup!”
With a slick tilt of her wrist, the steaming soup splashed across my forearm, soaking through my sleeve.
“Oh my god, Nora is so clumsy! She can’t even catch a soup bowl!” Chloe taunted, her face alight with triumph.
The scalding broth seared against my flesh, but I didn’t even flinch.
Mom frantically grabbed cloth napkins to dab Chloe’s fingers, then whipped around, glaring at me furiously. “Nora! What is wrong with you?! You can’t even hold a bowl steady? What if you had burned your sister?! You’re the older one—your sole duty is to protect Chloe, do you hear me?!”
My head nodded like a pendulum. “Understood, Mom. I will protect my sister.”
Mom waved a dismissive hand, calling for Olivia, the housekeeper, to take me upstairs and clean me up.
In my bedroom, Olivia helped me peel off the stained clothes. The moment she caught sight of the dark, purplish blotches spreading across my torso and shoulders, she gasped in pure horror. “Nora! What on earth happened to you?! How did you get bruised this badly?!”
I merely stood there, eyes fixed blankly on the wall.
Olivia asked again and again with mounting distress, but received no answer. Shaking her head, she hurried downstairs to find Mom.
“Ma’am, Nora’s body is covered in terrifying dark-purple contusions. It looks horrific! I asked her, but she won’t say a single word…”
Mom was scrolling through messages while peeling an orange for Chloe. Hearing this, she didn’t even look up, offering only an indifferent sneer.
“How else would she get them? She must’ve tripped and fallen when she snuck out yesterday. Leave her be. Let it serve as a lesson so she thinks twice before running off again.”
Olivia opened her mouth to protest, but Mom cut her off with a sharp glare. “That’s enough. Stick to your duties and stop meddling.”
After the housekeeper left, Mom’s brow furrowed slightly.
She recalled that yesterday, moments after transmitting the ‘Return home immediately’ command, her handheld device had vibrated violently.
The screen had flashed a crimson alert: [Subject in critical, life-threatening trauma. System rebooting.]
She had been startled at the time, but finding me kneeling obediently in the foyer upon her return, she dismissed it as a software glitch.
At the thought, another wave of irritation flared in her chest.
“Stubborn troublemaker. Even after undergoing modification, she still had the nerve to sneak out.”
Late that night, Mom stood outside my doorway and issued a cold order: “No sleeping tonight. Stand against the doorframe and reflect on your running away and your insolence today.”
I gave a wooden nod. “Understood, Mom.”
I stepped over to the door and locked my posture against the wood, spine rigid.
The next morning, Mom emerged from her bedroom. Seeing me standing in the exact same spot, frozen in the exact same stance from the night before, a pleased smile finally relaxed her features.
“Now that’s more like it. You look so much better when you know your place. Step out of line again, and the punishment doubles.”