the terminal list: a thriller

The female protagonist, Yetta Hobbes, appeared frail on the outside, but she had a complex inner world. She was the only seemingly ordinary person in her family. Her father, Ryan Hobbes, was a serial killer. Her mother, Joan Hobbes, was an expert in toxicology. Her brother, Eric Hobbes, harbored an unhealthy possessiveness towards his sister. The entire family concealed extreme antisocial personalities. Yetta had long been subjected to cruel bullying by classmates Lucy Wright, Sherry Nelly, and Belle Robert at school. Finally, one day, the three bullies volunteered to visit Yetta's home, unaware that they had already become prey...

I am diagnosed with severe systemic lupus erythematosus, and I only have three days left to live. When my husband rejects my 188th plea for help, I take my test results and enter the hospice care center. "Hello, I'd like to schedule my own cremation process and apply for government aid." Ten minutes later, they arrive. Before I can speak, my lawyer husband, Jasper Horton, coldly slaps me across the face. "You're faking a terminal illness just to steal attention from Janice?" My doctor brother, Casey Carter, snatches the medical report from my hand and scoffs at it. "Lupus? If you're going to fake being sick, at least make it believable. Only one in a million people gets this." I endure the pain in my body, return to the counter, and hand in the application form and my medical records once more. The staff member sees the butterfly-shaped rash on my wrist and sympathizes with me. "I have no family left," I say. "I'm requesting cremation in three days, location doesn't matter. I just don't want my death to burden anyone."