Genesis 2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.
God gives us instructions and with those instruction gives us consequences if we disobey them; He continues to uphold those instructions and those consequences no matter what we think!
When God gave this instruction to Adam it was not a story but a promise of what was going to happen. The serpent came along and persuaded Eve through temptation to ignore the consequences.
It was Adam and Eve who had to face the consequences of disobeying God because He gave that instruction to them.