Chapter 5

Before they left, I mustered all my strength and grabbed my mother's sleeve, trying to hold onto her one last time.

But my mother’s mind was already at Robert’s villa. She hurriedly told me to rest, pulled her sleeve out of my grip, and ran out the door without looking back.

The last spark of hope in my chest died. I felt a cold, dead weight settle in my heart.

I didn't see them again until two days later.

They offered me a barrage of guilty apologies, but I only gave them flat, emotionless responses. The warmth and eagerness I used to have were completely gone.

In the weeks that followed, I threw myself into preparing for the SATs. I stopped asking where they were going, and I stopped seeking their affection.

My parents seemed deeply uncomfortable with my sudden distance. They assumed I was just throwing a tantrum over the fever incident, so they tried to buy my affection with cheap gifts and sweet words.

One month before the exams, I was studying in the classroom during free period when Robert and a group of guys suddenly kicked the door open.

One of his lackeys marched over and kicked my desk over, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"You dirty thief! How dare you steal Robert’s watch? Do you have any idea that watch is worth a hundred grand?"

The entire classroom turned to look at me. I was stunned and immediately defended myself.

"I didn't steal anything! I've been in this classroom the entire day!"

Robert sneered. "Oh yeah? Let's search your bag and find out."

Before I could stop him, a tall guy grabbed my backpack, unzipped it, and dumped everything onto the floor.

To my horror, amid the scattered notebooks and prep sheets, a gleaming gold watch rolled out onto the linoleum floor.

I froze, my mind going completely blank.

How could Robert’s watch be in my bag? I went out of my way to avoid him every single day!

And today, I had been studying at my desk the entire morning, except for a quick five-minute bathroom break...

Wait. The bathroom break...

I looked up at Robert. Sure enough, he was looking back at me with a victorious, mocking smirk.

The whispers in the classroom started instantly.

"Oh my god, is Ethan really that desperate? Stealing a watch at school?"

"I bet he's the one who stole my fifty bucks last month too!"

Listening to the accusations piling up on me, a wave of hot fury rushed to my head.

Robert had stolen my parents. He had stolen the life that should have been mine. Why couldn't he just leave me alone?

Did he really have to destroy me completely to be satisfied?

Looking at his smug face, I lost control. I lunged forward and slammed my fist right into his jaw, screaming, "I didn't steal your damn watch! Why are you doing this to me? Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

Robert fell to the floor, but instead of getting angry, he laughed. He leaned close to my ear and whispered:

"Why? Because I can't stand the sight of you. Did you really think your parents loved you?"

"Did you actually believe that 'tough love' crap was to make you better?"

Before I knew about Robert's existence, I really had believed that.

But now...

"Let me tell you the truth. They treat you like garbage because you're fat, ugly, and dumb. Having a son like you is their biggest embarrassment."

"Want to see who they'll choose between you and me?"

Ten minutes later, both Robert and I were sitting in the principal’s office.

When the principal called my parents and told them I had stolen a watch and assaulted a student, they coldly told the school to "discipline me as they saw fit" and hung up.

But a minute later, when Robert’s homeroom teacher called them, stating that Robert had been injured in an altercation, my parents' voices erupted with panic and fury. They said they would be there in five minutes.

Even though I knew they wouldn't side with me, a tiny, foolish part of my heart still hoped.

Maybe, just this once, they would believe me... but I was destined to be disappointed.

The moment my parents burst into the office and saw both of us, their faces paled. Without a single glance at me, they rushed straight to Robert's side.

After listening to the principal's explanation of the "theft," my parents turned to me, their faces cold as ice, and demanded I apologize to Robert.

I clenched my fists. "I didn't steal anything. I will not apologize."

But nobody believed me.