Chapter 4

Mom and Dad stopped talking to me after our argument.

However, I was glad for the peace and quiet. My heart was completely calm after I was utterly disappointed by our familial bond.

…

One afternoon, I was sitting on the windowsill in my room.

Dad was patiently teaching Seth how to ride a bicycle in the garden. He held onto the backseat as he repeatedly encouraged Seth.

"You're amazing, Seth!" he shouted. "Don't be scared. I'm right behind you."

I got lost in my memories as I watched them, thinking about when I was the same age as Seth.

Mom wanted me to calm down, so she taught me cursive.

"A boy must be calm and composed. A person's handwriting reflects their character. Just look at your handwriting. It's so messy, just like you!"

However, I couldn't sit still and spilled ink everywhere.

Mom punished me countless times by striking me with a ruler. My palms were always red and swollen.

Meanwhile, Seth only cycled two rounds around the garden before he pursed his lips and said coyly, "I'm tired, Dad. I want to play blocks."

"Alright then. Let's take a break since you're tired," Dad said, ruffling his hair with total adoration. "You don't have to force yourself if you're not interested."

Seth was the only one who could drop whatever he was learning simply because he wasn't interested.

Mom and Dad would do everything in their power to fulfill his wishes.

But what about me? Did they even think of me as their flesh and blood?

When I turned, I saw Seth behind me. He had come upstairs when I was distracted with my thoughts.

Seth stood at the door to my room, clutching a fruit knife in his hand. The corners of his lips were curled up into a twisted smile.

"How do you think Mom and Dad will react if I get hurt, Kevin?" he asked. "Why did you have to come back from the country? I worked so hard to be their son. What gives you the right to come back and ruin everything?"

A chill ran down my spine.

What was he implying?

Before I could react, Seth sliced the knife across his arm. Fresh blood poured from the cut in an instant.

I was frozen in place by the sudden and shocking sight. My mind had gone blank.

Seth didn't cry as he looked at his bloody arm. On the contrary, the smile on his face widened. He shot a strange look at me before letting out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Help me! Mom! Kevin's trying to kill me!"

Mom rushed to where we were and shoved me to the floor. She then carefully examined Seth's wound.

Dad's eyes reddened in an instant.

"It wasn't me!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, scrambling back up to my feet to explain myself. "He's the one who cut himself!"

"How dare you lie to our faces?" Dad roared, glaring at me fiercely. "Seth's only seven years old! Why would he hurt himself?"

"He's the one who… It was really him…" I stammered in a shaky voice.

However, no one believed me.

Seth pointed at me as he sobbed. He could barely string a sentence together as he stuttered, "He accused me of stealing the two of you away from him, Mom and Dad. He hates me…"

I was slapped hard across the face. My head snapped to the side from the force of the slap. My cheek stung painfully, and there was a loud buzzing in my ears.

It was the first time that Mom had raised her hand against me.

"We don't have a despicable son like you! We can't do anything now since your grandfather already raised you to be such a horrible person. Get out of our sight! We're going to send you to the orphanage!"

The orphanage.

Mom and Dad were planning to abandon me again.

They abandoned me in the countryside when I was seven years old because they thought that I was too noisy. Now, they were going to abandon me in an orphanage because they thought that I was despicable.

Despite how many years had passed, they were still the same.

I suddenly burst out laughing. I pointed at Seth, who was still crying in their arms, and asked, "The orphanage? Shouldn't he be the one to go back to that place?"