Chapter 2

At some point, Cody had arrived. He pushed through the crowd and suddenly called out, "Dad, don't do that. No matter what, Hector is still your son."

Everyone's attention instantly shifted, and my parents rushed over to him at once.

Holding his hand, Mom said affectionately, "Didn't we tell you that you didn't need to come over?"

"Your mom's right," Dad hurriedly chimed in. "Work keeps you busy, so there's no need for you to make the trip. It'll only bring back painful memories for you."

Even Serena pressed close to Cody and stood between him and me, as if afraid I might do something to him.

My eyes stung. There had been a time in my life when I'd received such tender care as well.

When I was 18, before my parents adopted Cody, Dad's enemies had abducted me to take revenge on him. He single-handedly fought those criminals and even fell from the fifth floor in the process.

Having sustained multiple compound fractures from the fall, he had to spend an entire year in the hospital. Despite the agonizing pain, however, he took my hand and assured me, "It's fine. It's my responsibility to protect you. It doesn't hurt at all."

And when Serena and I had been dating, a passerby had berated me for accidentally bumping into him. She proceeded to do everything in her power to have that person driven out of the city of Crestbay.

The love and warmth I received in those memories came flooding back, but the sight before me felt like a bucket of icy water, giving me a rude awakening.

Now that no one was paying any attention to me, the thug who'd attacked me earlier swarmed me with a few other men. Some of them held down all four of my limbs, so that I couldn't move.

A sharp crack rang out, and my right metacarpal bone shattered. The pain shot straight to my head, and my vision turned red.

They'd smashed my right hand with a hammer!

"Let's see how you're going to hurt others once we break both your hands. You can never be a doctor again!"

"You filthy rapist! I'm going to castrate you!"

The gleaming blade came barreling toward my lower region.

However, eight years in prison had taught me how to fight back. I used all my strength to kick one of them away before dragging myself backward. The rough ground tore at my palms, the pain so intense that I was on the verge of blacking out.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Serena nestled in Cody's arms with a sweet smile on her face. Not once had I ever seen her show such a gentle and tender expression toward me.

Meanwhile, despite glancing over after hearing my pained groans, Mom and Dad only looked put off by the sight of me.

As if only having just noticed the situation, Cody shouted, "What are you doing!"

He drove those thugs away and bent down as if to help me up, his face full of concern. "Are you okay, Hector?"

His leather shoe pressed down—precisely and ruthlessly—on my mangled right hand. He even ground it down hard without mercy.

A hoarse, wrangled cry of pain escaped my throat as I curled up in agony.

Cody leaned down, his breath brushing my ear as he hissed like a venomous snake, "So what if you got out of prison? I'm going to take everything from you—your money, your family, your wife…"

Then he lifted his head and put on a nervous, helpless expression. "I'm so sorry, Hector! I didn't mean to…"

But Dad gave me a hard kick in the chest. My body flipped over, scraping hard on the ground. It felt as if all my organs had shifted out of place.

"How long are you going to keep this act up, huh?" he snarled as he stepped on my face with his shoe. "Who do you think you're fooling with this stunt? Cody was kind enough to help you up, yet you're trying to frame him again?"

As if he'd finally found an outlet, Dad began kicking both my legs, each kick harder than the last. The legs that had been broken and healed dozens of times over eight years shattered again.

I curled into a ball, my vision going dark.

"Just because you're human garbage, you want to drag everyone else down with you. Well, don't you dare forget this—if I can have you thrown in prison once, I can do it as many times as necessary!"

"Dad! Stop kicking him!" Serena held Dad back, her voice tearful. "Hector is still your son, Dad…"

"My son? I don't have a monster like him for a son! Ever since that day eight years ago, Cody became the only son I recognize!"