Chapter 3

The celebration banquet was held at the biggest hotel in the city.

A bright red banner hung above the stage: Congratulations to Our Beloved Son Landon Hutchinson on His Admission.

Landon wore a custom white suit, the pink diamond cuff links glittering at his wrists.

He held Vivian's arm and accepted everyone's praise.

"Mrs. Hutchinson, you're so blessed. Your son is so accomplished. I heard it's direct graduate admission?"

"Dr. Harkins is young and promising too. To take such good care of her fiance's older brother, what a blessing for both families."

I wore an old T-shirt and jeans and stood in the shadows of a corner.

Before we left, my father had said my suit was too big and ill-fitting, so he had it altered for my brother as a backup.

"You won't be going onstage anyway. What does it matter what you wear? Don't steal your brother's spotlight."

At that moment, my father pushed through the crowd, grabbed my arm, and dragged me into an even more hidden corner.

"Aaron, hand over that flash drive."

I froze. "What flash drive?"

Smack!

A sudden, ringing slap landed across my face.

"Don't play dumb with me!"

He gritted his teeth. "The paper you wrote before! Your brother's system just issued another task. If he doesn't complete it, he'll be punished with electric shocks!

"Hand it over. Now!"

A ridiculous chill swept through me.

That paper was something I had spent three months in the lab writing, ruining my eyesight and running more than a thousand experiments.

It was my hard work. It was the trump card I had prepared for a university scholarship application.

"That's mine..."

"What mine and yours?

"Your brother's life is on the line! Do you want him tortured to death?"

He suddenly grabbed my collar and clawed frantically at my pocket with his other hand.

I shook my head desperately and clutched my pocket.

"I won't give it to you... Dad, I'm your son too... that's my work..."

"Aaron."

A cold voice cut in.

Vivian Harkins had appeared at some point, her brows drawn together.

"Think of the bigger picture.

"Give me the flash drive. If Landon embarrasses himself onstage, it reflects on all of us. You're a member of the Hutchinson family. You should share in its honor and disgrace."

"Honor and disgrace?"

I looked at this woman as tears slid down my face. "The honor is his, and the disgrace is mine. Vivian, is your idea of fairness to feed everything I am to him?"

Vivian's eyes darkened. She lost patience.

She reached into my pants pocket.

I struggled with everything I had, but it was useless.

Her fingers found the cold metal flash drive and pulled it out without mercy.

In that moment, I felt as if what she had pulled away was not just a flash drive.

It was my spine.

Vivian took the drive and strode back to the stage.

Soon, my paper was projected on the big screen.

Dense data filled the display, every piece drawn from experiments I had analyzed day and night.

Thunderous applause erupted below.

"A genius!"

"To write a paper with this much depth at such a young age. Northbridge direct admission is well deserved!"

Landon stood onstage and bowed in thanks.

Vivian stood beside him, applauding him with pride and admiration in her eyes.

My parents sat below the stage, grinning from ear to ear as they accepted the envy around them.

I looked at that dazzling family of four.

Like a madman, I shoved through the crowd and rushed toward the stage.

"That's my paper! I wrote it!"

Before I could finish, two men in black suits darted out.

One punched me in the stomach, and I curled up on the floor in pain.

Their leather shoes kicked my back and waist hard.

My parents glanced toward me, then looked away and even edged closer to the stage.

My stomach churned with pain.

In my mind, the system's voice was no longer cold. It sounded almost like a sigh.

[Host has suffered catastrophic injustice: deprivation of dignity and theft of achievement.]

[Current unfairness count: 3/3.]

[Judgment confirmed. Death program initiating.]

[Brain-death countdown: 10 minutes.]