Chapter 2

It was my birthday. After school and my part-time shift, I came home at about 10:00 pm. I carried a plastic bag into the rental, and inside was an old-fashioned cake that I bought for about a dollar.

I reached out to turn on the light, but nothing happened. The room stayed pitch-dark. Although the bulb had burned out again, the moonlight filtering in was bright enough. It was fine.

Sitting by the window and greedily borrowing the moonlight, I set the old-fashioned cake on the table. There were no candles, so I pretended to stick one into the cake and light it.

I closed my eyes, made a wish, and blew gently. My wish was simple—I hoped my exams would go well.

The moment I opened my eyes, I heard someone pounding on the door. "Open up! Time to pay up, or I'll kick down your door!"

Although this wasn't the first time this had happened, I still jumped in fright. The people outside were here to collect Mom's gambling debts. She had lost a lot of money.

I hid inside while biting my lip, trying not to make a sound.

When no one answered them, they started ramming the door anyway. The rental's door was made of cheap wood. Flimsy as it was, it began to shake and give way almost immediately.

Finally, with a loud crash, the door was smashed open. Three burly men stormed in. One of them grabbed my skinny frame from where I was hiding in the corner. They yanked me up.

"If your mom won't pay," he snarled, "we'll take you instead."

I dropped to my knees with a thud. Tears were streaming down my face. "I don't have any money. She hasn't been home for days!"

One of them punched me right in the face. "In that case, you'll need something else to cover it."

With that, they started tearing the place apart. Everything was thrown everywhere. They even rummaged through my backpack and found a 50-dollar bill inside.

I covered the corner of my mouth as the taste of blood spread across my tongue. The 50 dollars they found was my pay from today's shift, the money my boss had just given me after work.

"That's it? 50 dollars? I can't even buy a bottle of good booze with this!" they complained. However, they still stuffed the money I had worked so hard for into their pockets.

They delivered another kick at the table. Just like that, the cake I barely had the chance to eat was knocked onto the floor and crushed under their feet. They ransacked the place and left in a huff, dissatisfied, leaving behind nothing but a wrecked room.

That was how my birthday passed—in chaos, humiliation, and absurdity.

I crouched on the floor, shaking as I sobbed, and pulled out my phone to check the livestream again. I wanted to see how Archer was spending his birthday.

Inside the bright, spacious villa, Mom and Dad threw him a grand birthday party. Archer was dressed in a custom-made suit. He looked polished and elegant.

"My precious son, you look so handsome!" Dad exclaimed as he looked at him. Admiration filled his eyes. "You look just like me when I was young."

The happiness in Archer's eyes was practically oozing. The birthday cake on the dining table had five tiers, and it was covered in fresh flowers. In the corner of the living room were stacks of birthday gifts.

What a beautiful, happy scene. What a cruel, heartbreaking paradox. We were both celebrating our birthdays, yet Archer had our parents by his side. I was all I had.

The chat was buzzing.

"Adam has no idea that those men were all set up by his mother."

"They come three times a month, like a fixed NPC triggering a storyline."

"Actually, every man his mom brought home was just for show, to see if he could control himself."

"Don't his parents feel even a little sorry for all the suffering he's gone through?"

Then came a pinned comment from the streamer.

"This is all part of an experiment to train him. I pay those men to put up an act, and he should be grateful for that. Once he finishes his finals, we'll take him home and make up for all the years he missed."

My hands shook as I held the phone. A bitter smile twisted my lips, but inside, all I felt was confusion and pain.