Chapter 2

She always used the same sentence.

"You're the older brother."

With that one line, I had to shoulder so many things no child my age should ever have carried.

From then on, I never again knew what Mom's quilt smelled like, or what Mom's arms felt like.

"Miles... Miles catches mice... lots of mice... bad child..."

Grandpa was confused. He didn't recognize Mom. He only mumbled slowly to himself.

Mom stopped looking for me. Instead, she stared at the ruined house with disgust and muttered, "Still as naughty as when he was little. Not quiet and refined like Mason at all.

"All day long, he only knows how to catch mice. He makes the room dirtier than a dog kennel.

"Such a big child, and he still has no sense of hygiene.

"Always wanting to go to the city with me. Looking like this? Ugh..."

She let out a heavy sigh.

It was filled with disappointment in me.

My heart felt like it had a hole punched through it. The pain made even my soul tremble.

But Mom, I caught mice because there was nothing else to eat.

Grandpa and I were so hungry we were weak. We couldn't bear it anymore, so I went to catch mice.

To fight cats for those mice, my body was covered in crisscrossing scratches.

Even when I managed to grab one and roast it, I couldn't bear to eat it first.

I saved it for Grandpa. Only after Grandpa was full would I eat.

But Grandpa was never full.

Once, he was so hungry that he bit a chunk of flesh from my arm.

Even as a ghost, the missing bite on my arm was still sunken in.

Most families in the deep mountains had already moved away. Now, only Grandpa stayed in this broken house.

After I starved to death, Mr. Harper, who used to look after the village, thought my parents had taken me to the city.

Seeing how pitiful Grandpa was, he came by every week to bring food. Sometimes he came once every half month.

That was how Grandpa survived.

Helen couldn't bear the stink anymore. She retched in disgust.

She really couldn't stay. She hurriedly opened her exquisite designer handbag and pulled out five hundred dollars, placing it on the trash-covered table.

The dried-up food on the table was covered in flies and crawling with maggots.

Helen ran outside and vomited for a long time.

"Miles... bad child... bad child... give me mouse... big mouse..."

Grandpa chased after her barefoot, hunched over, with messy hair and a filthy face. He looked like a madman who had lived too long in the mountains.

Before he even came close, the thick stench had already filled the air.

Helen held out a hand to stop him. "Dad, don't come over. You stink!

"I left five hundred dollars on the table for you and Miles. Tell him to spend it carefully.

"I'll come to see him next time."

My soul followed her out and watched her disgusted expression numbly.

Just as she was about to hurry away, a video call came in on her phone.

The contact name was: Husband.