Chapter 3

Phoebe saw how emotional I had become and reached out to grab my arm, but I shook her off immediately. Her expression darkened, and her tone grew harsher. “Is this how he taught you to talk back to your own mother? After everything he’s been through, he’s still as bitter and spiteful as ever.”

I almost laughed when I heard that. “Spiteful? My father and I spent years hiding from you, doing everything we could to stay out of your lives. Is that still not enough for you?”

Mom furrowed her brows. “This is between adults. You don’t understand.”

I let out a cold laugh. “I don’t understand? Yeah, you’re the one who understands best. You knew exactly how to throw us away.

Her eyes instantly turned cold. “When your father took you away, did he ever think about your future? He only took you to force me into giving in. Did he ever fulfill his responsibilities as a father?”

I looked at her in disbelief and let out a bitter laugh. “How can you even say that? Wasn’t it you who told us to get out of your life?”

She fell silent for a moment before quickly turning the blame back on me.

“You weren’t thinking clearly back then. I only wanted you to focus on your college entrance exams and stay out of adult matters. If you hadn’t gone there and caused a scene that day, things might not have turned out the way they did.”

I stared at her, feeling my heart grow colder with every word. Even now, she still thought I was the one at fault.

After that night, Dad came down with a high fever. His entire body trembled uncontrollably.

The next morning was the day exam results would be released. Even so, he forced himself out of bed and made me some food, telling me over and over not to be afraid and to check my scores with confidence.

Just as I was about to leave, Julian showed up. He brought a bag of fruit and pretended he had come to visit a classmate. My father did not want anything to do with him and was about to shut the door.

Suddenly, he dropped to his knees and burst into tears, loudly claiming that he was innocent and that all he wanted was a family. He cried so loudly that it quickly attracted our neighbors’ attention.

Before long, Mom and Phoebe arrived as well. They had not come to comfort Dad. They came to accuse my father and me of bullying Julian once again.

Dad was trembling with anger, so furious that he was on the verge of collapsing. Yet he still stood in front of me to protect me. “Get out! You’re not allowed to bully my son!”

Amid the chaos of the argument, Julian deliberately backed toward the kitchen. The next second, he knocked over the gas stove. The hot oil in the pan burst into flames, and the entire house was thrown into chaos.

Dad’s first instinct was not to save himself but to push me outside. He shoved me toward the doorway. When I looked back, all I saw was the fire illuminating his face in a crimson glow.

Julian smirked before running outside.

Mom and Phoebe rushed to protect him without hesitation. My father was the only one remaining trapped inside.

I went mad and tried to run back into the flames. I screamed for my father again and again. By the end of it, all that came from my throat were bloodied, rasping breaths.

It took our neighbors and the firefighters who had rushed to the scene to hold me back. I could only watch as my father collapsed into the flames. My face was badly burned, and my voice was ruined forever.

I stood numbly in the hospital when I received a call from my school. I had been admitted to one of the country’s most prestigious universities.

Dad survived after the emergency treatment. He held me in his arms and cried. I cried with him, overwhelmed with joy and relief.

From that day on, with the scholarship money the school awarded me, I was barely able to support our lives. Then, on the day I was supposed to leave for university, an accident happened.