Chapter 3

The door to my room soon opened.

"Logan, breakfast is ready."

I dragged myself out of the room on my trembling legs. The dining table was covered with all sorts of dishes, and the guests had already sat down.

I looked at Mom. "Can I eat now?"

Mom seemed confused. "Of course. You're making it sound like we didn't let you eat."

As soon as she finished speaking, I rushed into the kitchen and started devouring from the trash can. But all I found in there was kitchen scraps.

Everyone stared in disbelief as I stuffed fish scales, rotten vegetable leaves, and eggshells into my mouth. Their faces were filled with disgust.

A hand grabbed my collar and yanked me up.

I looked up to see Dad's face turning an angry shade of blue. "Who taught you to eat this stuff?"

He slapped me hard across the face and roared, "Are you trying to embarrass me on purpose?"

I didn't react, just numbly swallowed the "food" in my mouth.

Mom tried to get closer, but the fishy smell clinging to me made her stop in her tracks.

Noticing something was off, she looked at me with concern. "Logan, what's wrong with you?"

Then, one of our relatives asked, "Is that Logan? How did he turn out like this? He's actually eating trash? Those human traffickers are worse than animals!"

Mom and Dad froze when they heard that.

They'd always avoided talking about the time I was kidnapped.

After all, it was because of their argument and their threat to abandon me that they left me at the trash station in the neighborhood.

As a result, I was really taken by human traffickers.

They never wanted to admit their mistake, so they quickly adopted Jake and acted like nothing ever happened.

Now, they were starting to realize the consequences.

Dad released me, and I fell back to the ground.

But I still felt hungry, so I crawled over to pick up the leftovers I hadn't finished.

Mom tried to stop me, but I thought it was another member of the production team, so I bit down on her hand.

Mom screamed and covered her bloodied hand in shock. "You bit me?"

Jake rushed to shield her, glaring at me in disgust. "How could you do that to Mom?"

The relative who had spoken up earlier fell silent and looked at me as if I were some kind of monster.

Losing control of his anger, Dad walked over and kicked me aside.

He pointed down at me and shouted, "How dare you hurt your mom? I don't have a son like you!"

My throat went dry, and I couldn't say a word. I wanted to apologize, but the words stayed stuck in my chest.

The gathering ended on a sour note. To make me reflect on my actions, Dad locked me in the utility room.

In the dark, narrow space, I instinctively curled up against the wall.

Then, my foot hit a box, and I fell hard, knocking the box over and spilling its contents everywhere.

Panic set in.

If Mom and Dad found out I'd made another mistake, they might never want me again.

Suppressing the fear, I slowly crawled to the door and turned on the light.

As the room lit up, I saw the scattered items on the floor. There were old toys and clothes from my childhood.

At the bottom of the box was a family photo—Mom, Dad, and me, all smiling happily.

On the back of the photo, Mom had written, "I'll always love you, my dear Logan."

Tears started to fall uncontrollably as I clutched the photo tightly.

I thought they'd thrown it away a long time ago. It turned out that Mom and Dad hadn't given up on me. They still loved me.

A tiny spark of hope flickered in my chest.

What if I told them the truth? If they knew what I'd gone through on that show, would they understand my actions?

Just then, I overheard Mom and Dad talking outside the door.

Dad's voice was filled with frustration. "I just can't handle him anymore. How did we end up with a menace like this? It'd be better if he never came back!"

"Don't say that. He's still our son."

My gaze flickered when I heard Mom's voice.