Chapter 1

Cole's POV

Dr. Freedman stood in front of me with a grim look on his face, sighing again and again.

"It's pretty rare for someone your age to have this condition. It's mainly because your legs were repeatedly broken and left to heal without proper medical care…"

He sat down and carefully explained my treatment options. But my cochlea had been damaged to the point of intermittent deafness from all the repeated beatings, and I couldn't hear a word at the moment.

I only managed to catch the last part.

"If we start treatment right away, we can still keep it under control for a few more years. Talk it over with your family and decide which treatment plan you want to go with."

Family? After six years at an orphanage, hearing that word still sent a jolt through me.

I shook my head and smiled through tears.

"I don't have a family."

Dr. Freedman's pen froze midair. He looked over the scars covering my body, then tried to offer some gentle advice.

"Look, son, even if you fought with your family, running away isn't the answer. The world can be cruel, and you'll suffer out there.

"Your sister will be here soon. Whatever it is, just talk things out."

I lowered my head in silence. Maybe, once upon a time, my home really had been my safe haven.

But the moment my older sister, Savannah Shepherd, branded me the fake Shepherd son and dumped me at an orphanage just for Joey Shepherd's sake, I no longer had a home.

And there was no way she would care about me now, either.

I stared blankly at the ceiling. Just as I was about to turn over, the door suddenly flew open.

"Cole Shepherd! When are you going to stop? You couldn't reach me, so you deliberately hurt yourself to make me come see you?"

Savannah's familiar voice left me stunned for a moment.

So, all those times I had been beaten within an inch of my life by delinquents and had no choice but to call her, begging her to let me leave the orphanage, she had known I was the one calling.

She just hadn't wanted to answer.

I lowered my head and laughed bitterly. When I finally looked up, my bloodshot eyes met hers. I squared my shoulders and gritted my teeth.

"So what? You were so afraid I'd keep bothering you that you wouldn't even answer my calls? You just hate me—your own flesh and blood—that much?"

Her eyes widened and slowly reddened as she clenched her fists tighter and tighter.

We both knew exactly what this was about, and we remained locked in a tense standoff.

Finally, Savannah unclenched her fists and lowered her head, looking deflated.

"I only did this so Joey could have a happy childhood. You were already living a very good life, but his mother died because of our family.

"Taking care of him was a promise I made to his mother. And you've always been overbearing and bullied him, so I had no choice."

I nodded with a knowing smile, but the pain in my heart multiplied a thousandfold.

So, just so Joey could have a happy childhood, I deserved to be dumped in an orphanage, bullied and ostracized until I wished I were dead, and end up with bone cancer?

I held back my tears and spoke up again.

"What about Mom and Dad?"

She knitted her brows, but her face was devoid of any other emotion.

"We made the decision together. But we've already agreed to bring you home once Joey's emotional state stabilizes."

I thought I could accept it calmly, but hearing it directly from her mouth was a different story.

The bloody truth still slammed into my heart like a sledgehammer.

So the whole family knew. Yet, they were perfectly at ease letting me suffer just for the sake of Joey, our housekeeper's son.

My tears finally broke free.

I wished I really were the fake son of the family. I would rather have frozen to death outside that day.

At least then, maybe it wouldn't hurt this much.