Chapter 4

I watched the footage three times.

I downloaded the original video and made two backup copies.

I no longer expected Natalie to come back to me. But Joseph and Tina… They were still my biological parents.

They might have given in out of sympathy or blinded by gratitude to the man who had saved me, but surely they would not keep treating me this way once they saw the evidence?

I returned to the Wellington residence with my laptop.

Everyone was in the living room. Ryan was holding my mom's arm as they picked out wedding invitations, while my dad and Claire were discussing the project. Natalie was sitting beside him, peeling grapes for him.

I connected my laptop to the television. "Watch this. Then I want an explanation."

The footage began playing. Ryan's laughter filled the living room. Nobody spoke.

Claire moved first. She rushed over and unplugged the television.

The last image on the screen before it went black was Ryan's smug face. "Why do you still have access to the house's security footage?"

Dad's expression was dark. "Who else has seen this video?"

As I looked at them, what little hope I had began to fade. "Aren't you going to ask why he pretended to lose his memory?"

Without warning, Mom walked up to Ryan and slapped him hard across the face. The slap rang through the room. Ryan covered his cheek as tears sprang to his eyes.

I stood frozen. For the first time in three months, someone had taken my side.

Ryan dropped to his knees and clung to my mom's legs. "I was just scared! I was afraid you wouldn't want me anymore if I told the truth! Mom, ever since Leon came back, I have been afraid of you abandoning me. I really can't lose this family!"

Mom raised her hand, then rested it on his head. "Get up."

She helped Ryan to his feet and pulled him back into her arms. "I slapped you because you lied, but you still saved Leon's life."

My throat tightened. "And? He got his memory back and still kept my identity in the family and even my job. You even took over my engagement party with Natalie for a performance just for him. Aren't you going to give me an explanation?"

Dad spoke in a low growl.

"The engagement party is over, and the company has publicly named Ryan as our son. Exposing this now would only make our family a laughingstock. Our business partners are watching this project. If we admit Ryan was pretending to have amnesia all along, who would ever trust us again?"

Claire finally admitted she had noticed that Ryan remembered things from after I came home.

Natalie spoke at last. "I told you nothing is going to change about our engagement. Once Ryan's situation is resolved, we'll still go ahead with our wedding."

She looked at me calmly, as if that could erase everything that had happened at the engagement party.

They had known something was wrong all along. Not one of them had been willing to expose him.

Mom took out her phone and drafted a public statement right in front of me. According to the statement, Ryan had only gradually recovered his memory after the engagement party.

He would still be the only son the family acknowledged in public. The plans for the wedding and the project would stay the same. As for me, I was expected to keep playing the same absurd role…

An orphan the family financially supported.

"Leon, you're our biological son." My mom's eyes filled with tears as she pleaded. "You'll always be our son, blood is stronger than water. Why do you have to fight Ryan over all this?"

I looked at her for a long time. "I understand now."

They all breathed a sigh of relief. None of them understood what I meant.

I went back to my old room, which had already been emptied. A dust cover lay over the mattress, and only a few empty hangers remained in the closet.

I didn't leave right away. I lay on the dust cover, staring at the overseas flight booking on my phone.

One way.

Five days earlier, I had still thought I might come home someday.

Now, I canceled the seat I had tentatively reserved for a return flight.

At midnight, the family's official account published its statement. Ryan had regained his memory. The wedding would proceed as planned.

My name did not appear anywhere.