Chapter 3

When the belt was held out in front of me, I still had not recovered from the shock.

Before, if I so much as tripped, Dad would blame himself for a month. Mom had always treated me like the light of her life. If anyone in Halverton said a single word against me, Marisa always had my back.

Now the three of them were going to punish me for the sake of someone who had been part of this family for less than a year?

"Mom, Dad! If he has to be punished, let me do it! I don't want Ezra to hate you!"

Tobias sounded sincere, but the look he gave me was smug.

I dug my fingers into my palms and forced the words out through gritted teeth. "If you don't believe me, check the security footage in Grandpa's room!"

Marisa let out a cold laugh. "Even now, you're still trying to frame Tobias? Tobias, get up. I'll do it myself."

Before she could move, Tobias raised his hand and brought the belt down across my back. It cracked through the air with a sharp snap, and the pain made me double over instantly.

"Hang in there, Ezra. If Mari were the one doing this, you'd be dead!"

His words were gentle, but every blow was brutal enough to nearly kill me. I clenched my jaw and swallowed the metallic taste of blood again and again. By the time all 99 lashes were over, my face had gone deathly pale, and I collapsed onto the floor.

Mom and Dad looked conflicted, and Marisa was the first to soften her voice.

"Does it really hurt that much? Tobias went easy on you in front of everyone. What more do you want? I'll take you to the hospital."

Suddenly, Tobias whined, "Mari, my hand hurts so much from hitting him."

She had been walking toward me, but she turned away at once. Once again, the three of them fussed over Tobias as they left.

I lay curled up on the floor, my back covered in a horrifying crisscross of bloody welts.

The butler, Stanley Rusk, inhaled slowly and spoke, "Mr. Ezra, if you had just apologized like you used to, none of this would've happened."

A bitter smile tugged at my lips. I slowly lifted my head and looked at the family portrait on the wall. I was the only one missing from it.

In my past life, I had endured every step of the way. I endured until I lost my leg. I endured three years of bullying and ridicule at community college.

I endured until the boy genius I had once been was reduced to selling burgers from a street cart. Had they given me a chance back then?

Stanley took me to the hospital. When the doctor saw the wounds covering my back, he could hardly bear to look.

"How did your back end up like this? Where's your family? Didn't anyone call the police?"

I shook my head in silence. Family? I had lost mine the day Tobias came home.

On my way back to my room, I passed Tobias' door and suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Mari, so what you're saying is, if Ezra doesn't call off the engagement, you'll have someone break his leg while he's working his part-time job in college?

"Knowing Ezra, he'll decide he's not good enough for you. Mari, you're brilliant!"

I froze on the spot as a cold, dead hatred swept through me. So in my past life, the drunk driver who crushed my leg had been Marisa's doing.

Tears welled in my eyes. I pressed a hand to my chest and laughed until my vision blurred. To think I had believed Marisa truly did not mind what I had become. We had been childhood friends for ten years, and none of it had meant a thing to her.

I returned to my room in a daze.

Not long after, Marisa came in carrying a bowl of soup. "It's your favorite. You've been through a lot today."

I did not touch it. I only stared at her, my eyes red.

"Marisa, let's break up."

The bowl slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor.

She looked up, stunned. "What did you say?"

I repeated it calmly. "We're breaking up. Do you not understand?"

Her eyes suddenly reddened, and she gripped my wrist hard, biting out every word. "Ezra, say that one more time. I dare you."

I was about to, but a young nurse hurried over with a frown. "Your boyfriend needs his IV put back in. What are you doing in here?"

Marisa gave me a conflicted look, then left without a moment's hesitation.

There it was. Even something as big as a breakup meant nothing next to Tobias.

Over the next few days, news of Tobias scoring 1,520 on the SAT spread all over Halverton. Rich kids from the city's elite circles came and went from the Kerr estate every day, while I stayed in the hospital to recover.

Every now and then, Marisa sent me a text, the way someone might try to coax a stubborn dog back to heel. I ignored her and blocked her number.

It was not until Tobias's send-off party that he came over with his arm around Marisa. At the time, I was helping a woman fit her prosthetic leg.

Seeing how practiced my movements were, Marisa let out an angry laugh.

"It’s no wonder you've been ignoring me. You already found my replacement."

With no regard for my reputation, she sneered at the woman. "Ezra gave me his first time a long time ago. You're just the nice girl picking up my leftovers."

I raised my eyes and calmly set down the tools in my hand. "Marisa, when your mind is in the gutter, everything looks dirty to you."

"Excuses." Marisa scoffed, but her eyes stayed locked on me.

"The reporters are going to interview Tobias in a bit. When they ask you questions, you'd better answer the way you're supposed to. Otherwise, I really will think about breaking up with you."

Tobias stuck his tongue out at me smugly.

As I watched him get carried away with himself, I remembered that Marisa had threatened me the same way in my past life. I had been so afraid she would really leave me that I agreed to cover for Tobias in front of the reporters.

That same day, I had worked out a second solution to one of the world's hardest math problems, yet all the credit went to Tobias. He became famous overnight, while I was branded a cheater for the rest of my life.

This time, that would not happen.