Chapter 1

My flesh had been shredded almost beyond recognition. It took the doctors at the hospital three days to wrestle me from the clutches of death.

As my wife, Regina Johnson, stared at my heavily bandaged body, pain flashed through her eyes.

She turned to Tyler Lowe and asked slowly, "What exactly happened between you and Calvin in the bathroom that day? He used to value his life so much. Why would he jump into a meat grinder just because someone stepped on him?"

Tyler's eyes darted around evasively as he replied in a wounded tone, "I have no idea. Cal went crazy out of nowhere that day. He called me a phony, saying that I was stealing his place. He said he wanted to kill me…"

My older sister, Calista Lowe, shielded Tyler behind her and shot me a vicious glare before saying, "Regina, Ty has always treated you like a sister. How can you suspect him like that?"

She turned back to me, her eyes filled with disgust. "Do you have no shame, Calvin? Ty has been nothing but good to you, yet you're resorting to a nasty trick like this to set him up!

"If you wanted to die so badly, why didn't you just smash your head into a wall or jump off a building? You obviously made this huge scene on purpose to gain sympathy!"

Recalling what the system told me, I swiftly nodded.

There were safety bars installed over the windows, so I couldn't jump from here. But if I smashed my head hard enough into the wall, I could finally be free.

I threw off the blanket and forced myself upright with sheer willpower. The bandages all over my body were soaked through with blood, yet it was as if I couldn't feel the pain anymore.

After taking a deep breath, I hurled myself at the wall with every ounce of strength I had left. The deafening bang echoed in the hospital room.

My skull split open instantly. Blood streamed down my face and blurred my vision. Collapsed on the floor, I touched the dent in my head, feeling wistful. What a shame I didn't die from that.

Just as I gathered my strength to charge at the wall again, Regina grabbed me and yanked me backward. For the first time in a long while, I heard panic and worry in her voice.

"Calvin! What are you doing?"

I opened my mouth and coughed up a huge mouthful of blood.

The next second, my parents rushed over and pulled me into their arms.

"Cal, w-what's wrong with you? You're breaking my heart!" Mom cried out.

With great effort, I forced my heavy eyelids to open and mustered a smile that looked worse than a grimace. "I'm fine, Mom."

Having recovered from the shock, Calista scoffed icily. "How long are you going to keep this act up, Calvin? You might fool Mom and Dad with your pathetic tricks, but you can't fool me! I bet you're just scared you'll get punished for hurting Ty, so you—"

Before she could finish, Dad cut her off with an enraged shout. "That's enough, Calista! What kind of a sister are you? Calvin is covered in blood, and his skull is shattered, yet you're still claiming he's just pretending?"

This was the first time Dad had ever yelled at Calista, his precious daughter, because of me. Her chest heaved violently as she stared at him in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Dad's gaze landed on Tyler next. "Explain the situation properly, Ty. What happened that day?"

Looking rather frightened, Tyler said sheepishly, "I already told you what happened, Dad. Even you don't believe me now?"

His eyes reddened as he deliberately exposed the wound on his hand and wiped away his tears. His gaze flickered, and he suddenly crumpled to the floor, bursting into anguished sobs.

"Don't be mad at Callie, Dad. It's all my fault… I framed Cal… I was jealous of him, so I falsely accused him of hurting me. I'm responsible for everything. I'll apologize to Cal. Just punish me instead…"

He cried so hard his voice turned hoarse, as though he had suffered the greatest injustice in the world. Alas, in their eyes, it made him look even more like someone so wronged he couldn't defend himself.

Everyone's expressions turned uneasy. Their gazes kept shifting between Tyler and me.

Regina's grip around me loosened slightly. She now had a conflicted look in her eyes. In the end, she pulled her hand away.

"Calvin, it doesn't matter who's right or wrong anymore. Everything started because of you. All you have to do is apologize to Ty, and this matter is settled…"

She hadn't even finished speaking when my parents also looked at me expectantly. They'd set up the stage for me and were now waiting for me to accept the "compromise" they'd laid out for me.

I remembered what Regina had said to me the day I got out of prison.

"If you ever lay a hand on Ty again, I'll…"

She hadn't finished the sentence, but I understood what she meant. She would cripple my hands.

Since they all insisted I had bullied Tyler, I should show some sincerity in my apology. I painfully crawled toward the fruit platter beside the bed and grabbed the fruit knife from it.

Before anyone could react, the blade had already plunged into my flesh. My wrist was sliced open, and blood splattered everywhere.

Using all the strength in my body, I viciously twisted the knife further into my flesh. A sickening crunch followed, and I could see my tendons being sawn apart.

The agony swept through my body like a tidal wave. My body shuddered violently before crashing heavily onto the floor.

Blood splattered across Calista's limited-edition high heels, and she screamed as she fell on her butt.

Tyler hid behind Mom, shaking.

Once my parents finally realized what had just happened, one fainted from fright while the other frantically shouted for a doctor.

The sound of their crying mixed with the shrill ringing of medical equipment, throwing the entire hospital room into chaos.

At that very moment, Regina was suddenly nowhere to be found.