Chapter 3

Derek wasn't afraid in the slightest. He threw his head back and laughed.

"Isaac, there's nothing you can do to me!"

I glared at him. If looks could kill, he would've already been cut into a thousand pieces.

His expression darkened. "I don't like the way you're looking at me."

Before I could even react, he slapped himself hard across the face. My own cheek instantly burned with pain, and I reflexively let go of his collar.

He jeered, "You'll never escape me, Isaac. Get on your knees and apologize. Say you're a worthless mutt. Maybe then I'll let you off."

I clenched my fists tightly.

I couldn't die here. The first national college entrance examination would be held the very next day. It was my only chance.

My maternal grandparents had been falsely accused, and they were still waiting for me to clear their names. I had to get back to the city.

Lowering my head to hide the reluctance in my eyes, I dropped to my knees before Derek. My legs, which had stood straight and proud my entire life, buckled with a thud.

I said pleadingly, "Derek, please let me off."

Derek's unrestrained laughter rang out above my head. He untied his pants and urinated on me.

The urine dripped from my hair onto the ground. I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug into my palms. Still, I didn't lash out.

Derek said, "Strip naked and run around the village. Let everyone see how pathetic you are. If you do that, I'll agree to let you work for me from now on."

A wave of burning heat rushed to my face and ears due to the sheer humiliation. His outlandish demand made my scalp tingle.

His taunting continued. "You won't do it? Then I'll work in the fields every single day, 24 hours a day. I don't need sleep, and I never get tired. The real question is whether you can survive."

I bit my lower lip until it bled.

But when I thought about my miserable death in my previous life, and my disabled mother still waiting for me to clear my grandparents' names…

I dragged my heavy feet forward with great difficulty. My hands felt immensely heavy. It took what felt like half an hour just to undo the buttons on the front of my shirt.

There were still quite a few people who were outside enjoying the cool evening air. When they saw me wandering naked through the village, they all cursed me for being shameless. They covered their children's eyes and hurried their wives back into their homes.

By the time I reached the end of the village's main street, I had become numb to the humiliation.

There was only one thought left in my mind. "Mom is still waiting for me. I have to survive."

Derek kept his word.

The next day, he stayed home to rest. My body felt perfectly normal.

Just as I relaxed and focused on taking the college entrance exam and carefully answered the questions, my right arm suddenly broke.

The pen slipped from my hand.

My heart skipped a beat. I'd signed up for the exam in secret. So, no one should have known.

But before I could think any further, it felt as though someone had punched me hard in the stomach. I collapsed onto the floor.

The proctors sent me to the infirmary and notified my family to come pick me up.

The moment Dad arrived, he slapped me across the face furiously.

He scolded, "How can I have such a shameless son? I was only away for one day, and you had the nerve to run naked through the village. And now you've secretly come to take the college entrance exam? Who gave you the money? Did that crippled mother of yours stow away some money for you?

"Hand it over right now!"

Dad dragged me to the school gate and beat me viciously. The emotional pain, combined with my old injuries, caused me to pass out on the spot.

When I woke up again, I was lying in my own bed.

Mom sat beside me. She was crying so hard that she could go blind.

"Isaac, I only want you to be healthy and safe. I don't want anything else," she sobbed.

Seeing how much Mom cared about me, I thought about what had happened in my previous life.

When my body had finally been discovered, everyone else had avoided it in disgust. Only my disabled mom had crawled all the way from home to the fields, lifted me onto her back, and crawled home again. A trail of blood stained the entire path.

A throbbing pain pounded at my temples. If I was going to die anyway, I might as well take Derek down with me.

In the middle of the night, I took a sickle and pried open the door to Derek's room. Without hesitation, I brought the blade down onto the bed.