Chapter 2

"Jonah, where are you going?" Lenora asked.

"I'm staying in the dorms," I said flatly, folding my clothes without even looking up.

Lenora frowned in confusion. "Is this all because of Kenneth?"

I stuffed the last T-shirt into my suitcase. "Building a good foundation during my freshman year is important. I want to focus on my studies."

I paused, then added, "Kenneth can have this room from now on."

In my past life, Kenneth made all kinds of flimsy excuses to take my room.

First, he claimed he was afraid of the dark and that the guest room was too far out of the way. Then he said he wanted his room to be closer to Mom and Dad's so he could bond with them.

Eventually, he resorted to tears, saying my room got more sunlight and that he needed it to regulate his mood.

Every time I refused, Mom and Dad accused me of being petty, immature, and selfish.

Since the outcome was inevitable anyway, why waste my energy? Where I lived made no difference to me anymore.

Lenora was quiet for a few seconds before asking, "Jonah, do you dislike Kenneth?"

I stopped what I was doing and looked up at her. "I don't like him or dislike him. I just think it's less of a hassle this way."

She stared at me for a long moment, then finally patted my head. "Jonah, I know this is sudden, and you might need time to adjust to having someone new in the family. But you have to believe that even with a new little brother here, the love Mom, Dad, and I have for you will never change."

They'd never change, huh? My mind drifted for a second.

I'd ranked first in my grade, and all Dad had said was, "Not bad. Keep it up."

But when Kenneth went from fifth from the bottom of his class to tenth from the bottom, the whole family celebrated like it was a holiday, showering him with praise for improving by leaps and bounds.

When I got hurt and ended up in the hospital, Mom and Dad had the housekeeper look after me, claiming they were too busy with work to step away.

But when Kenneth came down with a cold and a fever, they took turns taking time off work and staying by his bedside.

Mom's eyes even turned red as she said, "Kenneth has been through so much since he was little. We have to treat him twice as well from now on."

I pushed the memories aside and forced a faint smile. "Okay. Got it."

After Lenora left, I reached into the back of my closet and pulled out a finely crafted wooden box.

It was a music box Grandpa had made for me by hand before he passed away. Sadly, in my past life, Kenneth had smashed it to pieces.

For the first time, I got so angry that I hit him. He ran to Mom and Dad in tears to tell them how badly he'd been treated.

"I… I'd just never seen such a pretty music box before," he sobbed. "I wanted to pick it up and play with it, but Jonah yelled at me and wouldn't let me touch it. I got scared, so I accidentally dropped it and broke it. Mom, I really didn't mean to."

Without asking a single question, Mom laid into me. "Jonah, how could you treat your little brother like that? It's just a music box. Can't you show a little understanding?"

Right. It was just a music box.

But they forgot how much I treasured it. It was the last thing Grandpa left me to remember him by.

I closed the lid and gently placed it at the very bottom of my suitcase. I was taking this last keepsake with me.

…

At 6:00 pm, Mom knocked on my door. "Jonah, come down for dinner."

Her tone was deliberately upbeat, as if she were working hard to create a warm, cozy atmosphere. "It's Kenneth's first meal here, so let's all sit down together for a family welcome dinner."

I closed the book in my hands and went downstairs.

An expensive feast lay on the dining table, but when I walked up, I stopped short.

Kenneth had taken my usual seat, the one between Mom and Lenora. Wearing a crisp new white shirt, he sat there looking sweet and well-behaved, like a carefully tended flower.

Almost all the dishes on the table were crowded together right in front of him.