Chapter 3

He let the sentence trail off, as though he were reluctant to reveal some terrible secret.

"Logan, tell me what you know," Mom urged. "I'm here. Elliot won't dare do anything to you."

"I think he has a girlfriend. I see them together at school all the time."

Mom's anger flared at once.

"Really? He's already sneaking around with girls at his age? Just wait until he comes home!"

Dad nodded gravely.

"Don't you start copying him, Logan."

Logan nodded like the obedient son they thought he was.

I'd watched this scene unfold too many times to count. Anything Logan said became the truth the moment it left his mouth. I was never given a chance to explain. They never even seemed curious enough to ask.

Finding out what was actually happening in my life would have taken time, and I wasn't worth theirs.

Because of his injuries, Logan had been excused from school for several days. His grades were always near the bottom of the class, so naturally he planned to make the most of his new excuse to stay home.

I had tried countless times to leave the house since my death.

I couldn't.

Wherever Mom went, an invisible tether dragged my spirit after her.

She made a bowl of rich, expensive bone broth and carried it upstairs for Logan. I'd never tasted anything like it.

Mom had always hidden the premium supplements away, terrified I might sneak a bite.

We were both their biological sons. Yet we might as well have been born into different families.

When I first returned from the mountains, she had tried to make up for the lost years. Back then, she'd been generous to me too.

But my return threatened Logan's position as the center of the household. More than that, he was terrified I would reveal who had lured me into the woods in the first place.

So he scribbled all over Mom's designer bags.

He deleted important work files from Dad's computer.

Then he blamed me for everything.

From then on, I was the ill-mannered mountain kid. The ungrateful son who couldn't be properly raised. Everyone around me said I had no upbringing.

Mom opened Logan's bedroom door.

It was empty.

She called for him a few times before discovering him in my room.

"Logan? What are you doing in Elliot's room?"

I followed her gaze.

My belongings had been thrown everywhere. Drawers were open, clothes scattered, and there was barely enough clear floor to stand on.

Among the mess lay a photograph of Grandpa Hale and me, taken back in the mountains. He was the man who saved my life.

Logan looked up, his eyes filling with tears.

"Mom, can I have this room instead? Can we switch?"

When I'd first come home, Mom had given me the large bedroom to make up for the years I'd missed. Logan had thrown a fit about it then, but she had refused him.

It was the one and only time I remembered her saying no to him for my sake.

Now she saw his tears and hurried forward with her bowl of broth.

"Of course, sweetheart. It's yours. I'll have someone straighten everything up today. You can move in over the next couple of days."

Logan smiled through his tears, but he wasn't finished.

"What about Elliot? Where will he sleep?

"I have so much stuff, I don't think it'll all fit in just one room. I'll need to keep my old bedroom for a while too."

So that was the plan. He wanted both rooms.

Mom didn't hesitate.

"The housekeeper's room downstairs is free. She went home to visit family this month. Elliot can move in there."

My chest went cold.

I should have expected it.

I had less standing in this house than the woman they paid to clean it. At least she received basic respect.

I got an endless stream of insults and dirty looks.

Satisfied, Logan nodded happily.

I thought the spectacle was finally over.

Then his eyes landed on the photograph on the floor.

He picked it up and showed Mom.

"Is this Elliot with that poor old man from the mountains?"

Mom gave it a disgusted glance.

"Ugh, how disgusting. I bet that old man kidnapped him in the first place.

"Only an idiot like your brother would mistake a child trafficker for his savior."