Someone to Replace Me

My family's conversation continued inside the room.

"Zach said his stomach problem disappeared because it was transferred to Ethan back in this world two days ago. And now, Zach needs Ethan's voice for a singing competition. We need to find a way to make Ethan lose his voice…"

"Dad, can you make something that will ruin his voice? You made all the other drugs, anyway."

"..."

I couldn't help but stumble and almost fall on the ground, and the sound I made caught their attention.

My mom, Nora, opened the door and came out. Her expression was one full of concern. "Ethan, why didn't you tell us you were discharged?"

I looked at my family's worried faces, and I couldn't help but feel the stabbing pain in my heart.

Two days ago, my stomach had started hurting, and Lena hurried over with some medication. I had to admit that I was very touched at the time, but not long after I took it, I threw it all up as the reflux made the bile rise to my throat.

I curled up on the floor in pain, and my younger sister Mia quickly helped me up and took me to the hospital.

As I was being carried past the table, I glimpsed what my dad, Victor, had left on the table. It looked like a mixture of several different powders, with a few filled capsules lying beside it. They looked exactly like the ones I had swallowed earlier.

Back then, I did not understand what that meant. Now that I had heard them mention "making drugs", I understood it.

I bit my lip and shook my head. "It's nothing. I'm going back to my room to take a rest."

After I turned around the corner, I heard Lena whisper to the others. "Is his memory going to return again? I'll bring him the drug that causes the memory loss tonight."

A tear rolled down my cheek.

I closed my bedroom door and slowly sank to the floor. I had thought I was sick with amnesia. I had never imagined it was all a setup by the people closest to me.

In the past, my family had been willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to cure me.

Nora had even smiled as she patted my head. "Our Ethan is such a fine young man. Once you're feeling better, we'll travel around the world, okay?"

I nodded.

But later that day, I was taken to the police station. They questioned me about hundreds of thousands in unpaid fraudulent loans and whether the credit bureaus had already blacklisted me. After that, I was no longer able to take out any new loans, and even traveling overseas became difficult.

However, I had no memory of that period. When I asked what had happened, the officer was about to answer, but Victor cut him off. "I'm sorry for the trouble, Officer. We'll make sure to teach him a lesson when we get home. We'll also repay the money."

I was then taken away while I was still completely confused.

Still, Victor simply said, "It's fine. We can drive ourselves."

However, he had let out a heavy sigh afterward. "We still have hundreds of thousands in loans to repay, but don't worry, Ethan. Your mother and I will handle it."

At the time, I had no memory of any of it and was haunted by my guilt. So, I did not ask him more about it.

But now...

I got back up to my feet and turned on my computer. Then, I quickly brought up the relevant loaning apps.

I found loans from several online loan apps, all created on the same day. Even the signature on the documents was crooked and barely legible.

It was clearly not my signature.