Chapter 3

Victor tested me after I opened the door. "We're going to a party later tonight. Are you ready?"

I stared at him blankly. "What are you talking about, Dad? What party?"

Victor smiled, but he quickly hid his smile. "Ethan, you've lost your memory again."

He took my hand. "Come on. I'll bring you to the hospital for a checkup."

My heart skipped a beat. If he took me to the doctor, would the doctor not expose everything?

Fortunately, the doctor only examined me once before saying in confusion, "Strange, but this is good news. The memory loss hasn't affected him enough to the point of causing any mental impairment or complete lobotomization."

Victor asked, "So, even if he loses his memory a few more times, he'll be fine, right?"

The doctor nodded, and Victor hurried outside. When I went out of the consultation room, I heard him whispering over the phone, covering it with his hand as he said to someone, "This is great! The more times Ethan loses his memory, the more we can help Zach."

He had lowered his voice, but when he saw me come out, he quickly hung up.

I tried not to sob and asked, "Dad, I think I heard you mention someone named Zach. Who is Zach?"

Victor's expression shifted, but he still forced out a smile. "Oh, after your accident, that boy kept us company for a few years. He's your younger brother now. I'll introduce you to him another day."

I nodded and said nothing.

Zachary Jackson was the young man who had once looked almost exactly like my old self. When I woke up and saw that he had nearly replaced me, I had been heartbroken for a long time.

Both Victor and Nora worried that I would overthink things, so they had sent him away and promised never to contact him again. But now, it seemed that was not true at all.

Zachary was gone, yet they had been sacrificing me all along to somehow empower him.

After we got home, Mia brought over a glass of water. "You. Drink."

It had been a long time since Mia had called me her brother or by my name.

I watched her repeatedly signal to Dad with her eyes, and my instinct told me there was something wrong with the water. But the memory of them forcing the drink down my throat whenever I refused made my hand tremble as I reached for the glass.

As soon as I turned around, I quietly poured all the water onto my clothes. Then, I pulled my coat tightly around myself and hurried back to my room.

Behind me, Dad asked Mia, "Did you mix in all the drugs earlier?"

"Don't worry, Dad. I put in everything you made earlier," Mia said.

I slammed the door shut as I panted. Before long, someone pounded on my door. "Ethan, open the door!"

I opened it and pretended to be half awake. I was about to say something when I suddenly clutched my throat. I forced out a hoarse sound, panic all over my face.

The doubt on Victor's face disappeared as he simply turned and left.

Then, while he was not paying attention, I followed him in secret. In my parents' bedroom, a man who looked almost exactly like my old self was floating in the air.

That was Zachary, the man who now looked even more like me.

Nora looked anxious as she asked, "What's going on? We clearly made him lose his voice."

Disappointment filled Zachary's eyes. "What am I supposed to do about tomorrow's competition?"

Dad felt bad for him, and he urgently said, "Just give us a little more time, Zach. We'll find a way to transfer his system to you. Once that's done, everything will be over."

I returned to my room in a daze as everything I had just seen kept replaying in my mind.

What exactly was going on?

I fell asleep in a daze.

The next day, a mechanical voice in my head woke me up.

'Host! You finally remember me!'