Chapter one: The Suffocation.

The smog was everywhere.

It pressed down from the sky like a living thing—thick, gray, and poisonous—wrapping the city in silent death. Visibility was less than a meter. Every breath burned like acid, tearing through the lungs and leaving behind a metallic taste of blood.

Leonard Bane stumbled toward the iron gate, his legs weak, his vision swimming.

He had already been outside too long.

Inside the villa, the lights were still on.

Leonard raised his trembling hand and banged on the door with what little strength he had left.

“Mom… please…”

His voice came out hoarse, broken by violent coughing.

“I just need a mask. Just one.”

Inside, the soundproof door muffled his pleas, but not completely.

A moment later, it opened.

Warm air rushed out, carrying with it the low hum of air purifiers and the faint scent of disinfectant. Leonard inhaled greedily, but before relief could settle, a sharp slap landed across his face.

“Are you insane?” Mrs. Bane shouted, her eyes blazing with fury. “At a time like this, you’re still trying to compete for attention?”

Leonard staggered back, stunned.

“I—I can’t breathe…”

“Do you have any idea what state your brother is in?” she snapped. “Ethan has weak lungs! Do you want him to die just so you can live?”

Behind her, Ethan Bane lay on the sofa, wrapped in layers of thermal blankets, an oxygen mask fitted snugly over his face. Multiple air filters were running beside him, their green indicator lights glowing steadily.

Leonard’s clothes were gone.

All of them.

They had stripped him down earlier—jacket, sweater, even his scarf—claiming Ethan needed them more.

Leonard looked at his younger brother.

Ethan met his gaze and frowned slightly, as if troubled. “Brother… just endure it for tonight,” he said softly. “Once this passes, everything will be fine again. You’re still my good older brother.”

Leonard laughed.

Or rather, he tried to. What came out was a broken wheeze.

Mrs. Bane’s patience snapped. “Enough. I’ll teach you a lesson you won’t forget.”

She shoved him backward.

The door slammed shut.

The locks clicked into place.

Leonard stood there, staring at the solid steel barrier separating him from warmth, air, and life.

The smog swallowed him whole.

He collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest as his lungs screamed for oxygen that didn’t exist. His vision darkened at the edges, stars bursting behind his eyes.

So this was how it ended.

He remembered the day he was brought into the Bane family—an adopted child, told he was chosen, loved. For a few short years, he had believed it.

Then Ethan was born.

From that day on, Leonard understood his place.

A substitute.

A temporary replacement until the real heir arrived.

He had worked hard. Obeyed. Sacrificed. Gave up opportunities so Ethan could shine. He thought—foolishly—that one day, they might truly accept him.

Until tonight.

The smog burned deeper.

Leonard’s consciousness began to fade.

If…

If I could live again…

His fingers curled into the dirt.

I would never beg.

I would make every one of you regret it.

Darkness swallowed him whole.

Leonard jolted awake.

He sucked in a sharp breath—and froze.

The air was clean.

No burning. No choking. No suffocating pressure in his chest.

Sunlight streamed through the half-open curtains, warm and gentle. Outside the window, the sky was a clear, ordinary blue.

Leonard sat up abruptly, his heart pounding.

This was his room.

His bedroom in the Bane family villa.

He rushed to his phone on the nightstand and unlocked it with shaking fingers. The date glared back at him.

Fifteen days before the smog outbreak.

Leonard stared at the screen for a long time.

Then, slowly, he laughed.

Not hysterically. Not loudly.

Coldly.

“So… I’m back.”

His panic faded, replaced by an unnerving calm. He remembered everything now—the warning signs, the news reports dismissed as rumors, the first hour when the air turned deadly.

This time, he had time.

Time to prepare.

Time to secure money.

Time to build a sealed shelter.

Time to control the one thing everyone would soon beg for—

Air.

But before all that, there was one thing he had to do.

Leonard’s eyes hardened.

Cut ties.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Leonard,” Mrs. Bane’s voice called sharply. “Come out. There’s something you need to know.”

An ominous chill slid down his spine.

He opened the door and walked into the living room.

Ethan was there.

So was her.

The woman Leonard had been dating—standing far too close to his younger brother, her hand resting naturally on Ethan’s arm.

Mrs. Bane spoke as if discussing the weather. “We don’t think your relationship was appropriate. Ethan and she suit each other better.”

She glanced at Leonard. “You don’t mind, right?”

In his past life, Leonard had pleaded.

This time, he felt nothing.

“That’s fine,” he said calmly.

Everyone froze.

Leonard continued, his tone steady. “In that case, I’ll also terminate my adoption with the Bane family. I’ll move out today.”

Silence crashed down on the room.

Mrs. Bane stared at him in disbelief.

Ethan’s expression finally cracked.

Leonard smiled faintly.

The discarded son had just walked away.

And the apocalypse hadn’t even begun yet