Chapter 1

For some reason or other, I managed to survive the poisoning. However, I soon discovered that the family that ostensibly saved me didn't seem happy about it after all.

"What do you mean that Dexter is my younger brother now! I will only acknowledge Derek as my younger brother, and nobody else!"

"Who knows what sorts of horrible habits he's picked up while living in the slums? Why else would he keep threatening suicide like this? It's obvious that he's just trying to threaten us! He's trying to garner our pity so we'd feel sorry for him!"

The door was pushed open, and a tall young man walked in. He was Dominic Richmond, the eldest son of the family, and apparently, my elder sibling now. He was also the one who said all that earlier.

A younger-looking teenager was right behind him, wearing a white shirt and looking very spick and span. That was Derek Richmond, the Richmond family's adopted youngest son.

Derek's eyes were red and teary as he looked at me fearfully. "Dexter… You're finally awake… It's all my fault. I shouldn't have said such bad things about you."

Dominic patted Derek's shoulders comfortingly before turning to glare coldly at me. "I'm warning you, Dexter Richmond. You'd better behave yourself now that you're back with us. Derek is the most important person in this family, so you'd better put away that pitiful act and suicide threats.

"If you still insist on dying, then make sure you're far enough so none of us can ever see you again. Don't you dare leave a single stain on our family!"

I pulled out the IV needle in the back of my hand, and fresh blood poured out from the wound. I looked at Dominic and nodded obediently. "Okay. I understand."

He frowned as if his eyes had been pricked by the sight of my blood.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Going farther away to die," I said, pushing the covers off and trying to get out of bed.

However, since my lungs had been badly injured, I couldn't stop coughing as soon as I started to move. The blood dripped down from my hand onto the floor in a terrifying manner.

Dominic's expression changed. Meanwhile, Derek yelled, "Dexter! You're bleeding!"

Just then, my mom, Jenna Dalton, rushed into the ward and saw what was happening. She shoved Dominic aside and quickly put me back in bed.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to drive him to his death? Are you only going to be happy if he's dead?"

Dominic was frozen to the ground. He stared at the blood on the floor for a while and cursed.

"What a lunatic."

…

I was brought back to the Richmond villa after being discharged from the hospital.

They had a massive seafood spread that night for dinner. Derek was seated right between my parents as he dished out the seafood platters to everyone at the table.

"Here's your portion, Dad, and Mom's, and Dominic's…"

They looked like a happy family of four. Meanwhile, I felt just like an outsider, staring at the food on the table and not quite knowing what to do.

"Here, have some shrimp," Derek suddenly said, placing a peeled shrimp on my plate. "I peeled it myself. This is the freshest colossal shrimp flown in from abroad. It tastes really sweet. I bet you've never had it before since you lived in the countryside."

He smiled innocently at me, but I knew that he was doing this on purpose.

I'd done a full-body check-up at the hospital before, and the doctor specifically told me that I was deathly allergic to seafood, which would cause asphyxiation and ultimately death if I wasn't careful. And he'd been there too, listening.

I just stared at the peeled shrimp on my plate.

"Why aren't you eating it?" Dominic demanded, glaring fiercely at me. "What the hell are you putting on airs for when Derek was kind enough to peel the shrimp for you? What, you think it's too dirty for someone like you?"

I looked up at Mom. However, she was busy wiping sauce from Derek's mouth, and she wasn't looking at me at all. Dad was also staring intently at his phone instead.