Chapter 1

A full week after the earthquake, I finally made it home, covered in cuts and bruises.

Music was blasting through the house, and the place was packed with relatives and family friends.

They were throwing a party to celebrate Mom, Dad, and Alistair surviving the disaster.

When my parents saw me, their expressions were hard to read.

When the earthquake struck, they had remembered everything except me.

Mom's eyes reddened, and she pulled me into a tight hug.

"Oh, Bennett... what you've been through..."

There was a time when I would've given anything for that hug.

Now I just took two steps back, put some distance between us, and said politely, "Thanks for your concern."

Mom froze, her arms still open.

Alistair shot me a look full of malice.

A second later, his voice came out small and wounded.

"Dad... Mom... I'm sorry. This is all my fault. If you hadn't been so busy saving me, Bennett wouldn't have gotten hurt...

"Bennett, go ahead and hit me if you want. Just please don't pick today of all days to come back and embarrass Mom and Dad. I'm the one who owes you..."

A few words from him were all it took for the guilt on Dad's face to harden into fury.

"You picked today, of all days, to show up, right in the middle of our party? Do you want everyone to think we abused you?

"You're barely an adult, and you're already this manipulative! You're nothing like my son!"

I stared at him in disbelief. This was my own biological father.

I had spent five days trapped in the pitch-dark rubble with no food and no water.

There was nothing but endless fear.

As time passed, the cries all around me grew weaker and weaker.

When I thought I couldn't hold on any longer, I unlocked my phone to send my parents one last message.

Instead, I found more than a dozen posts from them.

"Blessed beyond words. Every one of us made it out safe!"

There were photos of Mom, Dad, and Alistair together in their cozy home, along with a dog, the picture of one big happy family.

Meanwhile, alone in the dark, I had used every ounce of strength I had to drag away one broken brick after another until my hands were raw and bloody, all for a narrow chance to survive.

In Dad's version, I had "picked" today on purpose, as if my fight to stay alive were some petty stunt.

Suddenly, I didn't want to explain anything. I turned and went to my room.

Behind me, Alistair's syrupy voice tried to comfort Dad.

"Don't be mad, Dad. Bennett just wasn't raised right when he was little, that's all. We have to be patient with him."

Dad snorted.

"I really regret ever bringing him back. He's not half as considerate as you, Alistair!"

Hiding in my room, I heard every word, and the tears I'd been holding back finally poured out.