Chapter 3 The Scars That Exposed His Lies

With tears in my eyes, I was just about to tell Mom that I wouldn't marry Everly when I saw Kieran standing behind her. His face, which usually appeared so delicate and harmless, was twisted with hatred and malice.

Without warning, he thrust out his hands and shoved Mom down the stairs. The dull thud of her body hitting the ground became the nightmare that haunted me every day and night for the next eight years.

Kieran threw himself onto Mom's lifeless body, wailing as though his heart had been shattered.

When my sister came rushing over at the sound of the commotion, he screamed at her, "Mackenzie! It was Mason! He was arguing with Mom, and he shoved her!"

Mackenzie glanced at Kieran's reddened eyes.

Without even giving me a chance to explain, she immediately decided I was guilty. "Mason, you heartless monster! Mom loved you so much, and you actually laid your hands on her over something so trivial!"

I sobbed so hard I could barely catch my breath, desperately trying to explain. "I didn't! Kieran pushed her! Mackenzie, please believe me just this once. It really wasn't me!"

She violently shook off my hands, the disgust in her eyes threatening to consume me. "How am I supposed to believe you? You've been harassing Kieran every day lately. He's been doing everything he can to avoid you. Why would he hurt Mom? We must have been blind to raise a monster as consumed by jealousy as you!"

She didn't give me another chance to defend myself.

Instead, she ordered someone to lock me in the attic.

Kieran pressed himself against the door, his voice dripping with smug satisfaction. "Look at you, Mason. I'm the only boy of the family now. Why do you think Mackenzie distrusts you? I've been telling her how you bully me relentlessly simply because Everly doesn't love you.

"She's been thoroughly disappointed in you for a long time. Everything you've lost was always meant to be mine."

I screamed and sobbed hysterically from behind the locked door, desperately trying to tell my sister the truth. But no one was willing to listen to a single word I said.

On the day of Mom's funeral, the mournful sounds of the service drifted up from downstairs. I clung to the window and cried until I lost consciousness, yet I wasn't even allowed to accompany her on her final journey.

Eight years had passed. I had been tormented every single day and night, while Kieran enjoyed the life that should have been mine as though he had every right to it.

…

Mackenzie stood frozen in place. She turned to look at Kieran, suspicion filling her eyes.

Kieran trembled with fright.

He immediately threw himself at her feet, tears appearing on cue. "Mackenzie! Don't listen to Mason's nonsense! He's just angry that I've been living so well in our family all these years, so he's making up lies to slander me!

"Mom loved me so much. I was grateful to her for everything she did for me. How could I possibly hurt her? Back then, Mason lost control and pushed Mom. I was terrified out of my mind. I wouldn't dare to lie about that!"

Mackenzie furrowed her brows.

Uncharacteristically, she didn't comfort Kieran. Instead, she pulled out her phone and called her assistant. "Investigate every detail surrounding my mother's fall from the stairs eight years ago. Don't overlook a single clue!"

A flicker of panic crossed his eyes, but he quickly burst into even louder sobs. "Mackenzie! You can't possibly believe him! Have you forgotten? Back then, Mason was so jealous of how close Everly and I were that he tricked me into going to a remote mountain ravine and threatened to break my legs!

"If you hadn't found me, I might not even be alive today—"

Before he could finish, I abruptly yanked up my sleeve, revealing the crisscrossing old scars that covered my arm. "Are you sure I was the one who sold you off, Kieran? Tell me then—why are all these bloodied, mangled scars on my body?"

For a year after Mom's death, I had wandered through life like a soulless corpse.

Then, one day, Everly knocked on the attic door. After hesitating for a long time, she finally spoke. "Mason, I'm going to marry Kieran, but I still have feelings for you. If you're willing, I can continue taking care of you and give you somewhere to live."

Her words struck me as unbearably ironic. The woman who had once promised to love me for the rest of her life was now preparing to marry the very man who had murdered my mother.

That very day, overwhelmed by unbearable despair, I slit my wrists in an attempt to end my life. When the excruciating pain hit, I thought I would finally be free.

But when I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a dilapidated warehouse.