Chapter 3

Gordon glared at me.

"I was just teaching you a lesson. Why should an impostor who stole Keith's place get to throw his weight around in front of the real heir?"

"Mr. Keith is Mr. and Mrs. Jackman's only child and the Jackman family's sole heir! Remember this! This time it was the dog. Next time, it'll be you!"

Trembling with rage, I swung my hand and slapped Gordon across the face. His head snapped to the side.

Keith stepped in front of Gordon, his body trembling.

"Gordon only felt sorry for me, but Elijah slapped and humiliated him for it," Keith said to Rachel. "If Elijah is angry, he can hit me. He shouldn't drag other people into this."

"Enough, Elijah!" Rachel hissed.

She held my gaze, speaking slowly and deliberately. "If you know what's good for you, leave with some dignity. It'll be better for everyone. Watching you cling to this life makes me sick."

Keith tugged at her arm and sighed. "Let it go, Rachel. Elijah is just scared of losing everything."

Then he turned to me. "Now that I'm back, things should go back to the way they were. I'm the Jackman family's eldest son. As for you, go back to the village and take my place in the marriage arrangement made for me when I was a kid."

He smiled warmly. "Sure, the widow is in her 40s and has three sons, but she's a sweet, uncomplicated woman. If you marry into her family and work hard to buy her sons cars and houses, you'll have a secure place there."

Rachel sighed. "Keith, you're too kind."

Keith shook his head with a smile. "The Jackmans raised me right. I couldn't do what Elijah did. He took ten years of my life, but I still hope he can be happy."

Before he could finish, he swayed as though his legs could no longer support him.

Rachel's expression changed. Without a word, she caught him before he could fall and hurried to take him upstairs.

"I know where the rooms are!" Gordon called. "I'll take Mr. Keith up."

I followed them. As soon as I entered the room, I saw Keith standing by my bed. His fingers brushed against a vase worth over a million dollars. It toppled to the floor and shattered.

He cried out, his eyes widening in feigned innocence. "I'm sorry, Elijah. I didn't do it on purpose. You won't be mad, will you?"

"They weren't his things to begin with," Rachel said, trying to comfort him. "He has no right to be angry."

Keith looked at me cautiously. "I just wanted to see the things Elijah uses. I've never seen anything like this."

As he spoke, he started touching the figurines and collectibles on my desk. One by one, they crashed to the floor and shattered. He then tore my awards and certificates to pieces, sending them fluttering down like snowflakes.

A smirk crossed Keith's face. "Elijah, you won't need any of this stuff anymore. Once you're in the mountains, you'll just have to work like a mule."

Then his gaze landed on the bespoke suit hanging nearby. He ran his fingers over the fabric, his voice tinged with envy.

"One button on this suit could support me in the mountains for a year, couldn't it?"

Rachel's expression darkened. She grabbed the suit, cut it into strips with a pair of scissors right in front of me, and tossed them on the floor.

"You think you deserve to wear this?" she snarled. "From now on, you're only fit to wear patched clothes."

I glanced down and gently kicked the strips aside. "Smash whatever you want. Tear it all up. Just don't regret it later."

Rachel sneered. "You're all talk."

Keith's eyes flickered. He came over and patted my shoulder.

"Elijah, I know you're resentful," he said, his voice soft as a sigh. "But if something isn't meant to be yours, it never will be..."

Before he could finish, a searing pain shot through my shoulder. I instinctively shoved him away, but Keith staggered backward as though I'd used all my strength, his shoulder slamming into the corner of the bed.

"Argh!"