Chapter 1

"Ha! You reap what you sow! I said you're a jinx all along, and poor Joe fell sick as soon as you showed up!

"Now, the whole family is a mess, and I'm getting sick every day too, all because of you! The fortune teller had always insisted that Joe is a lucky star while you'd just bring misfortune! Know your place and leave already!"

Finn Lawson was lying on a hospital bed, his head dizzy as he watched his grandmother keep ranting at him.

He opened his mouth to speak, but his throat hurt so much…

And where was he? Why did this place look so familiar?

Wasn't he disowned and chased out of the house? Didn't he give up on cancer treatment when diagnosed, rotting in a hospital until he died?

Why was he seeing this moment from two years ago again?

After he went on the show Seeker and found his family, he wasn't even allowed a warm meal when his grandmother, Gina Cox, screamed at him, calling him a jinx.

His parents were superstitious and therefore really didn't like that, while his sisters preferred that two-faced impostor and didn't hide their prejudices against him at all.

Joe Lawson's biological mother had maliciously switched him with Joe at birth, stealing his birthright as an heir, and left him at the doors outside an orphanage.

He was the victim the whole time, and even after he was brought home, it turned out to be a PR move by the Lawsons, and no one cared about him.

If anything, they treated him like a thorn in their side.

And with Joe's persistent machinations as well as his sisters' heavy bias, he was thrown out of the house.

It was a snowy winter as he lay in his hospital bed, celebrating his final birthday as death came for him…

The muffled stream of accusations gradually sharpened in his ears, pulling Finn out of his daze.

He pinched his arm, wincing at the sharp sting. It actually hurt...

He was alive.

And he had gone back to the first month after the Lawsons took him in.

He remembered that since they didn't give him a single cent, he had to work part-time. He ended up with a burning fever and passed out at the restaurant he worked at.

Thankfully, the owner was kind enough to send him to the hospital.

On the other hand, his own family was scolding him in a million different ways once they arrived!

Finn had never felt his heart being this cold.

If he wasn't reborn, he would really be dead.

That is why he wouldn't tolerate this laughable bunch that was his family!

If he could, he wanted them to experience what it meant to lose everything too!

"Enough!" he snapped at Gina right then. "I get it—all of you consider Joe the real child, so just disown me. I refuse to cater to your whims now or yearn for your laughable kinship!"

Gina was stunned for a moment, but she soon snapped back, "Oh, just look at that brat! He's talking back now!"

Finn's father, Henry Lawson, was at once frowning.

Being the virtuous but rigid son he was, he definitely wouldn't abide by anyone insulting his mother, least of all a son he didn't care for.

"Do you know what you're saying?" Henry barked. "You've worked so hard to come back to us all because you want your cut of the family fortune, so you'd better watch your mouth!"

Finn simply found that amusing.

Family fortune?

He refused to be adopted while at the orphanage because he wanted to meet his real parents one day and was completely unaware that the Lawsons were rich before he found them.

Shrugging, he said, "I'd rather live the rest of my days in peace and stability than take your money."

Henry naturally wouldn't know what Finn really meant since he didn't know about Finn's cancer, while Finn's mother, Ruth Zims, patted Henry's shoulder. "It's alright. He was raised in an orphanage, so he'd definitely be lacking in some ways. Don't stoop to his level."

In reality, Ruth herself had trouble deciding what to do with Finn.

She loved Joe and had spoiled him to bits for nineteen years, and he had been her treasure since he was a child—always so mature, understanding, smart, and well-behaved.

Now, a stranger had suddenly showed up at her doorstep, and it was her own biological son at that?

Something like that was definitely too much to take!

"Don't bother!" Henry bellowed, livid at the sight of Finn's stubbornness. "Where did the money we gave him go? He must've squandered it with his delinquent friends! He has to pay for it himself!

"Even if we're rich, we won't waste it on a loser like him! Everything about him is rotten—do you think we'd despise you that much if you were half the son Joe is?!"

Finn hung his head, but his lips curled up coolly. "Oh, that's true. School has started for a week, but I still haven't paid my tuition fees… but the question is, did you give me a single cent? Don't give yourself too much credit, or people will laugh at you if they hear the truth."

Incensed, Henry was ready to slap Finn, but Ruth caught him. "Don't! He's sick!"

Moreover, she noticed something in what Finn had just said.

It was true that their family could be generous with their kids. In fact, Ruth herself had wired Gina 100 grand when Finn was brought home, asking her to buy Finn better clothes and the like.

The fact that Finn was still wearing rags now should have been cause for suspicion.

Turning to Gina, Ruth asked, "Do you remember the 100 grand I gave you?"

Gina promptly averted her eyes, as she had already gambled the money away.

Shrugging, she asked, "What? Oh, I forgot—and it's his fault for being such an eyesore! The very sight of him annoys me so much, and just talking to him makes my chest hurt! How am I supposed to remember anything in such conditions?"

Then, clearly not affording Ruth time to ask for her money back, she groaned, "Oh, my chest hurts… Another heart attack… Gotta get a checkup! Talk to him all you want—he's such a jinx to me that I really need to give him a wide berth, or he'll get me and Joe killed before long!"

And with that, she was already gone.

Henry finally calmed down in turn and remembered how he immediately felt embarrassed when he received the call about Finn passing out at the office.

The brat was rich now but was still a lot less than presentable!

If someone with ill-will were to find out that Henry Lawson's son had passed out from a menial part-time job washing dishes and decide to make a big deal out of it, his tender bid would definitely go up in smoke.

With that in mind, he remembered how things kept going badly for him and suspected that Finn really was a jinx.

His tone was naturally not quite happy as he said, "It's just a misunderstanding anyway—your grandma's old and forgets things. And she's right that you're not all that likeable. It's something you should really reflect on."

However, he was also gingerly taking out his phone and sent 20 grand to Finn's account. "Just pay the tuition fees. Don't bother with your part-time job."

Ruth was pursing her lips as she looked at Finn, but any sympathy she felt vaporized when she saw the coldness in his eyes.

Not bothered to breathe a single word of concern, she said dryly, "Just take care of yourself. I've called your sisters to visit—tell them if there's anything you'd like to eat. They will get it for you."

Pausing, she then finished, "Joe ran away when he's still sick. We need to get him back."

"Ran away?" Finn snickered. "You should start looking at the gaming lounge near school. Who knows, he's probably having a good time."

Henry and Ruth's faces dropped as they really didn't like Finn slandering their role model student slash baby boy.