Lahat ng Kabanata ng Cannot Hold On to Loved Ones: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 8

It was my dad! He had found me and was coming to save me.The connection went through, but the voice on the other end wasn't my father's. The kidnapper clearly noticed too and flew into a rage, threatening to slice off one of my ears as punishment for the imposter."Wait—don't do it!" The imposter intervened. "I'm Shaun's superior. This is the only way we can track you down! You've kidnapped the wrong child. Everyone in the unit knows Shaun has only one son, Ezel Lewis, and the whole family is on vacation abroad. Whatever you want, state your terms—don't drag an innocent child into this!"The kidnapper yanked me forward and forced me to kneel in front of the screen. My knees slammed against the floor as he dragged me, pain shooting through every nerve in my body—but it was nothing compared to the ache in my heart.He sneered. "Take a good look at this face. This is Shaun Lewis' real son! Call him right now, or I'll kill him!"With no choice left, the superior dialed my father's nu

More than once, their feet landed on my severed fingers scattered across the floor.They spent a long time inspecting the scene before my mother finally crouched beside me. When her gaze brushed over the broken stumps of my fingers, a flicker of disgust crossed her face. She reached out as if to touch my cheek, but ended up only straightening my collar.With a wretched look, she said, "Your father and I came too late. It's our fault this time, Will. We were abroad, so we couldn't save you in time. Things are complicated now, and it isn't convenient for us to acknowledge you. Be good and go with the doctors for treatment."I stared at her blankly, my tightly clenched right hand twitching. If my mother had cared even a little about whether my hand hurt or whether it could be saved, she would have noticed the remote hidden in my mangled palm—the one thing that could destroy their family. But she didn't.Several nurses crowded around me then. Their eyes brimmed with tears as they strok

"If I were the one kidnapped, I'd never admit I was your son! Even if they tortured me to death, I wouldn't have let the kidnapper hurt either of you—not one bit!"My mother was deeply moved. "Looking at it now, it must've been fate that he was the one taken. Will was nothing but trouble from the moment he was born. His delivery nearly killed me and ruined my future. "You, Ezel, you're the real blessing. You've never once caused us trouble—only brought honor to this family."My father lit a cigarette, exhaling a stream of smoke. "Don't bring him up again—it ruins the mood. We should've never acknowledged him back then. After all those years away, kidnapped and raised God knows where, he stopped being our son a long time ago. And now he has the nerve to think he deserves the same treatment as Ezel… What a shameless brat!"My mother sneered. "He was born unlucky—never meant for a good life. This ending suits him. At least, before dying, he managed to take a hit meant for Ezel. That'

At last, the nurse called in a doctor to collect my hair follicles. Once the samples were taken, I looked up at her and asked softly, "Miss, can I go on television?""You can. There are countless reporters outside wanting to interview you, but… we were worried you might not be ready, so we turned them all away."I shook my head. "I can handle it. I have something I must say."On national television, I told everything—from the unfair treatment I'd suffered after returning home to the torture I endured at the kidnappers' hands. The audience sat in stunned silence as I revealed that Shaun and Penny were my biological parents. Outrage erupted across the country. People flooded the broadcast with fury, calling them monsters wearing human skin. They demanded the death penalty.But before the court could even issue a verdict, both Shaun and Penny died in prison—beaten to death by fellow inmates who couldn't stomach their crimes. Before they died, they learned the truth: I was the one wh