All Chapters of Cannot Hold On to Loved Ones: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1 The Live-Streamed Hostage

My parents' enemy had kidnapped me, and the kidnapper was brazenly live-streaming the whole thing.Twelve hours had passed at this point, and I was down to just one finger.The comments section rolled by at lightning speed.'I can't take this anymore—the kid's screams are too much!''Didn't they say the parents just had to show up and the kid would be released? Where are the parents?''How can they leave their own child to suffer?'The kidnapper was losing patience. He finally tore off the tape over my mouth. I was about to explain that my parents were special-ops officers often sent on dangerous missions, that they couldn't help it. But right then, a vacation photo from their adopted son popped up on my phone.'Will, we just landed in Havai with Mom and Dad! They said you'd only spoil the mood if you came, so they're spending my birthday with me alone.'In the photo, my parents stood on either side of Ezel Lewis, their eyes full of tenderness. Behind them stood aunts, uncles

Chapter 2 The Only Son

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

Chapter 3 The Son They Refused to See

I zoomed in, and zoomed in again, until the buildings in the picture came into focus. This wasn't Hawaii at all—it was the city beach.Behind me, the kidnapper laughed, a twisted sound. "Hahaha, your parents never left the country. They're hiding like cowards! They don't want to come save you!"The last thread in my head snapped. The horror of that truth kept me from thinking even for a second. I dragged myself to where the livestream phone lay, my face blurred by blood and tears, and I screamed at the screen, wrenching my voice raw, "Mom, Dad, it's me—Will! Can't you see me? My fingers are gone, it hurts so much, I'm dying—are you really not going to help me? I'm your son! Your biological son!"The comments exploded.'My heart is breaking for this child!''I'm the boy's father—villain, release him! I'll pay the ransom!''I'm the boy's mother. Let my child go. Take Ezel Lewis!''We're all this child's parents—say your terms!'Countless strangers online claimed to be my parents,

Chapter 4 The Remote in My Hand

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

Chapter 5 The Video That Changed Everything

Five minutes later, the phones in the pockets of the medical staff who had been treating me began to ring one after another.A nurse who was packing up the instruments pulled out her phone to check. The push notification on the screen immediately caught her attention, and her face drained of color. She dropped everything and tapped the video open.From the phone came a boy's heart-wrenching screams. "Ahhh, it hurts so much! Why are you doing this to me?! What did I do wrong?! I really don't know what my parents did! Please, I'm begging you—don't torture me anymore…"The longer the boy cried, the more desperate he sounded, until finally he whispered in defeat, "Just kill me. Please… it hurts too much. All ten of my fingers are gone. There's no point in living anymore. Just let me die…"The medic wrapping my wounds snapped, unable to stand it any longer. "Enough! Turn it off! Hasn't this child suffered enough? Playing this is like stabbing him straight in the heart!"The nurse holdi

Chapter 6 The Family's True Faces

"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'

Chapter 7 The Truth Unraveled

"How could the video still end up online? You've been handling cases for years—how could you screw up this badly? You're utterly useless! I used to be the top policewoman—how did I end up marrying a loser like you? Now I have to be dragged down with you!"She still wore her uniform, but her back was no longer straight with pride. Suddenly, a thought flashed across her mind, and she rushed forward to grab her superior's arm. "Sir! As his wife, I'd like to file a report against Shaun Lewis! I'm a witness! "I swear everything in that video was his doing! He lost his mind back then—tortured that boy just to make an arrest and win a promotion! He's inhuman! Someone like him should be stripped of his badge and executed! Yes, executed! This has nothing to do with me or my son!"But when she turned to look for Ezel, she froze. He was already ten steps away, retreating from them as if they carried a deadly plague.Her voice shook. "Ezel, why are you standing so far back? Are you scared? Do

Chapter 8 Justice on Live Television

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

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