All Chapters of Branded a Liar: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The wind howled through the abandoned high-rise, cutting across my face like a thousand tiny knives.I stood barefoot on a concrete ledge. Sharp gravel dug into my feet until my soles bled, sending waves of stinging pain through me. However, I didn't dare move.The terrible kidnapper stood behind me and had a fistful of my hair in her grip. Whenever I flinched, it felt like my scalp would be ripped right off.I was terrified. I wanted to go home. I didn't care that the only place that belonged to me was the stairwell, and that it was dark because at least the wind wasn't this cruel.My kidnapper dialed Dad's number. I stared at the phone screen, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of my chest.Would Dad save me? I hadn't run away. This awful woman had taken me.The call connected. The woman pinched me hard, causing me to cry out in pain, "Dad! Please save me! I'm scared…"I thought Dad would react the way fathers did on TV. I thought he'd call my name in a

On the morning of the fourth day, the police came.Matthew rushed in frantically and shouted, "Mr. Smyth, the police are here! They seem to be here for Caleb!"Dad was reading the newspaper. When he heard this, he threw the newspaper into the trash and stormed outside angrily."What trouble has that brat gotten into this time? Did he steal something or get into a fight?"Dad walked to the door and saw two police officers. Before they could even speak, he immediately yelled at the top of his lungs, "Officers, although he's my son, he's full of lies and is a terrible person! I don't care what crime he's committed, just take him away. "It would be best to lock him up in juvenile detention so he stops causing trouble for us at home!"The police officers froze when they heard what he said.The young male officer's eyes were bloodshot. He gave Dad a very strange look before taking out a transparent bag. Inside was a cheap electronic watch stained with blood.It was my watch!I ha

Dad instinctively frowned and walked inside stiffly.The space was less than five square meters. It was so cramped that it felt suffocating.There were no windows, and the only source of light was the faint glimmer seeping in through the crack beneath the door.Several pieces of worn-out clothing were piled in the corner. They were Rylan's old clothes that he no longer wanted. I had picked them up, patched them, and continued wearing them.There was no desk, no wardrobe, and not even a proper bed. There were only a few discarded wooden planks put together to form a sleeping platform, with a thin quilt on top that had turned black and stiff.Matthew had been about to throw it away, but I begged him to let me keep it.Beside the bed sat a chipped enamel cup with a dried wild plant inside. I had picked it up by the roadside in spring.I thought it was like me, lowly and insignificant. However, it still wanted to live despite it all.Dad stood in the doorway, staring at everything

Just as Dad was drowning in overwhelming grief and regret, the sound of light, cheerful footsteps came from the doorway.Rylan was wearing that blue jersey and holding his newly bought game console in his hands while humming the theme song of a cartoon.He poked his head inside and saw Dad sitting on the floor, whose face was covered in tears and clutching the worn-out diary in his arms.Rylan did not panic or feel guilty the way anyone sane might. Instead, he simply tilted his head and asked innocently, "Dad, what are you doing? You look so ugly when you cry."Dad's sobbing came to an abrupt stop at those words. He slowly raised his head, his red and swollen eyes staring right at Rylan.Rylan felt uneasy under his gaze, but he ignored it. Then, he wrinkled his nose and pointed disdainfully at the diary in Dad's arms."Isn't that the trash notebook that the jinx picked up? It's so dirty. Dad, hurry up and throw it away. It must be full of germs." His tone was completely matter-of

The car started, carrying that once-arrogant, vicious child deep into the mountains.Word had it that his life there was miserable.When he slacked off and did not feed the pigs, our distant aunt would beat him and chase him halfway up the hills. When he complained about the food and smashed his plate, he would be left hungry for three days and nights.Very quickly, he learned to read people's expressions and to dig through trash for something to eat. At last, he finally understood what kind of life his brother had lived in that so-called luxurious villa.The only difference was that I had been bullied because I was obedient. He was being punished because he was cruel.This would be the rest of his life. There was no redemption for him, only endless labor and beatings, until that rotten heart of his completely decayed in the mud.…After sending Rylan away, Dad threw himself into renovations with a kind of desperate frenzy. He tore down the cramped little doghouse on the first f