جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 9

After that, I said goodbye to Connor and left for the city where I would attend college.Other than going to class, I spent every spare moment working part-time jobs and internships.I never went home once, and I never contacted those two people.By working my way through school, I made it through all four years of college and landed an early job offer from a major company before graduation.In this unfamiliar city, I had finally found a place where I belonged.…I was in my apartment, scrolling through the news on my phone, when urgent knocking shattered the silence.I frowned and looked through the peephole. The frown on my face deepened.There were two people standing outside.The man wore a studded leather jacket. His hair was dyed silver-gray and tied into a little topknot.The woman wore tight leopard-print pants and heavy smoky eye makeup.They were my rock-and-roll parents, whom I had not seen in four years. They did not look any older. If anything, they looked even

A crowd had gathered around us, pointing and whispering."Are those Lucas' parents?""Oh my God. I never imagined he was that kind of person.""He looked so honest. Who would have thought he could be so heartless?"The blood rushed straight to my head.They sold their house and car to put me through school? They skipped medical treatment just to save money for my tuition?What a load of lies. They were twisting the truth without a second thought.My director's expression turned grim, his brow deeply furrowed. "Lucas, what's going on here? The company values your abilities, but this is a personal matter. Make sure you get it handled."I looked at the two of them. They were secretly watching me out of the corners of their eyes.At that moment, my last bit of hesitation disappeared. If they were willing to throw away all shame, then I had no reason to hold back.I pulled out my phone and called the police. "Hello, 911? I'd like to report a disturbance. Two people are causing tro

A wave of shock swept through the courtroom.My father trembled with rage as he pointed at me and shouted, "You ungrateful bastard! The evidence is right there, and you still dare deny it?"I let out a cold laugh and pulled out the USB drive I had prepared in advance.After the judge gave me the green light, the video on the drive was promptly displayed on the courtroom screen.I'd recorded it back when I was a sophomore in high school. After months of malnutrition, I had come down with acute appendicitis. Of course, working myself to the bone with my part-time jobs didn't help either. The pain had been so unbearable that I had rolled around on the dorm floor.The teacher who took me to the hospital had recorded the video for me.The video showed my deathly pale face as sweat poured down my forehead. I was clutching my phone as I weakly begged my mother for help."Mom… I need surgery for appendicitis. The doctor says someone has to sign the consent forms, and I need a 2,000-do

The moment I finished speaking, the courtroom doors swung open. The man who walked in was my father's former band drummer, Dylan.The color drained from my parents' faces the instant they saw him.Dylan took a moment to steady himself before stepping up to the witness stand."Your Honor, I was Liam Hunter's former drummer. I can testify that Liam and his wife never gave Lucas one million. In fact, the so-called proceeds from selling their house were actually funds they had fraudulently raised from their relatives back home five years ago."They claimed they were going to produce an album, but instead they spent it all pursuing their music and squandered every penny. These are the accounting records from back then, along with the promissory notes for the high-interest loans they took out."Dylan pulled out a ledger before shooting my father with a look of disgust.A thick stack of evidence was submitted to the court. My father slumped back against his wheelchair, his face ashen.