All Chapters of My Life Is Mine: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

I pulled my hand back. “Identity theft and fraud are illegal.”Dad frowned impatiently and replied, “What do you mean, it’s illegal? We’re family. Why are you making such a huge deal out of this? Besides, you’re the older brother.”Here we go again.For eighteen years, whenever those words were spoken, whatever belonged to me would no longer be mine.When I was six, a neighbor gave me a Transformer toy. All it took was Ethan crying, and Mom forced me to give it to him.When I was nine, I won first place in an art competition. Ethan tore up my award certificate, yet Dad made me apologize because I “shouldn’t have shown off in front of my brother.”When I was twelve, I entered a math competition and needed a computer to look up study materials. Dad turned around and sold the computer to pay for Ethan’s piano lessons instead.When I was fifteen, I earned a rare spot in a state-level competition training camp. However, Ethan was suddenly hospitalized, and Mom forced me to miss cam

Chapter 2

I sat in my room for a long time. After dark, I pulled back the innermost wooden board under my bed and took out a rusty tin box. There was nothing of value inside the tin. Only a certificate torn in half, a rusty competition pin, a few old photos, and an expired state-level training camp notice—everything I had given up for Ethan Greene.Digging to the very bottom of the tin box, I saw my old eighth-grade exam slip. Back in eighth grade, I was running a high fever of 102 degrees during my finals. Before heading out the door that morning, I could barely stand and had to support myself against the wall just to put on my shoes.That same day, Ethan also claimed he felt unwell. His temperature was 99 degrees, yet my parents both went to the hospital with him, giving me only twenty dollars to take a cab to school by myself. I pushed through and made it to school, ultimately scoring the highest in my grade.After returning home, no one asked if my fever had broken. All Mom said w

Chapter 3

That night, I waited until I was sure everyone was fast asleep before pulling an old tablet out from the very bottom of my closet. It was a study device the school had handed out back in middle school. The screen was cracked, and it charged painfully slowly.I turned it on and contacted my homeroom teacher, Miss Riley, explaining my current situation.The moment the message was sent, Miss Riley’s call came through.“Don’t pick a fight with them yet. Try to look for your documents first,” she advised. “Don’t be afraid. Mar University will be performing a freshman identity verification very soon.”After hanging up, I deleted the call log and hid the tablet away again.The next morning, I walked into the living room on my own. Dad asked, with a cold expression, if I had thought it through.I nodded.“Let me see Ethan’s medical report,” I said. “If the doctor said he can’t handle retaking his senior year, I might consider it.”Mom was overjoyed. “Now that’s more like it.”I lowe

Chapter 4

The next morning, when my parents took Ethan to the school district administration to get documentation, I immediately rushed into the study. As the drawer was locked, I fiddled with a hairpin for a long time until the lock finally clicked.Inside the drawer were my ID and my acceptance letter. I quickly stuffed all the documents into my backpack.Just as I reached the entryway, the door lock clicked. Ethan pushed the door open and walked in.He didn’t look at my face; instead, he stared straight at the backpack in my arms.“Mason, where are you going?”When I didn’t answer, he closed the door behind him, blocking my way out.“Mom and Dad sent me back to get some paperwork. I didn’t think you’d actually want to run away.”I gripped my backpack straps tight as I said, “Get out of my way.”Ethan’s tears came at a moment’s notice. “Mason, I’m begging you. You’ve been better than me at everything since we were kids. Teachers like you, relatives praise you, and even Mom and Dad so

Chapter 5

When the paramedics rushed in, Mom immediately wrapped her arms around Ethan and pointed straight at me.“That’s him! He’s been hallucinating that we’re trying to hurt him, and he’s been making a scene for days!”A man stepped toward me, holding leather restraint straps in his hands. “Calm down, and come back with us for an evaluation.”I scrambled back, but my arm slammed into a glass ornament on the entryway table, shattering it. A sharp shard sliced right across my arm, and fresh blood dripped down my wrist and onto the floor. I gasped at the sharp sting.Grabbing a jagged piece of glass off the floor, I held it against my throat. “Stay back!”Afraid someone might actually die, the paramedics froze in their tracks. Mom, however, only cared about protecting Ethan.“Ethan, you’re not scared, are you?”Dad quickly rushed over to check on him, too.In that moment, the very last bit of hope I had for my family shattered. Taking advantage of the distraction, I grabbed the torn h

Chapter 6

She pressed her hand directly against my wound, causing me to flinch from the pain. She ignored it, however, keeping a death grip on me.“Do you really want to get your dad arrested? Your brother can’t handle this kind of shock! Are you trying to drive him to death?”The doors to the police station opened again, and Miss Riley walked in. The moment she saw the blood on my arm, her eyes turned red with anger and concern.“How did you get hurt like this?”Mom immediately let go of me.Miss Riley pulled me behind her, losing her temper at my parents for the very first time.“He’s your son too! How could you do this to him?”Mom’s lips trembled. “Miss Riley, this is a private family matter.”“Identity theft is not a family matter.” Miss Riley pulled out her phone. “I’ve contacted the admissions office at Mar University. The university will initiate a special identity verification process for Mason Greene. No one can take away his spot.”Ethan’s face finally changed. He rushed righ

Chapter 7

Over the next two days, I organized all the evidence in chronological order. I compiled all the chat logs from over the years in which they demanded that I give up competitions and skip classes to take care of Ethan. Miss Riley also provided an official statement certifying my grades and competition history.While going through the medical records, I noticed a strange discrepancy. My parents had always claimed that Ethan suffered from a heart condition. Yet, he didn’t have a single complete diagnostic report from the past two years.Most of those hospitalization photos were merely him getting an IV in the emergency room. Even on my birthday, when he was rushed to the hospital, he had only undergone routine checks.I tracked down the hospital where he used to be treated. After reviewing the materials I provided, the attending doctor told me that Ethan did have a congenital heart condition, but he had undergone surgery when he was twelve.“He recovered very well,” the doc

Chapter 8

Dad’s lips moved, but he couldn’t bring himself to say another word.Ethan finally panicked as well. He grabbed my hand, tears pouring down his face in an instant.“Mason, I really didn’t mean to hurt you. I just wanted to go to Mar University so badly. My health has been poor since I was little, and I’ve never gotten to experience a normal campus life. Can’t you just try to understand me for once?”I pulled my hand back. “Then why did you post online saying I forced you to commit suicide?”While he was rendered speechless, I looked at the delicate lapel pin on his collar. That was mine, too.At that moment, Ethan’s face turned pale. He clutched his chest, his body swaying.Dad instinctively rushed over to support him. “Ethan, are you okay?”The campus doctor walked over and checked his pulse and blood pressure. “His vital signs are normal. If he feels unwell, he can head to the infirmary for a further checkup.”Ethan froze in Dad’s arms. For the very first time, he couldn’t pu

Chapter 9

On the day the investigation results came out, I went home.Because I refused to drop the charges, Ethan finally broke down and cried out, “Yes, I’ve known for a long time that my illness wasn’t that serious!”My parents froze.Ethan covered his face, his voice trembling. “After the surgery, the doctor said I was no different from any normal person, but I was scared. I was afraid that once I got better, Mom and Dad wouldn’t favor me anymore.”He raised his head to look at me. “Every time you got something good, all I had to do was clutch my chest, and Mom and Dad would make you give it to me. At first, I just wanted to try it out. Later, I realized that you really would give up everything.”Dad looked at him in disbelief. “Ethan, what are you saying? So all those times you passed out, it was just an act?”Ethan cried even harder. “Sometimes I really felt unwell, but other times I didn’t. But haven’t you always said that because my health is poor, Mason should take care of me?”M

Chapter 10

A month after the school semester started, Mom came to Mar City alone. She stood at the door of my rented apartment, holding a strawberry cake.“Mason, I’m here to apologize to you.”Her hair had turned much whiter, and her eyes were swollen. If this had been in the past, I probably would’ve given in long ago. However, I didn’t invite her inside.She handed the cake to me and said, “We didn’t celebrate your birthday that day, so I bought another one to make it up to you. From now on, we’ll treat you and Ethan fairly.”I looked at the cake, feeling nothing. She finally remembered what I liked, but this all came too late and with conditions.Sure enough, she quickly grabbed my hand.“Your dad has lost his job. Ethan didn’t manage to go back to school either. Let’s put the past behind us and go back to how things were.”I pulled my hand back. “What I wanted was never a cake, nor was it for you to beg me. I just wanted to be respected as my own person, but you couldn’t do it.”She

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