Alle Kapitel von No Way Back to Summer: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 8

Ezra's POVThe glaring red numbers on my printed SAT score report were proof enough. This was not a dream. I had really been reborn.My parents' ecstatic cheers rang in my ears."That's our Tobias! I knew our boy was as good as anyone!""Exactly! His grades might be bad most of the time, but when it counted, he beat his brother!"Marisa Doyle's smile was so doting it was practically spilling over. "He's my man. Of course he takes after me."I stood quietly in a corner where no one paid me any attention, and my heart grew colder by the second.In my past life, when I found out I had scored 790 on the SAT, I refused to believe it. I cried and made a scene, demanding that my test be rescored.I had been at the top of my class since I was a child and, in all three years of high school, I had never once dropped below second in my grade. There was no way I had failed to break 1,100.However, the moment my parents heard the word "rescore," they turned on me and slammed their hands on

When the belt was held out in front of me, I still had not recovered from the shock.Before, if I so much as tripped, Dad would blame himself for a month. Mom had always treated me like the light of her life. If anyone in Halverton said a single word against me, Marisa always had my back.Now the three of them were going to punish me for the sake of someone who had been part of this family for less than a year?"Mom, Dad! If he has to be punished, let me do it! I don't want Ezra to hate you!"Tobias sounded sincere, but the look he gave me was smug.I dug my fingers into my palms and forced the words out through gritted teeth. "If you don't believe me, check the security footage in Grandpa's room!"Marisa let out a cold laugh. "Even now, you're still trying to frame Tobias? Tobias, get up. I'll do it myself."Before she could move, Tobias raised his hand and brought the belt down across my back. It cracked through the air with a sharp snap, and the pain made me double over insta

The moment the words were out, all four of them froze.Tobias was the most shaken. His face went pale, and he bit his lip until every trace of color drained from it.Marisa had held a position of power for years, so she was the first to recover. Her expression quickly turned cold."Excuse me, but haven't you heard about the arrangement with Mr. Talbot?"As soon as the SAT scores came out, she had gone to the dean, Gregory Talbot, an old classmate of hers, to take care of Tobias' situation.However, the admissions officer only gave her a disdainful glance and let out a loud, self-righteous laugh."Mr. Talbot? Ma'am, what exactly is he to you? Don't you know he was arrested a few days ago? He abused his position and took hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal payments, most of it from the Doyle Group."The authorities have already sent a special task force to investigate. For all we know, in a few days, the Doyle Group will be nothing but rubble."The words hit Marisa like a

The entire crowd erupted, and the livestreams exploded.Richard and Susan stared blankly at Clifford, their faces still frozen in the furious expressions they had worn a moment ago, when they had been ready to fight him tooth and nail."Mr. Dunham, what nonsense are you talking about? That's impossible. Are you saying you don't trust the people who ran our family's DNA test?"Clifford remained completely composed. "Of course I know a family like yours runs a tight ship, Mr. Kerr. But what if someone spent five years studying DNA testing just so he could pick the perfect moment to become your son?"It was as if Richard's brain had suddenly switched back on. He looked at Tobias, whose face was full of panic, and the rage hit him so hard that he nearly collapsed, clutching his chest."So that's it... That's how it is! I always wondered why you looked nothing like any of us, but that was the least of it. Your intelligence, your character, your morals, none of it matched! You were the