Chapter 3

Liam had somehow arrived at the scene.

He pushed through the crowd and suddenly spoke:

"Dad, don't do this. Daniel is your son after all."

Everyone's attention instantly shifted as Mom and Dad surrounded him.

My mother grabbed his hand lovingly:

"Didn't we tell you not to come?"

"Right, you're so busy with work. There's no need to make the trip, especially when it just reminds you of sad memories."

My father also said hurriedly.

Even Kaya pressed close to him, standing between Liam and me, as if afraid I might harm him.

My eyes grew even drier. Once upon a time, I too had received such tender care.

That was when I was eighteen, before Liam was adopted by my parents.

I was kidnapped in retaliation by my father's enemy.

It was he who fought the criminals alone and accidentally fell from the fifth floor.

He suffered comminuted fractures all over his body and lay in the hospital for a whole year.

Even though it hurt terribly, he held my hand and comforted me:

"It's okay. This is Dad's badge for protecting you. It doesn't hurt at all."

And Kaya—when we were dating, even if it was my fault that drew curses from passersby, she would stop at nothing to drive that person out of New York.

The love in my memories was as warm as ocean waves, but the reality before my eyes was like a bucket of cold water, completely waking me up.

While no one was paying attention to me, the thug who had beaten me earlier charged over with several others.

Someone pinned down my limbs, preventing me from moving.

My right palm bones shattered with a sound. Extreme agony shot to the top of my skull, my vision turning blood red.

They actually used an iron hammer to crush my right hand!

"Destroying this hand so you can never be normal again! Let's see how you harm people now!"

"Rapist! I'm going to break your dick!"

The blade flashed cold light, slashing toward my lower body.

Eight years in prison had taught me to struggle.

I used all my strength to kick one person away and scrambled backward.

The rough ground tore up my palms, the pain nearly making me pass out.

From the corner of my eye, Kaya was nestled in Liam's arms, smiling sweetly.

That expression was a tenderness I had never seen before.

When Mom and Dad glanced toward me after hearing my cries of pain, their faces showed only disgust.

And Liam seemed to just notice the situation, shouting loudly: "What are you doing!"

He chased away those thugs and bent down to help me up, his face full of concern.

"Daniel, are you okay?"

His leather shoe landed squarely on my mangled right hand,without impartiality.

He pressed down hard.

A wheezing gasp escaped my throat as I curled up in agony.

He leaned down, his breath spraying in my ear, soft as a viper's hiss:

"So what if you're back? I'll take everything from you—not just your assets, but your family and wife too..."

Looking up, he resumed that anxious, flustered appearance:

"Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

But my father kicked me hard in the chest.

I fell to the ground, my internal organs shifting out of place.

"How long are you going to keep up this act?!"

He ground his shoe sole against my face.

"Liam kindly tried to help you up, and you put on this pathetic show for who? Trying to frame him again?!"

As if finding an outlet, he kicked my legs viciously, one foot after another.

My legs, which had been broken and healed dozens of times over eight years, fractured again.

I curled into a ball, darkness clouding my vision.

"You're a rotten person who wants to drag everyone else down with you! Remember this! I could send you to prison once, I can send you there countless times!"

"Dad! Stop hitting him!"

Kaya grabbed him, her voice breaking:

"Dad, Daniel is your son..."

"Son? I don't have a bastard son like him!"

"Eight years ago, my only son became Liam!"