Chapter 1 Fifteen years ago, a brutally murdered corpse was found in my bedroom. My parents, choosing “righteousness” over their son, pointed their fingers at me as the killer. My twin brother, crying hysterically, begged me to turn myself in. My wife, the CEO of a rising tech firm, immediately filed for divorce. I was convicted and sent to prison. The victim’s family paid inmates to ruin my vocal cords and break my arms and legs. For fifteen years, I endured that hell. On the day of my release, my ex-wife and my brother arrived to pick me up, wearing matching wedding bands. My brother looked at me with deep emotion. “Arthur, you’ve paid for your sins. We’ll take good care of you from now on.” A prison guard standing nearby gave me a meaningful look. “Your brother and sister-in-law are treating you well. You better turn over a new leaf and start living right.” I let out a cold sneer. Because the one who committed the murder fifteen years ago wasn’t me. It was my twin brother. … The reporters my brother, Oliver, had brought with him instantly swarmed me, their cameras aimed like weapons. “Mr. Sterling, you brutally murdered someone and even mutilated the corpse, yet you only served fifteen years. Was this due to the financial influence of your sister-in-law, CEO Victoria Sterling?” “What are your thoughts on the victim’s family threatening to kill you?” “In these fifteen years, have you felt a single ounce of remorse for your crimes?” They pressed closer, practically shoving their microphones down my throat. The shifting shadows instantly plunged me back into the nightmare of being jumped in my cell. I instinctively covered my head and scrambled backward, only to trip over my own crippled legs and crash to the ground. “Don’t… don’t hit me…” Amidst the commotion, my ex-wife, Victoria, pushed through the crowd, using her body to shield me from the aggressive reporters. “My husband’s brother only committed manslaughter, and he has served his full sentence. There was no bribery involved! If you continue to harass us, I will have my lawyers pursue this to the fullest extent!” Intimidated by her threat, the reporters reluctantly dispersed. Only then did Oliver quickly walk over, extending a hand with a look of deep concern. “Arthur, are you okay? Thank God I asked Victoria to come along. I’m so sorry, I had no idea the reporters would follow us…” Victoria linked her arm through his other arm, comforting him softly. “This isn’t your fault. You don’t need to apologize.” I slapped his hand away and struggled to my feet, trying desperately to straighten a spine that had grown accustomed to hunching. “I don’t need your fake sympathy!” In front of them, and only them, I refused to look pathetic. Dragging my bad leg, I stubbornly made my way to the car door alone. Oliver squeezed into the backseat right after me. He flashed the wedding ring on his ring finger, his tone laced with a deliberate, performative guilt, but the triumph in his eyes was unmistakable. “Arthur, my wife… I mean, Victoria and I got married fifteen years ago. When you went to prison for murder, my health was failing. To take care of me, she proposed.” He feigned a sudden realization, giving me an apologetic smile. “But don’t worry, Arthur. Victoria and I have already talked it over. You can still live in the villa with us. After all, you’ve been in prison for fifteen years. Even if you were highly capable before, you probably can’t even support yourself now.” “Oliver!” Victoria sharply cut off Oliver’s rambling. She glanced at me through the rearview mirror, her voice softening. “Your brother just got out. Let him get some rest.” Oliver let out a reluctant “Oh.” I turned my head, staring out at the rapidly passing city streets, my mind drifting back to the past. Fifteen years ago, I was a top-tier venture capitalist. Countless people chased after me, waving cash, begging for a piece of the action. The initial capital for Victoria’s startup, and every dime of funding that kept it afloat afterward, came from my operations. She had held my hands tightly back then, her eyes filled with gratitude, promising to protect me for the rest of her life and never let me suffer a single injustice. But fifteen years in a maximum-security prison had ground away my brilliance and numbed my nerves. That world, which once belonged to me, had long since locked its doors against me. When the car pulled into the driveway, I stared at the building ahead, momentarily dazed. The “villa” Oliver had mentioned was the home Victoria and I had bought as our marital house. My parents rushed out, swarming Oliver with doting affection and concern. I stood to the side, feeling like a complete stranger, watching their heartwarming family reunion. Victoria carried my duffel bag. “Mom, Dad, Arthur is back.” My parents’ expressions instantly hardened. The moment they looked at me, their brows knitted together in unison. My dad’s face was twisted with disgust. “Victoria, I told you not to bring this sick, corpse-mutilating murderer back here!” My mom looked equally disapproving. “Exactly, Victoria. Just having him here makes the air feel polluted.” A delayed, sharp pain pierced my chest. For over twenty years, they always made sure to divide fruit exactly evenly between me and my brother. I always believed they loved me too. It wasn’t until fifteen years ago that I realized, with a sickening jolt, that it had all been my own wishful thinking. Oliver affectionately pulled on their arms. “Mom, Dad, Arthur just spent fifteen years in prison. For my sake, just be a little nicer to him!” My parents snorted coldly and said nothing more. Dinner was a rushed, silent affair. Afterward, I was placed in a storage room. Looking at the bare, hard wooden plank they called a bed, I remained silent. Late into the night, I curled up on the wooden board, completely devoid of sleep. In prison, just to torture me, the shot-caller in my cell block would have his guys take shifts watching me. The moment I dared to close my eyes, a brutal beating would follow. Knock, knock, knock. I jolted in terror. It took a long moment for me to remember I wasn’t in a cell anymore. Listening to the persistent knocking, I slowly stood up. When I opened the door and saw who it was, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. “What do you want?” Victoria looked at me with deep concern. “You just got home. I was worried you wouldn’t be used to it, so I came to check on you.” My voice was as cold as ice. “Get out. I don’t need your fake concern.” She looked at me helplessly, a hint of indulgence in her eyes. It was the exact same expression she wore sixteen years ago. Back then, I had caught her and Oliver lying naked in bed together. I had lost my mind, screaming and demanding an explanation. She had shielded Oliver behind her, letting me vent my rage. When I was completely exhausted, she finally spoke, her voice light and helpless. “Oliver and I just got drunk. Nothing happened. Please don’t misunderstand.” Her face from the past perfectly overlapped with the woman standing before me now. She reached out and grabbed my wrist. Her thumb rubbed against my skin, sending a violent shiver of disgust down my spine. “Don’t touch me!” I yanked my arm back, but I couldn’t break her grip. “Arthur, the one I love has always been you. Marrying Oliver was only so I could help take care of your family. We’re only husband and wife on paper…” “Oh?” I interrupted with a cold sneer. “Taking care of him all the way into bed? Oliver made sure to mention before dinner that you had a miscarriage with his child.” Victoria desperately tried to push her way into my embrace. “Arthur, it’s not what you think! I’ve been waiting for you all these years. I told you I would always protect you.” I shoved her away violently, stumbling backward. “You can still stomach a guy looking like this? Or what, are you hoping to have both brothers at your beck and call?” She looked deeply wounded. “Arthur…” “What the hell are you doing?!” Oliver’s shrill voice pierced down the hallway. He looked furious. My parents flanked him on either side, glaring at me with utter revulsion. Victoria quickly walked over, hooking her arm through his and whispering words of comfort. Oliver suddenly lunged at me and slapped me hard across the face. “Arthur! I was kind enough to bring you home, and on your very first day, you go behind my back and try to seduce Victoria?! She is my wife now!” “Have you no shame?!” I swallowed the metallic taste of blood in my mouth and scoffed. “I didn’t do a damn thing.” Seeing his face full of arrogant disbelief, a vindictive urge took hold of me. I curled my lips into a smirk and spoke slowly. “But even if I did, I learned it from you.” “The very first time I brought Victoria home to meet the family, didn’t you sneak into her room wearing my pajamas?” Since we were kids, Oliver always loved taking things that caught my eye. When I brought Victoria home, he brazenly tried to seduce her. Back then, Victoria had chosen me with unwavering certainty, rejecting him flat out. Even when my parents tried to smooth things over and pretend nothing happened, she was the one who stood by my side and demanded justice for me. It was a pity that by our third year of marriage, Victoria slowly began to favor Oliver. My dad slapped me across the face. “Are you still spouting that nonsense?! Victoria already explained that the incident back then was just a misunderstanding! Why do you insist on holding onto it?!” My mom wrapped her arms around Oliver, comforting him. She shot a reproachful look at Victoria. “He’s a murderer! Couldn’t you just give him some money and send him away?! Did you have to bring him back here to ruin our peace?!” I clutched my stinging cheek and let out a low, raspy laugh. “A murderer? But I wasn’t the one who committed the murder.” My parents froze, their faces instantly draining of color. My dad’s voice trembled. “Wh-what nonsense are you talking about?” Enduring the pain, I forced myself to stand tall, keeping my spine perfectly straight, taking in every ounce of their panicked expressions. “Oliver is the one who killed him! If you guys hadn’t used your status as family members to commit perjury, they wouldn’t have even denied me a lawyer! I…” Victoria stepped forward at exactly the right moment. Her tone was gentle, but her authority was absolute. “Arthur, you’ve already paid for your crimes. Why keep dwelling on the past?” “Oliver was out of line today, and I apologize on his behalf. Don’t overthink things. Just get some rest. We won’t bother you anymore.” She looped her arm through Oliver’s and quickly ushered them all away. The moment the door clicked shut, I slid down the wood paneling and collapsed onto the floor. The courage I had just forced myself to project vanished completely. Cold sweat soaked my back. But I knew one thing for certain: I could not afford to collapse now. Over the next few days, my parents treated me like I was invisible. Victoria would occasionally cast hesitant, lingering glances my way. Oliver’s smug bragging eventually stopped when he realized I was completely ignoring him. I breathed a sigh of relief. This arrangement worked for me. It gave me enough time to track down the clues from fifteen years ago. Until one day, I was walking past the study and heard my dad’s agitated voice. “Victoria, I know you still care about Arthur. But he refuses to repent, and he’s still trying to frame Oliver!” My mom chimed in, “If we hadn’t called the police ourselves back then, he would have gotten the death penalty! We’ve done more than enough for him!” Oliver’s voice trembled. He sounded like he was defending me, but he was actually pouring gas on the fire. “It’s all my fault. I never should have married Victoria. It’s only natural that Arthur hates me.” My mom stared directly at Victoria. “Victoria, what exactly are you planning to do with Arthur?” Victoria hesitated for a long time before she finally spoke slowly. “Mom, Dad, don’t worry. I will handle it.” I withdrew my gaze, lowered my eyes, and quietly walked away. Now was not the time for a confrontation. I just needed a little more time. But I never could have imagined how quickly they would act. As I was leaving the hospital after a checkup, a sudden, sharp pain exploded at the back of my neck. The world went black. When I woke up, my eyes were blindfolded, and my mouth was stuffed with a gag. I couldn’t make a single sound. “Oliver… if we really do this, how are we any different from the monster who killed our mom?” “Shut up and back off! When our mom was brutally murdered, that piece of garbage only got fifteen years! I can’t let that go! Plus, if we kill this scumbag, he’s going to pay us ten million dollars!” The blindfold was violently ripped off. A man with a twisted, ferocious face grabbed my jaw. I scanned the room, but I couldn’t see the girl whose voice I had just heard. The man reached out, slapped my cheek mockingly, and yanked the gag out of my mouth. “About to die, and you’re still looking around?” I forced myself to stay calm. “If it’s money you want, I have accounts in a Swiss bank…” Before I could finish, a brutal punch slammed into my stomach. The agonizing pain made me instinctively curl into a ball, but he showed no mercy, raining kicks and punches down on me. “I don’t want your fucking money! If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have lost our mother! My sister and I wouldn’t have been abandoned by our father and forced to grow up on the streets! This is all because of you! Everything is your fault!” Panting heavily, he grabbed me by the hair and yanked my head up. “But thank God, someone delivered you right into my hands so I could finally get justice for my mom.” “It really… wasn’t me…” Another punch smashed into my face. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. “Shut up! Murderers don’t get to speak!” He shoved the gag back into my mouth, took a few steps back, and pulled out a remote detonator. “I built these explosives myself, but they’re more than enough to blow you to hell.” No! I had finally found the clues to prove my innocence! I couldn’t die here! I thrashed like a madman. The ropes bit deep into my flesh, scraping me raw and bloody, but I couldn’t break free. The ticking countdown echoed through the cavernous warehouse. Every single tick felt like a hammer striking my heart. Three… two… one… BOOM! A scorching shockwave, carrying unimaginable agony, swept over me. Tears of sheer defiance rolled down my face. Just as my consciousness began to shatter, a figure cleaved through the roaring flames and the blistering shockwave, throwing themselves over me and shielding me completely. Every ounce of pain was instantly cut off.
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