I spent three brutal years in the underground fight rings before I finally made my way back to the Hayden estate, a fragile child clinging to my chest. But the homecoming I had pictured didn’t exist. Instead, I walked straight into the engagement party of my fiancée, Amelia, and my adoptive brother, Eric. My eyes were bloodshot, my chest heaving as I limped forward. But before a single word could escape my cracked lips, Amelia stepped forward, shielding Eric behind her like he was the one who needed protection. “Jude, what is that look in your eyes?” she spat, her voice dripping with venom. “Are you here to threaten Eric again?” “Three years ago, you hired a hitman on the black market. You caused the crash that forced me into premature labor and killed our baby.” “Sending you to the underground rings to reflect on your sins was a mercy. We let you keep your life. That was more than you deserved.” My mother stood nearby, her brow furrowed in deep, familiar disappointment. “We let you get away with so much because you grew up away from us, Jude. We felt guilty. We tolerated your wildness.” “But you crossed the line when you tried to destroy Eric. And we will never forgive what you did to Amelia and her child.” My father threw a printed confession at my feet. It fluttered against my worn boots. “Kneel,” he commanded. “And sign it.” Just then, a small, trembling voice whimpered from behind my coat. “Daddy… why are they being so mean to you?” Amelia’s face hardened, turning stone-cold as she stared down at the boy. “Jude, three years in those filthy gutters, and you actually have the nerve to drag your street trash into this house.” I instinctively pulled Toby tighter against my chest, the copper taste of old blood rising in my throat. “Amelia,” I whispered, my voice cracked and desperate. “Three years ago… the baby you delivered early. He didn’t die.” “He’s right here. He is—” “Shut up!” Amelia cut me off with a sharp, cruel shout. She glared down at Toby as if he were a diseased stray dog. I stared at her, and a strange, hollow sensation bloomed in my chest. All the bones I’d had broken in the rings over the last three years didn’t hurt half as bad as this single moment. In my head, a cold, mechanical voice chimed: [All emotional and biological ties with key characters have been severed.] [Do you wish to confirm extraction from this world?] I closed my eyes, letting the darkness wash over me. “Confirm,” I thought. … I looked at Amelia. Her face, which I had once memorized in every detail, now felt entirely foreign. “Amelia, please. Just look at him,” I begged, my voice breaking. “Look at Toby. He’s your boy. He’s the baby from the crash.” Her expression turned glacial. “If you dare use my dead child as a prop for your lies one more time, I will have them tear you apart.” Eric took a step forward, sliding a comforting, possessive hand around Amelia’s waist. “Jude, stop this,” Eric said, his tone dripping with gentle pity. “You need help. Three years ago, when I pulled Amelia from that wreckage, the baby was already gone. Your hitman made sure of that.” Amelia’s cold gaze remained fixed on me. “Eric nearly went over the cliff trying to pull me out of that burning car. And you? You paid for the hit. Who do you think I’m going to believe, Jude? A monster, or my savior?” The truth tore from my throat. “I was the one who pulled you out! Eric was the one who paid for the crash!” Before I could finish, my father stepped forward and delivered a stinging slap across my face. “You classless, ungrateful street rat!” he snarled. “Still spewing garbage.” “You’ve done nothing but try to ruin Eric since the day you got here, yet he has never held a grudge against you.” “Three years in the rings to reflect, and you’re still the same unrepentant degenerate.” I looked at the three of them—my biological parents, my fiancée. The people who were supposed to love me. A dry, humorless laugh escaped my lips. “Fine,” I whispered. “If that’s what you want, I’ll go.” I dragged myself up, putting weight on my ruined right leg. The knee joint groaned under the pressure. I gathered Toby into my arms and turned toward the door. I had explained the truth three years ago. No one believed me then. Why would they start now? As I hobbled down the first step of the grand staircase, Eric’s soft voice drifted from behind. “Dad, Mom, Amelia… I think Jude is still angry with us.” “Maybe it’s best if he leaves. It would be… awkward if our guests saw him like this at the engagement party tomorrow.” My boots froze on the marble. Right on cue, Amelia spoke. “Stop him.” Instantly, three heavy-set security guards closed in. I couldn’t fight back; my arms were locked around Toby, protecting him, and my bad leg gave out under the sudden pressure. Within seconds, I was pinned to the cold stone floor. My shattered knee slammed against the edge of the step. White-hot agony flared behind my eyelids, threatening to pull me into unconsciousness. Hands grabbed Toby, tearing him from my grip. “Don’t touch him!” I screamed, thrashing wildly. I clawed at the air, desperate to reach him, but a heavy boot pressed down on my spine, crushing me into the floor. My forehead struck the marble, and warm, sticky blood ran down into my eyes, blurring my vision with red. Amelia walked over, her designer heels clicking softly until they stopped inches from my face. “You murdered my baby, Jude. And now you drag some gutter rat here, thinking you can use him to replace the son I lost?” She delivered a sharp kick to my ribs. The force rolled me onto my side, and the copper taste of bile and blood filled my mouth. Eric stepped up beside her, gently taking her arm. “Amelia, sweetheart, don’t upset yourself.” “Jude’s been in the fight rings too long. I think his mind is just… broken. All he knows now is violence and lies.” My father stared down at me, his lip curled in absolute disgust. “Take that boy away,” he told the guards. “Find out who his real mother is.” My mother chimed in, adjusting her pearls. “And make sure he’s tested for diseases. We can’t have him contaminating the house right before the party.” I thrashed against the hands pinning me down, panic clawing at my chest. “No! Don’t take him!” I screamed. “Toby was born premature! He’s weak—his heart can’t take the stress! You can’t draw his blood like that!” But they weren’t listening. A guard hauled Toby up by his collar as if he were a bag of trash. His tiny, breathless wails echoed down the long hallway, growing fainter. “Daddy! Daddy, save me!” I clawed at the polished marble floor, my fingernails splitting and leaving bloody streaks on the stone. Amelia watched my desperate struggle, her eyes entirely devoid of pity. “I felt this exact pain three years ago, Jude,” she whispered. “How does karma taste?” I looked up at her through the blood dripping from my brow. And suddenly, the anger drained out of me. I just felt so incredibly, profoundly tired. “Amelia,” I said softly. “You are going to regret this.” Inside my mind, the quiet countdown began: [Extraction countdown: 72 hours. Please prepare for departure.] They threw me into the damp cellar. My ruined right leg was entirely numb, cold, throbbing with a dull, sickening ache. Before returning to the Hayden mansion, I had dragged this broken limb through dozens of underground matches. I couldn’t afford to lose. If I lost, Toby didn’t get his heart medication. When the heavy wooden door creaked open, I expected to see Amelia. Instead, Eric walked in. The frail, victimized mask he wore upstairs had completely vanished. “Hey, big bro,” he murmured, his voice light and taunting. “How did those three years in the blood pits treat you?” I looked up at him. He was wearing a pristine white suit. He looked clean, elegant, like a beloved prince raised in luxury, while I lay on the dirty floor, covered in dried blood and old scars, looking like something dragged out of a sewer. Eric strolled over and knelt down in front of me, careful not to get his trousers dirty. “Honestly, I thought you’d die down there,” he whispered. “You’ve got a stubborn soul, Jude. I’ll give you that.” My fingers curled into tight, trembling fists. “Where is Toby?” I hissed. Eric tilted his head, a cruel smirk playing on his lips. “You mean that little bastard?” Before he could react, I lunged forward, grabbing him by his crisp collar. “Eric!” He didn’t even flinch. He just leaned in close, his whisper like a snake’s hiss. “Why so impatient? You were this desperate three years ago, too. And what did it get you?” “You still couldn’t protect the boy. Back then, when Amelia went into labor at the crash site… the baby hadn’t even taken his first breath before I had my guys smuggle him out the back door of the clinic. He never even got to cry. It was so easy.” I stared at him, my vision blurring with absolute, murderous rage. “Why?” I croaked. “Why would you do that?” Eric laughed, a soft, chilling sound. “Because if that kid lived, Amelia would never let you go. Because the second you showed up, Mom and Dad started drowning in guilt for giving you away. Because you’re the one with their blood in your veins, Jude. Not me.” The polished facade cracked, revealing the raw, ugly jealousy bubbling underneath. “You grew up in some backwater trailer park. You’re uneducated, dirty, and classless. Why should someone like you get to walk in and take everything I built?” I held his gaze, my heart hammering against my ribs. “So… you were the one who put Toby in that underground ring? You set us up?” “Of course,” he admitted freely. “If I didn’t hold him over your head, how else was I going to make you fight like a rabid dog?” “It’s a shame your trashy life is so resilient. Three years of torture, and all I got was you losing a knee. Pathetic.” Heavy footsteps echoed from the corridor outside. Eric’s eyes darted to the door. In a split second, he grabbed my hand, forced it against his collar, and violently threw himself sideways into the sharp edge of the wooden desk. There was a sickening crack. His forehead struck the corner, and blood immediately pooled from the cut. The cellar door burst open. Amelia was the first through. “Eric!” she screamed. Eric lay curled on the floor, looking impossibly small, tears instantly welling in his wide eyes. “Amelia…” he sobbed, his voice trembling. “I… I just wanted to ask Jude to stop this madness. To sign the paper so we could be a family again…” “I told him I don’t care about the family fortune. I don’t care that he hates me… But why… why did he have to hurt me again?” Amelia snapped her head up, glaring at me. My knuckles were stained red with Eric’s fresh blood. “He did it to himself,” I muttered, knowing how futile it was. “He set me up.” My mother stood behind Amelia, her face pale with sorrow and disgust. “Jude… even now, you continue to lie?” My father’s expression was dark as thunder. “Three years in the fighting pits, and you’ve truly become nothing but a violent brute.” Amelia cradled Eric in her arms, gently wiping the blood from his brow. When she looked back up at me, there was nothing left in her eyes but absolute, freezing hatred. “You haven’t changed at all, Jude. You’re still a monster.” Tucked against her shoulder, Eric glanced over at me through the shadows. His lips moved silently, forming a chilling sentence: That brat won’t survive the night. My mind shattered. A loud, high-pitched ringing filled my ears. The next second, I lunged forward like a rabid animal, trying to rip him away from her. But I never reached him. The guards tackled me, and a heavy blow struck the back of my neck. Darkness claimed me instantly. When I woke up, my arms and torso were bound tightly to a wooden chair. The coarse ropes had cut off the circulation, leaving my wrists completely numb. Outside the small high window, the sky had bruised into a deep, midnight black. The cold whisper echoed in my ear once more: [Extraction countdown: 24 hours.] I closed my eyes. One day left. I had twenty-four hours to pull Toby out of this viper’s nest. The heavy door creaked open. My parents, Amelia, and Eric walked in. A single sheet of paper lay on the wooden table before me. My father tossed a heavy pen onto the table. “Sign it,” he commanded. I lowered my gaze to read the crisp, typed letters. It was all laid out in black and white: I admit to orchestrating the three-year-old car crash that forced Amelia into premature labor. I admit that Eric was entirely innocent, and that he spent the last three years carrying the blame to protect the Hayden family name. I admit that the boy, Toby, is my illegitimate child born from a surrogate in the underground slums, having no biological relation to Amelia. Every single word felt like a physical blow, crushing whatever pride I had left. I looked up at Eric. He was standing quietly by my mother’s side like a dutiful, victimized son. The picture of a sweet, saintly brother who had suffered so much but was still willing to forgive. A sudden, hollow laugh escaped my lips. “Eric,” I said, my voice raspy. “Did you forget? You don’t even carry the Hayden blood.” Tears instantly spilled over Eric’s cheeks. “Jude… why do you hate me so much?” he whispered. He fell to his knees in front of my mother, his shoulders shaking. “Mom… if my presence is what’s making him like this, I’ll leave. I’ll pack my things tonight. I was never supposed to be here anyway.” “If it makes Jude happy, I will give up everything. Just please, don’t let him keep hurting everyone.” My mother’s eyes filled with tears, and she wrapped her arms tightly around him. “Don’t say that!” she cried. “You are my son. You will always be my son.” She glared up at me, her gaze thick with disappointment and pure disgust. “Jude, sharing our blood does not give you the right to torture this sweet boy.” My father added, his voice cold and final. “Eric has been by our side for over twenty years. He is respectful, loyal, and kind. He knows his place.” “And you? You might carry our name, but you are filled with nothing but malice and street violence. You aren’t fit to lace his shoes.” I stared at them, completely detached. That tiny, lingering spark of hope in my chest finally went cold and died. Amelia stepped up, shielding Eric. “You’re still just jealous of him, Jude,” she said. “What do I have to be jealous of?” I muttered. “The fact that he stole the life that belonged to me? Or the fact that he destroyed our actual child?” Amelia’s expression darkened instantly. She stepped forward and delivered a hard, resounding slap across my face. “You have no right to speak of my baby!” she screamed. My head snapped to the side. The taste of fresh blood filled my mouth once more. I slowly turned my head back and looked into her eyes. “Amelia… what if you find out, one day, that the boy upstairs is actually yours?” Her pupils dilated for a fraction of a second, but then her anger returned, hotter than before. “You’ve lost your mind, Jude.” She leaned down, grabbing my jaw in a tight, painful grip. “Tomorrow, at our engagement party, you will stand in front of everyone and apologize to Eric. You will confess to everything you did three years ago.” “And then, I’ll make sure the Haydens write you a check large enough to take that stray child and disappear forever.” I looked at her, and she felt like a stranger from another life. Three years ago, she used to rest her head on my shoulder, gently rubbing her swollen belly. “Do you think he’ll have your eyes, Jude?” she’d ask. And I’d smile and say, “I hope he looks exactly like you.” She’d laugh, swatting my arm playfully. Now, she was standing here, forcing me to confess to murdering that very boy. A wet, bitter chuckle escaped my throat. “Amelia… you make me sick.” Eric sighed softly from the back. “Jude, don’t be stubborn. If you just apologize, we can all move past this.” I ignored him. He leaned in a little closer, lowering his voice so only I could hear. “By the way… your adoptive parents just arrived. They’ve missed you so much.” Eric waved his hand, and the guards untied me from the chair, only to drag me down into an even deeper, darker sub-cellar. My bad knee hit the cold concrete with a sickening thud, and my vision blurred. But a second later, a voice I’d know anywhere pierced through the dark. “Jude! Oh god, Jude!” I forced my eyes open. Walter and Helen were tied to two wooden chairs in the center of the room. Both of them were covered in bruises. Walter’s temple was split open, blood running down the side of his weathered face. Helen’s lip was swollen and purple, her graying hair a tangled mess, but the moment she saw me, she began shaking her head frantically. “Jude, don’t look,” she gasped, her voice raw and breaking. “Mom is here. Don’t worry about us. We’re okay, sweetheart.” Hot, angry tears flooded my eyes. I was only six years old when I got lost. They had found me shivering behind a train station and took me in. Walter ran a tiny, dusty auto shop; his hands were always stained with grease he could never quite scrub off. Helen sold breakfast biscuits, waking up at three every morning to knead dough. They were never rich. But throughout my entire childhood, there was always a warm carton of milk in my backpack. On rainy days, one of them would always be waiting at the school gate with an umbrella. They didn’t share my DNA, but they were more of a family than any Hayden could ever hope to be. Eric walked down the steps, holding the confession paper like a trophy. “Just sign it, Jude,” he said smoothly. “Once you sign, I’ll let them go home.” I glared at him, my teeth grinding so hard they felt ready to shatter. “This is between us, Eric! Leave them out of this!” Eric excelled at looking pleasant while delivering poison. “But you’re not behaving, big brother. Amelia is tired of your lies, and Mom and Dad are exhausted. I’m just doing them a favor. Teaching you a little discipline.” Walter looked at Eric, then yelled at me. “Don’t you dare sign that, Jude! If you didn’t do it, don’t you dare write your name!” A guard stepped forward and slammed a fist into Walter’s stomach. Walter doubled over, gasping for air, unable to speak. I screamed and tried to lunge forward, but two guards caught my shoulders and threw me back down. Eric stepped close, forcing the pen into my trembling fingers. “Sign.” I looked at Walter and Helen. They were shaking their heads, tears streaming down Helen’s bruised cheeks. But Toby was still upstairs. I didn’t know what they were doing to him. I didn’t know if he was crying, or if he was cold. My hands shook so violently the pen slipped from my grip. Eric smiled, reading my thoughts. “Oh, by the way… the kid’s heart rate is dropping. The doctor said whether they keep him on life support depends entirely on Amelia’s mood.” My breath hitched. The air left my lungs entirely. “I’ll sign,” I gasped out. “Just please, let them go.” Walter suddenly began thrashing against his ropes. “No! Don’t do it! Jude, I never taught you any fancy words or how to be a gentleman. But I taught you one thing—a man keeps his spine straight! You don’t bow to lies!” With a sudden, desperate surge of strength, Walter threw his entire weight sideways, knocking the guard next to him off balance. “Dad!” I screamed. I tried to break free, but the world seemed to move in slow motion. Walter’s head struck the sharp metal corner of the heavy work table. Blood burst from his temple, and he collapsed instantly into a silent, unmoving heap on the floor. Helen let out a raw, blood-curdling shriek, trying to throw herself toward him. “Walter!” She struggled so violently that her chair tipped over, sending her crashing onto the concrete. She gasped, clutching her chest, her face draining of all color in a matter of seconds. I fell to my knees, my mind going entirely blank. “Dad…” “Mom…” I crawled forward like a madman, dragging my useless leg, but the guards grabbed my ankles, pinning me to the floor. “Let me go! Let me go to them!” Just then, frantic footsteps pounded down the cellar stairs. A young doctor in a white lab coat burst into the room, his face pale with panic. “Mr. Hayden… the child. He’s going into cardiac arrest.” The last thread holding my sanity together snapped. I don’t know where the strength came from, but I violently kicked off the guards and began dragging myself up the stairs, clawing at the wooden steps. Every movement sent shards of agony through my shattered knee, as if the bone were being ground into dust. But I couldn’t feel it anymore. The pain didn’t matter. In the medical wing, Toby lay on a cold steel table, his tiny face translucent and white. When his eyes found me, a faint, beautiful spark flickered in them. “Daddy…” he whispered. I collapsed over the table, scooping his fragile, freezing body into my arms. His tiny fingers clutched weak folds of my blood-stained shirt. “Daddy… I want to go home.” My tears fell hot and heavy onto his pale cheeks. “Okay, baby,” I sobbed, kissing his forehead. “Daddy is going to take you home.” In my mind, the mechanical voice counted down: [Extraction countdown: 10 seconds.] I held him tighter, tucking his head under my chin. “Don’t be scared, Toby. Daddy is right here. I’m going with you.” His little fingers slowly lost their grip on my shirt, sliding down. I watched his eyes close for the last time. My chest felt as if it had been hollowed out, leaving nothing but empty space. I didn’t have to fight anymore. [3… 2… 1…] [Extraction complete.] As my body went limp and tumbled to the floor, the pain vanished. Floating in the quiet air above, I looked down and saw my own body, still clutching Toby close, lying on the sterile linoleum. We looked so peaceful. Like we were finally just asleep. The next day, the Hayden engagement gala went ahead as planned. Amelia stood under the crystal chandeliers in a stunning ivory gown, looking like a beautiful, distant dream. Eric stood beside her, a gentle smile on his face as he adjusted her delicate lace veil. My biological parents sat in the front row, looking proud. When a guest leaned in and asked about my absence, my mother’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second before she smoothed it over. “Oh, Jude isn’t feeling well. He decided to rest today.” Amelia heard her, and a flicker of annoyance crossed her features. “Good,” she murmured to Eric. “It’s better this way. Less drama.” As the officiant called for the rings, the heavy oak doors at the back of the ballroom slammed open. “My apologies! I hope I didn’t miss the vows.” A man in a dark trench coat stood in the doorway, looking windblown and serious. He glanced at Amelia, then fixed a cold stare on Eric. “Amelia,” he called out, his voice echoing off the high ceilings. “I think you’re marrying the wrong man.” The velvet ring box in Eric’s hand trembled. The man stepped forward, speaking with slow, deliberate precision. “The man who dragged you out of that burning car three years ago… wasn’t him.”
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