When the ambulance rushed me to the hospital, the TV was flooded with coverage praising my parents’ selfless virtue. In front of the cameras, they proudly wrapped their arms around Kevin and turned to the reporters with beaming faces: “This three-million-dollar mansion and fifty-thousand-dollar car are the least we could do.” “Kevin’s parents sacrificed their lives to save us back then, and now we treat him like our own son!” But here I was, in end-stage kidney failure, calling to beg for money for emergency treatment, and my parents brushed me off with a measly two hundred dollars. Two hundred dollars. So that’s what their biological son’s life was worth to them. But if I didn’t pay for the kidney transplant today, I would die. Looking at the check and luxury car they’d prepared for Kevin, I suddenly felt a strange sense of peace. Since they already had another “real” son, I might as well stop calling them my parents. “Where’s the family for Lucas Miller? Patient in bed 23, Lucas Miller—his bills are past due!” A nurse pushed open the door. “The patient is at high risk for acute liver failure. His clotting function is already compromised. If fees aren’t paid, we’ll have to stop all treatment and medication!” I lay in the hospital bed, my blood feeling like it was on fire, boiling hot, yet my heart was cold as if plunged into an ice cellar. My phone was right beside me. With trembling hands covered in needle marks, I dialed my mother’s number. The phone rang for a long time, and she finally picked up just a second before it went to voicemail. The background was filled with the clinking of glasses, laughter, and celebratory music. “Hello? Lucas?” My mother’s voice was shrill with excitement. “Didn’t I tell you? Today is Kevin’s engagement party. If you want to sulk and skip it, fine, but why are you calling when I’m at my busiest?” “Mom…” I gasped for breath, my throat thick with the metallic taste of blood. “I’m in the hospital… liver failure… The doctors say I need to pay immediately for treatment, or I’ll die…” There was a pause on the other end. Then the background noise quieted, as if she had covered the phone and walked to a corner. “Lucas Miller, this kind of joke isn’t funny at all.” Her tone turned ice-cold. “You were perfectly fine just two days ago, and the moment Kevin gets engaged, you suddenly have liver failure?” “Are you jealous that we bought Kevin a house? Is that why you’re pretending to be sick at this crucial moment just to make trouble for us?” “Mom, it’s real. I’ve been vomiting blood… The hospital has issued multiple critical condition notices…” “I have no money in my account. Can you transfer me a hundred thousand to save my life? Just a hundred thousand…” “A hundred thousand?!” My mother’s voice shot up an octave. “Lucas Miller, are you deliberately trying to ruin things for us? All our liquid assets were withdrawn yesterday and converted to cash to display on the table for Kevin’s future in-laws! Where would we get extra money for your nonsense?” “Then give me back MY money!” I roared with the last of my strength. “Two years ago, you said you were keeping that five hundred thousand for my wedding fund! That was everything I saved in five years of working! That’s MY money! Give me back that five hundred thousand—even just a hundred thousand would be enough!” Silence on the other end. Then my father, Richard Miller, grabbed the phone and started shouting: “What do you mean YOUR money, MY money? Once money comes into this household, it’s the family’s money! We already used that five hundred thousand for Kevin’s Mercedes down payment! Lucas Miller, how can you be so selfish? Kevin’s had such a tragic life—his parents both died. If we don’t put on a good show, how will his future in-laws respect him? Can’t you think about your parents for once? If people start gossiping about this, where will we put our faces?” My heart grew colder by the second. When my parents took my money, they smiled and said they were saving it for their son’s future. Turns out they meant their other son. “Enough! Stop the act!” My father lowered his voice. “I know you’ve always been jealous of Kevin. But Lucas, you need to be the bigger person! You’re our biological son. You have an intact family. Why do you have to fight with an orphan over such petty things?” Click. The call ended. I stared at the ceiling, the harsh white lights stinging my eyes. In the corner of the room, the TV happened to be playing the local noon news. “Today, renowned philanthropists Richard and Patricia Miller hosted a grand engagement party for their adopted son Kevin, presenting him with a three-million-dollar fully-paid condo in the city center and a luxury car worth hundreds of thousands. This fulfills their promise to their late comrade, and their noble act of loyalty has touched everyone present…” On screen, my parents wore expensive custom-tailored outfits, each holding one of Kevin’s hands, grinning from ear to ear. A reporter extended the microphone toward my father. He faced the camera, his face glowing with pride, and made a humble gesture with his hands: “In life, what matters most is having a clear conscience.” A clear conscience? The enormous irony crashed down on me like a sledgehammer. A surge of blood rushed up my throat. With a violent “splat,” crimson sprayed out, soaking the white sheets red. The heart monitor screamed. My consciousness spiraled away as the world spun around me. “Not good! Massive hemorrhage!” “Quick! Transfer to ICU! Prepare artificial liver support! Where’s the family? If they don’t pay now, we’ll lose him!” Just before darkness swallowed me completely, I saw a figure at the end of the corridor—my fiancée, Emma, charging toward me like a madwoman. Her hair was disheveled, her face deathly pale. She held up a bank card, sobbing hysterically: “I paid! Doctor, I paid! I took out a payday loan! Please, save him!”
I was transferred out of the ICU three days later. Emma had been keeping vigil by my bed, her eyes swollen like walnuts. When she saw me wake up, the apple in her hand rolled to the floor, and tears instantly streamed down her face. “The money… where did it come from?” I asked weakly. I knew that after my parents took my five hundred thousand, we’d been saving up again for a down payment. There was no way we had anything in our accounts. Emma lowered her head, biting her lip hard. “I took out some payday loans. Enough for the surgery.” My heart felt like it had been struck by a hammer. “You silly girl…” “I’m not silly. Your parents are the ones who are insane.” Emma’s face was filled with rage. She pulled out her phone and showed me a screenshot. “A few days ago, I called your mom crying, begging for help, saying you were sick and needed money. Your mom said you were just being jealous, trying to ruin things for Kevin.” She took a deep breath. “Then she transferred me two hundred dollars.” Two hundred dollars. To put on a show for their adopted son, they had taken my five hundred thousand in savings and spent three million on a house. But their biological son’s life? In their eyes, it was worth exactly two hundred dollars. I closed my eyes, a sharp pain twisting in my chest. These past ten years, ever since the first banner of commendation arrived at our home, ever since the neighbors started giving thumbs up and praising “the noble Millers”—everything had changed. All that praise became like a drug to them. To prove their selflessness, their love for me gradually shifted away. It was as if showing me any affection would somehow shortchange Kevin. I spent several more days in the hospital. My parents never called. Not once. Once I was well enough, I had Emma help me check out. Since my parents had no room for me as their son, there was no point in holding on anymore. I had once turned down a six-hundred-thousand-dollar job offer in New York just to stay local and take care of them. Now, I owed them nothing. The moment I got home, the door swung open. My mother walked in carrying a few boxes, my father following behind with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression stern. And Kevin—wearing an expensive designer suit, a Rolex on his wrist—stepped inside and immediately wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Bro, how many days has it been since you showered? It reeks in here.” For once, my mother didn’t respond to him. She noticed my pale complexion and quickly set down the boxes, reaching up to touch my face. “Lucas, why do you look so terrible? When you said you were in the ICU the other day… was that actually true?” My father paused, and his gaze softened slightly. This late flicker of concern pricked at me like a needle. Maybe, just maybe, they still cared about me after all— Before I could say a word, Kevin stepped forward. “Oh, bro, you’ve already packed your bags? Planning a trip or something?” “Are you still mad at me? I mean, you seemed perfectly fine before, but the moment Mom and Dad buy me a house, you end up in the ICU. And now you’re packing to leave. Mom, Dad, don’t blame him—it’s only natural he’d feel some resentment. This is my fault as the big brother. I didn’t take care of his feelings.” Whatever guilt my parents had just started to feel? Kevin’s little speech wiped it clean. “So you’re saying I faked being sick?” Kevin kept fanning the flames. “I didn’t say that. If you weren’t really sick, you obviously wouldn’t have asked Mom and Dad for money. But hey, if you’re really that strapped for cash, how about I sell the Mercedes and give you the money? Your health comes first. Don’t hurt yourself just to make a point, okay?” I let out a cold laugh. He was slick, I had to admit—a few carefully chosen words to make himself look magnanimous while implying I was faking everything. I was about to fire back when my mother jumped in, already worked up. “That car is a gift for him! Lucas, you’ve always been such a good boy—why would you be upset? You missed Kevin’s engagement party. The least you can do is take him and his fiancée out for a nice dinner. Show some sense.” “I’m not going.” My voice was ice. My father pointed a finger at my face, all traces of earlier concern gone—replaced by pure fury at being defied. “Lucas Miller! Look at your brother! Look how much he cares about you! And you? Just to spite us, you fake a hospital stay? Do you have any idea how important that engagement party was? Are you not happy until you’ve completely humiliated me?” I watched them play their little good-cop-bad-cop routine while Kevin stood off to the side, barely hiding his smirk. In that moment, my heart finally died. I slammed the hospital report onto the coffee table. “Whether I faked it or not—see for yourselves.” “From today on, your son’s name is Kevin. Enjoy worshipping him.” “As for me, Lucas Miller—from this moment forward, I’m cutting all ties with you!”
Dead silence. Emma carefully steadied me, worried I might pass out from the stress. Then my father raised his hand and slapped me across the face. SMACK! “You ungrateful wretch! You’d sever ties with us over a little money? We raised you for nothing!” My father shook with rage. I worked my jaw, testing the numb spot where he’d hit me. My mouth filled with the taste of blood, but I smiled. “Dad, isn’t this exactly what you wanted? Without a petty, calculating biological son like me around, it’ll really showcase just how selfless and noble you are toward your adopted son.” “You—” My father’s lips trembled. He couldn’t get another word out. Right on cue, Kevin, who had been silent until now, dropped to his knees with a dramatic thud. He clutched my father’s leg, crying with such conviction it would’ve won an Oscar. “Dad! Don’t hit him! This is all my fault! I’ll sell the car right now, return the house—I’ll do anything if it’ll make Lucas feel better!” His performance instantly melted my mother’s heart. She pulled Kevin up, tenderly brushing the dust from his knees, then turned to glare at me. “Lucas Miller! Kevin is on his knees begging you—what more do you want? Yes, we’ve been good to Kevin, but that’s because we owe a debt! If Kevin’s father hadn’t taken that bullet for your dad back then, you wouldn’t even exist! Your entire life was given to you by Kevin’s family! Now we’re just letting your brother live a little better, and you can’t stand it?” “Haven’t I paid enough of that debt with my own blood and flesh?” I looked at them, my eyes hollow. “My savings. My health. If Emma hadn’t come to save me, would you have taken my life too?” “What nonsense are you spouting!” My mother’s fury instantly turned on Emma. She looked her up and down with contempt. “I knew it was you stirring up trouble behind the scenes! Some girl from out of town, seeing how naive Lucas is, trying to manipulate him into handing over the family’s assets. Well, let me tell you—as long as we’re alive, that’s never happening!” Emma’s face went ghost-white, her whole body trembling with rage. I pulled her behind me, my heart sinking into ice water, freezing over inch by inch. This was my mother. She could give my life-saving money to an outsider, yet viciously suspect the woman who had taken out loans to save my life. Kevin was still putting on his sympathetic act nearby. “Mom, don’t say that about my sister-in-law. She was just trying to help Lucas. Hey bro, how about this—you spent so much on medical bills, and I don’t make much right now, but I can give you a thousand bucks a month for living expenses. How’s that sound? Don’t think it’s too little—it’s just my way of showing I care.” A thousand bucks. Charity, was it? That casual, condescending offer, dripping with pity and utter humiliation, was the final straw. I had Emma hand me the document I’d been too soft-hearted to pull out before—the severance agreement. I slapped it on the table. I looked calmly at the three of them and spoke, word by word: “Sign it. From now on, any debt of birth and upbringing is wiped clean.” “As for my life—Emma gave it to me. It has nothing to do with any of you anymore.” “Fine, fine, fine! You’ve grown some backbone!” My father pointed at me, then turned and had Kevin pull a stack of documents from his briefcase. He pointed to the papers on the table. “This is the deed transfer for the last property under your mother’s and my names—this old apartment. We’ve decided to sign it over to Kevin right now.” “As for you—” He tossed another document at me. “This is a Declaration of Inheritance Waiver. Sign it to prove you’re not after the family money, and we’ll agree to cut ties with you!” So that’s what this was. That’s why they came in the first place. Not out of concern—but to make me give up everything to my face. “I’ll sign.” I signed my name without hesitation, and watched as they signed the severance agreement. When it was done, I gestured toward the door. “You two can see yourselves out.” I pushed them out and shut the door. Beyond my parents’ curses, I could hear Kevin’s fake attempt at consolation: “Dad, Mom, don’t be upset. Lucas is just confused right now. Give it a couple days and he’ll come crawling back to beg for forgiveness…” I didn’t say another word. I just laughed coldly to myself. Emma and I packed our bags and left. Just as I boarded the train to New York, my phone buzzed with a file from the private investigator I’d hired. That was the commission I’d placed earlier. The document stated clearly: Kevin’s parents had never actually died.
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