“Emily, I won’t do it!” I shouted, feeling like a clown under everyone’s gaze and ridicule.
I gave up struggling. From daylight to nightfall, I walked—
Even when my heels were blistered and blood soaked through my socks and shoes, I didn’t stop.
Finally, facing the empty finish line, I said just one thing:
“Emily, I’m here.”
The moment those words left my mouth, I collapsed.
When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in bed back in the bedroom.
Emily and Ryan were already gone.
It wasn’t until the next afternoon that I finally received a message from her:
“I’ve taken Ryan back to the Carter family. They’re throwing a celebration tonight to welcome him home. Don’t be late!”
I had no intention of going.
But after the phone rang endlessly, I gave in and headed out.
The moment I stepped through the door, my parents greeted me with cold faces and disapproval.
“Ryan brought you a gift as soon as he returned yesterday. And you didn’t even return the gesture? Do you have no manners at all?”
The guests nearby joined in, shooting disdainful looks my way.
“Isn’t that the Carter family’s eldest son? He really thinks blood ties are enough to carry him through.”
“If it weren’t for the Parker family marriage, who would care about a cripple like him?”
“He’s been back for ten years and still acts like he came from some lowly background. Thankfully, the Carter family adopted Ryan—at least now, someone can hold things together. Depending on a cripple? What a joke.”
Just as the insults faded, Ryan appeared, dressed in an elegant custom-made suit.
He clutched our parents’ hands lovingly and scolded the crowd in feigned anger:
“Anyone who doesn’t respect our family isn’t welcome here.”
“And without Ethan, I wouldn’t even be part of this family. He’s already been through so much because of his injury—I won’t allow anyone to speak ill of him!”
Then, turning to me with exaggerated concern, he added,
“But Ethan, why are you so late? If the gift I gave you wasn’t enough, I’ll give you everything I’ve earned abroad. Just please, don’t push me away. Let me stay until I repay our parents’ kindness.”
Ryan always did this.
Every time, he made it seem like he was defending me—
But in the end, it only left me more humiliated.
This time was no different.
His words reignited the gossip that had just quieted.
Everyone stared at me with renewed scorn and judgment.
“Ethan, there you are. Come on in, the banquet’s about to start.”
Emily appeared beside me and grabbed my hand tightly.
Her touch looked like comfort—
But her presence only made Ryan’s narrative feel more real.
Inside the grand hall, I sat alone in a corner.
Around Ryan, people gathered, showering him with praise for his “gratitude” and early success overseas.
My parents and Emily wore proud smiles, ones they’d never once shown me—
Not even before my leg was ruined.
I had poured myself into winning that project, only to be told I was vain and lacked the composure expected of a wealthy heir.
Now, another man basked in the spotlight that should have been mine.
It was all absurd.
Just then, a call from Sophia jolted me from the suffocating scene.
I stepped away to a corner to answer.
But before I could speak, I heard Ryan’s mocking voice behind me.
“Ethan, you must be really hurting.”
“You’re the real heir of the Carter family, and yet you still lost to me, the adopted son!”
“I should thank you. If you hadn’t gone missing, I’d never have had the chance to join the Carter family—or meet Emily.”
I turned and looked at him with a blank stare.
Then I smiled coldly and said—
