The year college entrance exams were reinstated, my fiancée stole my admission letter and gave it to my younger brother, Percival Fox. The two of them fled together to start a new life.
My adoptive parents knelt before me, begging me not to report their daughter and Percival—for the sake of the kindness they'd shown in taking me in.
To ensure those two could successfully enroll, they locked me in the shed without food or water.
I contracted the plague. On the brink of death, Norma Pruitt, the eldest daughter of the Pruitt family, secretly brought me a bowl of congee.
"Duane Fox, what they did was too cruel. I've already told my parents I won't marry anyone but you. Just marry me, and I'll support all your dreams."
I was deeply moved. I married Norma.
During the day, I helped her manage the school's affairs. At night, I studied relentlessly. Three years of exams, and I still failed every time.
I was ready to give up—to devote myself to being the man behind Norma's success.
Then I overheard a conversation between Norma and her parents.
"Norma, it's been three years. Duane's scores have improved each time. This year he even got into Capital University. Are you really not going to let him attend?"
Norma's refusal was immediate. "Percival took his student registration. If Duane goes to college, won't Percival's identity fraud be exposed?"
"For Percival's sake, I can't let him attend."
——
"But Duane has been retaking the exam for three years now. Percival is graduating next year anyway. Why don't your father and I pull some strings and get Duane a new student registration?"
The elder Pruitts offered what seemed like a reasonable suggestion, but Norma's brow furrowed deeply.
"Get him a new registration? Have Duane take someone else's spot and sacrifice an innocent person's future? How could you even suggest that?"
"But we've watched Duane work so hard these three years. During the day he handles the school's affairs for you. At night he studies by lamplight while keeping watch, yawning so hard he can barely keep his eyes open."
"The first two times you hid his admission letters, I saw him crying in secret. He kept saying he was stupid, that he'd wasted two years for nothing."
"He knows how much you care about these children. He moved into the school on his own, fighting to do every dirty, exhausting job. And the way he treats us—we couldn't ask for better."
"Such a good man. Betraying him once was enough. If we do it again, I'm afraid there'll be no coming back from it."
The elder Pruitts spoke with genuine concern, but Norma had made up her mind.
"Mom, Dad, please stop."
"Back then, I was the one who helped Louise and Percival scheme to take Duane's admission letter. That was wrong of me. Destroying his letters two years in a row was also wrong."
"But Percival isn't like Duane. He donated a kidney to me. Without an education, what future does he have?"
"Besides, I'm a school principal. Marrying me means he'll never want for anything. I'm giving him the rest of my life to make up for it. Isn't that enough?"
"This admission letter can't be kept. Percival's future is more important than anything."
With that, Norma prepared to burn my admission letter to ashes in front of everyone.
I stood outside the door, holding the chicken soup I'd made to help Norma regain her strength. I watched the letter I'd dreamed of for so long, trembling uncontrollably.
Three years ago, when the college entrance exams were reinstated, I took the test alongside my younger brother Percival and my fiancée Louise Pruitt.
The day the results were posted, Percival had failed.
Before I could even think of how to comfort him, I was told my admission letter had already been collected by someone else.
At the same time, Louise and Percival had vanished.
Someone saw them boarding a train to the provincial capital together.
The provincial capital—exactly where the university I'd applied to was located.
I couldn't believe it. I immediately told the Pruitts, hoping they could help me contact Louise.
Their response was shameless.
