Chapter 3

Jason's POV

Ethan stumbled back half a step, but quickly recovered and tried to rush at me.

"You bastard, you dare hit me? Security! Where's security!"

Susan grabbed Ethan, blocking him, her eyes full of disappointment and disgust.

"Jason, you've really disappointed me."

She pulled out a checkbook from her bag, scribbled a string of numbers, and tossed it on the nearby table.

"That's fifty thousand dollars. Take the money, get out of my sight, and never appear again. For the sake of your mother once taking care of me, this is the last time I'll help you."

Fifty thousand dollars.

For me right now, that was a fortune. Enough to pay for Mom's hospital bills for three months.

If it were yesterday's me, maybe I would have knelt down and picked up that money for Mom's sake.

But not today.

I'd read that post. I knew the truth.

This fifty thousand wasn't charity-it was hush money.

It was a gag order, dirty money to trample my dignity.

"Susan."

I looked at her, suddenly feeling such sadness.

"Do you really understand him? Do you really know what happened five years ago?"

Susan sneered.

"I understand very well. For me, Ethan gave up his chance to study abroad and stayed to start a business with me. And you? You only knew how to drink, fight, and run from responsibility. The facts are right there-what more do you want to argue?"

"Facts?"

I pointed at Ethan.

"Ask him-that architectural design assignment in sophomore year, who actually drew it for you? Ask him-the day your father's company went bankrupt, who knelt in the pouring rain all night begging creditors for a few more days?"

Ethan's expression changed instantly.

Susan froze, then frowned.

"That was Ethan! He stayed up three nights straight to draw it until his hands swelled! As for that night... Ethan was with me too."

I laughed.

Laughed until my lungs hurt.

So he didn't just steal my life. He stole everything I had ever worked for.

That year, to help Susan complete her award winning design, I drew for three days and three nights straight in the dorm room of Ethan, who called himself my good brother. I worked until I passed out.

When I woke up, Ethan had already taken the drawings to claim credit. He lied to me, saying my work was too terrible and that he had to fix it before submitting.

And that rainy night, Ethan did go. But he stayed in his car the whole time. Only I knelt outside in the pouring rain like a fool.

"Jason, you're truly frightening."

Susan shook her head.

"When you've accomplished nothing yourself, you steal others' credit to put on your own face? What's the point of such lies?"

I looked at Susan's determined eyes. My heart went completely cold.

Five years, plus deliberate brainwashing, had completely demonized my image in her heart.

Explain?

What could I explain with now? With these dirty clothes or with my high school diploma?

"You'll regret this."

I said softly.

"The biggest regret of my life was knowing you."

Susan struck back mercilessly.

I didn't glance at that check, picked up my toolbox, and turned to leave.

At the door, I stopped, my back to them.

"I won't renovate this house. But there's a problem with the structural diagram for that load-bearing wall in the living room. If you renovate according to the current plan, it'll collapse within three years."

With that, I strode out of the villa.

Behind me came Ethan's furious voice.

"Don't listen to his nonsense! What does a construction worker know about structures! I hired a first-class designer for those plans!"

Walking out of Cloudcrest Villa District, the sunlight outside was so blinding it made me want to cry.

I got on my bicycle. Wind rushed into my collar, cold to the bone.

My phone vibrated.

It was the hospital calling.

My heart tightened. I quickly answered.

"Mr. Jason? This is the hospital. Your mother's condition suddenly deteriorated. She has a serious lung infection and needs to be moved to ICU immediately for emergency treatment. Please come pay the fees and sign right away!"

"How much?"

My voice trembled.

"Pre-payment of fifty thousand dollars."

Fifty thousand dollars.

Again, fifty thousand dollars.

What Susan had just thrown on the table was exactly fifty thousand dollars.

Fate was like a cruel clown, laughing madly at me.

I trembled.

"Doctor, please save her first... I'll get the money right away, right away..."

"Hurry. We can't wait much longer."

The call ended.

I looked at the bustling streets, at the skyscrapers towering in the distance.

That was where I once dreamed of designing.

Now, I couldn't even come up with fifty thousand dollars.

I didn't go back to the construction site. Instead, I turned my bike around and went to a pawn shop.

The only valuable thing I had was the necklace I'd kept close to my body.

It was a family heirloom, something Mom had saved for me to give to my future wife.

But I couldn't think about that now.