Chapter 2

Her performance continued outside the door.

"We' ll replace Noah with Alex at the engagement party tomorrow," I heard Susan say, her voice crisp and decisive. "It' s the perfect opportunity."

"What will we tell people?" Emily asked, her voice small.

"We' ll leak a story. Say Noah was caught in some… debauched activities. A special lifestyle. That his injuries are a result of his own recklessness. It will justify disowning him and give Alex a reason to step in and save the family' s honor by marrying you."

There was a brief pause.

"Susan, isn' t that too cruel?" Emily whispered.

"Cruelty is a tool, Emily. It' s time you learned that," my mother replied. "Alex deserves the world, and we will give it to him."

I wanted to scream, to tear myself from this gurney and run, but I was trapped in a prison of broken bones and agony. I wanted to cut ties with this monstrous family, to disappear and never see them again.

My whole life, I had felt like an outsider. I grew up on the streets, a stray, until Susan Miller took me in, claiming I was a distant relative. I was so grateful. I worked so hard to prove my worth, to earn her love.

Now I knew why I never could. I wasn't the son she wanted. I was the son she was stuck with, a constant reminder of the husband she despised and the life she didn't choose.

The night bled into a feverish day.

My untreated wounds began to fester. A fire raged in my legs, a deep, rotting pain that was worse than the initial breaks.

I woke to the sound of camera shutters and hushed, excited whispers.

My hospital room was filled with people. News crews, gawkers, their faces a blur of morbid curiosity. They weren't there to offer sympathy. They were vultures.

"Look at him, what a mess."

"I heard he' s into some really weird stuff. That' s why the Millers are disowning him."

"Serves him right. Trying to bring shame on a family like that."

A television in the corner was on, the volume turned up. A news anchor was reading a statement from Miller Corp.

"…due to his proclivities and special lifestyle, which have brought great shame upon the family, Noah Miller has been officially disinherited. The engagement between him and Ms. Emily Stone has been called off. Instead, Miller Corp is pleased to announce the engagement of Ms. Stone to Mr. Alex Miller, the eldest son…"

The words hit me like physical blows.

Proclivities. Special lifestyle.

They were painting me as a degenerate to justify throwing me away.

The humiliation was a physical weight, pressing down on my chest, making it impossible to breathe. A hot tear escaped my eye, tracing a path through the grime on my face.

A flash went off.

"He' s crying! Get a shot of that!" someone yelled.

Laughter followed. They were mocking my tears, my pain, my utter destruction.

Suddenly, the crowd parted.

Susan rushed in, her face a perfect portrait of a distressed mother.

"Get out! All of you, get out!" she screamed at the reporters, shielding me with her body. "Can' t you see my son is suffering?"

It was a magnificent performance.

She turned to me, her eyes wet with manufactured tears. "Noah, my darling, don' t worry. We' ll get you into surgery right away. Mommy will fix everything."

I knew she was lying. She was waiting. Waiting until the engagement between Alex and Emily was finalized. Waiting until my ruin was complete.

The strain, the pain, the absolute despair was too much.

My vision, already dark, went completely black.

The last thing I heard was a man' s frantic cry from somewhere down the hall. A voice I hadn' t heard in days.

"Noah! What have they done to you? Noah!"

It was my father.