Chapter 6
My professor shook his head firmly. “Jason has always excelled academically and in research. If he couldn’t graduate, no one
could.”
My father frowned. “Then why would he disappear for no reason? Isn’t he still studying here?”
The professor looked at him, clearly at a loss. “Jason already completed his Ph.D. early. Aren’t you his family? How could you not know that? And as for where he went after graduation-that’s his personal choice. If he didn’t tell you, how could I possibly
know?”
My parents were left speechless.
Carson sat there, silently twisting the button on his cuff, lost in thought.
Back home, my parents began pulling every string they had, using their connections to search for me across the country.
They fed others a pretty excuse-that this was about finally inducting me into the Wheeler family trust at the annual founders’ ceremony. Never mind that in eighteen years, they’d never bothered to add my name to the registry.
Carson shadowed them like a nervous ghost, voice cracking with desperation. “I’m your son too. Let me stand in for him-once I make the ceremonial pledge, the board has to recognize me as heir. I’m ready to take the helm.”
So far, all Carson officially owned was that boutique tech startup Father had bankrolled as a pet project. The real Wheeler fortune remained firmly out of his reach. You could practically smell his hunger.
My father stared at him for a long moment before speaking.
“I haven’t even stepped down yet, and you’re already eyeing the inheritance?”
Carson waved his hands quickly in denial, but the damage was done. A seed of suspicion had already taken root in my father’s
mind.
It was also around this time that my parents finally began to recall something good about me.
At the very least, since I’d rejoined the family, I had never once asked them for money or shown any interest in their assets. Not
even once.
After the cold reception, Carson wised up. He didn’t dare to sit by idly anymore and offered to help look for me. He started leaving the house early and returning late every day.
My mother was moved and thought that maybe she’d been wrong all along. Maybe Carson really was a good kid.
But one day, when she stopped by the company to bring him lunch, she stumbled upon the truth.
Carson had left his office door open. He was lounging in his chair, chatting casually with a close friend.
“My parents still think Jason disappeared on purpose. Hilarious. They believe everything I say. Never even considered that their precious son got hit by a car and ended up in the hospital. You should’ve hit him harder. Maybe broken a leg or something. Keep him bedridden for good.
“Can’t help it. Jason always had that holier-than-thou attitude, like he looked down on everyone. But deep down, he still craved our parents’ attention. So I had to mess with that a little. Stirred the pot.”
My mother stood frozen in the doorway, her face drained of color, listening to him lay it all out-his schemes, the lies, the manipulation, all said with a laugh.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She burst into the room and hurled the lunchbox at him with all her strength.
Pointing at the startled Carson, she shouted, voice shaking with rage, “Carson, you tried to harm Jason! Do you have no conscience at all?!”
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Chapter 6
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He hadn’t expected to be exposed like this. His face turned ghostly pale.
“Mom, I didn’t mean to hurt him, I just― I was insecure. Please forgive me, just this once. I swear I’ll get along with him from now on. I won’t play tricks again!”
But she only looked at him with disgust.
“You begged us like this the first time, too. I’m not falling for it again.”
She told everything to my father, who was just as shocked. He was so furious he nearly collapsed on the spot.
No matter how Carson begged, neither of them relented. They threw him out of the house without hesitation.
Everything he owned was tossed out after him-his clothes, his possessions, all piled like trash on the sidewalk.
Every luxury item bought with family money over the years was confiscated without exception.
Carson clung to his expensive watch, unwilling to let go. “This is mine! Why won’t you let me have it?”
My mother sneered. “Who says it’s yours? If it weren’t for you, these things would’ve belonged to Jason.’
“You told me I was your real son! You said you’d give me anything I wanted. I saw you as my family! Now you’re kicking me out -where am I supposed to go? Please, Mom, just let me stay! I don’t care if it’s the smallest room!”
He sobbed and begged, wearing that pitiful look that used to make everyone soften.
But not this time.
“We’ll be taking back all the investments we made in your company. Don’t expect any more support. And forget about any arranged marriages,” my mother said coldly.
With that, she slammed the door in his face. No matter how long he cried and pounded on it, she never opened it again.
On her way back inside the villa, she changed course, heading instead toward my old room.
The moment she stepped in, her eyes filled with tears. It was cramped, dark, and damp-barely better than the servants’
quarters.
“My poor Jason,” she whispered. “How did you end up living like this? It’s our fault. Your father and I failed you…”
For the first time, regret truly seemed to sink in.
Every cruel moment they’d subjected me to came rushing back to her in a flood of memory, and she wept harder.
“We know we were wrong now. We’ll do everything we can to make it right. But where did you go, Jason? Why did you leave without a word? Please, just send us something-anything-to let us know you’re alive…”
But the room was empty. Not a single trace of me remained.
She collapsed on the bed, clinging to the sheets that still held a whisper of my scent, crying as if her heart might break.
Just like when I was a child and disappeared without a trace, I had vanished again-completely and utterly-leaving them with nothing but silence.
