What Aubrey had forgotten was that I was 22 now. I was no longer that eight-year-old kid. I knew how to use electronic devices, and I knew how to use GPS.

So even without the watch, my soul could find its way back home without any trouble.

The reason I hadn't come back—and had instead foolishly gone to the altered location she set—was because I understood that I was unwanted in this family.

Aubrey had always been a terrible actress. When I got lost as a child and was finally found, her expression had been icy as she'd scolded me. But her voice had been filled with worry and concern.

This time was no different.

Two days earlier, I'd asked her what was so fun about this small mountain village and why we weren't heading home when Thanksgiving was right around the corner.

She smiled at me, but her eyes were filled with guilt. "There's no rush to get home. I finally carved out some time to spend with you. Let's enjoy ourselves here for a couple more days."

I'd sensed something was off right then and there, but I didn't say anything. At least, not until she asked for my watch, claiming she wanted to take a photo of it so she could buy one for Brent, too.

I took off the watch and handed it to her. Her fingers trembled as she adjusted the settings. Even after she fastened it back onto my wrist, the strained look on her face never eased.

Smiling, I said, "Aubrey, this model's pretty old. You should buy a new one for Brent, otherwise he won't be happy."

She couldn't even bring herself to look at me as she said, "It's fine. I'll just buy him this one."

That only made me more certain that something was off with her.

That night, I took off the watch and examined it carefully. Sure enough, I discovered that the GPS location had been altered.

On the surface, it still showed that our home address was in Riverbridge. But if one clicked on it and dug further, they'd find that the actual destination was now set to a patch of woods outside Maple Hollow.

Aubrey had probably picked a random spot on the map and hadn't realized that it was deep in the woods.

In that instant, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. But I didn't go to her, nor did I ask any questions, because I knew she was caught in a difficult position as well.

Brent couldn't stand the sight of me, and with his depression, he threatened suicide at the drop of a hat. For nearly ten years, she'd been caught between her biological brother and me. That couldn't have been easy.

…

The next morning, Aubrey didn't come to knock on my door like usual. I knew she must've already gone home.

So I left as well and followed the route shown on my watch.

Along the way, one of the villagers recognized me. "Aren't you the tourist from the city?" he asked. "Your sister left early this morning. Are you leaving too? Where are you going?"

I forced down the bitterness in my heart and smiled. "Home."

The villager frowned. "The road back to town isn't this way. Don't go any further. There are wolves and snakes in these woods. Even traps."

"It's okay," I said, smiling. "I'll be careful."

Even if it were hell itself, if it was where Aubrey wanted me to go, I'd go.

The villager stopped trying to talk me out of it and headed home.

Originally, my plan had been to leave the watch at the marked location so Aubrey wouldn't worry. Then, I'd leave the woods and find some random place to live.

What I never expected, however, was to fall into a trap after only a few steps.

There was no cell service, and even emergency calls couldn't get through. I fell into despair, feeling utterly helpless.

And to make matters worse, there was a venomous snake in the pit. That very night, it bit me, and I died.

…

"Gary's GPS location disappeared!"

Aubrey's anxious voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Her face was pale as she stared at her phone. As soon as she said those words, she jumped to her feet and started putting on her coat.

"Something couldn't have happened to Gary, could it? No, I have to go find him!"

"Maybe he just turned off the watch himself," Brent quipped as he grabbed Aubrey in a tight hold. "Why are you so worried? You can't leave. It's Thanksgiving. You promised you'd spend it with me."

Aubrey sighed and patted him on the head. "I'll just go take a look. As long as he's safe, I'll come right back."

"I'll send someone to check on him," Brent insisted, refusing to back down. "You have to stay home with me today!"

Aubrey frowned and opened her mouth to speak, but Brent suddenly grabbed the fruit knife off the table and pressed it against his neck.

"If you dare take one step out that door today, I'll kill myself right in front of you!"

Mom and Dad screamed in panic. Equally alarmed, Aubrey quickly raised her hands and tried to calm him down.

"Okay, okay! I won't go. Just put the knife down first!"

A flash of smug satisfaction crossed Brent's eyes as he tossed the knife aside.

"You just want to check in on him. It's not like you have to do it yourself," he said. "Don't worry. I'll make the arrangements."

Still shaken, Aubrey bent down, picked up the knife, and returned it to the kitchen.

"Don't grab a knife so recklessly again," she said. "What if you get hurt?"

Seeing the worry on her face, a dull ache spread through my chest.

When I was little, she'd always panic whenever I was gone for more than two hours. Back then, she behaved exactly the same way. She would scold me, but the concern on her face was barely contained.

"Do you know how long I've been looking for you? Who told you to run off by yourself? What if something happened?" she would ask.

But ever since Brent had been brought back home, I had become invisible. Even if I deliberately stayed out all night, no one was concerned.

Still in my teens back then, I couldn't understand it. I had asked Aubrey, with tears brimming in my eyes, why she didn't look for me anymore.

She had simply chuckled as she shook her head. "Don't you have a watch with a GPS now, Gary? I've told you before—the watch shows you the way home. You can always find your own way back."

After all these years, those words still echoed in my mind. The things I couldn't wrap my head around back then, I finally understood now.

The way home? The moment Brent returned, I no longer had a home.

The following afternoon, Brent showed Aubrey a video. In it, only my back was visible.

His assistant, Trevor Prescott, asked, "Mr. Gary, would you like to come home?"

Without turning around, "I" replied impatiently, "Tell Mom and Dad that I'm doing great here, and I'm never going back."

"What happened to your watch?" Trevor asked again.

"I turned it off," I answered flatly.

The video was obviously fabricated, but Aubrey didn't notice. She seemingly didn't care what "I" had said, and instead just let out a sigh of relief.

"As long as Gary's okay, then that's all that matters," she said with a smile. "It looks like he's adjusted pretty well to life over there. I'll go bring him back after Christmas."

Brent nearly exploded. "Did you not hear him say he never wants to come back?"

Aubrey shrugged nonchalantly. "It's just a phase. There's no place better than home. He'll grow tired of living there in a few days."

"Tell your assistant to leave Gary some extra money," she added. "Make sure he has enough to spend."

With that, she headed out the door for work, completely missing the resentment brewing in Brent's eyes.

The moment the front door shut, Brent immediately called Trevor.

"Find a random place and bury Gary's body. Damn it! He's already dead, and my sister still can't stop thinking about him! What a bastard!"

Trevor had clearly never done something like this before, and his voice trembled slightly as he asked, "What… What if someone finds out?"

"What are you scared of? It's not like you killed him. If anything, you're doing a good deed by burying him!"

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, and an eerie, cold sneer curled across his lips.

"Oh, right, bring me his phone too. Aubrey will definitely message him. If nobody replies, she'll start getting suspicious."

Just like that, Brent stopped making a scene for the next few days following Thanksgiving.

Our parents were happy. Whenever my name came up in conversation, they'd usually say something like, "If we'd known Brent would return to normal the moment Gary left, we would've sent him away sooner."

Aubrey was the only person in the entire family who still worried about me. She frequently texted me, asking if I'd eaten, slept, or if I was having fun.

"I" always replied coldly, rarely exceeding three words. But Aubrey assumed that I was simply having too much fun to text, so she didn't think too much of it.

This continued right up to a few days before Christmas, when Brent threw out everything that belonged to me and turned my room into one for a dog.

When Aubrey got home from work, she walked in just in time to see workers dismantling my bed and mounting dog toys onto the walls. Her face darkened.

"Who told you to do this?" she asked, her voice icy.

The workers jumped at her voice.

"I did," Brent said from behind her. "Gary isn't coming back anyway, so there's no point in keeping this room empty."

Aubrey turned, obvious displeasure flashing across her face. "I already told you I'm bringing Gary home after Christmas. How could you decide unilaterally to turn his room into—"

"Decide unilaterally?" Brent's voice rose sharply. "What? Is this not my house? I'm not even allowed to renovate a room now?"

Aubrey fought to keep her temper in check. "You should've at least told me beforehand. There aren't any other spare rooms left. Where do you expect Gary to stay?"

"Gary, Gary, Gary! He's all you ever care about!" Brent roared, his chest heaving violently as his emotions spiraled out of control. "I'm your biological brother! Do I even matter to you?"

"What's going on now?"

Hearing the commotion, our parents rushed out. The moment they sensed the tension between Brent and Aubrey, they broke out in a cold sweat.

"I've already told you I don't like him!" Brent screamed hysterically. "Why do you guys always have to bring him up in front of me? Are you only going to be satisfied after you drive me to my death? I'll go kill myself right now! That'll make you happy, won't it?"

Mom's face turned white with fear. She quickly grabbed Brent's hand and barked furiously at Aubrey. "What did you say to him now?"

Aubrey looked both exhausted and frustrated.

"He turned Gary's room into a dog room," she explained, her voice slightly hoarse. "I only said—"

"Can you stop causing trouble?" Mom cut her off with a furious shout. "How many times has Gary texted you that he's not coming back? What part of that do you not understand? And now you're upsetting Brent so badly over a room? What kind of sister are you?"

Aubrey froze. Slowly, she pressed her lips into a tight line and didn't say anything.

When Brent heard my name, it was like someone had flipped a switch. He yanked his hand free from Mom's grip and charged toward the wall.

"I don't want to live anymore! Let me die! She'll finally be happy when I die!"

The momentum sent Mom sprawling to the floor. Fortunately, Dad reacted quickly enough and managed to grab hold of Brent.

The house descended into absolute chaos. The workers stood there awkwardly, clutching their tools, unsure whether to continue working or to leave.

Meanwhile, Brent kept screaming about wanting to die so he could finally be free from all of this.

Suddenly, Mom scrambled to her feet and lunged at Aubrey. Raising her hand, she delivered two hard slaps across her face.

Aubrey's head snapped to the side, and her cheek instantly swelled bright red. Clutching her face, she stared in utter disbelief at our usually gentle mother, whose eyes were bloodshot with rage.

"I'm warning you, Aubrey Cochran," Mom roared. "If you dare mention Gary in this house again, I'll sever all ties with you!"

"We've been good to Gary all these years. He's the one who said he doesn't want to come home. It's not that we don't want him! If something happens to Brent because of you and Gary, I won't forgive either of you, even after I'm dead!"

Those words were unbearably cruel. Aubrey's eyelashes trembled slightly, and her eyes slowly turned red. Only after a long silence did she finally speak up, her voice carrying a hint of bitter mockery.

"Fine. I'll never mention Gary Cochran in this house again."

With that, she turned around, walked into her bedroom, and slammed the door shut behind her.

Mom and Dad were too busy comforting Brent to notice Aubrey's emotional state. Worried about her, I drifted into her room, just in time to see her pull out her phone to send me a message.

"Gary, I'll come pick you up tomorrow."

Her eyes were so red they looked like they were bleeding. Until now, I'd never seen her look so deeply wronged.

The reply she received was cold and heartless.

"No need. I'm not going back. I have a new sister now."

She instantly panicked.

"Where's the watch I gave you? You promised you'd always wear it!"

As long as the watch was turned on, she could use the GPS location to track me. But my reply only made her grip her phone tightly.

"I threw it away. It's useless now, so why keep it?"