That very night, Dad hurled the fake medical report viciously at Eric's feet.

There was no longer any hiding the truth—that Eric had faked his illness, and that Alicia had forced me to donate blood.

Tears came to Eric instantly. Choking on sobs, he could barely catch his breath.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. I was just too scared. After the way Ronnie treated me before, I didn't know if he had really changed. I just… wanted to test him. I truly didn't mean to pretend to be sick."

As he spoke, he stumbled toward the wardrobe, sobbing while stuffing clothes recklessly into a suitcase.

"I know I was wrong. I'll move out right now. I won't trouble you anymore…"

Alicia immediately rushed over and pressed down on the suitcase, her voice rising sharply.

"Mom, Dad! Did you hear that? Eric's just insecure! You know better than anyone how badly Ronnie bullied him back then!"

She glanced toward my room, her tone growing even more agitated.

"Have you forgotten what Ronnie used to be like? Arrogant, overbearing, completely out of control! And after 'learning manners' for five years, he's suddenly a completely different person? Who would believe that?

"What kind of normal person slits his wrists and jumps off a building over a few words? If he can be this ruthless to himself, imagine how calculating he really is! If you ask me, he's just gotten better at acting…"

"Enough!"

Dad's furious shout cut her off cold.

My parents shot her a harsh glare, but in the end, they still let her words sink in.

From that night onward, everyone looked at me with suspicion in their eyes.

With my parents silently allowing it, Eric's "tests" gradually became more extreme.

When he deliberately dumped an entire glass of ice water over my head, I stood there without moving. I even tilted my head up and gave him a pleasing smile.

When he intentionally placed seafood into my bowl, I softly thanked him and obediently ate every bite.

As angry red rashes rapidly spread across my neck, Eric finally lost his patience completely.

Furious, he grabbed a handful of sleeping pills and violently shoved them into my mouth.

"Swallow them! Aren't you supposed to be obedient?! Let's see how long you can keep pretending!"

Dad hesitated, as though he wanted to speak.

Mother slowly lowered the hand she had instinctively reached out with and eventually turned her face away.

Alicia crossed her arms nearby, openly watching the scene like entertainment.

They were all waiting for the once arrogant and unruly Ronnie to finally explode in anger and cause a scene. Even Eric himself had unconsciously tensed up.

But I didn't resist at all. I simply opened my mouth obediently and forced myself to swallow every single pill.

Eric froze in shock for a second.

When he realized I was serious, the color drained from his face instantly. He lunged at me frantically, jamming his fingers into my mouth.

"Are you insane?! Spit them out! Hurry and spit them out! Ronnie! Those are sleeping pills! If you take too many, you'll really die! Are you trying to make me a murderer?!"

By the time the family doctor arrived, the struggle had rubbed the corners of my mouth raw, streaks of blood already seeping out.

The induced vomiting process was long and humiliating.

Curled up on the couch, I trembled uncontrollably.

Dad draped his jacket over my shoulders with shaking hands, his reddened eyes glaring viciously at Alicia and Eric.

"This is all because of your stupid idea! Are you satisfied now?!"

Mother threw herself at me and broke down sobbing in my arms.

"Ronnie… my poor Ronnie! What happened to you? What's happened to my son?!"

But I only stared blankly at the light on the ceiling above me without the slightest response.

After I fainted that day, I had a long nightmare.

In the dream, Eric would always scratch his own arms whenever my parents walked by, then throw himself into their embrace and sob, "Ronnie hit me again…"

Whenever he saw my sister approaching, he would hurl himself down the stairs without hesitation. Then, with tear-filled eyes, he would point at me and say, "Ronnie pushed me."

Every time even the slightest hesitation appeared on my family's faces, his eyes would redden as he choked back tears.

"If Ronnie still can't accept me, then I'll leave. It's fine if I have to fend for myself."

And in that dream, I was still the old Ronnie—the one who couldn't bear even the slightest injustice.

Every time I was framed, I would only cry and scream in defense of myself. After it happened enough times, I was the one who started to look insane… until the very last time.

To frame me, Eric locked himself inside a room and started a fire. After he was rescued, he insisted that I was the one who had set it.

I completely lost control and threw myself at him, fighting him desperately.

And at that moment, my family finally ran out of patience with me.

Unable to endure it any longer, they refused to listen to another word of explanation and personally handed me over to those traffickers.

Under their manipulation and brainwashing, my family quickly came to believe the lie about "learning discipline."

The contract they signed in place of parental supervision lasted five full years.

When I jolted awake from the nightmare, the first thing I saw was the magnified face of the psychologist.

Faced with the doctor my parents had hired, I cooperated unexpectedly well.

Seeing that I was awake, she softened her voice gently.

"Ronnie, can you tell me why, no matter what people do to you, you never resist? Why do you even hurt yourself?"

I blinked, my tone perfectly natural.

"Because only obedient children don't get beaten."

Those clubs… those torn clothes… those pitch-black cellars…

I had already experienced enough of the price of disobedience.

The doctor stared at me, wanting to speak but stopping herself.

After a long pause, she carefully tried to guide me.

"But you're home now, Ronnie. There are people here who love you. No one will hit you or hurt you anymore."

Curiously, I tilted my head.

"No one hurts me? Then does Eric dumping water over my head and forcing pills into my mouth not count as bullying? Does Alicia forcing me to donate blood not count either?

"Or maybe… even Mom and Dad…"

I leaned slightly closer to her and asked softly, "One second they're holding me and crying, but the next second, even after seeing everything Eric did, they still stand by and watch because they're afraid I'm acting. They even think I'm sick and brought you here… Doesn't that count as bullying either?"

I stared at her.

"Doctor, disobedient people die. I used to have several companions just like me. But now they're all gone. Because they weren't obedient enough… they were beaten to death."

The doctor's hand froze in midair, the color draining instantly from her face.

Later, she repeated every single word I had said to my parents without leaving out a thing.

The final diagnosis was severe post-traumatic stress disorder, accompanied by extreme submissive behavior and emotional detachment.

After the psychologist left, my parents locked themselves inside the study for an entire day.

That was, until Alicia kicked the door open.

After Alicia kicked open the study door that day, she and my parents erupted into a fierce argument.

From then on, my parents treated me with almost painful caution.

At the dinner table, they always waited for me to pick up my spoon first.

Mom insisted on blowing on my soup herself, spoonful by spoonful, before feeding it to me.

Dad even dug out old photo albums that had been gathering dust for years and pointed through them page by page.

"Look, Ronnie—this was your third birthday… and this was the first time you played soccer…"

"Our Ronnie was so lovable when he was little."

Alicia happened to pass by and stopped when she saw the scene, letting out a cold laugh.

"What an incredible performance. Trying to act pitiful so you can push Eric out of this family? Just looking at you like this makes me sick."

My gaze fell on a photo in the album—a picture of me with my sister.

She used to treat me so well that I no longer dared to remember when everything had started to change.

What pulled me back to reality was the sharp sound of a slap landing across Alicia's face.

For the first time, my parents were truly angry.

Eric hurried over and wrapped himself around their arms, coaxing them softly.

"Mom, Dad, don't be angry. Alicia just has a bad temper. She didn't mean it. We'll definitely get along with Ronnie from now on."

He paused, as though suddenly remembering something.

"Oh, right. Isn't there a party next week? I remember Ronnie used to love lively events. I'll take him out to have some fun. Maybe… it'll help him feel better."

My parents looked at the smiling little boy in the photograph for a long time before finally nodding in agreement.

On the day of the party, Eric grabbed my hand the moment we entered.

"Come on. I will take you out back to get some fresh air."

I obediently followed him, letting him half-drag me away from the crowd.

When we reached the edge of the swimming pool, he suddenly stopped. Leaning close to my ear, he hissed viciously, "You think acting pathetic is enough to steal everything that belongs to me? Dream on. Mom, Dad, and Alicia love me. They'll only ever love me."

A malicious smile curled across his lips.

"How about a bet? If I win, you'll get out of the Spencer family yourself and never show your face again."

Before he even finished speaking, a violent shove slammed hard into my back.

With a loud splash, the icy pool swallowed me whole.

After leisurely watching for a while, Eric jumped into the water too.

Then he immediately screamed, "Alicia! Save me!!!"

When Alicia heard him, she rushed over—only to freeze mid-step. She hesitated for only a second before diving into the pool and swimming desperately toward Eric.

By the time she dragged him to the edge, shocked cries were already erupting around them.

"There's still someone in the water!"

"He's not moving! He's about to sink!"

Alicia whipped around. The color drained from her face instantly. In a panic, she dove back into the pool and frantically hauled me out of the water.

Curled on the freezing ground, I coughed violently, trembling nonstop.

Alicia pressed her lips together, and for a brief second, worry flashed through her eyes.

But the next moment, Eric's tearful sobbing cut off whatever concern she had been about to show.

Looking at Eric's reddened eyes, it was as though she suddenly remembered something. Her face darkened again immediately.

"Get on your knees and apologize to Eric! Look how badly you frightened him!"

I wanted to nod. But my body had already begun trembling even harder beyond my control.

Seeing that, her gaze turned completely cold.

"Ronnie! Everyone knows you were an excellent swimmer growing up! You even won the city elementary school swimming championship! You're so addicted to acting that you just can't stop, is that it?!"

As she shouted, she violently yanked me to my feet, trying to force me onto my knees in front of Eric.

And in that rough pull, I lost my balance and fell forward.

That was when the prosthetic leg came loose. The flesh-colored prosthetic, metal screws exposed, rolled several times across the ground.

The entire world went silent in an instant.

Then the crowd erupted into horrified screams.

The moment Alicia saw my empty pant legs, the color drained from her face.

Staggering backward two steps, she stared at me with wide, disbelieving eyes before collapsing heavily onto the ground.