When I was ten years old, both my parents passed away. My sister, Brianna, and I only had each other left.

We were tormented at the orphanage before the Larsons adopted us.

They doted on Brianna and me, and even allowed their daughter, Vivian Larson, to get engaged to me when I was 20 years old. It was a wonderful tale of love.

Vivian didn't let any of us down. She would have given me the moon if she could, and she loved me with all her heart.

During the ten years we spent with the Larsons, Brianna and I led a good life and never suffered at all.

The night before we got married, Vivian took out a treasured bottle of vintage wine. It was to be served at our wedding.

However, I poisoned the wine and killed everyone in the Larson family, including my own sister.

Everyone around the dinner table was dead, their eyes wide and staring. Blood streamed out of every orifice on their faces.

I sat there calmly, allowing the policemen that Vivian Larson had summoned to surround me.

Vivian's eyes were bulging out of her head, and she rushed up to slap me over a dozen times in the face. She demanded to know why I had done it.

I was flung to the ground, and I remained silent as I endured her kicks and punches.

I didn't even bother to answer the barrage of questions that the police threw at me.

I was detained for three months. A steady stream of policemen, lawyers, and prosecutors took turns to alternatively cajole and threaten me, but I was unmoved.

The case ground to a halt because of me, and Vivian could no longer stand it. She obtained permission from the Chief of Police to visit me in prison.

"Asville Hospital has recently developed a new serum that can reconstruct memories from witnesses' brain waves. However, the process is extremely painful. Once the memories have been completely extracted, the brain waves will fade, and you'll be brain-dead.

"Damon, why did you kill my entire family? You didn't even show mercy to your own sister!"

I looked at Vivian, whom I had not seen for a very long time. There was no longer any trace of love for me in her eyes. All that was left was a deep-seated hatred of me.

My heart ached relentlessly, but I remained expressionless. "You should go. I won't tell you anything."

Vivian slammed her hand on the table, looking beside herself with fury. She hurled her phone at the glass, and it crashed against it with a loud bang.

"Damon Larson, do you have a death wish?"

Even the policemen who were standing guard over me looked at me with revulsion. "I have never seen anyone as vicious as you."

Vivian received permission from the chief and got about a dozen police officers to escort me personally to the hospital.

Only hardened criminals received treatment like that.

I walked out of the police station's main doors with a hood pulled over my head, but reporters surged toward me from all directions. I was surrounded by them, as well as eager passersby.

There was a group of agitated people who claimed to have once received financial assistance from Callum Larson and his wife, Rhiannon Carlton. They looked as if they wanted nothing more than to skin me alive.

They lunged toward me abruptly and tore off my hood. The piercing sunlight made me squint, and I was pelted with over a dozen stones.

"You murderer! I'm going to show everyone your true colors today!"

I turned and saw countless flashes going off as cameras clicked furiously. They seemed bent on capturing every detail, even down to the hairs on my face.

"Mister, why did you repay the Larsons' kindness with cruelty, especially when they adopted you? You killed them and your own sister!"

"Were you after the Larsons' fortune? Did you concoct this plan because you wanted to take the money for yourself?"

"Do you have a lover out there? Did the two of you plot together to kill for money?"

Their sharp questions filled my ears, but I gazed impassively at the crowd, as if I couldn't hear them.

The crowd was triggered by my attitude. Some of them began reaching for their phones, bags, umbrellas, and anything they could get their hands on so that they could throw it at me.

I was hit in the head, and blood gushed out at once. I doubled over in pain.

The chief was afraid that things would get out of hand, so he ordered the rest of the police escort to block the reporters and the crowd from seeing me.

He cleared his throat. "Don't worry, everyone. I'll make sure to give you an explanation for this shocking murder."

The hood was pulled over my head again, and I was brought to the hospital.

I was tied to a chair, and the doctor was prepared to inject me with the serum. Right before the needle pierced my skin, Vivian suddenly grabbed the doctor's wrist.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and there was a greenish tinge to the bags under her eyes. Her hair was tousled as she stared straight at me. "Damon, I'm going to give you one last chance. If you're honest, you won't have to—"

Before she could finish speaking, I closed my eyes.

Vivian's pupils contracted, but she nodded at the doctor, looking as if she had finally made up her mind.

The ice-cold serum was injected into my body, and in just a moment, every single nerve in my body felt like it was on fire.

I broke out in a cold sweat from the pain and struggled desperately against my restraints.

Vivian didn't seem to see how much pain I was in. When images finally appeared on the screen behind me, she asked in a trembling voice, "Why did you kill my parents and your younger sister?"

The memories in my brain were being broadcast live to the public in order to assuage their wrath.

I closed my eyes, and I could no longer hold back the tears that slipped down my cheeks.

When I was ten years old, my parents passed away in a car accident, leaving my younger sister, Brianna Larson, and me with no one except each other to rely on.

Without my parents around, my sister and I became a burden. The relatives whom we'd seen often in the past suddenly avoided us like the plague. They even took the assets that my parents had left behind and divided them among themselves.

To keep my sister alive, I had no choice but to go scavenging through the trash, but I still couldn't find enough food. Brianna and I became gaunt with hunger, and she became severely ill due to malnutrition.

Afraid that she would die, I carried her on my back and knelt at the entrance to an orphanage. I wanted to beg the orphanage director to take her in.

However, things became even worse for us when we were at the orphanage. Not only were we hungry, but we were also bullied by the older children. I was always covered with bruises from attempting to protect Brianna.

One day, I was fighting with an older child over a cookie that belonged to Brianna. He used the advantage of his height and weight to pin me to the ground while he pummeled me. Just as I thought that I was going to be beaten to death, Callum and his wife, Rhiannon, arrived and stopped him.

Rhiannon pressed a warm hand to my forehead and asked me softly, "Will you come home with me?"

It was the only ray of light in the darkness that my life had become after my parents' death.

"But I also have a younger sister…"

I was afraid that they wouldn't want her, and I held Brianna's thin body in my arms as we huddled in a corner.

I decided that I wouldn't go with them if they didn't want Brianna, but they showed no contempt at all. Instead, their hearts ached so much that they shed tears for us.

That was how Brianna and I were adopted by the Larsons.

…

At the Larsons', Rhiannon carefully treated Brianna's wounds. She prepared the food that we liked, made sure we had clothes that fit, and read us fairy tales at night when we went to bed.

Even little Vivian treated me very well. Not only did she chase off my bullies, she even stood up for me in front of everyone, saying that anyone who tried to cause trouble for me would be going against her as well.

That was how Brianna and I officially became part of the Larson family. The days when we had gone hungry in the past seemed like a dream.

After everyone saw those memories, there was an uproar on the Internet.

"What a despicable man! The Larsons treated him so well, and yet he repaid them in such a vile manner!"

"People like him deserve to be sentenced to death!"

Vivian could no longer endure it. She strode over and grabbed my throat. Her hot tears splattered on my face, feeling like they burned.

"Damon, why did you do this? What has my family ever done to you? Why did you repay us like this?"

Her tears stung, and my lips moved slightly. However, before I could say a word, a pale and slender hand suddenly took Vivian's arm.

"Viv, why are you wasting your time talking to him?

"Even if he admits to the crime, he'll die once all his memories have been played. Don't worry, I'll stay by your side forever."

The speaker was Levi Stone, a doctor who worked at the hospital, and Vivian's first love. He was the one who had told Vivian about using brain waves to extract memories.

The pair seemed very intimate, and Vivian didn't push him away. Instead, she fixed a tender gaze on him.

"Why are you here?"

Levi held up the syringe of serum he was holding. "I came to inject the second dose, of course."

The sharp needle plunged into my skin once more, and I began sweating from the pain. The second part of my memories was extracted.

…

When I was 20 years old, Callum and Rhiannon officially announced the news of my engagement to Vivian.

That night, we sat in the living room, and Rhiannon took out stacks of documents for me to sign. I glanced at them and saw that they were all contracts of funds and shares. My name was listed on all of them as the beneficiary.

I didn't dare to accept them, but Rhiannon looked lovingly at me. "This is the wedding gift that I prepared for you. Vivian will prepare one as well."

She instructed Vivian to treat me well in the future and never betray me, or she would disown her as her daughter.

Vivian smiled and made an oath. "I will treat Damon well, wholeheartedly."

After that, Vivian chose a renowned designer from Meria to design my suit. It came with an intricate lapel pin, which sparkled brilliantly.

I was immersed in the joy of my imminent marriage to Vivian, but just two days later, Callum suddenly had a stroke and collapsed.

Rhiannon couldn't endure the shock and fainted as well. Brianna was still at school and couldn't come home, while Vivian was under investigation by the tax office for issues with the company's taxes.

The once-distinguished Larson family was in trouble, and all their business partners began avoiding them.

I went to a lawyer with the funds and shares that the Larsons had given me and asked if I could liquidate them.

The memories stopped abruptly at this point.

Levi seemed unable to contain himself any longer. He rushed over and slapped me in the face.

"You ingrate! Mr. and Mrs. Larson, and Viv treated you so well, and yet you tried to take all their money when they needed it most!

"What were you planning to do with all that money? Are the reporters right about you having an affair?"

Levi was deliberately leading the public to think that I had done something scandalous. All the comments in the livestream began berating me for being an ingrate. They commented that if I had been a historical figure, what I had done would be immortalized forever in history books for people to curse.

The vicious comments they made were hard to read.

Vivian looked even more frail. "Is it true what they say? Did you really kill my entire family for the sake of a woman while planning to take all of the money?

"I was stuck at the tax office at the time, and I had an employee call you to help me prove my innocence, but you were nowhere to be found. At the time, I thought that you were hiding because you were scared, and I didn't blame you for that.

"I never thought that you were getting ready to escape with all our money during my family's greatest crisis.

"If Levi hadn't come back from abroad and operated on my father while I tried desperately to find evidence of my innocence, would you have gone off with that bitch already?"

Levi hurriedly supported Vivian, who looked tormented. "Viv, I did everything for you out of my own free will."

It turned out that Vivian thought that Levi was the one to be thanked for everything.

I smiled bitterly and allowed them to continue extracting my brain waves from my body.

The scene in my memories changed.

I took all the money and went to see the best neurologist at the hospital. I desperately pleaded with him to save Callum's life.

However, I had underestimated how callous people could be.

The neurologist's name was Charles Thomwell, and he was insane. He had a fetish for those of the same gender, so he locked me in his office and took off his jacket while leering at me.

"If you want me to save him, you'll have to spend a night with me."

My eyes widened in disbelief. "You're a doctor! How could you do something like this?"

"A doctor? This is a private hospital for the elite. Those who have money are the ones in authority!"

When he mentioned money, I hastily took out my bank card and handed it to him. "I have money!"

Charles held the thin bank card between his fingers and sneered at me. "The Larsons are about to fall. What use is this measly amount of money?"

He poked me with a fountain pen. "This time, money won't be enough. Someone has paid me a higher price for you."

I immediately caught his point. "Who?"

Charles didn't seem to hear me. He caught me off guard and suddenly plunged a syringe into the side of my neck. There was a piercing pain, and I suddenly felt dizzy. My limbs were drained of strength, and my desperate struggle seemed to him to be as frail as a kitten's.

I could only watch as he picked me up and opened a hidden door in his office. He dragged me into a basement.

There were over a dozen men standing in the basement, rubbing their hands together eagerly as they stared at me.

I trembled all over with fear and shook my head desperately. "I'm about to get married. Please let me go, I'll give you a lot of money—"

My struggles seemed to excite them even more. Charles tore my clothes open, and his eyes roved greedily over my body.

"So what if you're about to get married? Don't you think that makes it even more exhilarating?"

I felt as if I had been dragged into hell. I was surrounded by devilish voices.

I suffered inhumane torture. My face was bruised, my calf was fractured and twisted, and blood kept gushing out from behind.

Charles saw that I was about to die, so he finally commanded them to stop.

He took out a camera and snapped a photo of me in the most wretched state.

I moved my bloody lips in difficulty and tugged on Charles' sleeve with my last remnant of strength. "You… You got what you wanted… Please save my father…"

"Damon…"

Vivian stared at the bloody spectacle in disbelief. There was a sudden tinge of confusion in her eyes, despite having been filled with hatred earlier.

"Why didn't you ever tell me about this?"

I closed my eyes while tears slipped down my cheeks. How could I ever tell anyone about something so disgusting?

Besides, Charles had said, "There's always someone more powerful out there. No matter how powerful the Larsons are, what does it matter? Some people only have to lift a finger to plunge the Larsons into an abyss of despair.

"I'm telling you to save your strength if you're thinking about getting revenge on behalf of the Larsons."

I was afraid that the Larsons would be in danger again because of what had happened to me, so I had no choice but to avoid the subject. I recuperated on my own before I finally mustered up the courage to return to the Larson residence.

The viewers in the livestream were slightly moved after what they had seen. However, someone immediately popped up to sway public opinion.

"Even if this happened to him while he was trying to save the Larsons, it doesn't change the fact that he killed the entire family!"

"This doesn't cancel out what he did."

Vivian looked extremely conflicted. "Damon, tell me the truth so that you won't have to suffer being brain-dead."

There was a flash of ferocity in Levi's eyes. "Viv, he's your enemy! He killed your entire family! How could you show him mercy?"

Levi stuck the final syringe into my skin.

The last dosage was three times higher than the previous one, and I howled in pain.

There was a piercing crackle from the brain wave display machine, and the image that appeared shocked everyone.