Chapter 3

Half a month later.

I was doing rehabilitation, drenched in sweat, gripping the parallel bars as I shuffled forward.

The hospital room door burst open.

Mom stormed in with Jacob and Greg, looking furious.

Mom's face was ashen. She clutched a document in her hand.

"Ethan! What are you doing hiding out here?"

"Do you know how long we've been looking for you?"

I ignored her and continued moving my feet through gritted teeth.

Every step felt like walking on knife points.

Jacob chewed gum, looking annoyed.

"Ms. Sullivan, I told you he was hiding."

"Such a drama queen. It's just a broken leg, not like he died."

Mom slammed the document on my bedside table.

"Sign this right now."

I glanced at it.

A settlement agreement.

For the school.

"Jacob's getting expelled for the fight."

Mom said self-righteously.

"If you sign this settlement, admitting it was a mutual fight, the school will let him keep his enrollment."

"Jacob still needs to go to college. We can't let this little incident ruin his future."

Mutual fight?

I stopped moving, turned around, and stared at her.

"Six people beating one. I spent the whole time with my head covered, taking hits."

"That's a mutual fight?"

"Ms. Sullivan, you can actually say that lie out loud?"

Mom's eyes flickered briefly, but she quickly regained her domineering demeanor.

"As long as you say it is, it is."

"I'm a lawyer. I have ways to make it work."

"Just sign it. Stop wasting everyone's time."

Greg chimed in from the side.

"Yeah, Ethan, we're all family. Why make things so tense?"

"If Jacob gets expelled, how will he find work later?"

"Why do you have such a rotten heart, kid?"

I looked at these three people's faces.

Suddenly it all seemed absurdly ridiculous.

"And if I don't sign?"

Jacob spat his gum on the floor and walked over, shoving me.

I was already unsteady. I fell straight to the ground.

My knee slammed hard against the floor. Searing pain shot through me.

I screamed.

Mom startled and instinctively moved to help me.

But Jacob stopped her.

"Ms. Sullivan, don't spoil him."

"He's just faking it."

"Ethan, let me tell you—today you're signing whether you like it or not."

"Or I'll beat your ass every time I see you."

He raised his foot, about to stomp on my broken leg.

"Stop!"

Mom finally shouted.

Not to protect me.

But because she was afraid of consequences.

"Jacob, don't! There are cameras here."

She pulled Jacob back and looked down at me on the floor.

"Ethan, I'm asking you one last time. Will you sign or not?"

"If you don't sign, don't expect another cent of living expenses from me."

"And don't think about coming back to that house."

I lay on the ground, cold sweat pouring from the pain.

But I laughed.

"Home?"

"The home that took my medical funds to buy the assailant a house?"

"The home that defended the assailant and got him acquitted?"

"Susan, did you forget?"

"I already severed ties with you."

I pulled out my phone from my pocket.

The screen showed a recording in progress.

"Jacob pushing me just now, and you forcing me to sign a fake settlement—I recorded it all."

"This time, I won't let you get away with it."

Mom's face went deathly pale.

"You... you set me up?"

I braced myself against the floor and slowly got up.

Like a dog with a broken spine, but with the eyes of a wolf.

"You taught me, Mom."

"Everyone is equal before the law."

Mom panicked.

She was a top lawyer. She knew better than anyone the importance of evidence.

Jacob had just pushed me, causing secondary injury.

Plus forcing a victim to sign a false settlement.

If this got exposed, her career would be stained.

"Ethan, give Mom the phone."

Her tone softened, trying to use family guilt.

"We're family. Let's talk this out."

"Jacob just has a short temper. He didn't mean it."

I stared coldly at her outstretched hand.

"Jacob, grab the phone."

Greg shouted from the side.

Jacob snapped to attention and lunged to grab my phone.

I was ready. I hit send.

The files uploaded directly to my cloud and simultaneously sent to several influencers I'd already contacted.

"Too late."

I threw the phone on the ground.

"It's already out there."

Jacob stomped on my phone, crushing it, then grabbed my collar, ready to hit me.

"You dare set me up?"

Just then, the hospital room door crashed open.

Several security guards rushed in, followed by my attending physician.

"Stop! What's going on here!"

The doctor saw me on the ground, blood seeping from my leg, and erupted in fury.

"The patient is in recovery! This is deliberate assault!"

"Call the police! Call them now!"

The police arrived quickly.

Because this was a hospital—a public space—the offense was serious.

Jacob was cuffed on the spot.

Greg sat on the ground, throwing a tantrum, claiming I was scamming them.

Mom stood in the corner, her face ashen.

She looked at me, her eyes full of disappointment and heartbreak.

"Ethan, you've disappointed me so much. Are you trying to destroy Jacob and me too?"