Urban

The atmosphere in the room instantly froze as everyone fixed their gaze firmly on the largest screen.

Playing on it were all my memories from before I turned ten.

On the screen, the little me followed behind Nicole.

My parents, who had just been at each other's throats, immediately wiped away the gloom and displeasure from their faces the moment they saw me.

Smiling brightly, they jogged over and squatted down in front of me.

Mom asked carefully if they had frightened me.

Dad gently stroked my head, explaining that the two of them had only been fooling around just now.

I snorted lightly. "If I ever see you two fighting at home again, I won't allow you to eat!"

If it had been anyone else, uttering such a threat would have gotten them killed on the spot by my parents and Nicole.

However, I was the exception.

The images shifted again.

Most of them were warm, ordinary scenes of da

After saying that, Nicole immediately rushed forward, losing all composure as she shoved away the bodyguards restraining me.

She wrapped her arms tightly around me.

As someone who always acted so graceful and aloof around others, she was now crying so hard that tears streamed down her face. "I'm sorry, Jamie. How could I be so stupid? How did I only recognize you now after you suffered so much? It's all my fault!"

Nicole was so emotional that she didn't even care that other people were present. She raised her hand and slapped herself hard across the face.

Seeing this, Dad and Mom immediately understood everything.

The results of the paternity test were painfully obvious.

Mom couldn't take it, and she turned, trying to rush into the traffic.

Dad reacted quickly and yanked her back with all his strength.

She collapsed to her knees, wailing and crying desperately. "Oh my God, what h

The day my wedding to the housekeeper was held just so happened to be the day the Shields family planned to publicly announce that most of the family's shares would be transferred to James.

The Shields family prepared a lavish banquet for James.

Duncan said that I was blessed beyond belief to be able to have a wedding that was somewhat respectable because of this banquet.

He pressed hard on my shoulder, and his smug, triumphant face was reflected in the mirror. "After today, my son and I will obtain everything from the Shields family. We'll never have to live in fear again that you might be found.

"Jamie, do you have any idea the price I paid to force James to replace you? To make him learn every single one of your habits and mannerisms? But it doesn't matter. From today onward, you'll truly become a street mutt, and James will have nothing to do with you anymore."

On the surface, my eyes seemed dead. Yet, on the inside, a blazing hatred was raging.

…

The shabby wedding and the extravagant banquet were held in the same hall.

I wore a suit that wasn't fit to be seen in public, becoming the object of mockery.

Meanwhile, not far away, James was immaculately dressed and radiating confidence. He linked arms with my parents and Nicole, basking in everyone's adoration.

I lowered my gaze and held back the hatred, hiding a small knife against my chest as I slowly moved closer to James.

At the very moment when he was feeling the happiest and most smug, I raised the knife with my deformed hand and slashed hard across his face.

Instantly, James' panicked scream of pain could be heard.

And even as the bodyguards smashed down with their batons, snapping my bones again, I felt no pain at all. Instead, there was a savage, cathartic smile spread across my face.

Nicole, who had been furious, turned around and saw that smile. Suddenly, she froze in place.

Chaos erupted at the scene, and the transfer of shares never went through.

My parents were enraged and immediately ordered that my crippled body be strapped to an operating table.

To my surprise, James was the first person to see me.

The wound on his face had been treated, yet when he came to see me, he wasn't filled with rage and trying to strangle me.

Instead, he had a broad smile on his face, as if he had just encountered something delightful.

James slapped my face disdainfully, his voice trembling with excitement. "Have you noticed how much this face of mine looks like yours before it was ruined? Do you have any idea how painful it's been all these years to live under the Shields family's favor?

"They never loved me. The only thing they loved was this face and the shadow of you that I played. In fact…"

James hesitated for a moment as fear flashed through his eyes. "If I acted even a little unlike you, I'd be beaten half to death. They're all lunatics, but the ridiculous part is that they truly loved you. From today onward, they won't anymore. They'll fully accept me, and they'll personally kill you."

After hearing this, my heart was filled with both bitterness and shock.

I silently watched James revel in his triumph, but the corners of my mouth slowly lifted.

What a pity. 

In the end, a fake was still a fake.

For example, only I knew how much of a genius Nicole was when she was young, to the point where she invented a memory extractor. 

It was designed specifically for people she hated to the bone, and would forcibly extract every memory a person had across their life. Then, my parents could follow those memories and eradicate everything connected to those people.

In fact, I had planned this moment long ago.

Rather than letting those two venomous snakes succeed, I would rather pay with my life today to expose the truth.

When the tubes of the extractor were roughly stabbed into my temples, I didn't cry.

Yet, when I saw my parents appear together, tears streamed down uncontrollably.

I greedily stared at their faces, hoping that even after death, I would still remember what they looked like.

James stepped forward, urging my parents to at least leave me with a whole corpse.

Dad gently patted his shoulder, then looked at me with immense hatred in his eyes. "He doesn't deserve it. Once we're finished with this, we'll immediately throw him into the sea and make sure he dies without a proper burial!"

At this, James' smile grew even more triumphant.

However, in the next second, as James stared at the images that suddenly appeared on the large screen, the smile froze on his lips.

Terror quickly replaced the joy in his eyes.

The atmosphere in the room instantly froze as everyone fixed their gaze firmly on the largest screen.

Playing on it were all my memories from before I turned ten.

On the screen, the little me followed behind Nicole.

My parents, who had just been at each other's throats, immediately wiped away the gloom and displeasure from their faces the moment they saw me.

Smiling brightly, they jogged over and squatted down in front of me.

Mom asked carefully if they had frightened me.

Dad gently stroked my head, explaining that the two of them had only been fooling around just now.

I snorted lightly. "If I ever see you two fighting at home again, I won't allow you to eat!"

If it had been anyone else, uttering such a threat would have gotten them killed on the spot by my parents and Nicole.

However, I was the exception.

The images shifted again.

Most of them were warm, ordinary scenes of daily life between me, my parents, and Nicole.

That was until the day of the abduction.

The footage 

Chapter 5