Belated Redemption

I was the biological son the Rhodes family had spent years searching for. Upon our reunion, all I wanted was to feel accepted. I learned to agree with everything they asked of me, no matter how unreasonable it sounded. Whenever they gave me an order, I followed it. I never questioned them. One afternoon, Reagan Rhodes, the boy who had lived as the Rhodes family's son in my absence, glanced at me and snarled in disgust. "You smell awful. Why don't you get inside the sterilization chamber and disinfect yourself?" I turned toward the industrial machine without hesitation. I stepped inside the chamber, closed the door behind me, and started the machine. My mom discovered me before it was too late. In a panic, she forced the door open and pulled me out herself. My entire body was burning, and my skin had turned an alarming shade of red. Jasmin Rhodes, my older sister, showed no sympathy when she saw me. Instead, she was visibly irritated. "Who are you trying to fool with this act? If you're serious about dying, just take an entire bottle of sleeping pills." I remembered every word. That night, I found a bottle of sleeping pills and swallowed it whole. Jasmin eventually kicked open my bedroom door. By then, I was no longer breathing. She stood frozen beside the bed, staring at my cold body while her hands shook uncontrollably. Some time later, Reagan slipped and scraped his leg. It was a minor injury, yet Jasmin immediately lost her temper with me. "If that leaves a scar on Reagan's leg, you'd better be ready to cut a piece of flesh off your own thigh to make up for it!" I grabbed a shard of broken glass nearby, pressed its sharp edge against my thigh, and cut into my flesh. My parents rushed inside moments later, screaming in horror at the sight of this. Jasmin threw herself at me and snatched the glass shard from my hand before I could continue. "I spoke in a fit of anger! I didn't actually mean it! Why would you even listen to me?" None of them understood what seven years in the mountains had done to me. Back then, defying an order never meant getting scolded or losing a few privileges. Disobedience had only one consequence: death. Chapter 1 Blood trickled from the wound and streamed down my thigh, soaking into the carpet until the fibers turned dark red. Agony shot through my leg, the pain sharp enough to make anyone else scream. I barely reacted. I was used to pain, after all. During the seven years I had spent in the mountains, I experienced it every day. I had endured pain much, much worse than this. Jasmin's hand trembled as she snatched the glass shard out of my hands. My dad rushed over with a muffled cry and pressed both hands against my thigh. Blood seeped through his fingers almost instantly. My mom grabbed her phone to call an ambulance, only to drop it because of how much she was trembling. Jasmin spun toward me, her face pale with fury. "Are you insane? Did you seriously just cut yourself because I told you to?" I looked at her calmly, not quite understanding why she was so angry. "Didn't you tell me to do that, Jasmin?" I had to obey if I didn't want to get beaten up. That was the only rule of survival I had learned during those seven years. I couldn't afford otherwise. Disobedience meant being tied to a tree and left without food for three days. Bracing one hand against the floor, I reached for another shard of broken glass. "That was just a tiny cut. It might not be enough to patch him up." Jasmin bumped into the coffee table beside her, knocking over a glass that shattered on the floor. With her eyes bloodshot, she shrieked, "Stay away from it! Don't touch anything!" I immediately pulled my hand back. Then, I dropped to my knees and lowered my head until my forehead struck the bloodstained shards scattered across the floor. "I'll behave. Please don't be angry, Jasmin." My dad broke down. He pulled me into his arms and held me tightly against his chest. I did not dare move. I simply stayed where I was, allowing him to hold me. The ambulance arrived soon afterward, and the paramedics carried me out on a stretcher. ... At the hospital, the doctor was getting ready to stitch my wound while a nurse went to get the anesthetic. But before she could bring it over, Reagan suddenly rushed into the room, sobbing. A Band-Aid covered the scrape on his leg from where he had slipped earlier that day. He threw himself into my mom's arms and clung to her. "Mom, does Jasmin hate me now?" He pointed toward me. "He deliberately hurt himself in front of her so she'd blame me instead." Jasmin frowned and turned in my direction. "Deagan, do you have to make this entire family miserable?" I immediately stopped the nurse. "No anesthetic, please. I accept my punishment." The doctor froze with the syringe still in his hand. I looked at him and added, "Just stitch me up." The needle pierced my skin again and again as the doctor closed the wound. I did not even flinch. Reagan hid behind my mom with one hand covering his mouth. My mom turned her face away, unable to watch. Jasmin dragged a hand through her hair in frustration. "What are you trying to prove now? Who said anything about punishing you?" Once the doctor had finished stitching me up, he recommended that I stay overnight for observation. My mom left to take care of the admission paperwork, leaving Jasmin and me alone in the ward. She stood by the window, staring outside with an irritated look on her face. Chapter 2 Jasmin finally broke the silence. "Deagan, this little guilt trip of yours isn't going to work." She folded her arms across her chest, visibly irritated. "Reagan's been pampered his whole life. Can't you just let him have his way once in a while?" I nodded without hesitation. "Okay. I'll do whatever you tell me to do, Jasmin." She turned sharply and stared at me. "If you're really that obedient, go apologize to Reagan." I immediately pushed the covers aside and climbed out of bed. The movement pulled at the stitches on my thigh. A sharp pain tore through the wound as it split open again, and fresh blood quickly seeped through the bandages. I kept walking. I crossed the hallway barefooted and headed straight for Reagan's ward. … My mom was sitting beside his bed, cutting an apple into slices for him. Reagan had just taken a bite when he noticed me standing in the doorway. His whole body stiffened. A second later, he scrambled backward and pulled the covers up to his chest. My mom immediately rose and stepped in front of him. "Deagan, what are you doing here?" I walked forward and dropped to my knees, the impact sending a dull thud through the quiet room. "I'm sorry." Before anyone could react, I bent down and struck my forehead against the tile. I did it repeatedly, each blow echoing through the hospital room. "I shouldn't have frightened Reagan, nor made Jasmin angry. It's all my fault." I kept bowing, my forehead hitting the floor over and over as I apologized. My mom grabbed my arm in horror. "Deagan! What are you doing?" I pulled away from her and continued. … Back in the mountains, words alone never amounted to an apology. You had to suffer before anyone believed you were sincere. And if you hadn't suffered enough, you'd go hungry instead. Jasmin rushed into the room moments later. She grabbed me by the collar and yanked me upright. "Will you stop it already?" Blood ran down my forehead and into my eyes, blurring my vision. I looked at her and grinned. "Are you satisfied now, Jasmin?" She loosened her grip immediately. Jasmin recoiled as if touching me had burned her, and she stumbled back a few steps. Reagan suddenly burst into louder sobs from the bed. "Daegan is trying to make everyone hate me! Fine, I'll leave! Is that what he wants?" He ripped the IV drip from his hand and jumped out of bed. Seeing this, my mom panicked and hurried after him. … Within seconds, Jasmin and I were alone again. A nurse came in shortly afterward and cleaned the blood from my forehead before wrapping a fresh bandage around it. When she finished, she looked at me for a long moment. A quiet sigh escaped her before she left the room. Seemingly worried that I'd cause more trouble if I stayed in the hospital, Jasmin arranged for me to be discharged. When we returned home, my thigh was still wrapped in thick layers of gauze. The Rhodes Residence was enormous. Even after living there for a while, I still got lost inside it. That evening, the long dining table was laden with all kinds of dishes, while I sat alone at the far end, with nothing but a bowl of plain mashed potatoes before me. My mom had specifically arranged it that way. She said, "You just got out of the hospital. Your stomach's probably still sensitive, so stick to something light tonight." I picked up the bowl and began eating in silence. Across the table, Reagan cut into his filet mignon with a polished silver knife and fork. After taking a bite, he chewed slowly and glanced at me with a faint smile. "Deagan, why are you holding your bowl like that? Is that how you used to eat in the mountains?" A quiet laugh escaped him. "You look like a little dog." My hands stiffened around the bowl. 'A dog?' I lowered my gaze to the mashed potatoes in my hands. If that was how I was supposed to eat, then I had to do a proper job. Without hesitation, I set the bowl on the floor, slipped out of my chair, and lowered myself onto my hands and knees. Then, I bent down and began eating the mashed potatoes straight from the bowl. My mom slammed her palm against the table so hard that the plates rattled and the silverware clattered. "This is outrageous! You're humiliating our family!" My dad stared at me in shock, his face turning pale as he pointed at me with a trembling finger. "W-What are you doing? Quick, get up!" Jasmin's expression was even worse. She shot to her feet so abruptly that the chair behind her toppled backward. "Get out! I don't want to see you!" I immediately stopped eating, got to my feet, and quietly headed for the dining room's entrance. Just as I approached the doorway, Jasmin's cold voice sounded from behind. "Don't go back to your room. Go outside and sit in the doghouse. Think about your actions." I gave a small nod and left without a word. It began raining later that night. I curled up inside the freezing doghouse with my knees drawn tightly to my chest as water leaked through the cracks in the roof, soaking my hair and clothes. Cold wind slipped through the thin walls made out of plank wood, leaving me shivering. Even when exhaustion began pulling at my eyelids, I forced myself to stay awake. No one had given me permission to sleep. As such, I didn't dare close my eyes.