Chapter 1

On the day the SAT scores came out, I got a perfect 1600.

My older sister’s expression instantly darkened, and she locked me in the basement.

Just because our cousin scored 200 points lower than me, she ordered people to drive two hundred nails into my body.

I kneeled on the ground and begged for mercy, but my sister remained entirely unmoved.

One hundred and ninety-nine nails were driven deep into my flesh.

The final nail was slammed straight into my heart.

My sister looked at me in my weakened state. Her voice was cold.

"You deserve this! You have the love of Mom, Dad, and me, but Zachary lost his parents at a young age and has been all alone. You are already happy enough, but you just had to score higher than him to humiliate him!

"Your life has been too easy. Today, I am going to make you feel true agony!"

I lay there as my strength faded. My spirit was completely broken.

To comfort our cousin, my sister rented a luxury yacht for him for an entire month.

When our parents were about to return to the country to celebrate my success, my sister finally ordered her men to release me.

That was when she received a frantic phone call from the housekeeper.

"The hospital has delivered Mr. Steven's death certificate!"

Chapter 1

The nail in my chest had missed my heart by just less than an inch. It wasn't enough to kill me, but the agony was unbearable.

Just before the basement door slammed shut, I used every last bit of strength to crawl forward and grab my sister's pant leg.

"Please, Sophia, I was wrong. I shouldn't have gotten such a high score. Don't leave me here, please?"

I begged Sophia in the most pitiful voice I could manage, but she acted as if she hadn't heard a word.

Instead, she turned to Zachary, gently pinched his cheek, and spoke softly.

"Look at you, crying so much. Alright, I promise I'll send you overseas. You'll get into a college that's a thousand times better than Steven's. After that, you can bully him all you want. Alright?"

Just as Sophia linked arms with Zachary and started to leave, her phone rang.

It was Dad. He sounded ecstatic.

"Sophia! Steven scored a perfect 1600! I'm so proud of him! Your mother and I can't get back to the country right now. Why don't you reward him a little for us?"

Sophia gave a perfunctory response before hanging up.

I closed my eyes and forced out the words.

"Take me to the hospital. If I die, Mom and Dad will hate you for the rest of their lives!"

I was the child my parents had after years of hoping against hope. Everyone knew how dearly they cherished me. If I so much as got a tiny cut on my hand, they'd worry themselves to tears.

Sophia knew better than anyone that nothing could happen to me.

She hesitated, clearly weighing whether she should let me go.

Then Zachary crouched beside me. He shot me a malicious glare before dumping the contents of his cup over my body.

Instantly, it felt like countless blades were carving flesh from my bones. I screamed in agony.

Some of the liquid ran into my mouth.

It was salt water.

At that very moment, Zachary suddenly dropped to his knees and repeatedly slapped himself.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Steven! I was only trying to help! I didn't mean to spill water on you! Please don't hit me!"

His reaction made it seem as if I abused him on a daily basis.

Sophia frowned deeply before pulling Zachary into her arms.

He sobbed uncontrollably. "Steven, please leave me alone. If you keep bullying me, I really won't be able to go on living."

Sophia's anger flared all over again. She kicked me away with all her strength.

"So the rumors were true! You really have been bullying Zachary at school! He accidentally spilled a little water on you, and you're throwing this kind of tantrum? You're making a mountain out of a molehill! Today, I'll make sure you learn your lesson so you'll never dare bully Zachary again!"

I stared at her in disbelief. When had I ever bullied him?

She didn't even bother asking for my side of the story. One accusation from someone else was enough for her to convict me.

The impact drove the nail a little deeper into my chest. It still hadn't pierced my heart, but the pain in my heart far surpassed the pain in my body.

When we were kids, Sophia loved me enough that she would even give up her life for mine.

Everyone envied me for having a sister who doted on her little brother so fiercely. I had always believed I was the luckiest boy in the world.

But after our uncle and aunt died, and Zachary was entrusted to our family, it was as if the sister who loved me with all her heart had died overnight.

Chapter 2

Sophia was still known as the sister who spoiled her younger brother beyond reason.

Only now, that younger brother had become Zachary.

Gasping in pain, I watched as she ordered the bodyguard to lock me back inside the basement.

I never expected that, within moments, the basement would begin filling with salt water. Soon, it reached my calves.

I could endure the cup of salt water Zachary had deliberately poured over me, but being forced to soak in it was no different from a death sentence.

I screamed as if my soul was being sucked out of my body.

Even so, I refused to give up my last chance of survival. Staggering toward the iron door, I pounded on it with all the strength I had left.

"Somebody help me!"

The bodyguard outside finally got annoyed. He kicked the door.

"Shut up! Stop screaming! If you upset Mr. Zachary again, you'll really be dead! Do you think you're still the little brother Ms. Sinclair used to spoil? A vicious brat like you who bullies Mr. Zachary deserves to die!"

I swallowed the blood rising in my throat and clenched my jaw.

"It's salt water! If I stay in here for another thirty minutes, it'll kill me! If you don't want to get dragged into this, take me to the hospital now!"

He kept cursing me, but he also understood one thing. If I actually died, neither Sophia nor my parents would spare him.

After hesitating for a long while, he finally decided to call Sophia.

"Ms. Sinclair, Mr. Steven says the water in the basement is salt water. He's covered in injuries and says he can't soak in it. Should I take him to the hospital first?"

Sophia sounded confused.

"That can't be right. I prepared that solution myself to help his wounds heal."

She took a deep breath and said, "Go check whether the water really is salt, or…"

Before she could finish, Zachary's soft, aggrieved voice interrupted her. "Sophia, I mixed that solution myself. Don't you trust me?"

Hearing his hurt tone, she immediately reassured him.

"Steven lies every single day. We prepared a healing solution for him, and he's still being ungrateful. Ignore him!"

She hung up without another word.

From that moment on, the bodyguard ignored every one of my pleas.

The salt water slowly turned crimson with blood. My wounds softened and split open. My body swayed weakly. It felt as if closing my eyes for even a second would mean death.

Yet, my will to live persisted strongly. I refused to die like this.

I clung stubbornly to consciousness until nightfall, calling out from time to time and hoping someone would notice me.

Just as my vision blurred and I drifted toward unconsciousness, footsteps echoed outside the door. I gathered every ounce of strength and cried out for help.

At last, they heard me. The door swung open, and the blood-red salt water rushed out into the hallway.

Curious, they switched on their flashlights. When the beam landed on my face, I finally recognized them.

They were Sophia's circle of mean friends.

They had always sided with Zachary. Behind Sophia's back, they often bullied me just to entertain him.

I was terrified of them, but I was even more terrified of dying.

So I humbled myself and begged the very people who had tormented me.

"P-Please save me. I-I'm dying…"

The sight of the nails protruding from my body left them staring in shock.

"Who did this to him?"

However, the shock quickly turned into excitement.

"Isn't Sophia and Zachary's biggest wish to see him suffer? They'll love this. Come on! Drag him onto the yacht!"

Someone immediately objected.

"He's still Sophia's biological brother. No matter how much she hates him, she wouldn't want to see him like this. We should take him to the hospital first."

About half of them nodded in agreement.

The others scoffed.

"Oh, please! This is probably just another one of Steven's pathetic stunts to make Sophia feel sorry for him. Hurry up and move him. The yacht's about to leave!"

Chapter 3

The people who spoke up were all influential, so everyone else could only go along with them.

It felt like a blade was lodged in my throat. I couldn't make a sound anymore and could only shake my head desperately, but no one paid me any attention.

My eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

After they dumped me onto the yacht, they became so busy trying to keep Zachary entertained that they completely forgot about me.

I lay sprawled across the deck, barely clinging to life. Everyone who passed by covered their noses and walked around me.

After gathering what little strength I had left, I grabbed hold of a passing cleaning lady.

"Ma'am, please save me…"

She jumped in fright when she realized I was a person. Panicked, she pulled out her phone and called for an ambulance.

I thought I was finally going to be saved, but then the yacht suddenly set sail. The ambulance couldn't reach us.

The woman panicked as well. Her voice started trembling.

"Young man, who did this to you? This is just awful! Ms. Sinclair rented this yacht to make her younger brother happy. Now that it's left the dock, it'll be out at sea for an entire month!"

I gripped her hand tightly. Tears streamed down my face as I silently begged her for help.

The wounds covering my body were too horrifying to look at. She couldn't bear to meet my eyes and could only pat me gently in comfort.

"Young man, I'll go beg Ms. Sinclair. Since her brother's in such a good mood, maybe she'll agree to dock the yacht and let you go to the hospital."

She hurried off to plead on my behalf.

The place where they were celebrating seemed to be just one deck above me. The deafening music and laughter pounding overhead made my head feel like it was splitting apart.

It wasn't long before the cleaning lady found Sophia. She actually dropped to her knees in front of her.

"Ms. Sinclair, there's a young man who's badly injured. He's dying! Please dock the yacht and send him to the hospital!"

Sophia frowned in confusion. "Someone's injured? Who?"

The woman shook her head repeatedly. Anxiety was written all over her face. "I don't know, but he looks so pitiful! Ms. Sinclair, please save him!"

Sophia nodded, but instead of docking the yacht, she sent over the private doctor who always accompanied her.

I should have felt hopeful now that help had arrived, but it was as if an invisible hand were squeezing my heart mercilessly and filling me with unbearable pain.

When it came to me, her own younger brother, she refused to show even the slightest bit of mercy. Yet for the anonymous young man the cleaning lady described, she was willing to lend a helping hand.

For Zachary's sake, she had truly abandoned her own brother.

The private doctor recognized me immediately. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Mr. Steven! What happened to you?"

I opened my dry, cracked lips, but no words came out.

She frantically searched through her medical kit, only to realize she didn't have the supplies needed to treat injuries this severe. In a panic, she immediately called Sophia.

"Ms. Sinclair! The injured person is your brother! I can't treat him here. Stop the yacht and get him to a hospital!"

Sophia's voice trembled with alarm. "I only left Zachary alone for a moment. How did he get hurt?"

She immediately ordered the captain to turn the yacht around and head back to shore.

The next second, the doctor explained, "It's not Mr. Zachary, but Mr. Steven!"

The moment Sophia heard my name, she let out a relieved sigh. She canceled the order to return and snapped angrily, "So he had you call and lie to me just to trick me into seeing him? He's even bought you off? I don't keep dishonest people around. You're fired!"

She hung up without another word.

The doctor was on the verge of tears. Having just lost her job, she no longer cared about me.

However, the cleaning lady was kind. She stayed by my side the entire time, constantly reassuring me and giving me hope.

Still, it was becoming harder and harder to breathe.

Almost my entire body had gone numb. I stared blankly at the ceiling, waiting for death to arrive at any moment.

The music on the upper deck finally stopped. It was replaced by the lively chatter of the guests.

Suddenly, I heard my sister's voice. My entire body began trembling uncontrollably.

Chapter 4

Sophia had actually said the one thing I had spent years trying to bury.

When I was ten years old, my parents' enemies kidnapped me to blackmail them.

While I was being held captive, a group of depraved men sexually humiliated me. They exposed themselves and masturbated in front of me.

After that, I shut myself off from the world for three whole years.

Back then, my sister had been heartbroken for me. Seeing me in so much pain, she wished she could take it all upon herself.

For all these years, no one in the family had ever dared mention what happened.

"See? Doesn't hearing that make you feel much better? Steven isn't perfect, either. In my heart, you're the best!"

The moment those words came out, the dam broke. Tears streamed down my face as I sobbed. Every convulsion sent searing pain through my battered body.

Just to cheer Zachary up, she had publicly exposed the deepest scar I had buried in my heart. It was a wound that would never heal.

For a moment, I truly couldn't tell whether she was still my sister.

'Forget it. From the day Zachary entered our family, the sister I once knew had already died.'

The overwhelming grief made me cough up another mouthful of blood.

Right then, the entire yacht fell into a commotion.

It turned out Zachary had gotten seasick, so they were heading back to shore.

The cleaning lady's eyes lit up and she exclaimed happily, "Young man, you're saved! You're finally going to be saved! Ms. Sinclair really adores her younger brother. Otherwise, this yacht would never have returned to shore."

I said nothing and only forced a bitter smile.

The moment we docked, the cleaning lady hurriedly called an ambulance for me.

At the same time, Sophia urgently summoned a private air medical team for Zachary.

Unfortunately, the helicopter and the ambulance arrived at the same time.

Sophia carried Zachary straight onto the helicopter, where the medical team immediately began treating his seasickness.

In the process, they completely blocked the ambulance's path.

One of the emergency responders jumped out and shouted anxiously, "Ma'am! Could you please take off first and clear the way? There's a critically injured patient inside. Even a one-minute delay could cost him his life!"

Sophia ignored him at first, but the doctor refused to give up and kept pleading with her.

Growing impatient, she slid open the helicopter window and snapped, "My brother is seasick! He's been vomiting nonstop! No one is more important than him. As for whoever's in the yacht, if he dies, then he dies. That's just his fate!"

She muttered another curse before slamming the window shut.

The doctor was left helpless. He paced anxiously on the spot.

In the end, the medical team lifted a stretcher and squeezed through the narrow gap beside the helicopter to reach me.

At last, I was lifted onto the stretcher.

The moment the doctors saw me, every single one of them gasped. As they raced toward the ambulance with my stretcher, they couldn't stop lamenting the horrifying extent of my injuries.

As we passed Sophia's private medical helicopter again, one of her friends happened to open the window. The instant she caught a glimpse of the side of my face, she stumbled backward and fell to the floor in shock.

Stammering, she said to Sophia, "S-Sophia, I-I think that's Steven on the stretcher!"

The very next second, Sophia frowned and kicked her hard.

"Don't be ridiculous! How could he possibly be here? Besides, he's far too calculating to let himself end up in real danger!"

Hearing that, her friend swallowed the words she had been about to say.

She was the one who had brought me onto the yacht.

After all, she convinced herself that my injuries had all been self-inflicted as part of another scheme. There was no way someone like me would actually end up in an ambulance. She must have been mistaken.

Due to Zachary's seasickness, Sophia stayed by his side and cared for him day and night for three consecutive days.

By the time she had nearly forgotten about me, she received a call from our parents saying they would soon be returning home to celebrate my perfect scores.

Counting the days, she assumed my wounds had already healed after the hydrotherapy and that it was time to let me out.

Just as she was about to call the servants and tell them to release me, she received a phone call from our housekeeper, Brianna.

"The hospital has delivered the Mr. Steven's death certificate!"