My two older sisters, Lily and Daisy, were in a car accident and lost their memories. They forgot all about me, mistaking our parents’ friends’ son for their own younger brother. Lily, the eldest, gave him the inheritance our parents had left for me. Daisy, the second sister, used her influence to have my postgraduate study slot transferred to him. I thought they had genuinely forgotten me. Until one day, I accidentally overheard Lily say to Daisy: “Faking amnesia is exhausting. How about we just kick Ryan Brooks out? Then we won’t have to pretend anymore.” They wouldn’t need to kick me out. I would leave on my own, joining a twenty-year closed medical research program. For those two decades, I wouldn’t be able to contact the outside world or return home. When my sisters found out, they wept, heartbroken. 1 I was still carrying the cake, not yet through the front door, when I overheard Lily, my elder sister, speaking. “Alright,” Daisy, the younger sister, chuckled in response. “And without him, we can focus all our attention on little Ryan. It’s a win-win.” My entire body stiffened, and the cake in my hands nearly slipped. So, for the past six months, my two most beloved sisters, the ones I revered… they had been deceiving me. They hadn’t forgotten me at all. They knew Ryan wasn’t their real brother. Why? I couldn’t understand why they would lie to me like this. “But it’s his twenty-third birthday today,” Lily suddenly spoke again. “Wouldn’t it be a bit harsh to kick him out right now?” Lily still remembered my birthday. They remembered everything, yet for the past six months, they had treated me like a stranger. Countless times, they had thrown me out of the house. Countless times, they had showered Ryan with affection right in front of me. “He’s really looking forward to this birthday,” Daisy’s voice was utterly devoid of warmth. “That’s precisely why we need to make him leave today, on the day he anticipates the most. Only then will he truly give up and stop clinging to us.” The word “clinging” pierced my heart like a dagger. Thud. The cake I had lovingly baked myself dropped to the floor, the creamy frosting instantly smearing into a messy pile. In the past, on my birthdays, Lily and Daisy always prepared my cake. They would also prepare many delicious dishes for me well in advance. So, every birthday was the happiest day of my year. This time, I had also been full of anticipation. I hoped that my birthday might trigger some of their lost memories. But now, I knew. They had been faking their amnesia all along. 2 I walked into the house, carrying the ruined cake. Lily sat on the sofa, shelling pecans for Ryan. Daisy was peeling an apple for him, carefully drizzling it with honey. They used to treat me that way. Every time I came home for the weekend, they’d buy me tons of snacks, and they’d both play games with me. Actually, they’d been treating Ryan like this for months. They treated me like a stranger, greeting me with cold indifference every day I returned. They never even cooked for me. I’d told myself they had amnesia, so I hadn’t dwelled on it. “Ethan, come join us,” Ryan said, flashing a wide smile at me. He was the son of my parents’ friends. A year ago, his parents and mine were on a business trip together when they were involved in a fatal car accident. I was there too. In that critical moment, my father shielded me, saving my life. With his last breath, he told me, “You’re a man now, you have to take good care of your two sisters from now on.” I took his words to heart, willingly giving up my own dreams to stay in Glendale with Lily and Daisy. But soon after, they were also in a car accident, which resulted in their amnesia. When they woke up, they had forgotten me, believing Ryan to be their biological brother, and lavished him with affection. 3 “You, darling, are just too kind. These are from your big sisters, Lily and Daisy. Isn’t it better to have them all to yourself?” Lily said, stroking Ryan’s hair with a doting expression. Ryan chuckled. “Even though Ethan isn’t usually very nice to me, I believe I can win him over with my kindness.” Daisy cast a cold glance at me. “People like him can never be won over. Look at him, we’ve taken him in for so long, and not only is he ungrateful, but he keeps pushing his luck, shamelessly staying here, claiming he’s our brother.” A chill ran through me. My grip tightened on the ruined cake. Ever since they started faking amnesia six months ago, they’d treated me like a stranger, telling me to leave the Vance family home. But this was my home. I couldn’t leave. So every day, I told Ryan to get out, and I insisted to them that I was their real brother. But even though I presented evidence, even had DNA tests done, they refused to believe me. They claimed I was only pretending for their money. They’d tried to kick me out countless times; it was only by stubbornly refusing that I remained. Back then, I didn’t understand why, even with all the evidence laid bare, they wouldn’t believe me. Now, I finally did. I looked at Lily and Daisy, taking a step closer to them. I placed the ruined cake on the coffee table. Through the clear box, I could see the cream slowly melting, distorting the cake’s original shape. “Lily, Daisy,” I began, my voice choked with bitterness, “it’s my birthday today.” I couldn’t believe that the two sisters who had once been so loving towards me would now treat me so poorly for the sake of an outsider. They had to have a reason. I didn’t want to expose their pretense. I wanted them to tell me themselves. “How many times do we have to tell you? We are not your sisters!” Lily snarled, a look of disgust on her face. She probably forgot how much she used to adore me. Back then, she’d spend hours playing on the slide with me. She would always tell me, “Ethan, your big sister will always be with you.” “Exactly,” Daisy added, her face equally cold. “What does your birthday have to do with us?” Normally, she was such a gentle woman, and so gentle with me. She owned her own company and once told me, “Ethan, don’t worry when you strike out on your own. Your second sister will pave the way for you.” But now, they had both changed. Just like this utterly ruined cake, its original form completely unrecognizable. 4 Lily snatched the cake and tossed it into the trash can, looking at me with cold fury. “Ethan Vance, please don’t come to our house anymore. You’re not our brother, you have no right to live here.” I should have noticed the signs earlier. They claimed to have forgotten me, yet they remembered my name, Ethan Vance. They treated Ryan as their biological brother, yet they never questioned why his surname was Brooks. I had simply trusted my sisters too much, to the point of foolishness. I desperately wanted to expose their charade, but I held back. If I did, they would surely be angry, and then they truly wouldn’t want me anymore. A dull ache spread in my chest. I looked at them with pleading eyes. “Please, don’t make me leave. I… I only have you two.” I would never forget my father’s dying words. I wouldn’t give up on them. Lily paused, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of emotion in her eyes. But after a few seconds, she spoke again. “No. You’re not our biological brother, so you can’t live here. Ryan is our brother.” Daisy rose and pushed me towards the door, her resolve unwavering. The pain was unbearable. I couldn’t believe they hated me so much. “Fine. I’ll go.” If my absence would make them happy, I was willing to leave. I turned to go, but then I heard Lily say to Ryan, “Ryan, your parents left you a substantial inheritance. I’ve already transferred it to your name.” My body stiffened, and I almost thought I’d misheard. Because of the inherent risks in our parents’ work, before their accident, they had already transferred all their assets to my two sisters. At the time, because I wasn’t yet 18, they had asked Lily to manage my portion of the inheritance. But now, she had actually transferred it to Ryan. Even if they had a good reason to treat him well, they shouldn’t have given him my money. I had no income now, and that was the money I had set aside for my postgraduate studies. 5 “Lily, that’s my money! You can’t give it to him!” I spun around, glaring at Lily, a surge of anger rising within me. To my surprise, she grew even angrier. She stood up and slapped me across the face. “How dare you have the nerve! You’re not even part of the Vance family anymore, what makes you think that’s your money?! That money was left for Ryan by our parents!” My ears rang, and my face throbbed. “You keep saying Ryan is your and Daisy’s real brother, but why is his last name Brooks?” I stared intently into her eyes, catching a momentary flicker of panic. But it quickly vanished, and she calmly fabricated a story. “Ryan was living on his own for a long time, raised by other people, that’s why his name is Brooks. As for you, you probably just made up that name yourself! You’re not our brother at all.” A cold dread settled in my heart. I thought if I spoke my mind this bluntly, they would stop pretending. But they kept up the charade. Lily, Daisy, what hardship are you enduring that makes you treat me this way? 6 In the end, I was still thrown out of my home. On my twenty-third birthday, the only two family members I had in this world abandoned me. I went to the university alone, planning to stay in a dorm room. But when I went to complete the enrollment procedures, I was told I hadn’t actually been accepted into the university’s postgraduate program. I froze. I distinctly remembered receiving an acceptance letter. I frantically searched my backpack, only to find my acceptance letter was gone. The staff member then said to me, “Think carefully. Did you perhaps get it wrong, or did you offend someone, and your acceptance letter was stolen?” I wasn’t stupid. I immediately understood the implication of her words. It could only mean someone had deliberately prevented me from pursuing my postgraduate studies. As this thought crossed my mind, I suddenly noticed several of Daisy’s friends. They were laughing and chattering, “Daisy is so good to Ryan! For him, she didn’t hesitate to give him her own brother’s postgraduate slot.” “Right, I wonder how she could be so heartless, even faking amnesia to make her brother suffer.” “You don’t know, do you? It’s because Ryan’s parents died saving Ethan back then. So Daisy and Lily feel they owe Ryan a huge debt.” I froze. The accident had happened so fast. Ryan’s parents died instantly. In the end, it was my father who saved me. Just then, I saw Daisy’s friends walk over to a car parked by the curb. Daisy got out of the car, with Ryan following behind her. My heart tightened. I rushed over. “Daisy, please, let me explain. The car accident wasn’t like that at all.” 7 Daisy heard my voice and glanced at me. But her face showed no emotion, only cold indifference. “I told you, I am not your sister! Stop calling me that!” At that moment, I couldn’t care less about anything else. I just wanted to explain everything to her. “Ryan’s parents didn’t…” Slap! She struck me hard across the face. “Are you trying to disrupt Ryan’s enrollment today? I’m telling you, get out now, or I’ll have someone forcibly remove you.” Lily had slapped me earlier, and now Daisy had too. To think that in the past, they wouldn’t even let a finger touch me. Now, because of an outsider, they were repeatedly showing such cruelty towards me. I clutched my stinging face, looking at her. “Daisy, this postgraduate slot is mine. I worked so hard to earn it. You can’t just give it away to Ryan.” She knew perfectly well how much effort I had poured into preparing for that exam. I had studied day and night. Back then, she and Lily had even encouraged me: “Keep going, Ethan. Once you get in, we’ll take you to buy a car.” Daisy’s eyes flickered, avoiding my gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Ryan earned this himself!” With that, she pulled Ryan closer, her cold expression softening into tenderness. “Your second sister will take you to complete your enrollment. Once that’s done, we’ll go buy you a car.” Then, without waiting for me to speak, she directly pulled Ryan away. Her friends, unable to watch any longer, tried to console me. “Ethan, postgraduate studies aren’t everything. Go find a job.” But I had already promised my mentor that if I didn’t get into postgraduate school this time, I would agree to join a twenty-year closed medical research program. Once I joined, there was no quitting mid-way. For those two decades, I wouldn’t be able to contact the outside world or return home. Now, my postgraduate slot had been stolen from me. I had to honor my word. 8 I wandered the streets, utterly lost. My comm-unit vibrated. A trending news alert on the HoloNet showed Daisy taking Ryan to buy a car. Because Daisy had a HoloNet account with a significant following, and people didn’t know her family background, only that she was a successful entrepreneur, they believed her when she posted that Ryan was her brother. This time, someone had filmed her taking Ryan to buy a car, and netizens were commenting on how envious they were. I was envious too. All of this should have been mine. But now, it had been stripped from me by my two own sisters. My heart ached with pain. Lily, Daisy, do you truly not want me anymore? I went to Lily’s company. Downstairs, I wove a small cat out of foxtail grass. Many years ago, when our family was still poor and lived in the countryside, Lily, Daisy, and I found our greatest joy in weaving various small animals from foxtail grass. Back then, they always told me, “As long as a family’s hearts are connected, we’ll always be happy.” But now, their hearts were no longer connected to mine. Lost in thought, I saw Lily exiting the company building. I rushed over, holding out the woven cat to her. “Lily, look, I made this myself.” I looked at her expectantly, trying to stir some familial affection in her. But she merely gave it a cold glance, then slapped my hand away, sending the little cat tumbling to the ground. Just then, Daisy and Ryan arrived. Daisy saw the woven cat and stepped on it, crushing it. My heart sank. I looked up at them. Lily said coldly, “Get lost. Just looking at you annoys me.” Daisy added, “Such a bumpkin. Only country folk make things like that.” And Ryan, looking utterly triumphant, seemed to be saying to me, See? Your sisters don’t want you anymore. I clutched my chest, a profound ache settling within me. Seeing them turn to leave, I quickly said, “Lily, Daisy, I’m leaving now. I won’t be coming back.”
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