My brother was strapped with a bomb, the timer ticking frantically. I was at the training base, my fingers nimbly tapping away at a video game controller. Minutes later, my fiancée, Iris Gray, kicked the door open and stormed in, her face ghostly pale. "Ron! The bomb is under ten minutes! Every bomb disposal expert in the city is waiting for you! You're the only one who can disarm that kind of intricate device!" Her nails dug into her palms, drawing blood. Tears welled up in her eyes. I was the demolition expert nicknamed the "Grim Reaper's Rival." I could defuse any explosive device in milliseconds. But this time, I wouldn't. My game character was instantly headshot. I clicked my tongue and drawled a lazy, "Oh." My parents rushed in right behind her. My mom slapped me across the face. "Ron! Are you even human?!" "That's your brother! Go save him right now!" I slowly showed them my right arm. The hand that had performed countless miracles was now encased in a plaster cast. "I'm truly unable. Car accident yesterday. This hand? It's gone." 1 They froze instantly. The air thickened like concrete. They stared at my cast-wrapped right arm. For a bomb expert, this meant the end of a career. My mom gasped in disbelief. "How could this happen? You were fine when you came home last night!" I forced a cold, cruel smile. "Guess it's my destiny." "I hadn't been gone long when a truck slammed into me. Lucky it only ruined a hand." My mother swayed, her eyes unfocused, her lips trembling. "What about my Ethan? He's so young. Are we just going to watch him die?" I shrugged, expressionless. "What can we do? Just leave it to fate." As soon as the words left my mouth, my dad suddenly erupted. His hand clamped down hard on my plastered arm. "Leave it to fate? I think you're just jealous that we dote on your brother more, so you're faking this injury!" The sharp, agonizing pain made my vision swim, but I bit my tongue and didn't utter a sound. What was a little physical pain compared to the knives they'd plunged into my heart over the years? Eight years ago, at the police academy initiation, my face, which strikingly resembled the Police Chief's, got me identified as the son the Rhodes family had lost eighteen years prior. I thought it was a divine blessing, a chance to return to my biological parents. But when I came home, I discovered my parents had adopted a boy a year older than me. They named him Ethan, the "Eternal Peak," pouring all their hopes into him, and renamed me Ron, the "Rock." The two vastly different names made me, already self-conscious, even more cautious. Ethan was kind to me. He'd ask the butler to prepare matching clothes, introduce me to his friends, and praise me in front of Mom and Dad. To meet his expectation, I studied relentlessly, desperate to become the family's pride. Until now... Seeing my silence, my mom suddenly lunged, tearing at my shirt, screaming hysterically. "Say something! You planned this, didn't you? You hate us, so you want him dead!" "How could I have given birth to a monster like you? Your brother was so good to you, and you're heartlessly abandoning him!" "Have you forgotten? When you were hospitalized, he watched over you without sleeping! When you were bullied, he stood up for you!" My eyes burned, but I threw my head back and laughed. It was because I remembered it too clearly that the pain was gut-wrenching. My fiancée, Iris, looked at me with disappointment but tried to reason with me, biting her lip. "Ron, I know you harbor resentment, but this is a life-or-death situation! You can't stand by for selfish reasons. Do you have any respect for that uniform you wear?" I didn't say a word, grabbing the medical report from the table. "Comminuted fracture. I wasn't lying." My mom snatched the report. Reading the conclusion, she collapsed instantly. "My Ethan, if he dies, how can I go on living..." My dad, usually so commanding, now had red eyes. He pointed at me, roaring. "You're a bomb expert! Even with a ruined hand, you can go there and instruct! Ethan is your flesh and blood, yet you show no concern and deliberately hide. You are intentionally seeking revenge!" My heart felt like a chunk had been carved out. I forced a smile. "Think what you like. I'm useless." With that, I slumped into the training chair and closed my eyes. My indifference completely enraged my dad. He dragged me off the chair by my hair. "You will crawl to that site today if you have to! If anything happens to Ethan, you'll pay with your life!" I sneered. "Chief Rhodes, you can drag me there, but my hand is gone. I can't guarantee anything based on sight alone." Iris suddenly stepped forward, grabbing my dad's arm. "Chief Rhodes, why ruin your reputation over scum like Ron!" "I'll handle the disposal!" Chapter 2 2 My mom shot up from the floor and grabbed Iris's hands like a drowning woman clinging to driftwood. "Iris, can you do it?" My dad's eyes regained their composure. "Iris, this isn't a drill! I know you want to save him, but if anything goes wrong, you and Ethan will both..." Iris straightened her back and gave a perfect police salute, her voice ringing with certainty. "Chief Rhodes, rest assured!" "Ron and I have handled over five hundred explosive cases together. Every step is burned into my mind!" "Ron is heartless enough to let Ethan die, but Ethan and I grew up together. I can't abandon him. I have to try my best!" She implied I was harboring a wicked motive and intended to let Ethan die. She was placing the guilt of murder squarely on my shoulders. Colleagues who rushed in upon hearing the commotion now looked at me with disgust. My dad returned a formal salute to Iris. "Regardless of the outcome, your family will be taken care of from now on. The police force needs people with your courage! If you return safely, the Captain's position on the Serious Crimes Unit is yours!" He cast a cold glance at me. "As for certain heartless beasts who refuse to help, they don't deserve this uniform!" A flicker of delight crossed Iris's eyes. She glanced at her watch, her voice urgent. "Only three minutes left! We have to go!" "Wait!" As soon as I spoke, my mom's hand slammed across my face again. "Ron, stop wasting time! Do you want your brother to die?" I wiped the blood from my mouth and gave a light laugh. "Am I required to give consent for the use of my proprietary disarming technique?" Iris froze, looking at me with shock and disappointment. "Ron! Are you insane? This is life and death, and you're worried about irrelevant intellectual property?!" "No, it's very relevant." "If I don't agree, you're infringing on my patent. I can sue you." "What do you think the sentence is for breaking the law while upholding it?" Iris trembled with anger. "You—!" My mother's recently dried tears started again. She gripped my dad's uniform, sobbing. "Rob, what do we do?" I looked at them and spoke calmly. "I might agree, but only if all the family assets are transferred to me. Not a penny goes to Ethan." "But there's only one minute left! You'd better decide!" My dad glared at me, then slammed his fist on the table. "Fine, I agree!" I hid the darkness in my eyes, calmly rubbing the plaster cast on my right hand. "Dad, you have to keep your word. I recorded all that." My dad glared fiercely, then turned and left with the others. Once the three of them vanished around the corner, I slowly wiped the moisture from my eyes and tossed the fake diagnostic report into the trash. Three minutes later, a cheer went up on the large screen. "In the critical moment, Officer Iris Gray of the Special Tactics Unit turned the tide, successfully disarming the explosive device and saving the hostage..." I switched off the screen, walked out into the pouring rain, and made my way to my rental apartment. Only here did I feel like I had a home. Before I slept, a message popped up on my phone. "Tomorrow's commendation ceremony: confess, or disappear." I smirked, then downed the glass of milk laced with a sleeping aid. After tomorrow, everything would end. Chapter 3 3 The next morning, the top three trending topics all featured my name. #RonIsColdBlooded #RonDoesn'tDeserveTheBadge #RonShouldDie had millions of views. In the video, Iris, sporting a brand-new rank insignia, looked resolute. "As a police officer, saving lives is my duty. I'm not a hero; I just did my job." Flashbulbs popped as reporters thrust microphones toward her. "There are rumors Ron refused to help because he was afraid failure would hurt his career. As his fiancée, what do you think of his actions?" Iris casually touched the engagement ring on her finger, smiling at the camera. "I can't judge his choices, but since we're a couple, my intervention is effectively his intervention..." "Besides, everyone has a selfish side. He must have had some selfish thoughts." Her statement successfully redirected public outrage toward me, completely avoiding the fact that my arm was broken. Netizens attacked me relentlessly. Some even dug up my entire background, fiercely claiming I was trying to seize the family fortune by letting my brother die. "Ungrateful snake! Would he be anywhere without Ethan's care and concern?" "He always had a dark personality. That's why his adoptive parents abused him! The pitiful deserve what they get!" "I heard he stole things as a kid! How did he even get into the police force?" In two short minutes, #RonGetOutOfThePoliceForce# was the number one trending topic. I wanted to ignore it, but I underestimated the power of the online mob. A cab driver recognized me and sped away as soon as I hailed him. I walked to the commendation ceremony. I looked up and saw the scene of domestic bliss: my entire family of four. My biological parents and my fiancée, all clustered around Ethan, treating him like royalty. Seeing me, the smiles on their faces instantly froze. My mom's eyes fixed on my right hand, which was now free of the cast. She screamed. "I knew it! You were faking it!" "What sin did I commit in a past life to give birth to a beast like you!" My brother, Ethan, his eyes red-rimmed, his voice hoarse, challenged me. "Little Ron, why? I'm your brother." The room instantly exploded with noise. "Oh my god! He faked an injury to let his own brother die!" "The Rhodes family is worth hundreds of millions! That ungrateful viper wanted to inherit everything, that's why he was eager to kill his brother!" "He's deranged! Arrest him immediately!" I ignored the noise, focusing on Ethan's handsome face. I once naively believed that though we weren't blood-related, our bond was stronger than that of brothers. But I was too naive. Before I could speak, Ethan tore open his hospital gown, revealing shocking bruises all over his body. "Since it's come to this, I don't have to hide the truth for you anymore." He turned to the cameras, tears perfectly sliding down his face. "Actually, my kidnapping... was planned entirely by my little brother, Ron..." "He's the culprit. Of course, he wouldn't save me!" "He's been abusing me for the entire eight years he's been back." He pointed at the scars, his voice trembling. "He resented me for taking his place. Every time Mom and Dad were nice to me, he'd find an opportunity to hit me, burning me with cigarettes." "I was afraid of upsetting Mom and Dad, so I kept it hidden..." Under the flashbulbs, the bruises on his body looked terrifying. My former comrades looked at me with revulsion. "He always looked so decent! A monster behind the scenes!" "A wolf in sheep's clothing! He doesn't deserve to live! He should be tortured!" My mom rushed to Ethan's side, her trembling fingers tracing the bruises, sobbing. "You poor boy, why didn't you tell me sooner?" "How did you endure all these years? It's my fault for bringing that beast home and ruining your life!" Ethan let a single tear roll down his cheek, whispering miserably. "Every time I tried to say something, he'd threaten to have me thrown out. I didn't want to leave you..." My mom's eyes became lethal. She grabbed the microphone stand nearby and violently swung it at my head. "I shouldn't have given birth to you! You plague, why don't you just die!" Warm blood streamed down my brow into my eye, but I started laughing. How ridiculous. My own biological parents wished me dead. Just then, several Internal Affairs officers approached. "We received a tip-off about a suspected murder-for-hire plot. Who filed the report?" Ethan and Iris exchanged a secretive smile. My dad stepped forward immediately, pointing at me with sorrowful authority. "Officer Lee, my unfilial son is responsible for the murder-for-hire." "Take him away..." He was cut short by my voice. "I filed the report." Chapter 4 4 The venue instantly fell silent. Whispers spread through the crowd. "He's that arrogant? Trying to confess to get a lighter sentence?" "Absolutely sickening! He needs the maximum penalty!" "Why would someone call the police on themselves? Could there be something else going on?" I endured the pain, raising my head with difficulty, enunciating every word. "I, Ron Rhodes, formally accuse my brother, Ethan Rhodes, and my fiancée, Iris Gray, of colluding to hire a killer and repeatedly trying to murder me!" Silence again. Ethan's face was white. Tears filled his eyes, and he shook his head in disbelief, arguing back. "Little Ron, how can you twist the truth? You're the one who hired the killer to kidnap me and destroy the evidence with a bomb! If Iris hadn't saved me, I might be dead already..." Iris bit her lip, forcing calm. "Ron, your lack of moral bottom is chilling. The evidence is clear. The explosive device tied to Ethan is the exact type you use for practice! Stop being delusional. Confess now, and you might get leniency!" Some people in the crowd were starting to doubt the initial story, but the couple's explanation renewed the disgust in their eyes. My mom shielded Ethan, spat viciously at me. "Beast! Trying to smear your brother even now!" I suppressed the faint throbbing in my heart and raised my phone, playing a security camera video. In the footage, Ethan was completely calm, obediently letting the black-masked kidnapper bend down and strap the bomb to him. "Brother, can you explain why you were so cooperative with the kidnapper?" A colleague's face grew serious. He couldn't help but ask. "Yes, why was Ethan so submissive? A hostage should be terrified. His composure is unusual..." A flash of panic crossed Iris's eyes. Her trembling hands betrayed her anxiety, but she maintained a tough facade. "That doesn't prove anything! The kidnappers were ruthless! Ethan's submission was his only chance to survive until the bomb squad arrived! If he had resisted, he might have been killed on the spot!" Ethan nodded in agreement. "Yes, the kidnapper held a gun to my back. If I'd resisted, he would have shot me!" He continued to plead with me. "Little Ron, stop this stubbornness. The kidnapper has been caught. Dad is arranging the interrogation. You should confess soon. And don't talk nonsense without evidence. You claim I hired a killer, but everyone who knows us knows I've always been the kindest to you." I cut him off with a cold laugh. "If you think that evidence isn't direct enough, how about something more concrete?" "The net of heaven has wide meshes, but nothing escapes it. Your wicked schemes will eventually be fully exposed!"
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "386985", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel