Part 1The Price of Pity

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!"