Ten years ago, I caught my wife Emily Taylor making out with my adopted brother Jason Lewis. I completely lost control, slapped them both, and trashed the entire room. Faced with my breakdown, my wife didn't explain anything. She just calmly watched me go crazy. That very night, she had me restrained and sent to prison. Before I was taken away, she prepared all my favorite dishes and spoke gently. "Thomas, Jason was frightened by you. I have to lock you up and you need to calm down. I'll coax him first, and once he's settled, I'll come get you." But I actually stayed in prison for ten years. Ten years later, when I was released, I went to a small town. I kept a low profile and worked as a server in a small restaurant. Until I saw my ex-wife Emily again. She was dressed head to toe in luxury brands, with exquisite makeup. When she saw me, she froze, then grabbed my hand with reddened eyes. "Thomas, you're out! Why didn't you tell me?" "It's been so many years... How are you?" I gave a bitter smile and touched my head through my hat. I had no hair left. Ten years of torment had long given me cancer. Actually, I only had one month left to live. *** I didn't answer her. I just tugged my padded jacket sleeve down, trying to hide the needle marks lining my arm. Emily was about to speak again when the boss shouted from over there. "Thomas, what are you doing? Go clear that table!" I responded briefly and hurried away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Emily try to call out to me, but after opening her mouth, she never made a sound. I served her dishes. She only ordered a braised fish, a bowl of spicy lamb soup, and a pot of wine. I frowned. She was allergic to fish and hated the smell of lamb, yet these were exactly my two favorite dishes. Unfortunately, because of stomach cancer, I hadn't eaten them for many years. With a blank expression, I set the dishes in front of her. "Ma'am, all your dishes are here. Please enjoy." After saying that, I turned to leave, but Emily grabbed my sleeve. "Thomas, all of these are for you. Sit down and have a drink with me, okay?" I froze where I stood, remembering how, before sending me to prison, she had prepared my favorite dishes just like this, followed immediately by ten years of hell. When she saw me stay silent, she continued, "Please, let's talk." I sighed and finally sat down across from Emily. She poured me a glass of wine. "Thomas, when you were released, I was going to pick you up. But when I got there, I couldn't find you." "I asked around in the prison about you, but they all said that you were dead." I didn't touch the wine or the food. "Not dead. Sorry to disappoint you, Ms. Emily." Unexpectedly, Emily suddenly became emotional and leaned in to grab my hand. "Thomas, I admit I wronged you back then. Come back with me, okay? I'll make it up to you!" "In three days it's your dad's sixtieth birthday. Come back with me. I'll explain everything for you." Back then, just to make my adopted brother Jason happy, and also out of fear that I would expose the scandal, Emily fabricated evidence that I had taken bribes at the company, condemning me to ten unjust years in prison. And my parents, without bothering to find out the truth, cut off all ties with me on the spot and cursed me as a parasite of society. Hearing Emily's words, the pain and despair of those years surged back once again. I forced myself to suppress the overwhelming agony, but my body still trembled uncontrollably. "Explain? How are you gonna do that?" "Tell them all those shameless things between you and Jason?" Because I was emotionally agitated, my voice rose a little. In an instant, the surrounding curious and gossiping gazes all turned toward us. I abruptly stood up and walked away.
I thought I would never see Emily again. After all, how much genuine remorse could there be from someone who personally sent me to hell? But early the next morning, just as I arrived at work, I saw her already waiting at the entrance. When she saw me, she hurried over and said, "Thomas, you used to be a top engineer. Now you're stuck in a restaurant like this. Can you really accept this?" I sneered and said, "Wasn't my life already destroyed by you? And now you say this? Don't you find it disgusting?" After hearing my words, Emily choked for a moment, panic flashing across her face. Just as she was about to explain, I went inside. Emily didn't leave. She ordered a plate of food and a pot of tea and stayed in the restaurant all day. I ignored her and stayed busy as usual. Near the end of my shift, my stomach suddenly twisted in pain, and I felt like throwing up. I forced myself to endure the pain, staggering back a step, and accidentally knocked over a glass of red wine on a customer's table. The wine spilled all over him. The man froze for a moment. Before I could even apologize, he slapped me hard. "Damn it, are you blind? This outfit is a luxury brand. Can you afford to pay for it?" The more he spoke, the more agitated he became. Ignoring my apologies, he kicked me hard in the stomach, sending me crashing to the ground. Then he picked up the red wine from the table and poured it over my head. I couldn't hold it in anymore. With a retch, I vomited blood. The bright red liquid mixed with the red wine, soaking me in a bloody mess. Still not satisfied, the man lifted his foot to kick me again, but someone shoved him aside. Emily, her eyes blazing red, stood firmly in front of me and roared. "Don't you touch him again!" The man was about to curse, but when he saw the look in Emily's bloodshot eyes, a trace of fear flashed across his face. After muttering a couple of more curses, he quickly fled the restaurant. Emily carefully helped me up, her face full of concern. "Thomas, all this blood..." I looked at the red stains covering my clothes and said in a flustered voice, "It's just some red wine." After saying that, I pushed Emily away and fled. The next day, I resigned from my job. I had only taken the job to earn money for chemotherapy and medicine. Now that I was going to die anyway, there was no need to keep working. What's more, my greatest wish now was to stay as far away from Emily and the others as possible. At the very least, I wanted to die in peace. There were no formal procedures for resigning. I just needed to tell the boss, settle my wages, and I could leave. As soon as I walked out of the restaurant, I remembered that my last checkup report was still at the hospital. I decided to go get it and buy some painkillers. But just after I picked up the report at the hospital, I saw a familiar figure. It was my adopted brother, Jason. And standing beside him were Emily and my biological parents. Jason was the first to see me. He froze in place, and after a long moment, spoke in disbelief. "Thomas? You're not dead?" I glanced at the medicine he was carrying. It was from the obstetrics building, and on the bag was written the pregnant woman's name. It was Emily. Only then did I notice that, though not obvious, Emily's lower abdomen was indeed slightly rounded. Even after ten years, seeing this with my own eyes still felt like a piece of my heart being torn out alive. I gave a self-mocking smile. "Still alive. Disappointed?"
At those words, I saw a flash of malice on Jason's face, but he still put on a wronged expression as he spoke. "Thomas, I know you hate that I married Emily." "But you already divorced her, and ten years ago you did something wrong and went to prison. You can't expect her to wait for you forever, right?" Emily also spoke up. "Mom and Dad are both here. Just apologize. Tomorrow is Dad's birthday. They'll forgive you." I sneered. It was clearly their fault. Why should I be the one apologizing? I said bluntly, "You all know very well what the truth was ten years ago. Why should I apologize?" At that moment, my parents finally noticed me. They looked much older. Not yet sixty, yet their hair was almost completely white, their backs already hunched. When they saw me, they froze as well. My mom reacted first, frowning as she spoke. "Why have you gotten so thin? Did you smoke or something?" "You did something wrong ten years ago. After getting out of prison you didn't come look for us? Clearly you're guilty!" I was stunned, and it took me a long moment to understand what she meant. How ridiculous. Ten years without seeing me, they didn't ask how I'd been at all. Her first reaction was suspicion that I had caught bad habits. That was the image I had in their eyes! I laughed until tears came out. Seeing me laugh, my dad frowned too. "Your mom's right. You're abnormally thin." As he spoke, without any explanation, he grabbed me and dragged me toward the hospital's testing area. "Come with me for a urine test!" His voice was loud, instantly drawing a crowd. In the scuffle, my dad shoved me to the ground. My head hit the corner of a nearby table, blood streaming down my forehead. Because I was emotionally agitated, my stomach started hurting again. Cold sweat quickly soaked through my clothes. At that moment, Emily spoke again. Her tone was gentle, laced with worry. "Thomas, I didn't notice yesterday. You're really too thin now. I also think you should do the test." "At worst, we'll take you to rehab. It's not too late." Jason also put on a show of concern. "Thomas, I know you're miserable, but you can't keep making more mistakes!" They were still so condescending. Why? I hadn't done anything wrong. Why did they always think I did something wrong? Why did I have to pay for their imagination? My dad reached out to grab me again. I pushed his hand away and struggled to get up from the ground. "No need. I'll go myself." With that, I limped into the urine testing room. Of course the results were normal. A trace of awkwardness flashed across my parents' faces, but they didn't apologize. They only glanced at me and spoke stiffly. "Forget it. Come home. Tomorrow is your dad's sixtieth birthday. Remember to come." I took a step back, widening the distance between us. "You were right back then. I'm not your son. We already cut ties long ago." "I won't be attending the sixtieth birthday. Happy birthday in advance, sir." After saying that, I bowed to them. Ignoring their curses and attempts to stop me, I turned and left the hospital.
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