Chapter 1Rewired: Saving My Psycho Brother

My best friend lured me to that seedy club.

There were fourteen other people in the private room. Fifteen including her.

I don't remember much after that.

I just remember my broken, abused body being sent home. My dad’s hair turned gray overnight; my stepmom passed out cold.

Kaelen somehow got the news. He snuck away from his doctors abroad and came back, deceiving everyone.

Only our family of four knew the truth: Kaelen—the stepbrother my stepmom brought into the family—was completely unhinged.

I floated as a spirit beside Kaelen, sticking close, desperate to see what he would do.

He went to the morgue first to see me.

His eyes were rimmed red, concealing a terrifying, overwhelming rage.

Carefully, gently, he lifted my mangled hand and pressed it tight against his cheek.

"Lily..."

It was the first time he’d ever used my nickname. Before, he always impatiently called me "Nuisance."

I instinctively answered, then realized he couldn't hear me. I awkwardly touched my nose.

"Brother is going to avenge you."

"All fifteen of them. I won't let a single one get away."

His venom-laced voice sent a tremor through my soul.

When we were small, every time I trailed behind him calling "Brother," he'd look annoyed: "Who's your brother? Get lost!"

After a while, I stopped calling him that.

"Brother..."

I zoned out for a second, and the next instant, Kaelen had already walked out.

* * *

Kaelen bought a razor-sharp hunting knife.

First, he kidnapped the girl who tricked me. [Content redacted: Extreme violence]

Then, he used her phone to invite the remaining fourteen people back to that club.

Those fourteen had powerful parents who managed to get them out on bail during the investigation, which only made things easier for Kaelen.

When they arrived at the club, laughing and joking, they were met with a nightmare scene and Kaelen, covered in blood.

Everything I had suffered, Kaelen returned to them, one by one.

When someone begged for mercy, crying out in pain, Kaelen just laughed coldly and grabbed their hair.

"Did you ever stop to think that my sister felt pain when you did this to her?"

Screams, begging, cursing, confessions...

The chaotic chorus of voices sent all fifteen of them straight to hell together.

Kaelen never planned to escape. By the time the bodies were discovered, he was already standing on the roof of the city's tallest skyscraper. He stepped off the edge.

"NO—"

I screamed involuntarily, reaching out to grab the empty air.

An instant later, sharp pain hit me, and I blacked out.

When I opened my eyes, I saw my familiar canopy bed.

Stunned, I walked to the mirror and touched my face.

It was me at ten years old.