Chapter 4No Way Back to Summer

I sat off to the side and waited patiently.

When Tobias had finally finished bragging, a reporter eagerly pulled out a math problem.

"Tobias, we heard you got a perfect score on the SAT math section and solved the hardest problem with a method that goes beyond calculus. Could you show us how you'd solve this similar problem right here?"

Tobias glanced at me and nodded confidently. "Of course."

He picked up a pen and started scribbling aimlessly. At first, everyone waited with curiosity, but the longer he dragged it out, the stranger it became. His palms were drenched in sweat, and he kept shooting me vicious looks. I leisurely sipped my juice.

Half an hour passed, and Tobias still could not come up with a single line. The reporter awkwardly tried to smooth it over, but the guests had already started pointing and whispering.

"Some boy genius! He probably paid his way to that score."

"His brother's the real genius. For all we know, he stole his brother's scores!"

Tobias could not take it anymore and stormed out in a rage.

The moment he was gone, the reporters swarmed me. I glanced at the problem just once and answered offhandedly. "36%."

The reporter checked it against the answer key again and again, then clapped in shock. "That's exactly right!"

The professors and scholars attending the party began humbly asking me how I had solved it. I walked them through it step by step, leaving everyone speechless.

I was in the middle of explaining when Marisa stormed over, scowling, and dragged me away.

"Ezra! You just love being the center of attention, don't you? Do you have any idea that Tobias ran off to the countryside because of you? A group of thugs almost hurt him on the way there!"

I wrenched myself free of her grip. "What are you so worked up about? If he really knew his stuff, he would've answered it by now. Unless the two of you..."

Before I could finish, Mom charged up, eyes blazing, and hurled her handbag at me.

"You heartless animal! Nobody knows if your brother is dead or alive, yet you're still here showing off your stupid math!"

The sharp metal clasp of the bag slashed my cheek, and the pain brought tears to my eyes. Everything I had been holding back finally came pouring out.

"Mom, what about me? I'm your son too!"

Mom froze, but she still snapped at me harshly. "Get to the hospital and apologize to your brother!"

At that moment, the DNA results came through on my phone.

[Tobias Kerr and the Kerr family share a 0% genetic relationship.]

My hands shook violently. I was about to rush forward and tell Mom the truth, but I had barely taken a step when a sharp pain struck the back of my head, and I blacked out.

When I came to, I was surrounded by Marisa's friends. They teased me as they gripped my throat, grinning with amusement.

"Mari, are you really going to let us make your little boyfriend drink?"

Marisa sat in the shadows, her voice as cold as ice. "He put Tobias in a coma. Does he really think an apology is enough? Make him drink. It's just an alcohol allergy. It won't kill him."

Terrified, I tried to scream for help, but they no longer held back. They grabbed every kind of liquor they could find and poured it down my throat. After 50 glasses of burning alcohol, my stomach felt like it was on fire.

Before I lost consciousness, I called Mom and Dad for help. A cold voice pierced my ears.

"Ezra! Where the hell are you? We told you to apologize to Tobias. Get over here now!"

"Mom, I'm dying..."

She scoffed. "You're still putting on an act!"

The line went dead.

Then a voice message from Tobias came through, taunting me. "Ezra, I bet you didn't know. Getting you drunk was Mom and Dad's idea!"

Hatred pushed me to my breaking point. I held up the DNA results and screamed at Marisa.

"Marisa! Look at this! I'm the real Kerr heir!"

In the next second, she stomped on my phone and smashed it to pieces. "Ezra, you've been lying for so long that you actually believe it yourself!"

I looked at her, let out a loud laugh, and passed out.

When I woke up again, two months had gone by. In those two months, I had been forgotten in the ICU while Marisa and my parents took Tobias traveling all over the country.

On the first day of the semester, they dropped me off at the community college admissions office.

Marisa said impatiently, "Tobias was worried you'd wear yourself out, so he found some people to help you."

Mom and Dad lectured me coldly. "From now on, you're on your own. We're done taking care of you."

A lump rose in my throat, and I turned away without a word.

The moment they left, the upperclassmen led me around a few corners until we reached a small patch of woods. I suddenly realized something was wrong. I was about to run when someone grabbed me by the back of the neck.

The guys grinned and rubbed their hands together. "Where do you think you're going, freshman? Your brother already handed you over to us."

I let out a desperate scream, but they clamped a hand over my mouth and nose and dragged me deep into the trees.

…

Third Person's POV

At the Wexley University admissions office, Richard Kerr and Susan Ellery wiped away tears as they said goodbye to their son, Tobias.

The admissions officer looked at the photo on Tobias's ID, and his expression suddenly turned serious.

"Halverton's top scorer already registered a long time ago. Why are you pretending to be him?"