Even though I exposed him, Chris showed no fear. On the contrary, he looked at me contemptuously.

"Oh, really? The spatial power is yours? Then prove it! Use it now!"

I narrowed my eyes and waved my hand to summon my power, but for some reason, I couldn't use my spatial power.

The crowd started whispering, and even the guy who spoke up for me earlier quietly moved away from me.

"Oh my goodness, it's true. The older brother doesn't have any superpower. He's a useless guy who stole his younger brother's power. How shameless."

"He stole his brother's girlfriend and actually proposed to her. That's disgusting."

"Trash like him should get kicked out of the base and be fed to zombies!"

-

Panic surged through me. I rushed up to Chris, wanting to grab his collar and ask what he had done, but before I could even touch him, Jessica struck me to the ground.

Chris then used his power to punch me in the stomach from a distance. I spat blood and crumpled.

In order to rush over to propose to Jessica, I hadn't even treated the injuries I sustained when I went out to raid for supplies earlier, and now I sustained new injuries on top of the old ones.

I couldn't even get up.

"Swain, you've crossed the line. I didn't want to expose you, but you tried to steal my woman, so I can't hold back anymore!" Chris played the victim, causing the crowd to turn on me.

Jessica poured even more dirt on my name.

"That's right. The person I've always liked is Chris. I only went out with Swain because he kept pestering me. You guys better stay away from this trash, he might steal your power next!"

Her words made me public enemy number one, and even the guy who had fought alongside me looked at me with contempt and suspicion.

Some of my comrades even rushed up and punched me a few times, angrily asking if I had deliberately let some of our comrades die in order to steal their superpowers.

Blood seeped out of my mouth. I was powerless to fight back.

Chris stood with his arms crossed, watching the show.

As punches rained down on me, a question came to my mind: how did Chris gain control of the superpower sharing system without my permission?

When I talked to my family about signing the sharing agreement with Chris, it was supposed to require both of us to agree before the sharing could come into effect.

Confused and beaten, I could only curl up to protect my head against the blows.

When the beating finally stopped, Jessica spat on me and said, "Go to hell."

She then walked away with Chris.

I lay alone amidst the flowers that had been trampled beyond recognition, in so much pain that I had to breathe lightly.

I canceled the supplementary card that I had planned to give Jessica. She used to say that she loved both me and money, so I wanted to give her money as a gift. It turned out that her love for money was real, but her love for me was not.

My phone vibrated, and I struggled to reach for it. After much difficulty, I managed to read the content of the text.

[Dear son, Mom and Dad have prepared a celebration feast for you. Come home for dinner.]

Although my parents favored Chris heavily, they were still the ones who raised me.

I remembered the meal they prepared for me before I left the base and their heartwarming words about looking forward to my safe return. That quelled my rising anger.

I wanted to surprise them, so I took a cab home without sending a reply.

But when I limped to the door, I overheard my family's conversation.

"What? You acted ahead of schedule and already confronted that idiot?" My father's furious voice came through the crack in the door, sharp and piercing, "The drug we gave him yesterday would only make him lose his superpower temporarily. He's already displayed his power for years, so people will only suspect that he's only sharing your power if his power fails again and again, instead of you saying it!"

"I didn't know, Dad. I thought the food you gave him before he left the base already made him lose his power for good," Chris said anxiously, "What should we do? He's definitely on guard now. What if he won't do as we say? Mom, Dad, you have to help me! I'm your biological son!"

Biological son?

I frowned. So I wasn't their biological son.

But what they said next stunned me even more.

"Of course we'll help you. You're our son. We only adopted Swain because he already had a superpower at a young age!" My mother complained but still lovingly stroked Chris' head. She then poured a white powder into the wine with shaking hands.

"We went out of our way to obtain this drug. After consuming it, a person will lose their superpower, no matter how strong it is. When the superpower sharing system completely shuts down, the spatial power will belong only to you."

I gasped in shock. I had thought that even though they favored Chris, they still raised me, so they must love me too. I didn't know that they merely raised me to steal my power for their useless son.

In the past, whenever I had delicious food, my parents always made me give it to Chris, saying that I should take care of him because I'm older.

When the base was in danger and required every household to provide manpower, they signed me up without hesitation.

All the dots connected, completely shattering my previous belief that my parents were merely trying to train me to protect my younger brother.

Chris said sweetly, "Thanks, Mom and Dad. You guys are the best."

Hearing that, a stabbing pain filled my heart.

The cold wind struck me. I covered my mouth, almost staggering.

My phone vibrated. My parents kept texting me, urging me to come home.

What used to be caring words now felt like a death sentence.

With trembling hands, I typed "I'll be back soon", then slowly moved away.

I kept rubbing my face until I was sure that my expression didn’t betray my broken heart, then pulled out a hidden camera from my pocket.

After turning it on, I went back and rang the doorbell.

As soon as the door opened, my parents surrounded me. They led me inside and sat me in the main seat, a treatment I had never received before.

Chris lowered his head and squeezed out a few drops of tears. "Swain, I'm sorry, I was too rash earlier. I really like Jessica, so I did it without thinking."

My mother tried to smooth things over, while giving Chris a look to pour me a glass of wine to apologize.

Holding the wine glass, Chris looked down apologetically and said, "Swain, I'm sorry. This is for you. Please forgive me."

The drink glimmered with a dark red hue, making it impossible to see what was inside.

I stared at the wine glass for a long time, so long that Chris' hands and smile went numb.

Because I didn't immediately forgive Chris like I used to, my parents pretended to smack Chris on the head.

"Swain, you're the older brother, so you should be more forgiving."

Older brother?

I smiled bitterly. "Is that so? Chris sure didn't treat me like an older brother when he used my spatial power to humiliate me in public earlier."

I maintained a blank expression. My father, unable to keep up the act anymore, clicked his tongue in annoyance and put on the airs of the family's patriarch.

"Swain, you're the older brother, so you should be more tolerant of Chris. Stop being so petty!"

"That's right, Swain. Chris is younger than you, and his body is weak, so you should take care of him. If you keep being so immature, I'll be mad at you."

Mom and Dad both snorted and looked at me harshly, utterly unconcerned about the wounds on my face.

They only cared that Chris had lowered his head to apologize and had not received a response.

I took a deep breath, smiled and said "It's fine", which eased the awkward atmosphere.

My parents then urged, "Hurry up and drink the wine Chris poured for you. You two are brothers, so there's no need to feud. We expect you two to win first place together in the zombie-clearing competition!"

In the apocalypse, many bases would hold joint competitions, and the victors of these competitions would become base leader candidates.

No wonder my parents were eager to take away my superpower; it was to let their son win the competition.

I drank the wine, but secretly moved the wine that flowed into my throat to a space I created with my power. I then pretended to pass out.

While lying on the floor, I unlinked the superpower I shared with Chris.

Watching me drink the wine, a smug smile appeared on their faces.

"Mom, Dad, what do we do now? We can't leave Swain at home. What if he wakes up and finds out that something's wrong?" Chris asked anxiously.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. Swain's power will completely be yours after three days. We'll throw him in a garbage truck and let him be transported out of the city. No one cares if a useless guy without a superpower is eaten by zombies."

"Okay! After I get first place in the competition, I'll propose to Jessica! Her family's money will be ours!"

My heart grew colder. Not only were they stealing my abilities, they even planned to toss me out of the city.

They had no idea that Chris had lost his power, so he would be a sitting duck in the zombie-clearing competition.

And this family that had no superpowers would be sending me, the only person they could rely on for protection, to a garbage dump five hundred miles away.