The day after I graduated from college, my father kicked me out of the house. Then, he made an announcement in the family group chat.

“I didn’t raise him just to let him live off me forever.”

“Two hundred dollar is enough for him to survive until he finds a job.”

“If he can’t make something of himself, I won’t acknowledge him as my son.”

My relatives all liked the message and agreed.

To pay off my student loans, I had no choice but to rent the cheapest place I could find and take on the hardest, most exhausting jobs. I worked three shifts a day.

In the end, I died from overwork while delivering food.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I got kicked out of the manor.

After taking the two hundred dollar bills, the first thing I did was buy a train ticket to my grandfather’s house.

If he didn’t want me to live off him, then fine! I wouldn’t.

——

I walked back into the familiar yet cold living room of the manor.

My father stood across from me, his eyes void of warmth—only disappointment and disgust.

My half-brother, Leroy, leaned lazily against the expensive leather sofa, one leg crossed over the other, a mocking grin tugging at his lips.

My stepmother, Linda Bodwin, stood by my father’s side, one hand resting gently on his arm as if in concern, the other holding a tissue, dabbing away nonexistent tears.

“You’ve graduated from college. You’re an adult now. Do you really plan to keep freeloading here forever?”

My father’s voice was cold as ice, every word pierced my heart.

“I didn’t raise you all these years so you could waste your life doing nothing and become a useless parasite!”

Linda quickly chimed in with fake concern.

“Oh, Wayne, don’t be so harsh on your child. Leo’s still young, just stepping into society—he doesn’t know much yet. You pushed him out too soon. What if he can’t take care of himself? As his mother, it breaks my heart to see this…”

Her words sounded gentle, but in reality, they only added fuel into the fire.

Sure enough, my father grew even angrier.

“Young? He’s twenty-two! You call that young?” He shook off her hand and pointed at my nose.

“Kids from poor families start working right after high school to support their parents! I fed you, clothed you and paid for your college education—that’s already more than enough!

From now on, you need to stand on your own two feet!”

He pulled out two bills from his wallet and threw them in my face.

“Two hundred bucks. That’s enough to get you by until you find a job. Don’t say I didn’t help you.”

The floodgates of memory burst open.

In my past life, I’d stood there listening to those harsh words, watching my brother’s smug smile and my stepmother’s fake tears, my chest burning with anger and humiliation.

I tried to argue. I said I’d just graduated and needed time to find work, that things weren’t as easy as they thought in today’s world.

I even mentioned my student loans—the very ones my father had forced me to take, saying they’d teach me responsibility and discipline.

But all that earned me was a thunderous slap.

The blow was hard and heavy—it stunned me completely.

My cheek swelled instantly, my ears rang and the taste of blood filled my mouth. I stared at my father in disbelief. The same man who once carried me on his shoulders now looked at me with nothing but cold contempt.

Linda pretended to cry out in shock and stepped forward to stop him, while Leroy nearly burst out laughing.

That was the moment my dignity shattered completely—and the start of the miserable life I lived before.

I was thrown out of the house with nothing but humiliation and two hundred dollars to my name, forced into a life of endless struggle… until the day I dropped dead delivering food.

But this time, I didn’t argue.

I drew in a deep breath, lifted my head and calmly met my father’s furious gaze.

“Okay, Dad. I understand. But before I go, there’s one thing I want to ask you.”

My voice was steady and composed. “When Leroy graduates, will you treat him the same way you’re treating me now?” I paused. “Will you kick him out too, hand him two hundred dollars and tell him to make it on his own?”

For a moment, the living room fell into the deathly silence.

My father froze, then his face darkened with rage.

Leroy’s smile stiffened; he instinctively straightened his back.

Then Linda’s sharp voice cut through the air.

“Leo Crowe! How could you say something like that? What does this have to do with your brother?”

Like a provoked lion, my father lunged forward.

“You ungrateful brat!”

He didn’t slap me this time. Instead, he snatched my suitcase from my hand with a violent tug. Then, as if tossing out the trash, he hurled it with all his strength through the open manor door. The suitcase hit the cement ground outside with a dull thud.

The latch popped open, and a few of my old, worn clothes fell down the steps.

“Get out! Get out of my sight right now!” He was panting heavily, his chest heaving as he pointed toward the gate.

“I don’t have a son like you!”

Leroy raised his phone to take pictures, his face glowing with amusement, like he was watching the best show of his life.

Linda gently rubbed my father’s back, pretending to comfort him.

“Calm down, Wayne, don’t let anger gets you. It’s bad for your health and it’s not worth it,” she said in sugary tone. “He’s young and impulsive—doesn’t know the world better. We can always make him learn later…”

But I noticed the smug look in her eyes.

Silently, I gathered my scattered clothes and picked up my college diploma. I brushed off the dust clinging to its cover, then gripped the two crumpled hundred-dollar bills tightly in my hand. With my back straight and head held high, I walked away from that grand, luxurious house that had never had warm in it.

Behind me, my father’s furious shouts still echoed, mixed with Linda’s fake words of comfort—

and muffled laughter from Leroy that he could no longer hold back.

The iron gate of the manor slowly swung shut behind me with a heavy clang, sealing off that different world from mine.

The sunlight was little harsh; I squinted, looking toward the city skyline in the distance, watching the endless flow of cars and people.

This time, I wouldn’t live like I did in my previous life—wandering aimlessly through the lowest depths of society, trading my life away for scraps with cheap labor.

Two hundred dollars. It was enough—enough to buy a train ticket back to my grandfather’s home.

If they didn’t want me living off the family, then for God’s sake, I wouldn’t.

***

After several hours of jolting travel, I finally arrived at the small village from my memories—a place filled with the scent of earth and the warmth of home.

Grandpa was sitting on a small wooden stool in the yard, rolling tobacco in his hands, while Grandma was busy in the kitchen.

Thin wisps of smoke rose from the stove, bringing the warm smell of home-cooked food.

“Leonard? Why are you here, child?” Grandpa looked up, surprise flashing in his wrinkled face, followed quickly by a look of concern. 

Hearing his voice, Grandma came rushing out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on the apron tied around her waist. Her face lit up the moment she saw me.

“Oh my, my grandson is here!” she exclaimed, her voice trembling with joy. “You must be starving. Come in, come in! I’ll make you your favorite scrambled eggs!”

Seeing the genuine happiness on their faces, a warmth spread through my chest and my nose stung with the urge to cry.

As they kept piling food onto my plate, Grandpa and Grandma asked gently, their eyes full of curiosity about the real reason behind my homecoming.

I told them everything—exactly as it happened, without adding or leaving anything out.

Grandma’s eyes reddened immediately.

“You poor thing…”she said, clutching my hand tightly. “You dad has lost his mind!”

Grandpa had been silent the whole time; but his expression grew darker and darker, the veins on the back of his hands bulging beneath his thin skin.

When I mentioned the words my father had said—“If he can’t make something of himself, I won’t acknowledge him as my son”—Grandpa slammed his hand on the table with a loud bang.

“That brat!”

He shot up from his chair, chest heaving with anger.

“I see he’s grown some backbone now! How dare he treat you like that? This cannot go on…” He pulled out his old phone and dialed my father’s number.

The moment the call connected, he roared into the receiver.

“Wayne Thompson Crowe! You get your ass back here right now! I don’t care if you’re in the middle of meeting, you dropped it and drive here this instant!”

Whatever my father tried to say on the other end, Grandpa didn’t give him the chance—he hung up straight away.

A few hours later, my father’s Maybach pulled up in front of Grandpa’s house.

He stepped out, frowning, clearly impatient.

“Dad, I’ve got things to handle at the company. What’s so urgent? What’s this about?”

When his eyes landed on me sitting beside my grandparents, his expression shifted—first irritation, then realization.

“What’s this about?” Grandpa repeated; fought to keep his anger in check. “How could you treat your own son like that?

“He just graduated from college and you kicked him out with two hundred bucks? Are you out of your mind?”

A flicker of guilt crossed my father’s face, but he quickly straightened his back and spoke self-righteously.

“Dad, I did this for his own good! It’s called adversity education—the most popular teaching method abroad! He’s twenty-two, an adult. You expect him to just keep sponging off me? In other countries, kids move out at eighteen. I’m already being generous!”

He sounded like he was giving a lecture, so sure of himself.

Grandma shot him a sharp look. “Adversity education, my foot! I bet it was that snake woman, Linda, who told you to do this. She can’t stand Leo and you just went along with her to mistreat my grandson!”

Father’s face changed instantly. “Mom! What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with Linda—it was my decision! For the record, Leroy’s my son too. I’ll treat them both the same way!”

He said it firmly, as if he truly believed it.

But he seemed to forget how furious he’d been just yesterday when I mentioned Leroy.

“Same way? Oh, what a fair father you are!” Grandpa let out a cold laugh, dripping with sarcasm and disappointment.

“I see you’ve grown smart Wayne. You’ve learned new stuff—using ‘independence’ nonsense to justify treating your own son unfairly!”

Grandpa stood, his sharp eyes locked on my father.

“Since you think grown children shouldn’t depend on their parents and should stand on their own—fine. But first, let me ask you: how old are you now?”

“Fifty-three… But what does that have to do with this?” Father froze, not understanding where this was going.

“Fifty-three, huh? That’s three decades away from twenty-two!” Grandpa’s voice suddenly boomed. “You keep saying Leo shouldn’t live off of you—but what about you?

“That manor you live in, the three commercial buildings you collect rent from every month, the startup capital for your company—did you earn any of those yourself? Weren’t they all built from my hard work back in the day?”

Father’s face turned pale in an instant.

Sensing where this was headed, he stammered, “Dad, that’s… that’s different! I’m your son! Those properties will all be mine eventually—”

“Eventually?” Grandpa cut him off coldly. “There is no ‘eventually.’ The future isn’t fixed. You say a young man relying on his parents is shameful and should be independent? Very well then. I will treat you that way. Starting today, I’ll inform the tenants to transfer all rent directly to your mother’s account.”

“And I’m taking it back the manor you’re living in!”