Caked in mud, her eyes bloodshot, my mother grabbed me by the shoulders.

"Elliot, the company's collapsed. I… I killed a competitor. It was an accident. There's no way out now. You're the only one who can come with me."

I believed her.

I swallowed my fear and followed her into the mountains, deeper and deeper until there was nothing left of the world I knew.

To keep her alive, I searched for food, forcing down insects, drinking whatever murky water I could find.

When a pack of wolves began circling our shelter, my first instinct was to step in front of her.

"Mom, I'll lead them away. You go."

I glanced back at her one last time…and made my choice. I would give up my life for hers.

However, when I leapt from the cliff and my body shattered against the rocks below…

I still saw her.

She was inside a descending helicopter, calm and composed, lifting a glass of champagne.

Celebrating.

That was when it finally clicked. The desperate escape that had driven me to sacrifice myself…

was nothing more than a carefully staged show. She had been acting the entire time.

I…was the only one who had actually died.

Three days ago, I was still at school, buried in final exams.

Then my mom burst into the classroom, her makeup smeared and her face a mess, grabbing my hand and dragging me out without a word of explanation.

She said the company went bankrupt and that they owed millions to loan sharks, and if the money was not paid back, those people would not bother with the law but would simply make us disappear.

I believed her because she cried so hard it looked real, her hands shaking as if she could not control them.

So we ran, hiding deep in the mountains, where for three straight days the rain poured down as if the sky split open.

Ever since I drank the half bottle of water Mom gave me, my head felt heavy and foggy, like it was stuffed with wet cotton.

The water tasted a little bitter, but she said it was spring water. I did not eat for two days. My vision kept doubling, shadows overlapping everything. My ears rang nonstop, and even the wind sounded like something screaming.

We were hiding in a damp, freezing cave. Mom was devouring the last half of a compressed biscuit I saved. She ate fast, wiping her tears as she went.

"Elliot, I'm sorry," she said between bites. "I dragged you into this. I made you suffer."

I leaned against the icy rock wall. My vision kept fading in and out, and I did not even have the strength to lift my hand.

I wanted to sleep. However, I did not dare. I gripped a sharpened wooden stick so tightly my nails dug into my palm. The pain was the only thing keeping me awake.

Just a moment ago, the wolves came.

At least, I thought they were wolves. I could not see clearly at all. The rain blurred everything, and that strange dizziness made it worse. All I could make out in the darkness were more than a dozen pairs of glowing green eyes, and a sick, rotting smell that made my stomach turn.

The ringing in my ears drowned out everything, so I could not hear the faint mechanical sounds, thinking they were just the low growl of beasts.

Mom collapsed to the ground, shaking, her words falling apart. "It's over. It's over. They're going to tear us apart."

I stared at the dark shapes closing in, my heart pounding wildly, not because I was afraid to die, but because I was afraid she would.

Dad died early, and she raised me on her own. She was always busy with work and rarely had time for me, but I knew she loved me, and that was enough.

I grabbed a burning branch from the fire, adrenaline surging through my body and pushing past the weakness.

"Mom, run!"

I shouted with everything I had as I rushed out through the narrow gap between the rocks. To the left was a gentle slope, her only way out, while to the right was a cliff, a dead end.

If I ran left, and the wolves could not catch me, they would turn around and go straight for her.

I did not hesitate. I turned and sprinted toward the cliff on the right. I was going to drag them into a dead end. Make sure they never even thought about turning back.

The "wolves" took the bait. They howled and all turned to chase after me.

Behind me, I heard her boyfriend's lazy voice drift over.

"Hey, don't run out of frame. There's no camera set up over there."

The wind was too loud, and my head felt too foggy. I did not catch what he said at all.

All I could hear were hurried footsteps behind me, getting closer and closer.

I ran to the edge of the cliff. Loose rocks crumbled under my feet and tumbled down into a bottomless darkness below.

Behind me came the stench of those wolf jaws. Several shadows already lowered their bodies, ready to pounce.

I glanced back once and saw the entire pack closing in, but by then, Mom was already safe.

I hurled the burning branch at them, shut my eyes, and jumped.

The moment my body lost all weight, there was nothing left but the sound of the wind in my ears.

The last thought that flashed through my mind was that Mom was finally safe, and as long as she lived, the fall was worth it.

…

When I opened my eyes again, my body felt light as a feather.

I looked down and saw another me lying twisted among the rocks, one leg bent at a horrible angle, my school uniform torn to shreds by branches. Blood stained the stream beneath me, only to fade as the water carried it away.

Was I dead?

Was that what came after death?

Before I could even process it, a massive roar suddenly came from the top of the cliff.

Blinding beams of light snapped on, turning the mountaintop as bright as day.

I drifted upward to get a better look, then froze as a helicopter descended, its rotor blades whipping up violent gusts of wind that bent the trees in every direction.

A group of staff in camouflage uniforms rushed out. The wolves that were just trying to tear me apart were having their heads removed.

They were people. Crew members in special effects suits. A few well-trained wolfdogs, then lying obediently on the ground, wagging their tails.

"Cut! Perfect!"

Harriet Lawson stepped out from between the rocks, brushing dirt off her clothes and smoothing out her expensive coat.

There was no trace of the panic or madness from before.

The director hurried over with a flattering smile, handing her a glass of champagne.

"Ms. Lawson, that performance was unbelievable. The livestream has just passed three hundred million viewers. Everyone online is calling this the best family drama of the year."

Harriet took the champagne, turned to the camera, and took a graceful sip. That familiar smile spread across her face, the one that always meant she had everything under control.

"That kid acted really well.

"I almost believed it myself. Especially that final jump. The emotion was spot on."

She called out toward the edge of the cliff, her voice clear and casual.

"Alright, Elliot, stop hiding. The props team has already cleared out, and the holograms are off. Get up here. I had them prepare your favorite tomahawk steak."

I hovered in midair, staring at the smile on her face, and the whole thing felt absurd, so absurd it hardly seemed real.

There were no police, no bankruptcy, no killers, and even the wolves were not real.

The crew started packing up, loading all the so-called dangerous props onto the helicopter.

Someone asked quietly, "Why hasn't Mr. Lawson come back yet? I saw him jump just now. Could it be?"

Harriet waved her hand, cutting him off with complete confidence.

"Relax. There are safety nets and air cushions down there. I saw the staff go down earlier.

"That kid is probably waiting for me to praise him. That's his little trick. He just wants me to feel bad for him."

She turned back to the camera, speaking to the countless viewers watching the livestream.

"Kids these days are too soft. If you don't teach them a real lesson, they'll never grow up. See? This time we pushed him, and look at the potential he showed."

Cheers and applause broke out all around.

Everyone was celebrating the perfect success of this so-called survival challenge.

I was the only one left, drifting in the freezing wind. Looking down at my lifeless body below, I felt nothing at all.

…

The helicopter slowly lifted into the air, carrying the celebrating crowd toward the luxury camp at the foot of the mountain.

I was pulled along by some invisible force, drifting beside Harriet.

She leaned back against a leather seat. Sitting next to her was her boyfriend, the producer of this show, Timothy Lloyd.

Timothy held up an iPad, showing her the numbers, grinning from ear to ear.

"Harriet, you nailed it. The whole internet is calling you a 'tough love mom.' They're saying everything you did was for your kid's own good. Our company's stock is already up five percent after hours."

Harriet slipped an arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek lightly, her smile calm and satisfied.

"Of course. Who do you think set this whole thing up? Audiences love stories like this, rich kids being forced to face reality. Elliot's too quiet, barely noticeable most of the time. If I don't push him, he'll never understand how harsh the real world can be."

Timothy leaned into her, his tone half-teasing, half-concerned.

"You're the only one who could go that far. When I saw him jump, my face went pale. Honestly, it was kind of hard to watch."

"Hard to watch?" Harriet took a sip of red wine, completely unfazed. "He's my son. If he can't even handle a staged scare like this, how is he supposed to take over my position in the future?"

She paused, the corner of her lips lifting slightly.

"Besides, everything was under control. I had the team set up three layers of safety airbags down there. Softer than his bed at home. He wouldn't even get a scratch."

I floated above them, staring at her like it was all perfectly normal.

Three days ago.

Harriet burst into my school and dragged me out, reeking of alcohol, her designer suit torn and her face marked with bruises.

"Elliot, it's over. It's all over. The company's gone bankrupt, and we owe millions to loan sharks. If we can't pay them back, they'll kill me."

She broke down completely, her legs giving out as she collapsed to the ground, clutching me tightly. I was terrified.

All my life, she was Ms. Lawson, untouchable and perfect. I never saw her like that.

Without even thinking, I shoved all five thousand dollars of my savings into her hands.

However, she pulled me into that beat-up van and drove straight into the deep mountains.

For those three days. We ate wild fruit and drank dirty water.

To let her have one more bite of that moldy bread, I lied and said I was not hungry, then turned around and scraped tree bark to fill my stomach.

My hands were torn open by thorns, and my feet were covered in blisters, but I never complained once, because she said, "Elliot, you're all I have now."

All she had.

I was always a coward, someone who could not even handle dissecting a frog in class, and yet, for her, I was willing to risk my life.

In the end?

All of that was just for her stock price, her popularity, and her vanity as some kind of "educator."

Those moments when I struggled on the edge of life and death, in her eyes, were nothing more than "emotionally rich" performance material.

So in her heart, I was not even a person.

…

The helicopter landed on the lawn of a resort hotel at the foot of the mountain. The place was brightly lit, already set up for a celebration banquet.

A long table was covered with lobster, champagne, red wine, and that so-called favorite of mine, a tomahawk steak.

The truth was, I did not even like tomahawk steak. What I liked were simple vegetables and light, home-cooked meals. That was what my dad used to make for me before he passed.

Ever since he died, Harriet never remembered what I liked.

She remembered that Timothy did not eat green onions. She remembered that he liked his filet mignon medium rare.

However, she never remembered that I was allergic to red meat.