I couldn't fight back, or I would face severe punishment—being restrained and given harsh physical discipline.

Afterward, I had to hurt myself and apologize in front of the camera until Arthur nodded in approval.

Remembering those past events, I immediately knelt and started banging my head against the floor in desperation. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have bullied Jake. It's my fault. I deserve to die!"

I kept banging my head and didn't dare stop, even as my forehead bled.

Seeing me continuing, Mom and Dad stood frozen.

It was Mom who couldn't bear it any longer and walked over to try to help me up.

But Jake suddenly started sobbing and said, "Mom, Dad, don't blame Logan. It's all my fault for making him hate me so much that he could even hurt himself."

Dad's face instantly turned dark with anger. "You did nothing wrong. He was the one who bullied you first!"

He came over and pulled me up from the floor. "Stop wasting time here. We have an appointment to pick out clothes. Hurry up."

…

In the mall, I carefully glanced at the clothes in the store, not even daring to touch them.

Dad shot me a look of disdain at my shabby appearance. While pointing at me, he said to the shop assistant, "Pick him out something nice. This is so embarrassing."

The shop assistant held up the size chart and asked, "What size does your son usually wear?"

Mom and Dad simultaneously turned their heads, looking awkward.

They had sent me to the transformation show soon after I was brought back, and I was still wearing the torn clothes from that time.

They had no idea what my size was.

In the end, the shop assistant approached me with a measuring tape. Meanwhile, Jake raised his phone.

In that instant, the scene in front of me shifted.

I was back in that hellish village. My foster father from the show was walking toward me with a cattle prod in his hand, smiling wickedly.

"Don't come near me!" I pushed the shop assistant away in panic.

Everything in my sight blurred, and I ran wildly.

The mannequins in the store now resembled the people who had hunted me down in the village. Each of them glared with malicious intent, holding weapons to torture me.

Mom and Dad were startled by my sudden outburst and moved toward me to grab me.

But in my eyes, these people were demons. To avoid being beaten, I could only run as fast as I could.

Most of the clothes in the store were knocked off the racks, becoming dirty as I trampled them.

Seeing this, the store manager was about to call the police.

Finally, everyone cornered me in the fitting room, and the madness ended.

Dad slapped me across the face with a hard swing. "What's wrong with you?"

My head tilted to one side, and half of my face went numb with pain.

I slowly turned back and looked at Mom's and Dad's faces, which were filled with extreme disgust.

Outside, a crowd of onlookers gathered.

"Which psych ward let this one out?"

"That's so scary. If he's sick, he should stay in the psych ward. Why come out and cause trouble?"

As the criticisms from the crowd grew louder, Mom and Dad hurriedly dragged me out of the store.

…

Back at home, Dad threw me into my room. "You bastard! You did this on purpose to embarrass us, didn't you? Was that your revenge on us? Kneel in your room and reflect!"

I kneeled down smoothly, slightly bowing my waist.

They didn't know that in the show, kneeling was the most basic thing. It wasn't even considered punishment.

I didn't know how much time had passed, but then I heard Jake's voice from outside the door. "Why send him food? He's embarrassed our whole family. Why should he eat? Don't even give him water. He won't starve to death in one night."

I curled up, feeling miserable.

I hadn't eaten for two days since returning from the show.

My stomach was in pain, and I needed to eat something.

I looked around the room and finally found a notebook on the shelf.

Without thinking, I tore out the pages, crumpled them up, and shoved them into my mouth.

My throat scraped painfully, but I was too hungry to care.

The next day, I was woken up by the smell of food outside my door.

Mom and Dad were chatting with someone.

The person asked, "Isn't Logan back home? Why isn't he coming out to eat?"

Mom sighed helplessly. "He must still be in bed. He really has no sense of propriety. I'll go call him out right now."

The door to my room soon opened.

"Logan, breakfast is ready."

I dragged myself out of the room on my trembling legs. The dining table was covered with all sorts of dishes, and the guests had already sat down.

I looked at Mom. "Can I eat now?"

Mom seemed confused. "Of course. You're making it sound like we didn't let you eat."

As soon as she finished speaking, I rushed into the kitchen and started devouring from the trash can. But all I found in there was kitchen scraps.

Everyone stared in disbelief as I stuffed fish scales, rotten vegetable leaves, and eggshells into my mouth. Their faces were filled with disgust.

A hand grabbed my collar and yanked me up.

I looked up to see Dad's face turning an angry shade of blue. "Who taught you to eat this stuff?"

He slapped me hard across the face and roared, "Are you trying to embarrass me on purpose?"

I didn't react, just numbly swallowed the "food" in my mouth.

Mom tried to get closer, but the fishy smell clinging to me made her stop in her tracks.

Noticing something was off, she looked at me with concern. "Logan, what's wrong with you?"

Then, one of our relatives asked, "Is that Logan? How did he turn out like this? He's actually eating trash? Those human traffickers are worse than animals!"

Mom and Dad froze when they heard that.

They'd always avoided talking about the time I was kidnapped.

After all, it was because of their argument and their threat to abandon me that they left me at the trash station in the neighborhood.

As a result, I was really taken by human traffickers.

They never wanted to admit their mistake, so they quickly adopted Jake and acted like nothing ever happened.

Now, they were starting to realize the consequences.

Dad released me, and I fell back to the ground.

But I still felt hungry, so I crawled over to pick up the leftovers I hadn't finished.

Mom tried to stop me, but I thought it was another member of the production team, so I bit down on her hand.

Mom screamed and covered her bloodied hand in shock. "You bit me?"

Jake rushed to shield her, glaring at me in disgust. "How could you do that to Mom?"

The relative who had spoken up earlier fell silent and looked at me as if I were some kind of monster.

Losing control of his anger, Dad walked over and kicked me aside.

He pointed down at me and shouted, "How dare you hurt your mom? I don't have a son like you!"

My throat went dry, and I couldn't say a word. I wanted to apologize, but the words stayed stuck in my chest.

The gathering ended on a sour note. To make me reflect on my actions, Dad locked me in the utility room.

In the dark, narrow space, I instinctively curled up against the wall.

Then, my foot hit a box, and I fell hard, knocking the box over and spilling its contents everywhere.

Panic set in.

If Mom and Dad found out I'd made another mistake, they might never want me again.

Suppressing the fear, I slowly crawled to the door and turned on the light.

As the room lit up, I saw the scattered items on the floor. There were old toys and clothes from my childhood.

At the bottom of the box was a family photo—Mom, Dad, and me, all smiling happily.

On the back of the photo, Mom had written, "I'll always love you, my dear Logan."

Tears started to fall uncontrollably as I clutched the photo tightly.

I thought they'd thrown it away a long time ago. It turned out that Mom and Dad hadn't given up on me. They still loved me.

A tiny spark of hope flickered in my chest.

What if I told them the truth? If they knew what I'd gone through on that show, would they understand my actions?

Just then, I overheard Mom and Dad talking outside the door.

Dad's voice was filled with frustration. "I just can't handle him anymore. How did we end up with a menace like this? It'd be better if he never came back!"

"Don't say that. He's still our son."

My gaze flickered when I heard Mom's voice.

Then, I heard Dad raise his voice. "He's just so different from Jake! I'd rather just have Jake as my child! Look at Logan. What does he do except cause trouble? Jake has always been thoughtful to us, yet Logan just hates him, causing nothing but chaos!"

Mom sighed deeply. "I've thought about whether I should send him away... How about this? When we go to the premiere tomorrow, we'll ask Mr. Black if he can continue training Logan. We'll pay whatever it takes."

Her words crushed the last shred of hope I had.

I collapsed onto the floor, staring blankly at the door.

I had been fooling myself.

Mom and Dad had long since given up on me, just like how the memories of our family of three were carelessly thrown away in the utility room.

The next morning, they let me out and put me in clean clothes.

I stared blankly, showing no reaction whatsoever.

Jake worriedly spoke up. "What if Logan hurts someone on the way?"

Upon hearing that, Dad immediately grabbed a rope and tied my hands together.

I didn't resist or say a word.

When we got into the car, Mom looked uneasy but didn't dare come too close. "Logan, today is important. Can you behave?"

I kept my eyes fixed on the rope around my wrists, not answering.

Dad grumbled, "No manners at all."

The car drove to the city's TV station, where Arthur had come to meet us.

He greeted us with a wide smile. "I'm counting on you to help promote the show at the premiere today!"

Dad replied, "Of course! But we'll still need your help. Logan's still got some bad habits. He needs a bit more training."

Arthur grinned. "No problem. I can train him as long as you want!"

Not long after, Arthur's assistant came running over. "It's about to start, Mr. Black. Please, bring the guests inside."

Because there were cameras, Mom and Dad finally untied the rope from my hands.

Inside, under the bright flash of lights, I recognized several familiar faces.

The instructor who had treated me like livestock was sitting in the VIP guest section.

Mom and Dad, having heard these were the ones who had cared for me during the show, pulled me over to thank them.

Dad nudged me. "Go thank the instructors."

My stomach churned. Seeing me stand still, Dad shoved my head down. "Say thank you!"

I opened my mouth, but in the end, I couldn't hold it in and vomited. The clean clothes I changed into were immediately covered in vomit.

Dad's expression darkened, and he opened his mouth to yell at me. But with so many cameras around, he held himself back.

Arthur quickly had someone take me to the bathroom to change clothes.

This was just a minor episode. The premiere continued as planned.

While I was backstage, I could hear Arthur talking animatedly. "Our crew has worked hard to document the transformation of every troubled teenager. Our instructors have been dedicated, ensuring every troubled youth receives the training they need."

Then, I heard Mom and Dad being called to the stage.

"We'd like to thank the crew and Mr. Black for giving our child a second chance at life!"

A second chance at life?

I couldn't help but smile bitterly at those words. I turned and walked toward the hallway.

…

The emcee's voice rang out, full of excitement. "Now, let's welcome the transformed teenager, Logan Ewing!"

The audience erupted in applause, but I didn't appear on stage.

Arthur's face darkened. Just as he was about to send someone to find me, his phone rang.

He picked up the phone, and his assistant's panicked voice came through. "Mr. Black! That kid just jumped off the TV station's rooftop!"