The neighbors were all debating whether Uncle Jared was an unknowing party or a co-conspirator.

It wasn't long before the police officers brought Uncle Jared over to the police station.

I stayed in the corner, watching his worried expression and the way he seemed completely uneasy as he showed up late.

I knew exactly where this was going. It seemed like Uncle Jared was preparing to pin all the blame squarely on poor old Mom. It turned out that their sibling bond was completely superficial—a fact that didn't surprise me in the least, given their family's consistent, inherent selfishness.

Uncle Jared claimed that Mom had taken the child without his permission, saying he was completely unaware she had dropped the baby at my doorstep.

"I'm sure Karen just felt sorry for my situation, thinking that an adult like me had no idea how to take care of a baby. You see, the baby's mother abandoned him immediately after birth, and with my job, it was impossible for me to handle everything. I'm sure Karen acted only out of concern for my well-being."

Why did Mom think I could look after the baby if Uncle Jared, an adult himself, couldn't?

Uncle Jared's explanation sounded good, but deep down, we all knew the excuse was completely pathetic.

There was no other evidence to prove that they were colluding, though, so the matter could only be raised and then quietly dropped. Uncle Jared, the baby's father, didn't want to press charges, so the police officer didn't detain Mom.

It was only after being subjected to a rather forceful talking-to that they both offered a clearly insincere apology. They gave a show of good faith, took the baby, and walked out of the police station.

I never once glanced at their direction. I was aware that involving the authorities at this point would have little effect, but it was of no consequence.

I still had time to deal with them. I fully anticipated that they wouldn't relinquish their opportunity to take advantage of me, after all.

I slowly made my way home, holding the acknowledgment receipt from the police station, with that same group of concerned neighbors walking behind me.

Just as I had foreseen, Mom lay in wait for me right outside the residential complex. She opted to ambush me at my place since she didn't dare to openly cause trouble for me at the police station. She was still holding on to the baby, while Uncle Jared was already long gone.

She was overly attached to Uncle Jared, her beloved younger brother. She had just returned from the police station, yet she still intended to force the responsibility for the baby onto me.

"You ungrateful brat!" she shouted. "How could you call the cops and get your own mother and uncle taken in, Damian!"

It was then that one of the neighbors jumped in to shield me. "And just what kind of mother are you talking about? What is this nonsense about an uncle? Damian is part of the Lister family! You have absolutely no claim over him!"

"That's right!"

"What's wrong with calling the police to have someone arrested?"

"If you have a clear conscience, then there's nothing to be afraid of!"

"Hmph! You only dared to show up and prey on Damian after Mr. Lister Senior passed away!"

"You have nothing to be afraid of, Damian! You see, we're neighbors who have watched you grow up since you were a baby. We won't let anything happen to you!"

Mom, already exhausted from waiting for so long under the sun with the baby, finally snapped under the barrage of accusations.

She flew into a hysterical rage, threatening to throw the baby on the ground if anyone spoke again. "If anyone lays a hand on me and the baby sustains any injury, I'll hold every one of you financially liable!"

She was straight up pulling an extortion act in broad daylight. She completely showed that a truly shameless person feared nothing. "Go ahead and talk trash about me again! Go on!"

She hoisted the baby above her head, instantly causing the crowd to recoil and maintain a wide distance.

I alone stood my ground, watching her pathetic spectacle as if she were some kind of caged animal. I inwardly dared her to drop the baby, wishing for that wretched baby to die right then and there. It would save others from his harmful existence in the future.

Mom, with an air of smug triumph, gathered the baby back into her arms, paying no attention to his strained cries.

"You have to take Matt home and raise him!" she ordered. "You're cousins with him, so it's your duty to help one another. You both share a similar background, so you of all people should sympathize with him, right?"

"Matt is so pitiful, Damian," Mom said. "How could you bear to let him go back and be tormented by Aunt Heather?"

I was stunned at how Mom had the audacity to bring up my background and ask me to sympathize with Matt. I stared at her as she spoke with an air that was utterly and impossibly calm.

I couldn't help but wonder why I had been so foolish in my past life. I completely failed to see the malice behind her mask, and for the sake of that hollow concept she called family, I gave her my entire life.

Hadn't Grandpa's years of raising me been more than enough to define family?

Yet I still chased after the birth mother who abandoned me, simply because we were related by blood.

I was the product of an affair. Mom had me during a sordid affair with a repairman, all while her husband, Nathan Trent, was working far from home.

Nathan was habitually unfaithful, using his work travel as an excuse to sleep around, leaving Mom alone to tend an empty house.

Mom had originally agreed to the marriage solely for the sake of Nathan's money and property. There was no real affection between the couple, but she was lonely, and human desires, repressed for years, finally broke her resolve.

She also reasoned that if men could cheat, then she could do it too. There were plenty of similar families in the village, and it was an unspoken rule that spouses were often unfaithful, after all. Thus, she concluded that a minor indiscretion on her part was acceptable.

It was nothing more than a passing affair with my biological father, as he already had a family of his own.

Their intention was clearly to have a casual, meaningless fling. So why did they allow me to be born if that was the case? Why did they refuse to take precautions if they wanted to have their fun?

Having discovered Mom's pregnancy, my biological father immediately disappeared without a trace. He was merely a transient worker who survived on sporadic work; even his identity was fake.

He fled with astonishing speed when accountability finally called. He couldn't even provide for his legitimate family, so there was no way he could possibly care about an illegitimate child.

Yet, despite all this, Mom stubbornly refused an abortion and insisted on bringing me into the world.

Uncle Jared had a gambling debt he dared not confess to my aunt, Heather Reed, so he had no choice but to extort money from Mom.

Mom devised what she believed was a perfect plan—that was to shift the paternity onto Nathan and use the pregnancy to get money from him.

Nathan, however, wasn't a fool. He was perpetually absent and unaware of the truth, but the neighbors living nearby were keen observers. They had clearly witnessed the unknown man entering and leaving the house of a married woman, who lived alone, a couple of times.

Nathan might have ignored Mom's affairs, but he drew the line at allowing an illegitimate child to muddy his family's lineage. He adamantly refused to raise another man's son.

Mom was heavily pregnant when she realized that her scheme had failed. She had no choice but to carry me to term at that point. She gave birth in the hospital, was discharged that same day, and proceeded to simply abandon me wherever she could.

I was abandoned right outside the entrance of Grandpa's store. He was the one who found me and raised me as his own. If I hadn't been lucky enough to meet such a kind person, I probably would have died long ago on that snowy night.

Having disposed of me, her bastard child, Mom successfully returned to a peaceful and harmonious life with Nathan. She even had a son with him.

Their marriage looked flawless from the outside, as if the couple had never once had any disagreement. They had managed to deceive everyone before, and it was clear they would continue to coast along on that pretense.

In the end, they still managed to achieve their perfect, harmonious family life. I was simply discarded, rendered invisible, as though I had never existed in Mom's life at all.

I would have kept my peace if she had just stayed away permanently. Instead, after abandoning me when I was a baby, she waited until Grandpa had finished the hard work of raising me to reappear and demand the spoils.

It all started when I was vulnerable at Grandpa's funeral. I inherently looked for the good in every person since Grandpa had raised me to be kind.

Mom and Uncle Jared, wearing genuinely remorseful expressions, paid their respects to Grandpa and cried as they apologized to me.

Mom and Uncle Jared claimed that it was due to a mistake and out of necessity that they handed me over to Grandpa to raise back then. They hoped that I would give them a chance to make amends in the future.

I was already so vulnerable, having just lost my only relative, and was consequently taken in by their performance. Not only did I accept their reconciliation, but I also started helping Mom financially whenever she constantly feigned poverty and helplessness.

I could honestly say that my younger half-brother was brought up entirely on the money I earned. It was also because of this that Nathan had no objection to her coming to see me. After all, no one would ever reject a windfall delivered straight into their hands.

I was so foolish, believing I had found a home. I never expected that Mom and Uncle Jared merely viewed me as an unlimited cash dispenser. They shifted every single one of their burdens onto my shoulders, including Uncle Jared's illegitimate son, Matt—my "dear" cousin.

Mom ruthlessly deployed the concept of "shared trauma" to ensure I raised Matt for more than ten years, enduring all burdens without question.

I paid for his every need, including the best education. I became so focused on him that I neglected my own life entirely, remaining single into my later years.

In the end, all I received was pure deceit and malice from my family for my sacrifices. Mom and Uncle Jared covered for Matt after my death. I had been dismembered by Mom and thrown into the sewer. Mom and Uncle Jared even sold Grandpa's house and claimed the proceeds for themselves.

In the end, they all lived a peaceful, contented life as a harmonious family!

It was quite pitiful how I had to die once to finally see their true colors. I couldn't care less about the so-called empathy they were preaching.

I wasn't the one who made the choice to be born and subsequently be abandoned by Mom. I also didn't compel Uncle Jared to father his illegitimate son.

How could they possibly justify transferring their parental duties onto me?

I wanted all of them to get out of my life!

Mom misinterpreted my silence as a sign that I was beginning to yield.

She was still wondering about the note when she left the police station. She figured it might have simply been blown away by the wind since all of us claimed that we hadn't seen it. She believed that if I had known the baby's identity, I would never have reported it to the authorities.

Their fundamental error was believing I hadn't changed. They still saw me as the easy mark, the sucker who longed for affection.

That delusion was why she felt utterly justified in leaving the police station and immediately ambushing me with the baby.

It was quite unfortunate for Mom, though, because the moment I was reborn, all my past foolishness vanished. I now knew exactly what needed to be done.

Mom flashed a completely fake smile as she moved toward me with the baby, attempting to make me feel sorry for him because of his adorable face.

Yet, the instant my eyes fell upon Matt, I was overwhelmed by the memory of him plunging a knife into me in my past life. I recalled looking into his bloodshot eyes, the loathing in his voice, and the piercing coldness of his cruelty.

Why should I pity him? Who would pity me, then?

I was a single man who put all my energy into providing for him. I was technically his cousin, but I functioned as his parent. I never needed him to thank me or repay the favor later. I only hoped that he would grow up to be an honest, good man, following the example Grandpa had set for me.

Matt carried a hidden resentment toward me, incited by Mom and Uncle Jared's lies. He never paused to consider the obvious truth—had they possessed genuine affection for him, they wouldn't have forced me to raise him.

If I ever wanted a child who would obey me, I could have simply fathered one myself. Who was Matt to think so highly of himself?

I reflected on my past life and realized that my entire life's work had been utterly pointless. To expend more time and money on it was an exercise in utter futility.

I resolved that in this life, not a single penny of mine would be wasted on those heartless people.

I deliberately averted my gaze, choosing not to look at Mom and Matt.

Mom, skeptical of my cold indifference, secretly pinched the baby, and he wailed loudly.

She then exclaimed, "Oh dear, how pitiful! Does he want his cousin to hold him? You should go ahead and hold Matt, Damian. He seems to like you very much."