No Contact, Now Regret

By the fifth year since the return of the real heir, Danny, to the family, I had gotten used to the plain oatmeal on the table. The second I asked for a bigger portion or more protein, Danny would express his envy toward me, his eyes downcast. “Rhys sure enjoys such a hearty meal, unlike me. Growing up in an orphanage, I was hungry all the time. I wince at the sight of meat. I don’t deserve to eat.” My parents shed tears of heartache while accusing me of rubbing it in Danny’s face. Later, whenever I dressed up to go out, Danny would let out a wry smile. “Rhys is so put together. That’s so not me. I grew up in the countryside, feeding livestock. Even all the designer clothes in the world can’t hide the fact that I was a farm hand.” My fiancée, Kyra, would always be there to hold my hand. She said, “It’s not your fault, Rhys. Don’t put this on yourself.” On the day of our engagement, Danny stared at the ring on my finger, his face brooding. “You have occupied my place for twenty years. Your fiancée and the life of luxury were never meant to be yours. Don’t you ever wake up in the middle of the night, feeling the weight on your conscience?” All eyes were on me, their silent judgment cutting into me. With years of pent-up emotions breaking free, I pulled a punch. My parents smashed the cake onto my head. Kyra, on the other hand, took out a handkerchief to wipe away Danny’s tears. That very night, I left a formal writing to cut all legal and personal ties with them. Chapter 1 “Have you lost it, Rhys? Danny is family. How could you attack him? “Know your place. Was Danny wrong?” The sickly-sweet cream dripped down my hair, obstructing my vision and muffling my ears. However, my mother, Emma Green’s shrill voice rang in my ear anyway. I smirked to myself. Even at this point, the only thought on my mind was that I finally had a moment of dignity, only to have it stripped away. Lifting my arm, I wiped my eyes with a blank face as Danny scrambled toward me to clean the cream off me. His voice was thick with hurt. “Mom, Dad, don’t blame Rhys. It was my fault for bringing up the past. It’s all my fault for upsetting Rhys…” My father, Liam Green’s chest heaved in rage, but he kept to himself. I took a step to the side, shying away from Danny’s reaching hand. Kyra Hunter came my way with a handkerchief in hand. Before I could say anything, Kyra took great care to dry the tears off Danny’s face and the cream off his hands. Her touch was light, her eyes full of pity and tenderness. No one cared whether I was in pain. No one asked why I got violent. Heck, no one even bothered to hand me a napkin to clear away the humiliating mess from my face and hair. I stared at Kyra, my voice raspy when I spoke, “Kyra, who is your fiancé?” Kyra’s fingers froze. She snapped her head toward me, her brows furrowed. “Rhys, Danny has suffered enough on his own. Must you be aggressive because he expressed his feelings? “What happened to the modest, dependable guy that I know? Why have you become so jealous over every little thing?” “Jealousy?” I rolled the word over my tongue, finding the whole thing absurd. Emma said furiously, “Apologize to Danny now, or don’t bother coming back. A petty son like you has no place in this family.” Silence hung heavily in the air. I looked at the people who were once the closest to me. The heaviness that had pressed on me for five years was finally gone. “Fine,” I answered calmly. The Greens were taken aback by my docile response. I removed the engagement band and threw it into a glass, forming a champagne tower. Emma looked at the ring in the champagne tower, fury overwhelming her. “What’s the meaning of this? Is this an act of defiance? How long do you plan to carry on with this outburst in front of family and friends?” A fluster fleeted across Kyra’s frowning face as she eased the tension in her tone. “Stop it, Rhys. Give yourself a good wipe down and apologize to Danny. We can still go ahead with the engagement party.” “Go ahead?” I scoffed. “Why should I give you what you want?” I tore off the boutonniere from my suit and threw it to the ground, stepping right over it. Liam and Emma’s angry swearing and Danny’s crocodile tears echoed behind me. Not even looking back, I hastened my pace. Chapter 2 I was once the apple of the Greens’ eye. One winter night when I was six, I ran a high fever that escalated into seizures. Without a chance to summon the driver, Emma carried me on her back and ran close to 2 miles to the hospital in her sleeping robe. It was snowing heavily that night, and she lost one of her shoes along the way. At the age of ten, I sulked in frustration on the piano bench because of the tedious practice. Instead of lecturing me, Liam sat with me the whole afternoon, running his fingers along my hair and saying tenderly, “You’re my pride, Rhys. I love it the most when you play the piano, but if that’s not what you’re into, I won’t get mad at you.” Kyra had been there my entire childhood. Our families went way back, and we had been in each other’s lives since we were toddlers in diapers. Kyra covered for me when I skipped school for the first time. She tearfully tended to my wounds after I had my first fight. During the time a girl was confessing her feelings to me, Kyra was there to scare her away with a grim look. For my eighteenth birthday, Kyra lit up the night sky over the river with fireworks. Amid the falling lights, Kyra blushingly plucked the courage to kiss me and made a solemn promise. “Rhys, I’ve got your back for the rest of your day. Just be my forever worry-free prince.” At the time, I thought I was the happiest person alive. However, my world shattered into pieces when Danny showed up in our lives with a DNA test result. Dressed in a pair of washed-out, faded jeans, Danny stood awkwardly in the living room. Due to a slip-up at the hospital, the nurse handed the wrong babies to the wrong families. Danny and I had our lives swapped. He grew up in a bleak, remote orphanage, starving and fighting the cold most nights while getting constant looks of disdain. Guilt nearly drowned me. Staring at Danny’s callous fingers and timid eyes, I felt like a thief. The moment Danny was officially welcomed back to the family, I voluntarily moved out of the sunlit master suite. I cautiously observed Liam and Emma’s expressions, not feeling jealous at the slightest over their early favoritism toward Danny. This was what I owed him. Sparing no effort, I did my earnest to make things right and return the favor. I coached Danny on social etiquette, styled his clothes, and even stood back from the limelight so he could shine. In my mind, we could go back to being one big happy family if I were considerate and accommodating enough to give back everything that was his. I was wrong. Greed was insatiable, and favoritism cut the deepest. Danny was smart to weaponize his vulnerability. In his first week back, dinner was beef bourguignon, my absolute favorite. The cook made it specially for me. I was about to dig in when Danny, sitting across from me, flinched and stared at his plate. He said shakily, “Back at the orphanage, only the director could get red meat. We’d get beaten for even asking for meat. “One time, I stole a bite from the kitchen, and I was locked in a dark room for three days as punishment…” Tension ran high at the dinner table. As tears rolled down Liam’s cheeks, he shoved my plate aside, spilling the food onto the floor. “All you think about is food! Didn’t you hear what Danny said?” Liam yelled at me in tears. “You enjoyed meat for two decades. Is missing one dinner going to kill you? Take the plates away. This food is not allowed on our dinner table.” I froze as Liam pulled Danny into a tearful embrace. At the side, Emma sighed heavily, her eyes boring into me with accusation. Chapter 3 Since then, so as not to trigger the family’s anger, I restricted myself to plain oatmeal and finished my food quickly before excusing myself from the dinner table. Next, I retreated to the piano room, practicing pieces for an international music competition. Barely a few notes in, Danny covered his ears and shrieked, curling up on the floor and trembling. He cried out, “Stop it! Stop playing! The sound reminds me of pigs being slaughtered in the countryside. I’m scared… I’m so scared…” Emma burst into the room and slammed the piano lid shut. If not for my reflexes, my fingers would have snapped in two right there and then. “All you do is play the piano! Don’t you know Danny is traumatized? Can’t you just give it a rest?” Emma’s eyes bulge in rage. I shakily explained, “Mom, I have a competition coming up next week…” “Who cares? Danny is terrified, and all you can think about is the competition.” The next day, the piano that had been in my life for all of my childhood and teenage years was removed. As I stood in silence in the empty piano room, Liam approached and gave me a piece of his mind. “It’s just a piano. Wipe the look off your face. Quit intimidating Danny. Stop acting so entitled.” I learned to walk on eggshells at home, my nerves constantly on edge. Still, it didn’t matter. So long as I was part of the household, my marriage with Kyra still stood. I could put up with everything. My only source of solace during those dark days was Kyra. Kyra was there as Liam and Emma’s constant berating trimmed the pounds off me. She would embrace me in heartache. “Fear not, Rhys. You still have me. “It’s not your fault. You’ve done so well. I’ll give you all the love in the world. You can always count on me even when it’s you against the world.” Sharing my resentment, she made Danny the enemy. Kyra made her stance clear to Liam and Emma. “I only recognize Rhys as my fiancé, and no one else.” Each time Liam and Emma showed favoritism toward Danny, Kyra would step in and pull me away. She had no qualms taking my side in public. “Mr. and Mrs. Green, Rhys is innocent in all this. It’s not his fault that there was a hospital mix-up at birth. It’s true that he has been devoted to you as a son for the past twenty years. “Rhys has already been accommodating of Danny since his return. Why must you treat them differently?” While brushing past Danny, Kyra would shoot him a look of disgust and say icily, “Save your mind games for someone else. I won’t engage in this silliness.” I was lucky to have her in my life. Yet somehow, everything changed. Danny was assigned an internship at the family company. He would stand outside Kyra’s office building in the rain, just to bring her a homemade lunch. Kyra would walk away differently when she saw his lips turned purple from the freezing cold. Her silhouette from the back remained resolute, though her tense footsteps betrayed her true feelings. For once, Kyra accepted the food out of embarrassment, and that was when she spotted the scar on Danny’s wrist. Danny recounted his horrific details of her childhood in the most nonchalant tone. Kyra said, “What does that have to do with me? Spare me those sob stories.” However, she gradually stopped defending me altogether. In fact, she persuaded me, “Danny has had it tough. Don’t be so petty with him,” She started taking Danny to the amusement parks for the carousels and watched the sunset at the beach, which was supposed to be our thing. With my anxiety gnawing at me, I stuck close to her and felt as though I were walking on a fragile bubble that could burst at any moment. Kyra’s initial guilt grew into annoyance. The agonizing dynamic dragged on until last month, on the day of my birthday. Just before dinner, Kyra got a call from Danny. Danny was inconsolable. “Kyra, there’s a thunderstorm. I’m terrified. Back at the orphanage, someone would always sneak into my room during this time…” Without another word, Kyra snatched her car keys and was on her way out. I grabbed her sleeve, my expression numb, “Kyra, it’s my birthday today. Plus, the house staff and my parents are home. Nothing’s going to happen to him.” Chapter 4 “Rhys, where is your heart?” Kyra pulled a scowl, her gaze dripping with condemnation. “Danny is timid and broken. What’s wrong with giving him some grace? “Birthdays happen every year. What if he gets physically sick from terror? Why can’t you be a little understanding?” Keeping the pain to myself, I pressed on. “You’re my girlfriend. You reserved this day for me—” Kyra cut me off. She looked disappointed, her eyes flickering with agony. “Rhys, there are times I wish I could turn back time and stop the switch at birth. Maybe then…” With her words trailing off, she turned on her heel and walked into the rain. However, I got the message loud and clear. I didn’t stop her. The unspoken words were clear to me. If that mistake hadn’t happened back then, Danny wouldn’t have suffered that abuse, and she would have been the one by his side all those years. Kyra had second thoughts. She started to feel that Danny would have been far more deserving of those twenty years of love and privilege. Left alone with a table of cold food, I blew out the candles. In that moment, I finally accepted the reality that the girl who had promised to protect me was no longer there. … Back at the Green residence, I took a quick shower. Then, I laid a legal document ending all family ties on the table, together with my bank card. The card was linked to my bank account, containing everything I earned from investing my allowance over the years, along with dividends from my shares. Though the sum might not amount to much compared to the twenty years of luxury the Greens had provided me, it should cover the cost of raising me. I put my signature on the document. Later, I started packing my bags. My suitcase held nothing but a few changes of clothes, some music sheets, and the family portrait I once cherished more than anything in the world. After much hesitation, I placed it facedown on the table. The photo served no use to me anymore. I texted my attorney. “You can go ahead with the plan.” On my way down the steps, the front door swung open. Liam, Emma, and Kyra had returned with Danny in tow. Noticing I was standing on the staircase landing with a suitcase in hand, Emma paused for a minute before scoffing. “What’s this? Are you threatening to run away from home? Oh, please, Rhys. Grow up. This is beyond your age. Do you think we’d be fussing all over you?” Danny teared up. “Are you leaving because of me? Kyra, please talk to him. I don’t want to be the reason everybody is miserable…” Kyra’s heart went out to Danny as he looked broken. “Rhys, drop the attitude. Danny is unwell. Just cut it out.” Infuriated, Emma lashed out, “Let him be! We’ll see how long he’s going to last out there on his own! “Without the family name to back him up, I doubt he can survive. Even better if he gets out and stays out!” Storming back to her bedroom, Emma refused to even take another look at me. Liam dropped his briefcase and marched to the bedroom. While brushing past me, he said curtly, “My conscience is clear because I know I have done right by you. Don’t expect me to apologize to you. “My own son had a tough time out there on his own for years, but I showed you grace by letting you stay under my roof anyway because people will grow attached to anything, even dogs.” His voice grew sharp with agitation. “But dogs show loyalty and gratitude while you hurt my boy again and again. If this is the attitude you’re going to take, then leave. Just don’t come crawling back like you used to as a child.” I brushed away the moisture on my cheeks and swallowed my emotions. “Fine.” Liam paused for a moment. Since I kept my mouth shut, he closed his eyes in disappointment and went upstairs. ‘Goodbye, Mom and Dad.’ One last time, I let myself think of them as Mom and Dad. I was fast approaching the door when Kyra grabbed my arm. “I’ll still marry you. Don’t you think you’re being unreasonable by throwing away all our years together over Danny’s one little comment?” Breaking free from her grip, I murmured, “It’s over, Kyra.” Kyra clenched her fists. “All this over one comment?” At this point, I couldn’t be bothered to argue. I nodded. “Yes, that’s right. “You can take back the promise to keep me safe. We’re even.” Kyra seethed with rage, her eyes bloodshot. After letting out a scoff, she pulled Danny inside. While marching past me, she said icily, “Just make sure you don’t regret this. I don’t give second chances.” “Okay.” I nodded. With my back straight, I walked into the night.