The Price of My Brother's Sins

When I was ten years old, my parents' business went bankrupt, and the crushing debt drove them to jump off a building.

Faced with vicious debt collectors pounding on our door, my older brotherthe one who had abandoned us to become a rich woman's sugar babyfinally returned.

He brought bodyguards, sold the house our parents left behind, paid off the debt collectors, and forcibly dragged me into his car.

"From today on, you're with me. Mom and Dad still owe eighty thousand dollars. When you grow up and start making money, you're going to pay it back."

I glared at him with pure hatred. "Why did you even come back?! Mom and Dad are dead because of you! Why wasn't it you who died?!"

He went dead silent.

I had known since I was little that I had an older brother.

He left home when he was 18. He said our family was too poor and couldn't give him the life he wanted, so he hooked up with a wealthy older woman and became her kept boy.

At school, classmates would always ask me, "Hey Cole, is it true your brother is a sugar baby? That is so pathetic!"

"Your brother is trash. All the money your family has probably comes from him sleeping around, right?"

"My mom said your brother is a whore and told me not to play with you!"

I always hated him. I hated him for being shameless and dragging my reputation down with him.

I also hated him because if it wasn't for him, my parents wouldn't have been so desperate to make money. They took out loans to open a storefront, only for it to fail and ruin them.

Now he was back, and he had sold the only thing my parents left behind.

After I screamed at him, he looked at me and sneered. "I actually do want to die, but I just won't!"

"Listen to me, you little brat. You want me dead, but I'm going to stay alive! Besides me, absolutely no one wants you. You better behave, or I'll throw you right back where I found you!"

Hearing that, ten-year-old me went pale with fear.

Even though I hated him, I knew I had no other choice.

Those relatives back home? They all assumed my parents had secretly left me money. After barely speaking to me for two minutes, they were already trying to drag me to the bank.

They didn't care about me at all. But this brother I had never met didn't seem much better.

But I had no choice. He was my legal guardian.

I took a train with him to a strange, new city, eventually arriving at a high-rise apartment.

This was his place. It was very clean, but there were women's clothes, shoes, and socks scattered around.

My room was on the second floor. It was small, but honestly, it was much nicer than anything I was used to.

"You can do whatever you want normally, but when my girlfriend comes over, you stay in your room. Don't come out and cause trouble for me!"

I kept my head down and didn't speak.

My brother's girlfriend was a middle-aged woman who wore glasses. When she saw me, she gave a faint smile. "So this is little Cole!"

I nodded, grabbed a glass of water, and quickly ran upstairs to shut my door.

I could tell from her smile that she was keeping her distance.

It was just like the teachers at my old school. They would nod and smile at me, but the smile never reached their eyes.

It was the look you give a stray doga completely expendable little thing.

As my mom used to say, "Some people look down on everyone else. We can't afford to associate with them."

She was one of those people we couldn't afford to associate with.

My brother told me to call her "Ms. Claire." She ran a local trading company and drove luxury cars.

When Ms. Claire visited, she would bring gifts for my brother and snacks for me.

But she only ever stayed for a few hours. She never spent the night.

I was enrolled in a nearby elementary school.

Here, no one knew my brother was a sugar baby. But I was still terrified. I was terrified someone would find out, and I would be mocked again.

This routine lasted for two years. I started middle school. During the summer break, I had nowhere to go, so my brother took me to his office.

That's when I found out he actually worked at Ms. Claire's company.

On my very first day, someone casually mentioned that the heavy-set, older guy in the office was Ms. Claire's husband.

In that instant, my blood ran completely cold.

I hated my brother. Why did he have to bring me here? Every time I ran into that man, my heart pounded. I was terrified he would scream at me, calling me the brother of the whore who ruined his marriage.

Ms. Claire's husband, who everyone called "Big Mike," would always wave at me when he saw me. "Hey kid, come help me carry this!"

He'd have me carry his bags and then try to hand me cash. I was too terrified to take it.

I was afraid he would demand it back later, or worse, scream at me for having no shame.

When I refused the money, Big Mike would just ruffle my hair.

At the end of the summer, he bought me two new outfits and even personally drove me to school on my first day.

When I found out the middle school had dorms, I immediately applied to board there.

My brother was not happy about it. "You can live at home. Why do you need to board?"

"It's easier to study. You work overtime and don't come home on time anyway. I'll go hungry."

That explanation silenced him, and he eventually agreed.

Ms. Claire, however, was annoyed. "Why is he going to a dorm? He should come back and hang out on the weekends!"

Before her hand could land on my head, Big Mike slapped it away.

Terrified they were going to start a screaming match, I hugged my backpack and sprinted into the school.

After that, I went back once a week. My brother kept my room exactly as it was.

But gradually, more and more things started piling up in that room.

I didn't think much of it. I only slept there one night a week, and it was his apartment anyway.

Until a new transfer student arrived in my class. He was from my old hometown.

The moment I saw him, pure panic set in. And, just as I feared, he cornered me.

"Cole! It really is you! You and your brother moved here?"

"Is your brother still a sugar baby for that rich lady?"

After saying it loudly, he dramatically covered his mouth, feigning shock. "Oops! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to! I totally forgot it's a secret!"

All the other kids looked over. In that moment, I felt all the blood rush to my head.

The culprit, Tyler, acted completely smug. "Oh, come on Cole, don't look at me like that! You're scaring me!"

The other kids swarmed around. "Tyler, are you serious? His brother is really a sugar baby?"

"Oh my god, I had no idea. No wonder he got dropped off in a luxury car on the first day!"

"The brother of a sugar baby is probably going to be a sugar baby too!"

I clenched my fists tightly. Tyler kept going: "Hey guys, stop talking about it, or he's going to have to transfer schools again!"

"After all, a sugar baby is basically just a parasite!"

I looked up at him. "What about you? Why did you transfer here? You got caught stealing at our old elementary school and the principal made you read a public apology in front of the whole school! Did you transfer here because you couldn't show your face there anymore?!"

Tyler's face violently contorted. "Cole, you think you're so great?! Your brother has slept with more than one married woman! And you... you're probably just some bastard he had with one of his random hookups!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Everyone back home says you're just the little! Bastard! Your brother popped out!"

The moment the words left his mouth, I couldn't hold back anymore. I lunged forward, slapped him across the face, grabbed him by the hair, and beat him like my life depended on it!

Eventually, a teacher had to physically rip us apart.

"Cole! Tyler! What are you doing?!"

"Mr. Davis, he hit me first!" Tyler immediately played the victim.

I wiped a smear of blood off my face, my voice ice-cold. "Mr. Davis, he was talking shit!"

I glared at Tyler with pure hatred. He stopped wailing, but inevitably, they called our parents.

Tyler's mom showed up. When she saw me, her face twisted in disgust. "Cole! You little bastard, how dare you hit my son?!"

"Mom, it hurts so much!" Tyler shrieked. "Mom, kill him! Beat him to death!"

Instead of getting angry, I laughed. "You know I don't have a mom. I only have a brother, and according to you, he's a whore. So basically, I have absolutely nothing to lose!"

Tyler froze. His mom's face cycled through shades of red and white before she yelled, "I don't care what your excuse is, you are going to apologize right now!"

My brother didn't show up. Big Mike did.

After hearing what happened, Big Mike pointed a thick finger right at Tyler. "If anyone's apologizing, it's you first! Who told you to run your mouth?! Calling my little brother a bastard born from a whore, huh?!"

"I'm calling the cops right now for defamation! Do you have proof?! Show me the proof! If you don't have any, I will sue you into the ground!"

Tyler's face turned completely pale, and he was eventually forced to apologize.

His mom looked sick to her stomach. She clearly didn't expect me to have someone like Big Mike backing me up.

She shot me a venomous glare, pinched Tyler's arm hard, and muttered that he was useless!

I didn't say anything, just went back to class.

Big Mike patted my shoulder. "Don't overthink it. Your brother... he's in a tough spot, but he is absolutely not a bad person."

I stayed silent. Back in class, the way my classmates looked at me had changed, but I didn't care.

Tyler came back and glared at me. I glared right back, raising my voice: "Tyler, if I hear a single rumor about my family in this classroom again, I am calling the cops and having you arrested for spreading slander!"

Tyler slammed his fist on his desk but didn't say a word.

I felt incredibly vindicated.

Yeah, they all say my brother is a sugar baby, but where's the proof?

Without proof, who dared to talk trash?

My ruthlessness, combined with Tyler's pathetic crying, actually put the other students' minds at ease. Tyler, on the other hand, was permanently branded with the label of "thief" and could never shake it off.

When I went home that weekend, my brother was there. I noticed there were baby clothes and a crib in the apartment.

Seeing me, he waved me over. "Come look at this! I bought these for your little nephew. Cute, right?"

I clenched my fists. The secret I had violently defended at school for two years had just been casually destroyed by his own hands.

I had just threatened Tyler, demanding proof that my brother was a sugar baby.

But seeing the baby clothes my brother bought... I felt like an absolute clown.

My legs felt like they were made of lead. I finally dragged myself over to him and stared.

"Why did you become a sugar baby? Why did you have to have a bastard child with a married woman?!"

The moment the question left my mouth, my brother's lips trembled. For a long time, he couldn't form a single word.

I couldn't take it anymore. I turned and sprinted out the door.

My brother yelled from behind me, "Cole! Get back here!"

I screamed like a maniac: "I'm never coming back! I don't have a brother like you!"

I missed my parents. When they were alive, they always told me my brother had excellent grades, but that they were useless and couldn't provide for him, which forced him to run away.

But why did he come back? And fine, he came back, but why did he have to drag me here, forcing me to personally witness his degradation and his sins?

It made me sick!

I went back to school and never returned to the apartment.

My brother found out from my homeroom teacher that I was at school, but he didn't say anything. He just asked the teacher to transfer my living expenses to me.

I wanted to refuse the money out of pride, but I couldn't. I needed it to survive.

It wasn't until the end of the semester, when I was standing at the school gates with my luggage, that Big Mike showed up again.

He pulled me into his car, hesitating several times as if he wanted to say something. I could tell we weren't taking the route to the apartment.

Doing the math, Ms. Claire should be due to give birth any day now.

He sighed heavily. "Cole, I'm taking you to see your brother."

I looked up at him, finally asking the question that had been burning inside me. "You don't hate him? He destroyed your family. He's a homewrecker."

Big Mike patted my arm. "Silly kid, he's not a homewrecker. Your brother is the most responsible kid I know. He's not a sugar baby. You'll understand when you see him."

I didn't want to see him. But Big Mike drove me directly to the hospital.

My heart sank!

Did Ms. Claire have the baby? But Ms. Claire and Big Mike were married. This dynamic was completely messing with my head.

When I followed Big Mike into the hospital room, I saw my brother lying in the bed. His stomach was massively swollen, and his face was a sickly, waxy yellow.

Seeing that, my brain exploded!

Suddenly, everything made sense.

"Mike, why did you bring him here?" Seeing me, my brother struggled to sit up.

Big Mike rushed over and gently pushed him back down. "I brought him so you two could see each other! So you wouldn't regret it!"

Looking at my brother like this, I didn't need anyone to explain it to me. He had a terminal illness!

There was a guy back in our hometown who looked exactly like this. He eventually died a suffocating, agonizing death.

My mom had said it was uremiaend-stage kidney failure. There was no cure.

Seeing him like this now, after only a few months of not seeing him, he had wasted away to almost nothing.

I slowly walked over. My brother touched my hand. "Haven't seen you in a few months. You've lost weight."

"Cole, I probably won't make it to see you graduate."

Big Mike cut him off. "Stop talking nonsense! You're young! Don't worry about the medical bills!"

My head was buzzing. I had no idea he was this sick. I opened my mouth, but for a long time, no words came out.

Big Mike nudged me. "Did you go mute? Your brother was so sick but refused to let me tell you. Now that you're here, if you have something to say, say it!"

I finally managed to squeeze out one sentence: "Where is the baby you had with Ms. Claire?"

The moment I said it, Big Mike's eyes went red. My brother just smiled. "He's already born. He's in the incubator. Mike will take you to see him in a bit."

I looked at Big Mike, whose eyes were red, feeling completely confused.

I stood blankly by the bed and asked another question. "Are you going to die?"

Since our parents passed away, he was my only living relative. Even though I didn't like him, the thought of him leaving me, leaving me completely alone in this world, still terrified me.

Hearing me say that, he laughed. "No. But even if I die, it doesn't matter. I've already set up a safety net for you."

"I don't want it!"

I violently yanked my hand away from his. "You never asked me what I wanted! When Mom and Dad died, you dragged me here without asking me. Now you're dying, and you say you've planned out my future, but you never asked me about that either! So I don't want it."

"You're right. You don't want it."

My brother's voice grew heavy. "That was my oversight. You're a living, breathing person, of course you have your own thoughts. But Cole, you're still young."

"I understand everything! Stop lying to me! You became a rich woman's sugar baby, you had a bastard child with her, and now that you're sick, Big Mike is somehow forced to take responsibility for you?!"

"You crazy kid!"

Big Mike stood there, looking shocked. "You didn't tell him?!"

My brother shook his head. "I never got the chance. And I didn't even know where to begin."

Big Mike sighed. "You sit down and explain it to him properly. I'm going to go check on the baby."

After he left, my brother tried to comfort me. "Mike and Claire are good people. This baby... Mike and I already talked it out. He's going to sponsor your education."

"Cole, you have to understand something. No matter what happens, even when you're pushed to the absolute brink, as long as you're alive, there's hope. As long as you're alive, you can start over."

"My life wasn't a waste. I went out, I hustled, I wanted to build up savings. But I never expected... the money I was saving for your college tuition would all be spent on this illness."

"But I don't regret it. Because I got out there and saw the world."

Hearing him say that, I didn't know what to say. My throat felt completely blocked, and my voice came out raspy.

He patted my hand. "Go see your little nephew. He's a really good-looking kid!"

Relieved to escape the heavy atmosphere, I practically sprinted out of the room.