Framed as the Other Man

I rushed back from out of town to attend my nephew's parent-teacher conference, only to be mistaken for a kept man by my future brother-in-law.

He brought a group of his buddies, smashing classroom furniture, and repeatedly declared that I would pay the price.

The moment I stepped through the door, he struck me with a stick, sending me sprawling to my knees.

"You lowlife, daring to seduce my wife and trying to mess with my son? If I don't teach you a lesson today, I've lived for nothing!"

"Once I cripple you and you're bedridden for the rest of your life, let's see how you leech off rich women then!"

He, in front of numerous parents, repeatedly struck me with a toilet mop handle.

I covered my head, scrambling away like a stray dog, while his laughter grew increasingly maniacal.

A second before I lost consciousness, my sister finally burst into the classroom.

When I received a call from my nephew's teacher saying someone claiming to be the child's father was causing trouble, I floored the gas pedal and sped to the school.

My brother-in-law had passed away five years ago, and the more I thought about it, the more frightened I became.

I called my sister several times on the way, but all calls went unanswered.

Then I remembered, she hadn't paid much attention to my nephew's school affairs these past few years, probably didn't even know which way the classroom door opened.

So I headed upstairs myself, phone clutched in hand, ready to call the police at any moment.

Before I even reached the classroom, the tumultuous noise already threatened to shake the building apart.

A man's vulgar curses pierced my ears.

"Don't blame me for interrupting the parent-teacher conference. This kept man outside is practically riding over my head!"

"He sends my wife harassing messages all day, hotel receipts, expense statementshe's spent all her dowry money!"

"And today, he brazenly wants to attend my son's parent-teacher conference? How am I supposed to tolerate that?"

"Any decent person would be furious!"

"I'm a fitness influencer, half a public figure, at least. Today, I'm making him pay for his actions!"

Hearing this, I hurriedly quickened my pace.

The moment I reached the classroom door, a group of parents were stirred into righteous indignation by his words.

"Go ahead, buddy! We'll pretend we didn't see anything! The parent-teacher conference can wait; we absolutely can't let a kept man like that off the hook!"

"I despise scum who break up families, born of a mother but raised by no one!"

The man, encouraged by the cheers, rolled up his sleeves, eager for a fight.

"Thanks for the support, everyone. You don't mind if I livestream this, do you? Let the whole internet recognize that kept man!"

The more I listened, the more something felt wrong.

Standing at the door, I craned my neck to look inside, only to lock eyes with a familiar face.

Wasn't that Liam Ellis, my sister's soon-to-be new husband?

I'd been living on my own these past few years after my family kicked me out for not marrying, so I'd only seen his photos on my sister's social media.

My sister had mentioned he was a fitness influencer, and I'd even thought about asking him for some pointers.

But my sister said there'd be plenty of opportunities after they got married, and the matter was dropped.

Now, looking at his face, red with rage, I quickly pulled out my phone to call my sister.

I called three times, still no answer.

I sent her a message.

Did you do something to upset Liam? He's causing a scene in our nephew's classroom!

Now that your career's taking off, you can't be fickle. If there's a misunderstanding, clear it up with him quickly! Mom and Dad are already angry enough about my situation; if your wedding has any problems, it'll kill them!

Just as I sent the second message, a pair of clean athletic shoes suddenly appeared before me.

Before I could even look up, my short hair was violently yanked.

A powerful force dragged my entire body into the classroom.

Then a kick landed squarely on my lower back, sending me sprawling to the ground, out of control.

When I looked up, a phone was practically shoved into my mouth.

Liam snarled, "Everyone, take a good look! This is the kept man I was talking about!"

"He was just hiding by the door, probably heard me talking and didn't dare come in!"

"What, you do something so disgusting, and you're still afraid to admit it? If I were you, I'd hide my face in my pants when I went out!"

With that, he tightened his grip, and the camera directly smacked my lip.

A professional fitness enthusiasts blow was not light; my lip quickly swelled up into a large lump.

Seeing my miserable state, not a single person around stepped forward to defend me.

Instead, they pointed fingers and cursed at me.

My lips were numb for about ten seconds before I recovered, then I looked up at Liam and urgently began:

"You've misunderstood, I'm not a kept man, I"

Before I could finish, he swung his sports bag, forcefully hitting me in the face.

Blood immediately gushed from my nose, and my phone fell to the side, its screen cracking.

He snatched it up, clutching it in his hand, and said coldly, "Still saying it's not you! This is the phone my wife bought! I even screenshotted the payment bill! You just wait for the lawsuit and pay back the money!"

I wanted to explain that it was my sisters birthday gift to me last year, a way for her to encourage me to go home and apologize to Mom and Dad.

But the words caught in my throat, replaced by a gush of metallic-tasting liquid.

It choked me, and I clutched my chest, coughing.

Liam looked up at the surrounding parents, roaring, "See that? I just lightly tapped him, and a grown man can be this weak? What an act!"

"No wonder my wife spent her dowry money on him! A man like this is utterly despicable!"

My face flushed crimson, my eyes streaked with blood.

The parents in the classroom looked at me with venomous, hateful stares.

I furrowed my brow, suppressing the indignation, and spoke sternly, "Liam, I told you I'm not a kept man. How exactly did you come to that conclusion?"

After all, he was my future brother-in-law, and I wanted to avoid a nasty public spectacle later on.

I wanted him to show proof; business dealings often required social graces.

If it truly was my sister who had wronged him, I was prepared to apologize on her behalf.

But hearing my words, his anger surged.

He shoved the camera closer to my face.

"See that, everyone? On the verge of death and still won't admit it!"

"If I don't make you understand what you're dying for today, I've wasted my time coming here!"

With that, he put a lit cigarette in his mouth, then pulled out another phone and opened it in front of me.

Soon, several photos of me and my nephew at an amusement park appeared.

Liam snorted coldly, "What do you have to say now?"

"These were found on my wife's phone! You really hid it well, reaching out to my son to climb up the ladder! I'm warning you today, if you touch a single hair on my son's head again, I'll use you as a barbell!"

My brows knitted tightly; all my words instantly became powerless.

That was just for my nephew's birthday. My sister didn't have time to accompany him, so I took him to the amusement park to take photos for her to see, never imagining it would lead to such a misunderstanding.

Seeing my silence, he said coldly, "Nothing to say, huh? Brothers, hit him! Just leave him enough breath to speak!"

"Ruin his face, let's see how he leeches off rich women then!"

As a group of muscular men rolled up their sleeves, ready to surround me,

I quickly propped myself up to explain, but opening my mouth tore at the blood scab on my lip, making me gasp in pain.

"You've misunderstood, I'm his uncle! Eleanor Carter is my sister, we're siblings!"

Liam glanced at me, scoffing disdainfully.

"Siblings? Her own mother doesn't even know she has a son!"

"I'm about to marry my wife, and I've never once heard her mention having a brother!"

"What kind of brother are you? A lover? Are you trying to fool me like I'm an idiot? If I don't teach you a lesson today, you really won't know what kind of trash you are!"

His curses stunned me.

I never imagined my mother would be so angry as to disown me!

Sweating profusely, I frantically asked the surrounding parents to call the police for me.

But no one bothered to respond.

Everyone merely looked on, enjoying the show.

Someone even picked up a pencil from a desk and threw it at my head.

The pencil lead lodged in my scalp, and the shaft snapped on impact.

My face contorted in pain.

Liam's expression grew even more ominous.

Anger burned in his eyes; he was about to step forward and attack me.

I quickly spoke, "I'll call my mom, alright? I'll put it on speaker, and you listen!"

A flicker of suspicion crossed Liam's eyes, and he tossed my phone back in front of me.

"You try to trick me, and you're dead!"

While I was dialing, Liam's crew of brothers were already flexing their muscles, eyeing me menacingly.

The phone rang, and my heart leaped into my throat.

The next second, my mom abruptly hung up, then added me to her blacklist.

My phone hit the ground, and my face instantly turned ashen.

Liam sneered.

"My mother-in-law probably thinks you're making harassing calls. You're still putting on an act!"

Thinking of my nephew, my eyes lit up again.

"Wait, where's my nephew? He can vouch for me. I'm here to attend his parent-teacher conference today!"

At that, Liam quickly stepped forward and delivered a hard punch to my face.

A wisdom tooth instantly fell from my mouth to the ground, faintly stained with blood.

"Enough! I told you you don't deserve to mention my son! Stay away from him from now on!"

From the whispers of the surrounding parents, I gathered that all the students in the class had been taken to the office by the teacher.

No wonder the teacher hadn't shown up yet.

She was already overwhelmed just managing those kids.

Now, truly, no one could vouch for me.

I was sweating profusely in a panic, but Liam gave me no time to think.

With a single glance, his group of brothers immediately began trashing the classroom.

Their wild, uncontrolled actions forced even the watching parents to retreat from the classroom.

This became the muscular men's personal domain for revenge.

Liam aimed his livestream camera at the classroom, panning around. Desks and chairs lay shattered, white paint flaked off the walls.

In just five minutes, the perfectly fine classroom was reduced to utter wreckage.

The front and back blackboards were splashed with red paint, a terrifying and unsettling sight.

He saw this and laughed even more wildly and uncontrollably.

Speaking to the camera: "This kept man said he wanted to attend my son's parent-teacher conference. Today, I'll give him a memorable one!"

"Working out and lifting weights every day, wasn't it all for this?"

Seeing this, I couldn't help but interject, "If my sister finds out what you've done, you'll regret it!"

"Do you know what you're doing? When my identity is revealed, you'll be truly finished!"

He curled one side of his lip, his face full of mockery.

"Folks, this kept man is threatening me! I'm so scared! Stealing my woman and then trying to dominate me!"

With that, he stepped forward and raised his bag, striking my head again.

After several heavy blows, my head reeled, and I lost the ability to think.

He furiously stormed out the door.

More and more parents gathered outside; people from adjacent classrooms were drawn in. Now, many had their phones pointed at my face, recording.

My weak pleas for help were drowned out by the insults.

I couldn't even manage to crawl to get my phone back and call the police.

I forced myself to prop up my upper body, but just as my hand brushed the edge of my phone, a heavy blow landed on my back.

Liam stood before me, mop in hand, his face etched with fury.

A faint, disgusting yellow stain still clung to it.

"Run? Where do you think you're going to run!"

"Today, the only person walking out of here standing is me!"

"If I don't teach you a lesson, my one hundred and fifty pounds were lifted in vain!"

I was beaten to the ground, my gaze falling on the onlookers outside the window.

Everyone was cheering for Liam.

I was the sole culprit.

The vast classroom had no clear space left to stand.

A moment later, one of his brothers stepped forward and kicked me hard.

My body felt weak and limp, like a piece of rotting flesh. My suit was drenched in blood and covered in dust, making me look utterly pathetic.

"This is too easy for him! Doesn't he want to attend a parent-teacher conference? We'll give him a chance!"

In Liam's bloodthirsty, excited gaze, he said, "Drag him to the broadcast room and make him confess to the whole school that he's a kept man!"

Hearing this, I widened my eyes in terror, shaking my head desperately.

Two muscular men grabbed me by my armpits, one on each side, hoisting me up.

My lower body dragged on the ground; I was as helpless as a chick.

As I struggled, my car keys fell from my pocket.

Liam's eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

He angrily picked them up and violently smashed them into my face. The keyring grazed my temple, leaving a fresh red mark.

"You kept man! You even had my wife buy you a car! She never even agreed to buy one for me! How dare you!"

With that, he glanced at the car model, his gaze growing increasingly vicious.

A parent, kindly watching the show, quickly spoke up.

"Is it that one downstairs? I think I saw him get out of it just now! He drove it right in, not even worried about hitting a child. That kind of person has no conscience!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Liam's eyes blazed with fury. He immediately leaned over the railing and looked down.