Disowned and Discarded

When my parents divorced, my dad fought tooth and nail for my older brother, Brandon. My mom did the same for my younger sister, Chloe.

I was the middle child. Nobody wanted me. I was the trash of the family, rejected by everyone.

Little did they know, I was born with a fated luck aura.

As long as I stayed in this house, the family would thrive. But the moment I left, they would plunge into rapid ruin.

Sure enough, after the divorce, my fathers business went bankrupt, and my mothers career was completely destroyed.

As for my siblings, Brandons arms were permanently crushed, and Chloe had to have both of her legs amputated.

Meanwhile, I lived my best life alone. My luck aura blessed my own path, and in less than a year, I became the youngest self-made billionaire in the country.

When my parents finally realized that all their past wealth was entirely thanks to my fated luck...

They regretted everything. They fell to their knees in front of me, sobbing and begging me to come home.

I just gave them a cold smirk. "Who are you beggars? Get lost, before I have security throw you out."

Today was the day my parents got divorced, and the day our custody was decided.

In the courtroom, Arthur didn't hesitate to choose Brandon. Victoria immediately chose Chloe.

Once their choices were made, they fell into a tacit silence. Their eyes only lingered on their chosen children, filled with warmth and expectation.

I sat alone in the corner of the bench, like a piece of forgotten luggage.

Watching this, my nose stung, and my chest felt so tight it ached.

The judge fell silent for a moment, flipping through the files. He frowned and asked, "What about... the other child? Ethan?"

Hearing my name, my heart skipped a beat. I looked at Arthur and Victoria with a tiny, desperate shred of hope.

But their brows instantly furrowed. Their eyes filled with undisguised disgust.

Victoria curled her lip and turned to Arthur. "Arthur, you have a massive estate. You should take Ethan. You have enough money to feed stray dogs, so you can't tell me you can't afford your own son. Its just adding another plate to the table!"

"Victoria! You really have a slick tongue!" Arthurs voice shot up as he snapped.

"Raise him? Hell only drag Brandon down and ruin my companys reputation! You gave birth to him. You raise him. Im not spending a single dime on him!"

The two of them immediately started screaming at each other, tossing me back and forth like a piece of unwanted garbage.

Their toxic words stabbed deep into my heart.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I stood up and screamed at them, my voice cracking with tears, "Dad! Mom! What did I do wrong? I'm your child too!"

Faced with my question, they looked embarrassed for a split second, which quickly morphed into furious rage.

"Look at yourself! Do you really have no self-awareness?" Victorias face twisted as she shrieked, "How dare you speak to us like that? Is that how you show respect? You ungrateful little brat!"

Arthur pointed a finger right at my nose. "A useless waste like you should have never been born in the first place!"

My heart died right then and there. Since they saw me as nothing but trash, why should I beg for their scraps?

I turned directly to the judge. "Your Honor, I want to apply for legal emancipation. I don't want either of them to have custody over me."

The judge looked at my parents, who showed absolutely no objection, and sighed before granting my request.

Leaving the courthouse, I watched the two happy little families walking ahead of me. I said coldly:

"This is the last time I will ever call you Mom and Dad. I remember telling you before that I have a luck aura."

"Everything you have right nowyour wealth, your successwas because of me."

"Now that youve thrown me away, don't come begging when your business goes bankrupt and your careers are ruined!"

I wasn't trying to flatter myself when I said those words. Ever since I was a kid, I had this fated luck aura. As long as I was around, the family prospered.

Ever since my aura activated, Arthurs failing business suddenly took off, making him a multi-millionaire CEO. Victoria, who was on the verge of being laid off, got promoted all the way to becoming a celebrity dance instructor.

Because of the blessing of my aura, Brandon was hailed as a math genius, and Chloe was praised as a prodigy dancer.

I blessed everyone in that house, yet I was treated like a parasite. And now, they had abandoned me.

The firstborn is the pride, the youngest is the spoiled baby, and the middle child is just the invisible punching bag. Classic Middle Child Syndrome.

I was always the extra one.

In their world, there was never any room for me.

I still remember when we were kids. When Brandon won a math competition, Arthur bought him a ten-thousand-dollar gaming rig without blinking. When Chloe performed on stage, Victoria would proudly present her with massive bouquets of flowers.

And me? I brought home straight As and top-tier trophies year after year. All I got in return was cold mockery.

Victoria wouldn't even look up from her phone. "Stop wasting time on useless things. Who knows if you cheated just to get attention."

Arthur tore my certificates into shreds. "Can this paper buy food? Can it make money? You're just trying to copy Brandon to beg for presents, aren't you? Stop embarrassing us."

All my hard work, all my proof of worth, was nothing but trash to be stepped on in their eyes.

What hurt even more was that they always "forgot" to send me lunch money, while Brandon and Chloes accounts were always loaded on time, often with extra bonuses.

Arthur was a wealthy CEO, and Victoria was a famous instructor, yet their middle son almost starved to death. How ironic.

Outside the courthouse, when they heard me talk about my luck aura, they laughed.

Arthur sneered, "A luck aura? You? You don't deserve it! My company is successful because of my own hard work! It has absolutely nothing to do with a loser like you!"

Victoria scoffed, "Lying just to get our attention. You're trying to take credit for our hard work. You are rotten to the core. Thank god we didn't choose you."

Brandon glared at me, his voice full of arrogance. "Ethan! How dare you curse our family! You're disgusting!"

Chloe looked at me with pure disdain. "No wonder Mom and Dad hate you. You only know how to throw tantrums because you're incompetent. Look at yourself."

Faced with their insults, I shut my mouth. They would cry soon enough.

I left without even going back to pack my things.

That house had never had a place for me anyway. I slept in the cramped utility closet and wore Brandons old hand-me-downs.

The SATs were only a few days away. This was my last chance, my only ticket out. I had to fight with everything I had. Otherwise, I would truly be ruined for life.

But once I started living on my own, I was shocked to find myself completely transformed. My mind was clearer than ever. Even the hardest prep questions felt incredibly easy.

I even bought a few scratch-offs at a gas station and won several thousand dollars in a row.

A thought flashed through my mind: "Now that Ive cut ties with them, my luck aura is finally blessing ME. Because I am my own family now."

This realization made me ecstatic. The scales of fate were finally tipping in my favor.

The exam day arrived quickly. I cruised through the SATs, my pen flying across the paper like magic.

Meanwhile, in another testing center, Brandon was staring at his test sheet, sweating profusely.

"How is this happening?" Brandon stared at the blank spaces, his fingers shaking uncontrollably. "I... I knew how to do these questions yesterday..."

Ever since I left, Brandon had felt his mind growing cloudier and slower. But he had brushed it off, too arrogant to care, still spending his nights partying.

He didn't realize he was suffering from the backlash of my departure.

As the timer ticked down to the last few minutes, a desperate, wild thought crossed his mind. When the proctor turned her back, he leaned over and peeked at the sheet of the student next to him...

At the exact same time, Arthur was drowning in corporate chaos.

His business partners were pulling out of contracts for no reason. Major projects were failing one after another.

In the past, he could solve these issues in his sleep. But now, he had no idea what to do. If this kept up, his company would go bankrupt.

Suddenly, his phone rang loudly.

"What? My son cheated? I knew that little piece of trash Ethan was no good! But you don't need to call me, hes emancipated! Hes not my problem!"

Arthur immediately assumed it was me, letting out a stream of vile curses.

However, when the voice on the line clarified that the cheater was Brandon, Arthur felt like he had been struck by lightning.

"No way! You must have made a mistake! Brandon won math trophies! Why would he need to cheat?!"

Brandon was his pride and joy, the heir he was grooming to take over the company. Hearing this news felt like his entire sky was collapsing.

Brandons SAT scores were completely voided, and he was banned from taking College Board exams for three years.

This news was a fatal blow to Arthurs already struggling company.

Meanwhile, Chloe was participating in a massive, high-stakes dance showcase.

Many top industry directors and scouts were in the audience. The future of her entire dance company depended on this performance.

The artistic director had put all his hope on Chloe.

But when the music started, everyone was horrified.

The backup dancers moved gracefully, but Chloe just stood there like a statue, tears welling up in her eyes.

She realized that every single dance move had vanished from her brain. Even her proud muscle memory was completely gone.

"What are you doing? Dance!" Victoria screamed frantically from the wings, her voice cracking. This threw the backup dancers off, ruining the entire formation.

Chloe tried to move, but she was as clumsy as a lame duck.

"This is the prodigy you bragged about?" a prominent director in the front row asked, his voice dripping with disgust.

Victoria rushed to explain, "She... shes usually not like this! Shes just nervous..."

"Her movements have zero technique. Shes worse than a beginner," a famous choreographer said, frowning. "Victoria, I highly doubt your professional credentials as an instructor."

"And people call you a master teacher? I don't see a single trace of talent here."

Victorias face went paper-white. She knew better than anyone that once these words spread, her career as a celebrity dance coach was over.

The director of the dance company looked like he had lost his mind. His years of hard work had just gone up in smoke.

His eyes turned bloodshot as he stared at Chloe on stage. In a sudden fit of psychotic rage, he rushed onto the stage, grabbed a heavy metal prop from the set, and slammed it violently into Chloes legs.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

A horrific shriek echoed through the entire theater.

"You useless bitch! You ruined me!"

The director screamed hysterically, his voice shaking with mad desperation. "My life's work... gone! All gone!"

Victoria stood frozen, all color draining from her face, her soul seemingly sucked out of her body.

The director was eventually tackled by security and hauled away by the police.

Chloe was rushed to the ER. To Victorias horror, the diagnosis came back: Chloes legs were shattered beyond repair. She would never stand again.

Arthur rushed to the hospital with Brandon. Even though he was divorced, he still loved his daughter.

He held the medical report with trembling hands. The stress of the past few weeks had aged him by ten years. His eyes were red and wet.

"Why... why is this happening..."

"My company is ruined, Brandon is banned, and now Chloe..."

Arthur collapsed onto the hallway floor, sobbing hoarsely.

"Oh God! What did our family do to deserve this?!"

Victoria was crying uncontrollably, looking incredibly disheveled.

Suddenly, she shuddered, as if struck by a terrifying realization. Her lips trembled as she whispered:

"Could... could Ethan have been telling the truth? Is he really a luck charm? Was our wealth all because of him?"

"Since we kicked him out, the company, Brandon, Chloe, and me... all of us..."

She grabbed Arthurs arm tightly, her eyes wide with terror and regret. "When he was home, nothing like this ever happened!"

Arthur sat frozen on the floor. He connected the dots of everything that had happened recently. His face went dead white, and he felt a wave of regret so strong he wanted to beat his head against the wall.