FAR GONE

Chapter 3

That look again,” Nathan thought as his chest rose and fell heavily.

Every time the heiresses scolded him, Micheal would always show that same sneer, and it never failed to make Nathan feel like he was being crushed slowly.

It was no longer something Nathan could ignore.

He had seen it too many times.

Micheal had been setting him up again and again, creating small situations that made it seem like Nathan was always at fault, and each time, the three women would believe Micheal without question.

At first, Nathan thought Micheal only wanted him out of the house, because that alone would have been enough to give him back his place.

But now, everything was clear.

Micheal did not just want him gone.

He wanted him destroyed.

Nathan had tried to explain this to Aya, Vivian, and Ava more than once, but every attempt ended the same way.

They did not believe him.

In their eyes, Micheal could do no wrong.

And Nathan could do nothing right.

Love had already decided everything for them.

At that moment, as Micheal straightened his body, something slipped from his clothes and fell onto the floor with a soft sound.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to it immediately.

It was a pendant shaped like a dragon.

Nathan’s breathing became uneven the moment he saw it, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

“That pendant belongs to me, and it is the engagement gift I gave to Aya, so why is it with you?” Nathan asked, his voice trembling slightly despite his effort to stay calm.

That pendant was the most valuable thing he owned.

It had been with him even on that night when he was abandoned and left to die, and it was the only thing he had managed to keep.

When he got engaged to Aya, he gave it to her without hesitation, because he believed it carried all the meaning of his past and his future.

Micheal bent down slowly, picked up the pendant, and held it in his hand as he looked at Nathan with a faint smile that carried a trace of mockery.

“I am sorry, Nathan, because I did not know it belonged to you,” Micheal said lightly. “I saw Aya wearing it, and I thought it looked interesting, so I asked to take a look, and she gave it to me without hesitation.”

Those words felt like a sharp blade piercing straight into Nathan’s heart.

Nathan’s gaze shifted slowly toward Aya.

She stood there calmly, and there was no guilt on her face.

There was no regret.

There was only indifference.

That single expression told Nathan everything he needed to know.

The thing he valued the most meant nothing to her.

Nathan bit his lip so hard that he tasted blood, but he did not let any sound escape.

There was something deeply tragic in that moment.

All the love, care, and warmth he once believed in had never truly belonged to him.

Everything he thought he had was given to someone else long before he arrived.

To be exact, it had always belonged to Micheal.

He had only been borrowing it.

He had only been filling an empty space.

He was nothing more than a replacement.

All the years he spent with them could not compare to a single request from Micheal.

Nathan slowly lowered his gaze, and a quiet decision formed in his heart.

He would give his blood one last time.

After that, he would owe Aya nothing.

Everything would end.

“Well, since you are the original owner, you should take it back,” Micheal said as he extended his hand and offered the pendant to Nathan.

Nathan reached out slowly, his fingers trembling slightly as he moved to take it.

However, just as his hand was about to touch the pendant, Micheal suddenly pulled it back.

Nathan paused, and his eyes lifted to meet Micheal’s face again.

Micheal leaned slightly closer, and his voice dropped so low that only Nathan could hear him.

“I already know what you are planning, Nathan,” he said softly, and there was a dangerous smile hidden in his tone.

Nathan’s body trembled, and for a moment, it felt like the air around him had grown heavier.

Micheal leaned closer, and his voice remained low and quiet, yet every word struck like ice.

“There is a diary in the locked drawer in your room, and it contains all your blood donation records,” Micheal said slowly. “You are planning to leave after the hundredth donation, are you not?”

A faint sneer appeared on his lips.

Nathan’s face turned even paler, and his breathing became uneven as the words sank in.

“I cannot allow that to happen,” Micheal continued calmly. “What would I do if you left me behind? So I removed most of the pages, leaving only a few behind, and I also erased most of the hospital records.”

Even though Micheal was speaking softly, a deep chill spread through Nathan’s body, and his hands slowly tightened into fists.

“Aren’t you worried that they might find out?” Nathan asked, his voice low but tense.

Micheal let out a soft laugh.

“They will not,” he replied confidently. “They only care about me, not about you, and because I was gone, you had them for three whole years, so you should already feel grateful.”

He paused for a moment, then added with a mocking tone, “Giving your blood to me is the only way you can thank me.”

The sneer on his face deepened.

“There is something else you should know,” Micheal continued. “I am not as weak as I appear, and those fainting episodes were all an act, because I wanted them to panic and force you to give me more blood.”

He leaned even closer and whispered, “You will never escape from me.”

That was the final blow.

All the anger, pain, and humiliation Nathan had endured for so long finally exploded.

Without thinking, he grabbed Micheal by the collar, his eyes burning red as he shouted, “Why would you do something like this, and why are you treating me this way?”

Before he could do anything else, the three women rushed forward in shock and pulled them apart.

“Stop right now,” Aya shouted sharply.

“Have you lost your mind, Nathan?” Vivian demanded, her face filled with anger.

“What is wrong with you?” Ava added. “He only touched the pendant for a moment, and you react like this, so do you think that is reasonable?”

Aya’s voice turned colder as she spoke again. “He did not even know what that pendant meant, because I never told him it belonged to you.”

The three women stood in front of Micheal protectively, and their cold gazes were all directed at Nathan.

Ava’s anger finally burst out completely.

“You should learn your place, Nathan,” she shouted. “Just because you are the adopted son of the Keneth family does not mean you can act however you like.”

Her voice grew sharper with every word.

“You are nothing more than a servant, and without Micheal, you would have died long ago, so do not forget that we only spent so much money to save you because you look like him.”

The room fell into a heavy silence after her words.

Everyone was filled with anger, but Micheal stood quietly behind them, his eyes fixed on Nathan with a cold and satisfied look.

Nathan slowly loosened his grip, and the anger in his eyes faded into something quieter.

He stopped struggling.

He stopped shouting.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, he smiled.

“Yes, you are right, and I would have died without you,” Nathan said calmly. “So from this moment on, let us cut all ties between us, and I also want a divorce, Ms. Keneth.”

For a brief moment, the entire room froze.

Vivian and Ava looked at him in shock, unable to believe what they had just heard.

“Wait, Nathan…” Ava started to speak, but before she could continue, Aya interrupted her.

“Fine,” Aya said coldly.

The warmth that once existed in her eyes had completely disappeared, leaving only a chilling indifference behind.

That expression made Nathan’s smile grow wider, yet there was a deep sadness hidden within it.

“However, not now,” Aya continued. “There is a one-month grace period, and if you still wish to leave after that, I will sign the papers.”

Nathan lowered his gaze slightly as her words echoed in his mind.

A grace period.

He understood what that meant.

She still did not believe he would leave.

She thought this was only a moment of anger, something that would pass with time.

Just like before.

First, she promised him freedom after one hundred donations, and now she wanted to delay it again.

Even now, they did not take him seriously.

But this time, things would be different.

Nathan reached out, took the pendant from Micheal’s hand without hesitation, and turned toward the door.

When he first came to the Keneth family, he brought nothing with him except that pendant.

Now, as he left, he would take nothing else.

As Nathan walked away without looking back, Micheal watched him from behind the three women.

A cold and cruel smile slowly appeared on his face.

In his mind, a dark thought formed clearly.

Nathan would never gain his freedom unless he was dead.

To him, Nathan was nothing more than a living source of blood that he could never allow to escape.

Nathan walked into the blood transfusion room not long after leaving the ward, and the moment the nurse saw him, her face filled with shock.

“You again?” she said quickly as she stood up. “No, you cannot do this, because you already gave too much blood a few days ago, and if you continue like this, you will not survive. Ms. Keneth has already instructed us to—”

“This is the last time,” Nathan said softly, and his voice was so quiet that it almost sounded like he was speaking only to himself.

The nurse fell silent for a moment as she looked at him carefully.

Nathan slowly rolled up his sleeve, revealing his arm.

There were marks everywhere.

Small, dark marks that told the story of every needle that had pierced his skin.

Ninety-nine times.

This would be the hundredth.

The final one.

Even though Micheal had erased the records, Nathan did not care anymore, because he knew the truth in his own heart.

That was enough for him.

After a long hesitation, the nurse could no longer stop him.

The needle pierced his skin once again, and a thin line of crimson blood began to flow through the tube.

Nathan’s body trembled slightly as the familiar pain spread through him, but this time, he did not feel fear or anger.

Instead, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

The veins on his arm stood out clearly, and his fingers trembled as the weakness returned stronger than before.

In his mind, a quiet thought echoed.

Aya, Vivian, Ava… this is the hundredth time.

After this, everything is over.

Nathan Keneth will no longer exist.

---

When it was finally over, Nathan slowly stood up, even though his body felt like it might collapse at any moment.

Before leaving, he looked at the nurse and spoke in a calm voice.

“Please keep this a secret, because this is an anonymous donation.”

He paused for a moment before adding quietly, “I only wanted to repay my debt.”

Whether the three women knew about this or not did not matter to him anymore.

The nurse looked at him with deep pity in her eyes.

“Fine, I will keep it a secret,” she said softly. “But you must leave this city, because if you donate blood again, you will definitely die.”

Nathan gave a slight nod and turned to leave.

When he stepped out of the hospital, his legs felt weak, and he could barely walk in a straight line.

His face was pale like cold stone, and the world around him seemed blurry and unstable.

At that moment, heavy rain suddenly began to fall from the sky, soaking him completely within seconds.

The cold rain wrapped around his body, but it felt as if it was piercing deep into his soul.

As he moved forward slowly, his mind began to replay everything he had experienced over the past three years.

There were moments filled with laughter.

There were moments filled with warmth.

There were also moments filled with pain and quiet sadness.

All of them mixed together and slowly faded into emptiness.

Yet, Nathan smiled.

It was a calm and peaceful smile.

For the first time in a long while, his heart felt light.

At that exact moment, he finally understood something clearly.

He was no longer a replacement.

In his mind, a single thought echoed again and again.

Aya, Vivian, Ava… my debt is repaid.

With that burden finally gone, Nathan dragged his exhausted body forward step by step.

However, his consciousness was slowly slipping away.

His vision became darker, and the sounds around him faded.

Without realizing it, he stepped onto the road.

At the same time, a car sped down the wet street uncontrollably, its headlights cutting through the heavy rain.

Nathan stood directly in its path.

Even a healthy person would have struggled to move out of the way in time, and Nathan no longer had the strength to react.

The sound of impact exploded through the rain.

Nathan’s body was thrown far into the air like a broken doll before crashing onto the ground.

At that very moment, a faint dark golden light slowly emerged from the dragon-shaped pendant hanging around his neck.

The light shimmered briefly before sinking into his body.

A strange and intense pain spread through every part of him, as if every cell in his body was being torn apart and rebuilt at the same time.

Nathan could not hold on any longer.

Darkness quickly covered his vision.

Just before he lost consciousness completely, he saw a figure running toward him through the rain.

It was a woman wearing a white dress.

She was beautiful, and her face was filled with panic as she reached out toward him.