Chapter 1

My name is Ethan Miller, and my life isn't normal.

It hasn't been normal since I was a kid, part of some secret experiment they called "Project Chimera."

The doctors, the ones in the white coats I barely remember, they messed with my genes.

Now, my life force, my actual vitality, is tied to getting real love and acceptance from specific people.

The "Program," this anonymous voice that sometimes sends me updates on a secure phone, calls them my "targets."

My adoptive family, the Harrisons, and my fiancée, Olivia Hayes, are those targets.

If they genuinely love me, trust me, accept me, my "Resonance Score" stays high, and I feel fine.

If that score drops, I get sick, fast.

It's a weird way to live, always needing their approval, their affection, just to stay healthy.

For a while, things were good, really good.

The Harrisons took me in, gave me everything.

Richard, my adoptive father, was a bit distant, always focused on business, but Eleanor, his wife, she was warm, or so I thought.

Olivia, she was my everything. Beautiful, smart, from a family as rich as the Harrisons.

We were the golden couple of New York's elite.

My Resonance Score was stable, a solid 85 out of 100.

The Program sent messages: "Resonance stable. Maintain current emotional bonds."

I was hopeful, eager to please them, desperate to feel like I truly belonged.

I thought I had it all, a loving family, a woman I adored.

I thought I was safe.

Then Julian came back.

Julian Harrison, their biological son, the one they thought was "lost" for years.

He just showed up one day, looking frail, weak, with a story about hardship that would make anyone cry.

Suddenly, the warmth from Eleanor shifted.

Richard started looking at Julian with a longing I'd never seen him show me.

My Resonance Score took a dip. 75.

A small headache started, a dull ache behind my eyes.

The Program sent a new message: "Target affection wavering. Investigate and rectify."

But how do you rectify a mother' s love for her "returned" son?

Julian wasn't just weak; he was a master at playing the victim.

He' d cough at the right moments, stumble when Eleanor was watching.

He' d tell stories about his "suffering" that made Ethan, me, the adopted son, look like a usurper who' d stolen his life.

Olivia, at first, was sympathetic to Julian but still loving to me.

But Julian worked on her too.

He' d tell her how much he admired her, how she was the only one who understood him.

He started dropping hints about me, little lies.

"Ethan wouldn't understand, Olivia, he's always had it so easy."

Or, "I saw Ethan looking at the family accounts... I hope everything is okay."

My Resonance Score dropped to 60.

The headaches got worse, and a constant fatigue settled in.

I tried to talk to Olivia, to the Harrisons.

"He's not what he seems," I' d say.

They' d look at me with disappointment.

"Ethan, how can you be so cruel to your brother?" Eleanor would ask, her voice cold.

"He's been through so much."

Olivia would say, "Just be patient, Ethan. He needs our support."

They started accusing me of being jealous, of trying to undermine Julian.

"You've had everything, Ethan," Richard said one evening, his voice stern. "Can't you share some of the attention?"

My Resonance Score hit 50.

I felt a sharp pain in my chest, like something was squeezing my heart.

I clung to Olivia.

She was still my fiancée. She still said she loved me.

Even if the Harrisons were lost to Julian's act, Olivia would see the truth. She had to.

"Olivia," I pleaded one night, "you know me. You know I wouldn't hurt anyone, especially not Julian."

She held my hand, but her eyes were distant.

"I know, Ethan. But Julian... he' s so fragile. He told me he feels threatened by you."

"Threatened by me? Olivia, he's manipulating you, all of you!"

Her grip tightened. "Don't say that, Ethan. It's not fair to him."

My Resonance Score: 45.

The world started to feel a little blurry around the edges.

Then came Julian's "diagnosis."

A rare, life-threatening condition. He needed an organ transplant, a significant portion of a liver.

And guess who was the only match in the family? Me.

Olivia came to me, her eyes full of tears, but not for me.

"Ethan," she said, her voice trembling. "Julian needs this. You're the only one who can save him."

I was shocked. "Olivia, this is a major surgery. And he's been lying about everything!"

"How can you say that now?" she cried. "He's dying! And you... you're so strong, Ethan. The doctors said you have this unique resilience. You'll recover quickly."

My "unique resilience." They had no idea it was tied to their love, a love they were now withdrawing.

"Olivia, this isn't right."

She looked at me, her beautiful face hard.

"If you love me, Ethan, if you want us to have a future, you'll do this. This is the only way. Save Julian. It's a condition for our marriage."

A condition. My life for his, and her love as the twisted reward.

My Resonance Score plummeted to 30.

The pain in my chest was constant now. I felt cold, so cold.

I looked at her, the woman I loved, the woman who was asking me to sacrifice myself for a liar.

"You really believe him, don't you?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"I believe he needs this to live, Ethan. And I believe you're strong enough to give it."

She thought I was strong. The irony was a bitter pill.

My "strength" was fading with every word she spoke.

"And if I do this," I said, a strange calmness washing over me, "you'll marry me? The Harrisons will accept me again?"

"Yes," she promised, a flicker of something, maybe relief, in her eyes. "Everything will go back to normal. Julian will be healthy, and we can all be a family."

Mission completion, the Program might have called it, if it understood this kind of madness.

I knew then. I knew she was lost to me.

The Harrisons were lost.

My mission, the one the Program set, to secure their genuine love, was a failure.

The pain wasn't just physical anymore. It was a deep, aching void.

I agreed. What else was there to do?

"Alright, Olivia. I'll do it."

She looked surprised, then a small, almost suspicious smile touched her lips. "You will?"

"Yes," I said, a bitter taste in my mouth. "When have I ever refused you anything?"

She told me Julian was so grateful, that this would mean the world to him.

She said I was a hero.

She explained how my "unique resilience," a phrase she kept repeating, meant the doctors were confident I'd have a swift recovery.

Julian's condition, however, was dire. He needed this "now."

She promised that once Julian was well, our lives would be perfect. The Harrisons would see my sacrifice, and their love for me would be "restored."

She was re-contextualizing my entire existence, my Program-defined need for their love, into this one sacrificial act.

As if giving up a part of my body could magically undo Julian' s lies and their betrayal.

I felt a wave of nausea. My Resonance Score was probably in the low 20s.

The physical pain was intense, a constant throb in my head, my chest, my limbs.

But the emotional pain was worse. It was the realization of her complete blindness, her willingness to believe his lies over my truth.

She truly thought this was a solution, a path back to a happy family.

The irony was crushing. My survival depended on their love, and they were asking me to risk my life based on a lie, promising a love that was already dead.

I knew I would go through with it.

Not for her false promises, not for the Harrisons' conditional acceptance.

I would do it because there was nothing left.

She had a pattern, Olivia. She always got what she wanted.

The Harrisons, they always prioritized their own, and now Julian was their own.

I was just the adopted son, the temporary placeholder.

"The surgery is scheduled for next week," she said, her voice lighter now, as if a great burden had been lifted from her. "Dr. Ramsey will explain everything."

She kissed my cheek, a cold, fleeting touch. "Thank you, Ethan. You won't regret this."

I watched her leave.

Then I picked up my phone.

I started deleting the pictures. Us smiling at the beach. Her laughing at my stupid jokes. Our engagement party.

Each tap of the delete button was a small death.

The happy memories turned to ash in my mind.

Disgust filled me. Disgust for them, for myself, for this whole charade.

A flashback hit me, unbidden.

Me, younger, at a Harrison family dinner. Laughing. Richard patting my shoulder, a rare sign of affection. Eleanor smiling, genuinely smiling at me. Olivia, then just my girlfriend, squeezing my hand under the table. My Resonance Score, a healthy 90.

Then Julian' s return.

The first "evidence" he fabricated – a faked email suggesting I was mismanaging a trust fund Richard had set up for me.

Richard' s face, cold and suspicious. "Ethan, we need to talk about this."

Eleanor' s worried glances.

Olivia' s initial defense of me, "Richard, Ethan would never do that!"

But Julian was relentless. An "accident" where he tripped on stairs he claimed I' d left cluttered, spraining his ankle.

His tearful "confession" to Olivia that he was scared of me.

Her loyalty wavered, then broke.

She started spending more time with Julian, "comforting" him.

My Resonance Score dropped with each incident, each lie, each stolen piece of affection. 55. 40. 35.

The physical decline was noticeable. I was always tired, pale.

They attributed it to "stress" over Julian's situation.

The irony was a constant, bitter companion.

Richard Harrison walked into my room. He didn't look at me.

He placed a document on the bedside table. "Sign this."

It was a consent form for the organ donation.

The stated motivation: "Out of familial love and a desire to atone for any past misunderstandings that may have caused distress to Julian Harrison."

Atonement. They were making me apologize for his crimes.

My Resonance Score flickered. 20.

"I'm not signing it with that clause," I said, my voice surprisingly steady.

Richard finally looked at me, his eyes like chips of ice. "Don't be difficult, Ethan. This is what's best for everyone."

"Best for Julian, you mean," I said. "Best for your biological son."

His face hardened. He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my skin. "You will sign it. You owe us this. After everything we've done for you."

He shoved the pen into my hand.

I signed it. The pain in my arm was nothing compared to the hollowness inside.

He snatched the paper and left without another word.

My Resonance Score: 15.

My vision was swimming.

Olivia rushed in a few minutes later, not to check on me, but frantic.

"Julian's had a bit of a relapse! He's asking for me!"

She didn't even see the red marks on my arm where Richard had grabbed me.

She didn't see the despair in my eyes.

She just saw Julian, her new priority.

She ran out, leaving me alone with the throbbing in my arm and the crushing weight of their betrayal.

My secure phone buzzed. The Program.

"Primary mission objective: Unattainable. Resonance Score critical. Stand by for new directive."

A new directive?

I laughed, a dry, painful sound.

"Accepted," I managed to text back.

Anything to get away from this. Anything.