Chapter 1 Utterly Defeated

• "Michael, I know no one will lend us money.
• "Don't demean yourself by pleading for money. Just live your life.
• "I've been a burden on you for so long, Michael. I don't want to hold you back anymore. In my next life, I'll still be your sister ... "
• "Shephard, why don't you know your place as a live-in son-in-law? She's your sister. Her life and our family's aren't linked. Weren't you born into a family of alternative medicine practitioners? Surgery is unnecessary. You go treat her yourself!"
• As Michael Shephard hurried to the hospital, these words echoed in his mind.
• The first remark came from his sister lying in a hospital bed, desperate for money for her surgery.
• The second was from Lydia Winston, his mother-in-law.
• Michael indeed hailed from a lineage of holistic healers.
• But when he was six, disaster struck his family overnight.
• In a single night, his entire family perished.
• Only his mother managed to escape with him and his sister.
• His mother struggled fiercely to raise the two of them.
• But when Michael turned fifteen, his overburdened mother also passed away, leaving only him and his sister to rely on each other.
• Besides his good sister, his mother also bequeathed him a tapered pendant of unidentified material.
• This pendant was purportedly a family heirloom.
• To survive, Michael took on any paying job, including delivering pamphlets and performing strenuous labor at construction sites.
• When work was scarce, he even resorted to begging.
• Five years ago, just to survive, he became a live-in son-in-law at the Lewises'.
• Despite enduring humiliations at the hands of the Lewises, he endured it without complaint.
• Because, in any case, the two siblings found stability.
• But recently, his sister, Sally Shephard, was diagnosed with a tumour.
• In a short time, it became malignant, and she urgently needed 45 thousand for surgery!
• During Sally's treatment, he exhausted all his savings and accumulated debts.
• Now, he needed 45 thousand; where was he supposed to find it?
• His only option was to seek help from the Lewises.
• He figured that the Lewises, driven by a sense of kinship, would help save Sally.
• But he received nothing and was insulted by Lydia instead.
• When he was at his lowest, Michael received another call from his sister at the hospital.
• In the call, Sally's thoughts of suicide left him feeling even more adrift.
• Sally, you mustn't do anything rash! Michael screamed inwardly.
• In this world, Sally was his sole remaining family.
• He had once vowed to give Sally a good life!
• But now ...
• He never imagined that he couldn't even muster the funds for Sally's treatment, let alone save her life!
• He was furious...
• Furious at his lack of money!
• Being just a live-in son-in-law!
• Being born into a family of alternative medicine practitioners yet not understanding any medicine, which delayed Sally's treatment!
• But he also knew that the greatest luxury for the two of them was simply surviving in this world!
• But now, was even this simplest of hopes denied by fate?
• Michael had already resolved that he would save Sally even if it meant selling a kidney!
• He swore to keep Sally alive!
• Upon arriving at the emergency ward where his sister lay, a figure covered in a white sheet was being wheeled out.
• Buzz!
• Michael felt a buzzing in his head, a dizziness that almost caused him to collapse.
• This can't be real. It can't be ...
• This isn't Sally. It can't be Sally ...
• Michael repeated this to himself.
• But the words of the doctor pushing the surgical cart shattered all of Michael's hopes.
• "Your sister has passed away. But her death had nothing to do with the hospital. She removed her oxygen tube herself!"
• The doctor's cold voice pierced Michael's heart like a sharp blade.
• Michael felt like his entire world had crumbled!