Chapter 535

Chapter 535:

Meanwhile, Cristian slipped into a deep dream. The time traveled back to when he was just ten years old, a mere kid. One sunny day, Marc and Nolan roped him into going outside to hang with their crew.

Cristian hesitated. At home, Marc and Nolan were nothing but trouble, always picking on him. As a result, the last thing he wanted was to hang out with them.

But Nolan wouldn’t take no for an answer that day. Despite Cristian’s protests, Curran and Terence chewed him out, accusing him of being ungrateful and insisting that he tag along. Feeling cornered, Cristian reluctantly relented.

Little did he know, Nolan had decided to play the grown-up and drive. Thirteen and barely tall enough to see over the steering wheel, Nolan was obviously biting off more than he could chew.

Swept up in their youthful excitement, they thought driving would prove how bold they were. Cristian, pushed by peer pressure, found himself in the backseat of Nolan’s wild ride.

Nolan drove with a mix of thrill and abandon, pushing the speedometer to its limits. Predictably, disaster struck.

At an intersection, Nolan tried to dodge a truck barreling toward them but lost control. The car veered off, smashing into a field and hitting a utility pole.

The aftermath was grim. Several kids were seriously hurt. The one in the passenger seat barely hung on after months in the ICU. Nolan survived with both legs broken. Cristian, in the back, ended up with two cracked ribs and several other injuries.

When he came to in the hospital, the first face he saw was Pamela’s. Overwhelmed with emotion, she lashed out at him, her slaps almost as painful as the crash itself.

As the rest of the Reed clan gathered, they yanked Pamela back but glared at Cristian as if he’d caused the whole mess.

Later, Cristian found out that Nolan had pinned the whole catastrophe on him, claiming the crash was all because Cristian, supposedly in the passenger seat, had tried to grab the wheel.

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Despite Cristian’s attempts to clear his name, insisting he was seated in the back and never interfered with the driving, his words fell on deaf ears. Other kids sided with Nolan, pinning the blame squarely on Cristian, branding him as the architect of Nolan’s misfortune.

Cristian couldn’t help but wonder if Nolan found solace in his own deception. Nolan knew the truth better than anyone, yet he clung to the narrative that Cristian was to blame. Perhaps it eased his guilt?

Following the incident, life within the Reed household grew increasingly unbearable for Cristian.

He endured constant beatings, verbal assaults, and degradation. At times, Cristian even questioned his own innocence, haunted by the thought that maybe he was indeed the calamity they portrayed him to be—the root of all their woes.

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