From the 99th Punishment to Freedom

I carried Sophia up the mountain through the heavy rain and passed out midway.

Half-conscious, I overheard her talking with Emma, her best friend.

Soph, you're such an actress. Ryan's taken care of you for five years without realizing your legs are perfectly fine.

How many times has he carried you up here for treatment'? Isn't the punishment' enough?

Liam's been overseas for five years, and you still can't let him go?

Then I heard Sophia's cold voice.

98 times. What, are you feeling sorry for Ryan?

Not really. But what is Ryan to you after all? A brother? A boyfriend? Or a full-time caretaker?

Whatever. Sophia dismissed it.

If he hadn't taken over Liam's project, Liam wouldn't have failed and sent overseas by my family.

Ryan deserved the punishment. The game doesn't end until the 99th time.

My heart ached.

I thought Sophia kept me by her side because she loved me.

I never imagined it was all just to punish me for taking the project that originally belonged to Liam, her first love.

Fine.

After the 99th time, we would be strangers.

I stayed on the ground until I had pulled myself together.

When I sat up slowly, everyone was staring at me.

Ryan, what's wrong with you? You passed out before we reached the doctor's place. Sophia fell from your back!

Ignoring Emma's sarcasm, I struggled to my feet and walked over to Sophia.

Her face was pale, her arms and legs bruised, and her body trembled from being soaked through.

I casually touched one of her wounds, my fingers came away stained with green powder.

This was the act she'd put on for me all 98 times before, by claiming her legs could only be treated by a doctor on this isolate mountain.

What are you standing around for? Get her to the doctor now!

Emma grabbed my wrist and shoved me hard.

I fell heavily to the ground.

Emma, stop it!

Sophia drove her wheelchair toward me, reaching out with effort to help me up.

Ryan, I'm sorry. Emma didn't mean it. She's just worried about me.

I forced a smile.

I know. I misjudged my own strength.

Did you get hurt? I'm sorry.

The Montgomery family wielded power far beyond anything a mere orphan like me could challenge.

If I didn't play along with Sophia, things would only get worse for me.

We reached the doctor's office.

I put Sophia on the bed, asked Emma to look after her, and closed the door behind me as usual.

Sophia said she didn't want me to see her in pain during treatment.

It would upset me, and my being upset would depress her.

So, every time she went in, I'd kneel outside, begging whatever higher power there was to spare her from suffering.

This time, I lingered and heard roaring laughter from inside.

Soph, did you see that? We fooled him again.

Next will be the last time. How about making it memorable, Soph? Just a little rain and some exhaustion isn't enough to make him learn his lesson.

I walked down the mountain in my drenched clothes, their laughter echoing in my mind.

With every step downward, my love for Sophia faded bit by bit.

On a extremely slippery step, I stumbled and rolled several steps down, crashing straight into a man in a tailored suit.

Watch where you're going! If you like rolling, why not just roll all the way down?

I thought this was supposed to be a top-tier resort. No cable car? Have to walk? So damn tired.

Turns out the place Sophia called a medical facility was actually a luxury resort for the rich.

I glanced at the man and froze in place.

His profile was ridiculously similar to Liam's.

But before I could confirm if it was him, the man had gone far away.

Back in the Montgomery estate, I secretly contacted my uncle overseas.

Five years ago, to stay with Sophia, I turned down going back to the Clark family.

Five years later, he was still waiting for me to return.

My uncle had everything ready.

From then on, I would act as though nothing had changed and finish carrying Sophia for her 99th treatment'.

But for the next week, Sophia didn't come home.

Her assistant told me there was an emergency at a branch office out of state that required her personal attention.

Ryan, I've arrived at the company. Don't worry.

While I'm away, you should rest well and handle things at home.

As usual, Sophia video-called me when she arrived.

It was our rule: no matter where we went, we had to check in to ensure each other's safety.

Back when I first joined the Montgomery family, I was kidnapped by a business rival. Sophia mobilized every resource to save me.

After that, she insisted I video-call her every time I went out, and she also video-call me when she was out.

All these years, we'd kept that tradition.

Through her phone camera, I caught a man's figure in the corner.

Is someone else in your room?

No, it's just a staff.

After ending the call, I felt humiliated.

I recognized the man in the video as Liam. It seemed he had really returned.

I checked the schedule. Sophia's next treatment was in two days.

After that, I would left the Montgomery family for good.

Late, Sophia returned with the staff in that video call.

I moved naturally to push her wheelchair, but Liam stepped in and took over.

Ryan, this is Sean. He's a student of a great doctor.

Emma begged for a long time before he agreed to come here for my treatments. From now on, you'll follow his lead.

It was the man I met at the mountain. So he was there to meet them that day.

I was stunned. Did Sophia found this man looking exactly like Liam for treatment or something else?

You must be Ms. Montgomery's brother. I look forward to working with you.

Back then, to help me find my place in the Montgomerys, Sophia had introduced me to everyone as her brother.

But what we had now was far beyond a sibling relationship.

What sister hugged and kissed her brother?

I swallowed my grief. Yes, I'm her brother. I'll be upstairs, Sophia.

Sophia said nothing as I went up.

In my room, I packed away the things Sophia had given me, one by one.

Indescribable sound from next door kept drifting in.

Ms. Montgomery, how's this pressure? Should I go harder?

Get ready, I'm going in.

Then a loud moan came through: Ah