"Get out of this house. The Alexander family doesn't have a child like you!"
The deafening noise made one's head ache so badly that Louis almost couldn't restrain himself from killing someone. Ever since he became the Dark God, no one had dared to speak to him in such a tone anymore.
Normally, with just a single thought from him, everything would have already turned to ashes. Yet today, that voice still echoed on, like the incessant buzzing of flies.
Louis suddenly opened his eyes. What met them was a blaze of brilliant light. Even in broad daylight, the glass chandeliers overhead were running at full power. Standing before him were faces that were both familiar and distant.
An elderly couple, and a young man who was currently holding another young man in his arms. The latter's hair was slightly wet, water trickling down along his chin and dripping onto the floor. His eyes shimmered with moisture, his lips pale, yet he still spoke weakly, "Father, please don't blame Louis. I know my existence is unacceptable… maybe I shouldn't be here…"
The moment he finished speaking, the other three spoke almost simultaneously.
"John, this isn't your fault," the man supporting John said coldly.
"That's right. He's the one who doesn't know his place," the father added.
"Louis, hurry up and apologize to your younger brother!" The only woman present looked toward Louis, her gaze filled with reproach, devoid of any affection, containing only disgust.
This scene was like a heavy blow, striking deep into Louis's buried memories.
He looked at the people in front of him, at the surroundings around him, as memories surged forth like a raging flood.
Who would have thought… who would have thought!
He finally remembered. Before this, because of his title as the Dark God, he had drawn the world's crusade against him. That so-called hero led an army to surround him. No matter how powerful he was, it was still difficult to contend against someone favored by the world itself, especially while facing an entire army alone. In the end, he died, but he also used all his remaining power to drag that heaven's favored son down to death with him!
He had thought everything would end there. Yet he never expected that he would return to this place, to his first life.
In this life, he was the child lost outside the illustrious Alexander family, the most prestigious family in City S.
And John, the one being cherished in the palms of the entire Alexander family, was precisely the cuckoo that had taken over the nest, enjoying all the privileges the Alexander family provided from childhood.
While he himself had endured beatings and scoldings from his parents since he was young. Back then, he thought it was because he was too useless. It was not until the truth was exposed and he was found and brought back that everything finally became clear.
However, the Alexander family had doted on John for nearly seventeen years. Even if one raised a dog for that long, feelings would naturally form, let alone when they loved John deeply. So they temporarily did not announce Louis's true identity, only saying that Louis was a child they had suddenly adopted.
In his previous life, Louis was extremely insecure, timid everywhere he went. Old Mr. Alexander felt that he was a stain, someone who could never compare to John. As for Mrs. Alexander, even when facing her biological son, the affection she gave to John still surpassed everything else.
As for the elder brother, Lucen, there was no need to say much. He had always harbored feelings for John in secret, disregarding ethics and morality. Now that he had discovered John was not their parents' biological child, he was naturally overjoyed. On the surface, he never showed it, but he had always cared deeply about John. Toward his biological younger brother Louis, however, he paid even less attention.
It had to be said that although Louis clearly shared the same bloodline as them, in this house he was no different from an unnecessary extra.
He always tried his best to do everything well, yet John was always the one shining in front.
And because he had only just returned, with a past steeped in humiliation, his personality was timid and introverted. He worked hard at everything, desperately trying to be liked.
Clearly, it was John who constantly provoked him, yet every time, the only one criticized was him. His emotions became twisted. He wanted to drive John out of this house. This place should have been his home in the first place. But as everyone could see, in the end, the one who was driven out was him.
In his previous life, he did not want to return to that nightmarish house of his, yet he still gave up struggling. Even if he was ignored and despised, he still wanted to stay there.
One might think this was simply a story of a real and fake young master, but it was not. Everything was only just beginning, because this was a post-apocalyptic world.
And John was indeed the main character of this world. One month before the apocalypse, he awakened a vast storage space capable of holding food and weapons, and at the same time gained the ability of "prophecy." He could foresee certain future events, and he persuaded the entire family to follow his arrangements. The whole Alexander family knew about the coming apocalypse. Only Louis knew nothing at all.
When the apocalypse was about to arrive, John even had the "kind intention" of sending Louis to prepare pastries for Mrs. Alexander.
Louis had always wanted a chance to curry favor with his parents, so of course he went eagerly without the slightest hesitation, only to be killed by the first wave of zombies that appeared.
The Alexander family did not know that John had never told Louis about the impending apocalypse. John only said that Louis had refused to listen to him.
They had never been fond of Louis to begin with, so the Alexander family did not care in the slightest. If Louis died, so be it. John even shed a few tears, making everyone feel all the more that he was kind-hearted and gentle. They even firmly believed that he was the only young master of the Alexander family, and that Louis's death was due to Louis being too foolish, not John's fault.
The reason Louis was able to learn how everything unfolded was because after he died, he turned into a wandering soul for an entire day. During that time, a thick book appeared in his hands. Thus, he learned that he was nothing more than a minor supporting character to a supporting character in a story where John was the main character.
He died because that was simply his fate.
Carrying his hatred, Louis was unable to be reborn. Instead, a spatial rift sent him to another world, a world where only strength decided everything.
Louis cultivated without regard for life or death, eventually becoming the Dark God feared by all. He had thought the raging fury within him had been extinguished, but in the end, he was still nothing more than a villain destined to be destroyed.
In the end, he dragged the so-called main character down to be buried together with him. He thought everything had ended there, yet unexpectedly, he returned to this place. This time, that so-called main character, that so-called world-favored one—he would bury them all!
John sensed Louis's gaze directed at him and, for some reason, felt something strange… even fear.
That's not right. Louis was just a stupid country bumpkin. With just a slight push, he could be knocked to the ground. What was there to be afraid of?
When he wanted to look more closely, Louis had already lowered his eyes, appearing as usual, as if the dangerous aura John had sensed earlier had merely been an illusion.
At this moment, Louis suddenly lifted his head to look at them, his eyes red-rimmed, like a rabbit driven into a corner that would still bite back: "I'm the one who's your biological son, yet I was abused from childhood to adulthood, while the one who stole my identity is living in comfort here. I don't like John—what's wrong with that?!"
John seemed not to have expected Louis to be able to say such words. It seemed he was not that stupid after all.
In the next instant, John began to tremble, tears streaming down endlessly. He immediately knelt on the ground. "Louis, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I truly didn't know about these things. I'll leave… please don't raise your voice at Dad and Mom like this."
John's performance immediately snapped Mr. and Mrs. Alexander back to their senses. The slight wavering they had felt because of Louis's words vanished at once.
Mr. Alexander looked at Lucen. "Take your younger brother back to his room and have him change his clothes, so he doesn't catch a cold."
After speaking, he turned his gaze toward Louis and said coldly, "Louis, I already told you the day you returned. You are my biological son, but I raised John from childhood. If you know your place, the Alexander family will not let you lack anything."
Louis sneered. "Won't let me lack anything? Then announce it to the whole world that I'm the second young master of the Alexander family, and that John is nothing more than a cuckoo that took over another's nest!"
"You—so shameless!" Mr. Alexander roared. Mrs. Alexander also revealed an expression of displeasure, clutching John's hand and comforting him nonstop.
Lucen, on the other hand, said nothing. Because of the secret feelings in his heart, he was in fact not strongly opposed to the exposure of John's and Louis's identities. After all, no matter what, they would still love John the most.
Louis was nothing more than a sewer rat. How could he possibly compare to the precious darling they had cherished from childhood to adulthood?