THE PRIESTESS'S WORTHLESS HUSBAND IS A DRAGON

CHAPTER 2: PUNISHEMENT PART 1

"Lies. That's all you are, Ethan. A bundle of lies wrapped in skin." Patricia stood up, her silk dress rustling. "You've never cared about Derek. Not once. Not ever. When he was sick as a child, you didn't sit by his bed. When he won his first tournament, you didn't clap. You've always treated him like he's something stuck to the bottom of your shoe, and I am sick of pretending I don't see it."

Something sharp twisted inside Ethan's stomach. She didn't remember. Or she chose not to remember. It didn't matter which one. The result was the same. He was always the villain in their story. When Derek broke his mother's favorite vase at age nine, Ethan took the blame because Derek cried. When Derek failed his mid year exams, Ethan tutored him in secret for six weeks and let Derek take all the credit when his grades improved. Every sacrifice, every time he put himself second, it vanished into thin air the moment it was done. Like it never happened. Like he never happened.

"I do care about Derek. I've always cared about him. Please believe me."

"Then prove it." Patricia's mouth pressed into a hard, thin line. She exchanged a glance with Richard, and something cold and deliberate passed between them. "Give your Bloodline Core to your brother."

The words hit Ethan like a bucket of ice water poured down his spine. His lungs froze. His mouth fell open, and for three full heartbeats, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the grandfather clock against the far wall.

"What... what did you just say?"

"You heard her, boy." Richard dropped back into his chair and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, eyes locked on Ethan like a predator watching something small and trapped. "Extract your Bloodline Core and hand it over to Derek. He deserves it more than you ever will. You got lucky, Ethan. That's all it was. Dumb, blind luck falling on the wrong son."

"Father, if I lose my Bloodline Core, I can never enter Imperial University. My entire future, everything I've trained for, everything I've worked toward, it will all be gone. I'll be nothing."

"You're already nothing." Richard didn't even blink. "You think awakening a bloodline makes you somebody? Without the Morrison name stamped on your back, you're a flea on a dog. You're a cockroach that learned to walk on two legs. Derek is the heart of this family. Derek is the one who will carry our legacy forward. You? You're the spare. You've always been the spare."

The spare. Ethan felt something crack inside his chest. He had always known he was second. Second in their eyes, second at the dinner table, second in every conversation. When guests came to the house, Richard introduced Derek first. When family portraits were taken, Ethan stood at the edge. When birthdays came, Derek's lasted three days. Ethan's was a cake on the kitchen counter with a card that said "From the family" in the housekeeper's handwriting. He had swallowed all of it. Every single crumb of neglect, year after year, because he believed that one day, if he just worked hard enough, they would finally see him.

Today was supposed to be that day. He walked through those doors with his heart bursting, ready to finally hear the words he had been starving for. And instead he got a knee on cold marble and blood in his mouth.

"I won't do it." His voice came out quiet but steady. "I'm sorry about Derek. I truly am. But I can't destroy my own future. Please don't ask me to do this."

Patricia let out a sharp gasp, clutching her chest like Ethan had driven a knife into it. Richard's face turned a shade of purple so dark it looked bruised.

"You ungrateful little animal." Richard's voice dropped low, almost a whisper, which was worse than his shouting. "You are lower than a worm in the dirt. A worm at least serves a purpose. You serve nothing. You are nothing." He lifted his hand without looking away from Ethan. "Twenty lashes. Now."