Flashback Scene: The night it happened
It didn't start with violence.
It never did.
It started with a mistake.
—
The house was unusually quiet that evening.
Ryan had just finished cleaning the kitchen when he heard Ingrid's voice echo from the living room.
"Ryan!"
His heart skipped.
"Yes, ma'am," he replied quickly, wiping his hands as he rushed in.
She stood there, arms crossed, eyes sharp.
"Where is the document I left on this table?"
Ryan froze.
Document?
"I… I haven't seen it," he said honestly.
Her gaze darkened instantly.
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not lying—"
SLAP!
The sound rang through the room.
Ryan stumbled back, his cheek burning.
"I told you not to lie!" she snapped.
Tears stung his eyes, but he forced them back.
"I didn't take it," he whispered.
That's when Adam walked in.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Ingrid didn't hesitate.
"He stole an important document," she said coldly. "Probably trying to sell it."
Ryan's eyes widened. "That's not true!"
But Adam was already looking at him differently.
Suspicion.
Disgust.
Exactly what Ingrid wanted.
—
"Search his room," she ordered.
Ryan's chest tightened. "Please—there's nothing there!"
But no one listened.
They tore through his things.
Clothes thrown. Books scattered. Drawers emptied.
And then—
"Here it is," Ingrid said.
She held up the document.
From Ryan's bag.
Silence.
Ryan stared at it in shock.
"I didn't— I swear I didn't put that there!"
But it was too late.
Adam's voice came out cold.
"You really are a snake."
Something inside Ryan broke.
—
That night…
The punishment came.
Not just words.
Not just insults.
But something worse.
"You need to learn your place," Ingrid said.
And she made sure he did.
—
By the time it was over…
Ryan could barely stand.
Bruises marked his skin.
Pain burned through his body.
But deeper than all of it—
Was the betrayal.
Adam had been there.
Watching.
Believing.
Turning away.
—
Back to Present
That was the night everything changed.
The night Riaan stopped hoping.
Stopped trusting.
Stopped believing in family.
Because the truth was clear now—
He wasn't one of them.
He never was.
—
Riaan's injuries didn't come from random abuse—they came from a setup orchestrated by Ingrid, with Adam unknowingly becoming part of it.