Blurb：
Born into the prestigious Seymour family, Zach Seymour was always the forgotten child—shunned by parents who doted only on William Seymour and Anne Seymour. Banished to the countryside while his brother enjoyed luxury, Zach’s life was a cycle of neglect and false accusations. When William framed him for violence, their parents shipped Zach to a brutal residential treatment center, where he met a tragic end.
Now a ghost lingering near the Seymour residence, Zach watches his family celebrate William’s birthday, oblivious to his death. As they mock his memory and plan to send him back to the center, Zach’s spirit stirs with unresolved rage. Will he haunt them into revealing the truth? Or will the Seymours forever bury their sins?
Dive into a tale of family betrayal, ghostly vengeance, and the secrets of the elite. If you loved stories like “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” or “The Haunting of Hill House,” this dark family drama will keep you hooked.
Content：
My parents have always been biased against me, even as a child. They leave me in the countryside while raising my brother themselves.
When I’m finally brought to live with them, they neglect me because they don’t want my brother to be upset.
When my brother says that I’m rude and falsely accuses me of getting people to assault him, my parents believe him without a shadow of doubt.
And so, I’m sent to a residential treatment center.
Under my parents’ tacit permission and my brother’s persuasion, the teachers at the center “educate” me inhumanely.
In the end, I learn my lesson, as everyone wishes.
I die while learning it, too.
Chapter 1
I watched with my own eyes as they dumped my body in the mountainsthe most remote part of the city. Somehow, though, my consciousness stayed behind.
By then, I’d already been dead for three days.
I drifted aimlessly until, without meaning to, I found myself back at the Seymour residence. And as luck would have it, my family had just come home.
They’d taken William Seymour to the coast for his birthday. It was a trip that included everyone except me.
They laughed and reminisced about the breathtaking sights from the cruise ship, ones I’d never have the chance to see.
I stood there quietly as my sister, Anne Seymour, started complaining, “Is Zach still not back? I’m starving. I thought dinner would be ready the second we got home.”
Mom frowned and called my name a couple of times, but of course, no one answered. “He’s gone again? The residential treatment center was let out two days ago, wasn’t it?
“Who even raised him? Everyone else in this family knows how to behave, but he’s turned out to be some useless country bumpkin. All he ever does is goof off with those thugs.”
From the couch, Dad chimed in like it was no big deal, “He’s probably still sulking because Anne didn’t go get him when he called.”
The souvenirs rattled against each other as Mom shifted them around, clearly frustrated. “What else does he want from us? We brought him here from the countryside, and this is how he repays us? Will’s still a kid, his own younger brother no less. Zach should’ve been looking out for him.
“Will’s been holding back and letting Zach have his way, but Zach repaid him by getting his thug friends to beat Will up. He then lied straight to our faces, saying Will had hurt himself. I should’ve never had that boy.”
I shuddered but couldn’t tear my eyes away from her.
Anne jumped in, trying to defuse the situation. “Let’s just wait for Zach to come home. We’ll handle it then. If he won’t cooperate, we can always pack him off to the residential treatment center for months.”
Still furious, Mom spat out viciously, “Maybe some time at the treatment center will finally teach him how to behave like a proper son. The way he acts now? I wouldn’t be caught dead in public with him.”
I could see how deeply disappointed Mom was. My eyes dropped to the floor, and for some reason I couldn’t explain, my mind wandered back to my days in the countryside.
Back then, I fell seriously ill, so ill that even the local doctors couldn’t cure me. I didn’t want to bother Mom and Dad while they were working, so I just suffered through it alone without telling them.
Somehow, they found out anyway. They told me to hold on a little longer, that they’d come soon to take me to the city for proper treatment.
I held onto that promise, waiting day after day. Winter came with its snow, but not Mom and Dad. Looking back, it was a miracle I even survived.
I only learned the truth after they finally brought me to the city. They’d already packed everything and were ready to come get me when William threw a fit about wanting to see snow. So they gave in and took him up north instead.
They had so much fun that even after returning, it never crossed their minds that I was still back in the countryside, sick as a dog and waiting for them in pain.
Why did they even bother having me if they never actually cared about me as their son?
Dinner came around fast, and the table was loaded with the seafood they’d brought back from the coast, its savory smell filling the air.
Mom was busy peeling shrimp for William, while Dad smiled warmly as he asked if William was enjoying the meal.
Anne kept checking her watch, her voice edged with annoyance. “Zach’s staying out all night again. He doesn’t have an ounce of discipline. Will would never pull something like this.”
Mom’s eyebrows shot up, her voice turning venomous. “When has he ever known how to act right? We told him coming here meant straightening up. But no, he just had to bring every trashy countryside habit with him.”
Anne sighed. “Maybe things would’ve turned out differently if we’d brought him to the city earlier.”
Chapter 2
Mom shrugged it off. “Zach’s already a lost cause from living out in the country. Bringing him here sooner wouldn’t have changed anything, and it probably just would’ve meant more trouble for Will. At this point, all we can do is hope that whatever center he’s at manages to fix him.”
Dad cleared his throat impatiently. “Why even bring him up? Do you want Will picking up his bad habits? Let’s just eat.”
I’d heard all I needed to. Feeling numb, I drifted into the storage room. Since William didn’t want me around, this roomthe one farthest from hishad basically become mine.
I looked around, but none of my stuff was left. That was when I remembered that Mom had already turned it into William’s walk-in closet.
“Your dad and I have always done our best for you,” Mom had hissed, her voice dripping with disgust. “And Will is your younger brother. He’s fragile, and instead of protecting him like you’re supposed to, you got him beaten up?
“I know you’re unhappy living here, but Will is still getting used to having you around. Was it really too much to ask you to go easy on him? I can’t believe you let this happen to him. If anything worse happens to Will, you’re going to pay for it!”
Then, without another word, she ordered the maids to clear out the storage room and turn it into a walk-in closet.
No one would listen to my side of the story, let alone believe me. I didn’t even know any thugs to begin with.
My eyes wandered over the walls, lined with William’s designer clothes and shoes, and it hit methere hadn’t been a place for me in this family for a long time.
The world was wide open, but I didn’t have anywhere in mind to go. Before I knew it, I was in the kitchen. The space was large, and there was Felix Seymour, huddled in the corner, eating off a plate.
He was a kid I’d taken in after his family abandoned him. They’d left him in the mountains because of his intellectual disability. I’d found him by chance while gathering herbs and brought him home.
I named him Felix, hoping that someone like me might find happiness in life.
Those long days waiting for Mom and Dad to pick me up, Felix was the only one who stuck by me. We huddled together for warmth, and having him around made the endless loneliness a little easier to bear.
He knew about Christmas. Even in the bitter cold, he’d stubbornly crouch by the riverbank, trying to catch fish, just because I’d once told him that eating fish at Christmas meant we’d swim through the new year with plenty to spare.
I brought Felix along when Mom and Dad finally moved me to the city. But William thought he was dim-witted and never let him sit at the table.
Felix would eat leftovers from a dish in the kitchen and sleep there, or sometimes out in the gazebo. He wasn’t the sharpest, but he had a good heart. Even when he was hungry, he never took food that wasn’t his.
Still, William never showed him a single kindness. And because of William, nobody else did either.
Whenever Felix finished eating, I made sure to stop by and spend some time with him. He might not have understood everything I said, but he always got how I was feeling.
His big eyes would brighten, and he’d reach out to give me an awkward little pat on the back with his small hand.
Now, I crouched beside him as he stared intently at the doorway, waiting for me to come through like I always did. Only this time, I wouldn’t be coming.
It had been so long since Felix last saw me. He must have been wondering where I’d disappeared to. Huddled in the kitchen corner, he started making these quiet whimpering sounds.
At first, he tried to keep it in. But soon enough, he couldn’t hold back anymore. His wailing grew louder and louder until even the Seymours could hear it from outside.
Felix heard the commotion outside the kitchen and wobbled over to the door. The second he spotted Anne, his speech slurred, the name barely making it past his lips. “Z-Zach…”
Dad scowled and snapped at Felix to shut up.
“I’ll lock him in the room outside later,” Anne said.
As soon as Dad left, she marched over, seized Felix by his clothes, and was ready to drag him off.
William flashed her a bright smile. “Anne, we just got home. You must be tired. Let me handle this. Go wash up and get some rest.”
Eventually, Anne left.
The second she was gone, William pulled on a pair of gloves, his face twisting in disgust as he yanked Felix into the small room outside. With a heavy thud, he threw Felix onto the floor.
Chapter 3
Felix clutched his head, grimacing in pain, but his eyes were still clouded with confusion as he stared up at William.
“Zach”
“I’m not that beggar.”
William seized Felix’s matted, unkempt hair. The searing pain sent Felix thrashing wildly, though he was careful not to so much as brush against William.
William gave him a disdainful look and slapped him across the face. Felix cried out, but before he could make another sound, William shoved a rag into his mouth, muffling his cries.
Then he grabbed Felix and threw him to the floor like he was nothing. Felix, terrified, scrambled back into the corner.
William crouched before him, his face twisted in a vicious smirk as he slapped him again and again.
“You’re the little beggar, and Zach’s the big one. What a pair.” William gave a harsh laugh.
“Zach’s nothing but trash. Who does he think he is, calling himself my brother? Because of him, the whole class makes fun of me. That useless waste should’ve stayed rotting in the countryside. He’s disgusting.”
Felix’s cheeks burned red, swelling from the blows, while the rag stuffed in his mouth slowly darkened with blood.
William stared at Felix, now limp and barely conscious in the corner, and grinned. Before leaving, he drove his foot into Felix’s spine with one last, savage kick.
My hand shook as I reached out, trying to brush Felix’s hair, but my fingers closed on nothing but air.
William sent Felix away.
It all started when Felix crawled under Anne’s skirt and scared her. But the truth was, William had snatched the doll I’d given Felix and spitefully thrown it at Anne’s feet.
I’d sewn that doll by hand for Felix back in the countryside, and he treasured it. But William treated it like a cruel joke, tossing it right at Anne’s feet like it was worthless.
Felix had an intellectual disability, so he didn’t fully understand what was happening. He just dashed over and ducked under Anne’s skirt to grab it back. The sudden movement made her shriek.
William immediately grabbed Felix by the scruff of his neck and threw him aside. I tried to catch Felix, lunging forward to cushion his fall, but he passed through me and hit the floor hard.
He was still sore from the beating William had given him a few days earlier, and the impact made him wince in pain.
Anne huffed in frustration and pulled out her phone to call me, but it went straight to voicemail.
William let out a low chuckle, his words slow but laced with something close to pity. “Hard to say if Felix learned this from Zach. This kid’s barely grown and already lifting girls’ skirts. And everyone says he’s slow. If even he can pull that off, imagine what Zach gets up to normally.”
Anne recoiled, her face twisting in disgust as she backed away from Felix. He stood there in a daze, completely unaware of what they were saying.
Anne scowled. “Trust Zach to mess things up. Who in their right mind would pick up some random idiot and bring them home?”
William’s eyes gleamed sharply as he said, “We should just get rid of Felix. With the way he acts, who knows? Next thing you know, he’ll be sneaking into your room.”
Anne hesitated.
“Plenty of couples can’t have kids. He’ll be taken care of. It’s better than staying here and picking up Zach’s bad habits.”
Eventually, Anne gave in.
As soon as she was gone, William drove his foot into Felix, knocking him to the ground. His eyes gleamed with cruel amusement. “Relax, you little idiot. I’ll set you up somewhere nice. A beggar should stick with their own kind.”
And just like that, William severed the last connection I had to the Seymours.
I’d been dead for ten days, and the Seymours still couldn’t be bothered to look for me. Everyone just figured I’d run off to avoid getting punished.
Mom’s hatred for me only grew worse, and she spat, “Good riddance to that worthless son of mine! A disgrace like him is nothing but shame!”
Then her phone buzzed with a video from the Dean of Students.
There I was on all fours, crawling forward in the most humiliating way imaginable. The camera trailed me for a few steps before I turned toward the lens with this fawning grin. Then I stuck my tongue out, barking like a dog.
My family didn’t notice how my clothes hung off me. Even the smallest size swallowed my bony frame whole.
Chapter 4
My family didn’t notice the taser appearing over and over in the video. All they saw was me, the Seymours’ eldest son, nuzzling against a stranger’s leg like a dog.
Dad’s face twisted with anger. In a low, furious voice, he snapped at Mom to turn off the video, calling it humiliating. “Turn it off!”
Once she did, she tapped open a voice memo from the dean of students.
That was the same voice that had tormented me endlessly at the residential treatment center. It always came right before punishments that left me shaking.
They’d lash me with a whip coated in pepper spray or shock me with the taser until my body spasmed uncontrollably.
The whole time, they’d howl with laughter, mocking me, a privileged family’s son, for having less pride than their pet dogs.
“Mrs. Seymour, Zach’s behavior is beyond disappointing. The fact that he’s gone this far just to avoid punishment is despicable! I suggest we extend his ‘study’ period until he learns some obedience and manners.”
Dad slammed the fruit platter onto the floor, his anger finally exploding. “He makes me sick! What did I do to deserve such a shameless son?”
After hearing the voice memo play from Mom’s phone, my mind dragged me back to those dark days.
Every one of them controlled my fate. I was nothing but a dog on a leashsomething to toy with or beat up whenever they felt like it. All because the Seymours never gave a damn about me.
It kept going until that day when I finally fought back. But in the end, they broke my arms and legs, crushed my spine, and sent me slamming into the wall with one last kick.
The last thing I saw was red flooding my vision. Maybe my skull had split open. The thought flickered weakly as my mind faded.
They bolted when they realized they’d gone too far.
Shaking, I managed to grab my phone and call Anne.
“I’ll come get you right away,” she said.
Her voice sounded empty, but I trusted her. I clung to that hope, waiting for her to rescue me. In the end, I bled out.
She lied to mejust like Mom and Dad had done on that snowy day years before.
After watching that humiliating video that shamed the whole family, Mom frantically called my phone, but no one answered.
Dad was so furious he almost smashed his phone. Then he snapped at Anne and Mom, telling them not to let me in when I got back.
“Starting today, he’s no son of mine!” he roared. “If he’s going to spit on our kindness, we’ll send him back to the countryside! Let him rot there for all I care!”
Mom interrupted sharply, “Have someone throw out all his things later. I can’t bear to look at them anymore.”
I stood right before her, staring at them with nothing but pain in my eyes.
How could they possibly think sending me to that residential treatment center was for my own good? Had they even noticed the scars covering my body? Or how thin I’d become?
Was William really the only one who mattered to them?
Dad’s phone rang abruptly. The second he saw the police calling, his expression shifted through a dozen emotions at once.
Annoyed, Mom grumbled, “It’s got to be Zach causing problems again! Now he’s dragging us into it. He never could act right like Will.”
Dad let out a dismissive grunt before answering the call.
“Hello, are you Zach Seymour’s family? This is the”
Dad cut the caller off impatiently. “You’ve got the wrong person! I’m not his family, and I won’t claim a son who’s done nothing but embarrass us! If he landed himself in jail, he can sit there and think about what he’s done.
“Don’t call here again. He’s not my son. And you make sure he understands that once he’s out, he’d better stay clear of the Seymour residence.
“He can crawl back to whatever countryside he came from and waste his life for all I care. And tell him not to come begging for help. The Seymours have already given him more than he ever deserved!”
Dad was about to end the call when the voice on the other end spoke up urgently.
“This is the police. We recovered a young man’s body from the mountains several days ago. We’ve confirmed his identity. It’s Zach Seymour.”
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