They Replaced Me... Until the Government Wanted Me

Chapter 6

From the moment I could remember, my parents were rarely home. They devoted almost their entire lives to pharmaceutical research and medical experiments. Often, they’d be gone for months, even a year at a time.

Growing up, aside from paid nannies, the ones who took care of me were my two older brothers—eight years my senior.

When I was six, just starting elementary school, the teacher announced a parent-teacher meeting for new students. My parents were thousands of miles away, and I went home in a panic, hiding under the covers and crying.

Late that night, fourteen-year-old Ethan Parker came into my room to check if I’d kicked off the blankets. When he pulled back the covers, he saw my tear-streaked face. He held me, wiping my tears the way our mother would, then patted my back and reassured me:

"It’s okay. Big brother will go to Paige’s meeting."

"Mom and Dad are busy, but I’ll never be too busy for you."

The next day, he skipped class to attend my parent-teacher meeting, only to be scolded by my teacher for causing trouble. When he rushed back to his middle school, his homeroom teacher made him stand under the flagpole as punishment for the entire afternoon.

When he didn’t show up to pick me up after school, I ran to his school and found him still standing there under the scorching sun. Afraid he’d get heatstroke, I nearly cried from worry.

He jogged over with a grin and teased, "It’s nothing."

"The sun’s warm—I like it."

We grabbed street food for dinner and walked home under the moonlight. When we arrived, the nanny had taken leave for personal reasons, but Lucas had already prepared a hot meal. The moment we opened the door, the aroma filled the house.

From the kitchen, the teenager peeked out with bowls and chopsticks in hand. "Wash your hands. Dinner’s ready."

Lucas had always been quiet but gentle and attentive. When I scraped my arm playing and sneaked home, too scared to admit it, he’d silently roll up my sleeve, clean the wound with iodine, and bandage it.

Once finished, he’d look up as if about to say something, but seeing me biting my lip guiltily, he’d just sigh softly. Then he’d pat my head and murmur, "Be more careful next time."

As a child, I was restless and never learned to behave. Yet he bandaged my scrapes over and over, each time sighing at my nervous expression and repeating, "Be more careful next time."

For all those years when our parents were absent, they were both brothers and father figures to me.

Then, when I was twelve, I saw the Northern Lights on TV. Ethan promised to take me to see them during the holidays, and Lucas booked plane tickets for all three of us.

But the next day, our parents passed away suddenly.