Chapter 1

Growing up, I always thought I was a broken piece of trash who couldn’t enjoy the "good things" in life.

Seafood sent me into anaphylactic shock. Beef gave me severe rashes.

Whenever I got greedy and sneaked a bite of the premium ingredients on my brother Marcus's plate, my mother would look as if she were facing a mortal enemy and force a bowl of "desensitization medicine" down my throat.

After drinking it, I would inevitably vomit and suffer from violent diarrhea, ending up bedridden for two whole days.

I was filled with tearful gratitude, genuinely believing she was saving my life.

Until my checkup at age twenty. The doctor stared at my clean allergen report, his brows furrowed.

"You are perfectly healthy. You don't have any food allergies at all."

I froze.

That afternoon, I went home early. I broke into the cabinet where my mother kept the "medicine" locked away, took some of the residue, and ran to a local pharmacy.

The pharmacist sniffed it for a long moment, his face turning incredibly grave.

"This is a highly toxic, severe herbal emetic and laxative. Long-term ingestion of this can cause permanent infertility. You must not take this under any circumstances."