After I caught my wife with my own brother, everyone in the family pressured me to step aside.
So I did. I accepted the betrayal with a smile, took my half of the assets, and walked away from that life forever.
Later, I found three lost children.
Under my care, they grew up to become a titan of the business world, a king of the entertainment industry and a genius professor sought after by the nation’s top research labs.
This winter, my biological daughter tracked me down to the small country town where I’d made my home.
She found me lounging in a patio chair, soaking up the weak winter sun, and sneered.
“If Grandma and Grandpa weren’t so old and sentimental, I would never have come to this dump to drag you home for the holidays.”
She looked around my modest, unfinished yard with disdain. “After you left, my sister Lara took over Aura Corp, my brother Isaac became a mega-influencer with millions of followers, and I got into Stanford. Ou lives are better than ever.”
She fixed me with a triumphant glare. “So, Dad. You threw us away for a bit of cash. Do you regret it now?”
Serena stared at me, her expression a mask of smug superiority, clearly expecting me to crumble with regret
I just looked back at her and gave a calm, thoughtful nod.
“Stanford is a good school,” I said. It meant, in a way, she and Talia were alumnae. Of course, a once-in-a- generation mind like Talia’s was a different beast entirely.
My lack of a theatrical breakdown seemed to annoy her. A flicker of resentment crossed her face before she quickly replaced it with that familiar, contemptuous smile. “The New Year is coming up. It’s also Grandpa’s 80th birthday. Grandma’s getting on in years, and she’s worried about you. She insisted I come and get you.”
She sighed dramatically. “Dad, you’re a grown man. It’s time to be a little more considerate.”
I thought for a moment. I did owe my parents. They were old, and whatever bitterness lay between us, a son had a duty.
Serena mistook my silence for weakness. Her eyes, sweeping over the small country house I’d just bought and hadn’t even had time to renovate, dripped with scorn.
“Looks like things haven’t gone so well for you since you abandoned us.”
‘But don’t worry,” she added, her tone dripping with false magnanimity. “Legally, you’re still our father. We’ll send you a check when you’re old and can’t work. But let me be clear: Grandma might still see you as her
Chapter 1
son, but in our hearts, Uncle Hugo has always been our real dad.”
I studied the young woman before me. The disdain in her eyes was identical to how it had been all those
years ago.
I saw her then, a little girl standing coldly at the top of the stairs.
She was so small, but her strength was shocking as she shoved me-burning with a high fever-sending me tumbling down the staircase.
Her voice had been sharp with suspicion. “You’re not my daddy! Uncle Hugo is my daddy!”
“Mommy and Daddy are supposed to be together!”
“Don’t you hurt my dad, you bad man!”
And behind her, hiding in the shadows, my brother Hugó had worn a look of triumphant glee.
Serena’s push had fractured my leg. Combined with the fever, I was unconscious in the hospital for thre days. But when I woke, everyone took Hugo’s side, accusing me of bullying him.
“Brother, you can hit me, curse me, slander me, I’ll take it,” Hugo had said, tears welling in his eyes. “But you
can’t use your own daughter in your schemes.”
“I just touched him lightly,” seven-year-old Serena had sobbed, her little body shaking. “Daddy fell all by him
self…”
I had stared at her in shock. “Serena, why are you lying…?”
She had only cried harder. “I’m not lying! You’re the one who’s lying! You were going to hit Uncle Hugo…”
Hugo had scooped her into a protective embrace, dabbing at her tears. My wife, Bianca, had stood by, he face dark with fury.
“She’s seven years old, Victor! Can a seven-year-old lie like that?”
“How much strength could a child possibly have? God, Victor, how can a man be so petty?”
“And besides,” she had spat, the words like venom, “she is your daughter!”
Looking at Serena now, the little girl who had championed my betrayer, my heart felt like a desolate wastela
- Yes, she was my daughter. The treasure I had cherished, turned into a weapon in another’s hands and plunged deep into my chest. All I felt now was a profound and weary disappointment.
A sarcastic smile touched my lips. “Don’t worry. Your mother and I are long divorced. I’ll be gone right after the holidays.”
Before leaving, I sent a message to the group chat I shared with my real children.
This year, we’re going to spend New Year’s at your grandmother’s house.
Chapter 1
