1 My brother, Caleb, was the illegitimate son, the family's dirty little secret. Growing up, he made it his mission to oppose me at every turn. When I finished first in my class, he reported me to the school for cheating. When I joined the board of directors, he crashed his sports car into the main gates of our headquarters. And when I finally found someone I loved, he became obsessed with stealing her from me. Thankfully, my girlfriend, Reese, came from a respected family of academics and carried herself with a cool, aloof grace. Every one of Caleb’s pathetic declarations of love was met with a stinging slap across the face. "I am going to be your sister-in-law," she would tell him, her voice like ice. "So get rid of those pathetic little ideas you have." Eventually, it seemed Caleb had accepted his fate. He stopped fighting me, starting from the very bottom of the company and working his way up. My father even praised him publicly at the annual company gala. Even Reese remarked with a pleased smile that my little brother had finally grown up. That all changed on the night I was officially appointed CEO of the entire corporation. Caleb sent me a video. On the screen, Reese, who had been conspicuously absent from the ceremony, was lounging in his arms, her eyes hazy with pleasure. … I didn't hesitate. I floored the accelerator, racing to the hotel I recognized in the background. I kicked the door open. Reese scrambled for the sheets, but they couldn't hide the messy constellation of love bites that stained the pale skin of her neck. Caleb, a smirk playing on his lips, provocatively tossed a used condom at my feet. "Sorry, big brother. Looks like you're a step too late." He leaned back, the picture of arrogance. "It's a shame. I could've given you a few pointers on how to make Reese scream." The cloying scent of sex in the room was so thick it made me want to gag. I strode over to the bed, ripped him out of it, and drove my fist into his smug face. Reese shrieked at me. "Julian, are you insane? Calm down!" I whipped my head around to face her, my eyes burning as I stared at her lips, swollen and red from his kisses. "Calm down? How the hell am I supposed to calm down when you're in his bed?" Caleb staggered to his feet, a cold sneer on his face. "Is this all it takes to break you?" he taunted. "I told you, Julian. I'm going to destroy everything you have. Your love, your career, all of it." I raised my fist again. Before it could land, Reese threw herself in front of him and slapped me hard across the face. The sharp crack echoed in the silent room, and a fiery sting spread across my cheek. She turned back to Caleb, tenderly wiping a smear of blood from the corner of his mouth before rounding on me again. "He's your brother, Julian! How could you hit him?" My nails dug into my palms, the pain so sharp it felt like it was stealing the air from my lungs. Just hours ago, I was sick with worry because she wasn't answering my texts. I was such a fool. She was busy rolling around in bed with my own brother; of course she didn't have time for me. As if my humiliation wasn't complete, Caleb added in a whiny, pathetic voice, "Come on, bro. We both have Vance blood, but you're the one in charge of the whole corporation. I have nothing. Reese was just trying to… compensate me in bed. You're not going to get petty over a little thing like that, are you?" At his words, Reese's glare intensified. "He's right. You don't need to blow this out of proportion," she said, her voice dripping with disdain. "Caleb just wanted to see what it was like to be with a woman. If you're that bothered by it, I can go to a clinic and have it 'fixed'." She knew. She knew the betrayal was what was killing me, but she was deliberately trivializing it, trying to force me to back down. "No need," I said, my voice flat and dead. Each word was a shard of glass. "Since you were so eager to climb into my brother's bed, the wedding is off." I turned and walked out. But the moment I opened the door, I realized the media had already caught the scent of scandal. 2 They swarmed me like sharks that smelled blood in the water. Microphones were shoved in my face. "Mr. Vance, is it true that your fiancée was caught in bed with your brother?" "As the new CEO of Vance Holdings, you're starting your tenure with a major scandal. Do you have any comment?" My face was a mask of stone as I pushed through the crowd, repeating "no comment" over and over. Then, behind me, I heard Caleb's voice, feigning weakness as he sobbed for the cameras. "It's all my fault. I just love Reese so much. And… and I've been diagnosed with cancer. I don't have much time left. I just wanted to be brave and fight for the woman I love in the time I have left…" I stopped in my tracks, stunned by the sheer absurdity of it. The way he was acting just moments ago? He was the picture of health, not a dying man. Then came Reese's choked sobs. "Caleb did nothing wrong," she cried. "The one at fault is Julian. He proposed to me, but he hid the fact that he's impotent." I spun around, my eyes wide with disbelief. To protect Caleb, Reese was throwing me under the bus, slinging the most damaging mud she could find. For the heir to a corporate empire, a rumor of physical inadequacy was more destructive than any financial scandal. Every camera, every microphone, every pair of eyes turned on me like a hundred poisoned arrows. "Mr. Vance, is this true?" "Sir, can you confirm your fiancée's statement?" Their questions hammered down on my already shattered nerves. But Reese wasn't finished. "I've been a virgin in all but name for five long years," she declared, her voice ringing with false tragedy. "It was only after I was with Caleb that I finally understood what it feels like to be a woman." She looked at Caleb with a raw adoration I had never seen from her before. She was the one who insisted on no sex before marriage, citing her family's strict values. She was the one who pushed me away time and time again. And now, to save Caleb, she was pinning it all on me. The rage and betrayal were too much. My vision swam, the world tilted, and then everything went black. When I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital room. Reese was sitting by my bed, her eyes red and puffy. The moment she saw I was awake, fresh tears streamed down her face. "Julian, you're finally awake! You scared me to death when you collapsed." She gripped my hand tightly, playing the part of the devoted lover. But she was the one who had put me here. I yanked my hand away in disgust. "What are you doing here? Come to see if I'm miserable enough for you yet?" Reese bit her lip, her gaze filled with manufactured guilt. "What I said last night… I had no choice. Reporters from every major paper were there. If the real story got out, Caleb would have been destroyed." I stared at her. "And what about me? Did you ever stop to think what happens to me now that this rumor is out there?" She looked away, her eyes flitting around the room. "The story will die down. People will forget." A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "You're a communications professor, Reese. You, of all people, know the internet never forgets. Even if I issue a denial, who's going to believe me now?" She wrung her hands nervously. "But it's already out there. Julian… can't you just sacrifice for me one more time?" Five years. For five years, I had sacrificed everything for her. I turned down a strategic marriage alliance with a family of equal standing, all for her, a woman with a humble background. To get my family's blessing, I defied my father, knelt for three days in the family chapel, and withstood the full force of his fury. I remember her holding my hand in this very hospital after that ordeal, her tears falling onto our intertwined fingers. "Julian," she'd whispered, "you're the only one for me, for the rest of my life." Her promise didn't even last five years. 3 I was exhausted. I pointed a weary finger at the door. "Just go. And don't ever come back." Reese bit her lip, her expression stubborn. "I'm not leaving. You're sick. I'm staying here to take care of you." She opened a thermal container and poured out a bowl of chicken soup, carefully blowing on each spoonful to cool it. It was just like the time I was hospitalized for a bleeding ulcer after a brutal negotiation, and she'd cared for me with such tenderness. Back then, I was certain she loved me. Now, I couldn't tell where her heart truly lay. She brought the spoon to my lips, but a notification on her phone made her jump. She shot up from her chair, a flicker of panic in her eyes. Realizing how she must have looked, she offered a clumsy explanation. "That's… the university. Something came up. You rest, okay? I'll be back as soon as I'm done." Before I could say a word, she grabbed her purse and hurried out. The click of the door plunged the room into silence. She hadn't even noticed. In her haste, she'd knocked over the bowl of steaming soup. It was all over me. I calmly called a nurse to help with the burns. Just as I was finishing up a call with my secretary to delegate my work, a message from Caleb popped up on my phone. [Guess where Reese and I are right now?] It was followed by a photo of the master bedroom in our old family estate. The room I had spent the last six months personally renovating for our marriage. [Already tested out your wife for you. Figured I should break in the bed, too.] In less than a day, he had defiled the sanctuary I had built for us. That was the last straw. I tore off the hospital gown, changed my clothes, and raced to the estate. The moment I walked in, I felt the servants' eyes on me, their gazes lingering on my lower body. "So the young master really is… you know?" "Good thing Miss Reese found herself a backup plan." "Can you imagine? A lifetime of that… poor woman." My eyes swept over each of their whispering faces. I'd deal with them later. After I was done with that treacherous pair. Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door to our bedroom. The scene that greeted me was somehow worse than the raw, physical betrayal at the hotel. Reese was on the phone, her voice laced with a sycophantic tone I had never heard from her. "Professor Miller, I know your program is incredibly competitive, but Caleb is just so talented. Could you please give him a chance? Just an interview, that's all I'm asking…" The fawning, desperate expression on her face threw me back three years. Back then, my position in the company was still precarious. I had the skills, but the older board members saw me as too green. A key partner's daughter was applying for grad school, and I asked Reese if she might tutor the girl as a favor. She had refused me flatly, looking at me with deep disappointment as if I had suggested something sordid. "You're asking me to compromise my principles for business?" Because of that, I lost a billion-dollar deal. But in a strange way, it made me admire her more. I loved that fierce, unbending integrity. Now, here she was, throwing those same principles out the window for Caleb. Caleb saw me standing in the doorway. He wrapped an arm around Reese's waist, a clear gesture of ownership. "Reese, my love, you're pulling strings for me. You think my dear brother is going to get angry again?" She ended the call and pinched his cheek affectionately. "You're different. For you, I'd do anything." Only then did she seem to notice me. Her face hardened. "You're supposed to be in the hospital. What are you doing here?" Caleb pouted. "Maybe he followed you." Her expression turned icy. "Julian, do you have any idea that stalking is illegal? You're being a real creep. No wonder your own mother didn't want you when she left!" Her words hit me like a physical blow, a shard of ice driving straight into my heart. She knew. She knew my mother had left because she found out my father was keeping a mistress, one who had a son just three months younger than me. Reese had been the one to comfort me, to swear she would never betray me like that. And now she was using my deepest wound as a weapon, mocking me for being the boy his mother left behind. Caleb's face was a mask of twisted delight. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" He nuzzled his face against Reese's neck. "Thank God you finally saw my brother for who he really is, Reese. We're the ones who truly belong together." Just then, my father's voice echoed from downstairs, clearing his throat loudly. He wanted to see us. Caleb shot me a look brimming with meaning. "Who ends up in charge around here is still up in the air, you know." Reese gave me a look of pity. "Julian, things are about to change at Vance Holdings. You need to stop fighting with Caleb." Caleb just squeezed her waist. "He'll find out soon enough. No need to spoil the surprise." Listening to them, a cold dread began to creep into my heart. 4 When I got to the living room, I saw that every single member of the company's board was there, gathered in our family home. I looked at my father, sitting on the main sofa, and my throat went dry. "Dad… what is all this?" He struck my leg with his dragon-headed cane. "On your knees!" My knees hit the cold marble floor with a dull thud. I looked up at him. "Dad, what did I do wrong?" His face was etched with pain and disappointment. "If Caleb hadn't told me, how long were you going to hide this from me? The future leader of Vance Holdings cannot be a crippled, impotent man!" He sighed heavily. "Julian, in light of your many years of service to this company, you will be reassigned to manage the overseas division. As for everything else… I am handing it all over to Caleb." I shot to my feet. "Dad, that's just tabloid gossip! There's nothing wrong with me!" My father waved a hand, and two bodyguards instantly grabbed my shoulders, forcing me back to my knees. Caleb let out a triumphant chuckle. "Come on, brother. We're all family here. No need to keep up the act. If there's nothing wrong with you, how is it that Reese was with you for five years and was still a virgin?" My father's brow furrowed slightly, a flicker of annoyance at Caleb's insolence. But my supposed "condition" made him tolerate it. "Your brother is right," he continued, his voice heavy. "More importantly, the world now believes you're impotent. The media is painting you as a spoiled heir who strong-armed your way into a relationship and ruined a true love story. This negative press is already hitting our stock price." He coughed into his hand. "After a unanimous vote by the board, you are hereby removed from your position as CEO, effective immediately. Caleb will be your successor." Caleb could no longer hide his glee. To celebrate, he picked up a bottle of red wine and poured the entire contents over my head. "To the victor go the spoils, big brother," he sneered, wine dripping down my face. "From now on, you'd better remember to call me Mr. Vance." Blinded by rage, I struggled to lunge at him, but the guards held me fast. Finally, my father spoke again. "That's enough, Caleb." He turned his cold gaze back to me. "Julian, you will remain here at the estate to reflect on your actions. You are not to set foot outside these grounds without my permission." I stared at him, aghast. "Dad, are you really going to hand this company over to an illegitimate son who knows nothing about running it? You've seen what I've done for Vance Holdings all these years!" He slammed his fist on the table. "A failure who can't even keep his own woman has no right to talk about running an empire!" Caleb's smile was pure victory. He bent down and patted my cheek condescendingly. "Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you. Reese is pregnant with my child." I stared in shock at Reese's still-flat stomach, then at my father, who pointedly avoided my gaze. And then it all clicked into place. The reason he was so determined to replace me. Faced with a supposedly flawed heir, he would naturally choose the one who was about to give him a grandchild. A laugh, raw and broken, escaped my lips. "Dad, you're so confident. But how can you be so sure the child in Reese's belly is the grandson you've been dreaming of?"
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