The night before my wedding, I was scrolling through a local Reddit forum and stumbled upon a trending post. [Tomorrow is my wedding day. I secretly swapped my fiancé's daily vitamins with heavy sleeping pills so my adopted brother can take his place at the altar. How do I stop feeling guilty?] The comments section was an absolute bloodbath of people cursing out the original poster (OP), but she remained arrogantly unapologetic. [I've always loved my adopted brother anyway. If it wasn't for the fact that my fiancé is the true heir, and marrying him is the only way I can secure the corporate funding I need, who would actually want to marry that naive idiot?] [He loves me to death anyway. Once the deed is done and the marriage is consummated, I'll just sweet-talk him a little, and he'll gladly hand over his entire family fortune to me.] Someone in the comments asked what she would do if her fiancé refused to let it go. The OP replied casually: [Then I'll just let Liam suffer a little bit and take the idiot into my home as a second husband. Once I rebuild my empire, I'll orchestrate a trap to bankrupt his family, then throw the idiot onto the streets to beg for scraps as an apology to Liam.] The internet was outraged, furiously condemning the OP for being a treacherous, ungrateful snake. Suddenly, I noticed a very familiar profile picture "like" the OP's comment. [He stole everything that rightfully belonged to me anyway. Once I successfully take his place at the wedding, not only will his bride be mine, but his billion-dollar dowry will be mine too!] His profile picture was a matching set with the OP's. It was a photo of the custom plush dolls sitting on the nightstand of the "fake heir" who lived in my house. I picked up the bottle of vitamins on my nightstand and swallowed a pill without a second of hesitation. What they didn't know was... their grand master plan was celebrating a little too early. The next day, I slept until the sun was high in the sky before finally rubbing my temples and walking out of my bedroom. I ran right into my mother in the hallway. Tears were still glistening in the corners of her eyes. When she saw me, she froze for two full seconds before gasping aloud, "Arthur?! What are you doing here?!" My dad heard the commotion and hurried over. He looked at me, then looked out the window at the wedding motorcade that was already driving away in the distance. He looked thoroughly confused. "If you're here, then who just got into the Sterling family's wedding car?" I put on a flawless mask of utter confusion. "What do you mean? What happened?" "Yesterday, my brother gave me a new bottle of vitamins. After I took them, I felt incredibly dizzy and just slept until now." Instantly, the festive, joyous atmosphere in the mansion evaporated. The servants and family members exchanged bewildered glances. My mom was the first to react. Her face turned to pure ice. She reached out and violently grabbed the arm of Maria, our head housekeeper, who was discreetly trying to back away. "I was wondering why a mere housekeeper was crying harder than the groom's actual mother when the wedding car left! It turns out the person you just sent off to get married was your own fake son!" Maria instinctively recoiled, her eyes darting nervously around the room as she stammered. "M-Madam, whatever do you mean?" "The Young Master overslept on his own! How can you blame that on me?" My dad stood to the side, barking a furious order to the security detail. "What are you standing around for?! Go catch that ungrateful bastard Liam and drag him back here right now!" Just as the words left his mouth, our estate manager came rushing up the stairs, panting heavily. "S-Sir... The Sterling family... the wedding ceremony has already concluded." My mom let out a cold, furious scoff. "So what if the ceremony is over?! Do you think a sparrow can magically turn into a phoenix just because it wears a suit?! A fake is a fake!" With that, she ordered the security team to follow her and marched straight toward the Sterling family's wedding venue. I lowered my eyes and obediently followed behind my parents. But in my heart, I was laughing coldly. I knew it wasn't just a simple matter of the ceremony being over. When our two families were planning the wedding, Victoria Sterling had fiercely insisted on a highly traditional, old-fashioned ceremony. She claimed that the Sterlings were a family with centuries of history, and it was a strict ancestral rule. Looking back on it now, she had premeditated this entire thing. In those traditional ceremonies, the groom's face is heavily veiled throughout the procession, making it incredibly easy for Liam to pull a bait-and-switch. Calculating the time, by now, the deed was definitely done, and the marriage had been consummated. Standing nearby, Maria could barely suppress the triumphant, victorious smirk playing on her lips. Seeing that, I was absolutely certain. The trap had been sprung. When I was just a baby in the hospital nursery, Maria had intentionally swapped me with her own son, Liam. It wasn't until we were ten years old that Liam suffered a severe fall. A routine blood test at the hospital revealed the horrifying truth: he was a fake. My parents spent an astronomical amount of money and resources to finally track me down and bring me home. But because they had raised Liam for a decade, my parents were kind-hearted. They allowed the fake son and his biological mother to remain living on the estate. They never imagined they were harboring a viper in their own home. Liam had always believed that because of me, he lost his title and glory as the eldest son of a billionaire dynasty. That twisted resentment was what drove him to concoct this disgusting, underhanded scheme. Even if I caught them in the act, my family was one of the most powerful, elite dynasties in Manhattan. They calculated that to protect my family's reputation and avoid a massive public scandal, I would be forced to swallow this humiliating insult and stay quiet. While I was lost in thought, our group arrived at the doors of the lavish bridal suite that Victoria had supposedly prepared exclusively for me. The wedding guests, sensing the drama, had followed us upstairs and were crowding around the hallway to watch the show. The heavy oak doors were violently kicked open. Inside the room, a disheveled Victoria panicked, frantically grabbing a discarded tuxedo jacket to cover the naked man beneath her. Her face turned as black as storm clouds as she screamed at us, "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Invading our privacy on our wedding night?! Have you lost your minds?!" My mom let out a sharp sneer. She took quick, purposeful strides forward and violently ripped away the tuxedo jacket that was covering half of Liam's face. "Your wedding night? Open your damn eyes and look closely! Who exactly is the groom?!" My mom pointed a trembling finger at me, putting on an Oscar-worthy performance of absolute shock. "Liam?! Why are you in that bed?!" The moment the crowd saw Liam's face, the hallway erupted into utter chaos. "Wait, isn't the guy in the bed the fake son who got exposed years ago? Why is he in the Sterling heiress's bed?!" My dad let out a cold, booming laugh. "I apologize for making you all witness this circus. The man in that bed is the son of our housekeeper. We raised him out of the goodness of our hearts for over two decades. And now, blinded by vanity and greed, he stole his brother's wedding and is disgracing himself right here in front of everyone." Victoria frantically pulled the duvet up, trying to cover Liam's pale, naked body. Her brows knitted together in intense annoyance. "Arthur Sterling! When are you going to stop throwing this tantrum?!" "You overslept and missed the ceremony! Liam only took your place at the altar to protect your family's reputation!" "I had too much to drink earlier, so I didn't recognize him in the dark. But now that we've slept together, I have to take responsibility for Liam." "Anyway, you're both sons of your family. It doesn't matter which one of you I marry; it won't affect the corporate merger between our families." "I know you're desperately in love with me, and you brought all these people here to cause a scene because you want to switch back." "Don't worry. Even if I stay married to Liam, I can guarantee that the position of the Sterling family's primary heir will forever belong to the child you and I have together." "There. Are you satisfied now?" My dad was grinding his teeth so hard they looked ready to shatter. "Arthur is the sole, legitimate heir to my family! You were caught sleeping with another man on your wedding day, and now you have the audacity to humiliate him like this?!" I forced my eyes to turn red, letting a pool of unshed tears gather in my lower lashes. My mom pulled me into her arms, looking heartbroken, while my dad stood protectively in front of us. He turned to me and said, "Arthur, don't worry. Dad will get justice for you!" The guests were whispering furiously, casting looks of absolute disgust at the people in the bed. "Did I hear that right? His family is one of the most respected, powerful dynasties in New York, and the Sterling heiress wants the legitimate heir to act as her secret sidepiece?" "The real heir is over six feet tall and built like an athlete. The fake son is short and scrawny. How drunk would the Sterling heiress have to be to mistake the two of them in bed?" Hearing the crowd's mockery, Victoria frowned deeply in displeasure. She looked at me as if I were an irrational, hysterical child throwing a baseless tantrum. "Arthur, it's just a minor hiccup. I already promised you that your child will be my primary heir. If you want to move into the Sterling mansion later, I won't stop you." "Why are you being so relentless? Dragging all these people here to make us a laughingstock... you are being completely unreasonable!" Looking at her arrogant, self-righteous face, I was so angry I actually laughed! She wanted to use my family's wealth to throw a century-defining wedding for her and the fake son, and then expected me to willingly play the "other man," ensuring my future child would be born as a dirty, illegitimate secret. What massive, delusional audacity! The Sterling family's ancestors had been brilliant, but by her generation, the dynasty was nothing but a rotting, hollow shell hiding behind a gilded exterior. If it weren't for the arranged marriage pact made by our grandfathers, and the massive financial backing my family provided, her name would have been wiped from the Manhattan elite registry a long time ago. And Victoria actually thought she could have her cake and eat it too, enjoying a harem of men. She was absolutely dreaming! My dad was so furious he started laughing. "The Sterling family has barely enjoyed a few days of luxury, and you've already forgotten how you used my family's money to claw your way out of bankruptcy?" Victoria's grandmother, the matriarch of the Sterling family, hurriedly pushed her way through the crowd to run damage control. "Now, now, what kind of talk is that?" "Planning a wedding is exhausting. Victoria has been working herself to the bone for a month. It's totally understandable that she had a momentary lapse in judgment today." "It's just a simple misunderstanding. Once we talk it out, everything will be fine." My family had always been cautious. A month before the wedding, my parents had hired a private investigator to look into Victoria. The night before the wedding, the PI handed me a thick stack of explicit photos of Victoria and Liam hooking up. I was shocked, furious, but mostly, in disbelief. Until I stumbled upon that viral Reddit post. I abruptly woke up to reality. Victoria wasn't just cheating; she was plotting to use my family's immense wealth as a stepping stone to rebuild her empire. And once my family outlived our usefulness, she was going to orchestrate our bankruptcy and destroy us. I was absolutely not going to let her vicious scheme succeed. Hearing the grandmother's excuses, my mom let out a cold scoff. "Mrs. Sterling, do you think everyone in my family is a complete idiot?" "Arthur was brought back to our estate when he was ten. He and your granddaughter grew up in the same social circles. No matter how 'exhausted' she was, how could she possibly mistake the man she's known for over a decade in her own bed?" Hearing this, Liam hurriedly threw on a silk bathrobe, dropped to his knees with a loud thud in front of the crowd, and began crying beautifully, like a tragic victim in a movie. "Mom, it's all my fault! My brother overslept! I was so terrified our family would be humiliated, so I took it upon myself to put on the tuxedo!" He turned his head to look at me, tears streaming down his face, his voice breaking. "Brother, it's all my fault! But no matter what happened, Victoria and I are already legally married! If you keep causing a scene like this, you're the one throwing away our family's reputation! Even if you don't care about me, don't you care about the family that gave you life?!" His eyes were bloodshot. He looked so pitiful and wronged, as if he were the victim of a massive injustice, completely erasing the fact that he was the one who conspired to sleep with the bride. Instead, I was the villain who was embarrassing the family by demanding justice. Right at that moment, the private investigator I had contacted earlier arrived, handing a thick envelope to my dad. "Sir, I'm afraid this situation is far darker than it seems." My dad ripped the envelope open. Inside were the explicit photos I had obtained earlier. In photo after photo, Victoria and Liam were engaged in degrading, humiliating sexual acts, completely disregarding any basic sense of human decency or morality. My dad's face turned beet red with rage. He violently hurled the stack of photos onto the bed. "What else does the Sterling family have to say for themselves?!" "Mrs. Sterling! If your granddaughter was in love with our housekeeper's son, she could have just said so! There was absolutely no need to orchestrate this disgusting circus on her wedding day to humiliate my son!" "The corporate merger is terminated immediately! My family is pulling all our funding from the Sterling Corporation!" The moment my dad's words hit the air, the Sterling matriarch's face went ghastly white. Without my family's massive capital injections, the Sterling Corporation's supply chain would instantly collapse, leaving them drowning in astronomical debt. The matriarch swung her hand and delivered a brutal, resounding slap directly across Victoria's face. "Look at what you've done! Look at the disaster you've caused!" With that, she pointed a trembling finger at Liam. "Guards! Grab this filthy stray dog and throw him out into the street!" Victoria covered her stinging cheek, shooting me a glare so venomous and hateful it felt like she wanted to skin me alive. In her twisted mind, I—the victim—had become the villain who ruined her wedding and destroyed her relationship with her grandmother. She shielded Liam behind her, stubbornly locking eyes with the matriarch. "Grandma! Liam and I grew up together. We're truly in love! If Arthur hadn't shamelessly begged and forced me to marry him, Liam and I would have been together years ago!" She shot me a look of absolute, unadulterated contempt. "Arthur is arrogant, spoiled, and completely unworthy of being the husband of the Sterling CEO. I already promised him that his child would inherit everything! What right does he have to drag all these people here to throw a tantrum, humiliating both our families?!" Looking at her shameless, delusional face, my stomach churned with disgust and profound regret. How could I have ever been blindly devoted to someone this vile? I stared coldly at the adulterous couple, mercilessly ripping away their last shred of dignity. "So what you're saying is... you two conspired to swap my daily vitamins with heavy sedatives, causing me to oversleep and miss the ceremony, and you genuinely believe you did both our families a massive favor?" "I simply accompanied my parents here to cancel this pathetic circus, and suddenly I'm the criminal ruining both families' reputations?" I leaned forward, locking eyes with both of them, and spoke in a voice loud enough for every single person in the room to hear clearly: "If you two were so madly in love, why didn't you just announce it from the beginning?" "Was it because you specifically wanted to trample my family's dignity into the dirt? Or was it because you didn't just want a wedding... you wanted to steal every single penny of my family's entire fortune?!" The faces of the two people in front of me instantly drained of all color, turning as white as paper. Victoria's eyes darted around nervously as she stammered, "What... what nonsense are you talking about?!" Tears streamed down Liam's face as his voice trembled. "Brother, just because you couldn't win the heart of the woman you love, why must you falsely accuse me out of jealousy? I genuinely love Victoria!" I tapped my phone screen once. Instantly, the link to the viral Reddit post from last night was Airdropped and texted to every single person in the room. The guests clicked the link. The entire horrific plot was laid bare for everyone to see. "What a disgusting pair of sociopaths! Using such filthy, underhanded methods to climb the social ladder, and then plotting to destroy their benefactors! Absolute scum!" "Doing something this vile and then bragging about it on the internet? If that was my kid, I'd strangle him myself to save the family from ruin!" Some people directed their crosshairs entirely at Victoria. "The Sterling heiress really has absolutely zero shame. If she wanted the housekeeper's son, she should have just married him." "Orchestrating this entire trap... it was obviously for the dowry, right? Plotting to steal their family fortune, while simultaneously forcing the legitimate heir to act as her secret sidepiece... Does she think our elite social circles are entirely populated by idiots?!" The Sterling matriarch trembled with apocalyptic rage. She swung her hand and delivered another brutal slap to Victoria's face. Victoria's head snapped to the side, but she still instinctively wrapped her arms around Liam to protect him. Seeing this, the matriarch was consumed by fury and despair, clutching her chest. "You ungrateful, rebellious child! When are you going to wake up?! You still refuse to repent?!" "Crawl over to your father-in-law and mother-in-law right now! Beg for their forgiveness! Throw that filthy stray out of this room immediately, and finish the wedding ceremony with Arthur properly!" With that, she turned to me, her face plastered with a desperate, fawning smile, and reached out to grab my hand. I didn't change my expression. I simply took a half-step backward, smoothly dodging her grasp. The matriarch's smile froze for a second before she doubled down on her groveling. "Arthur, my dear boy, this is entirely our fault. I failed to discipline my granddaughter properly." "As her grandmother, I am personally apologizing to you. Whatever you want, the Sterling family will give it to you." "I promise you, nothing like this will ever, ever happen again." At that exact moment, Victoria straightened her back, her face a mask of absolute, stubborn defiance. "Grandma! The man I love is Liam! In this lifetime, the only man who will ever sit in the seat of the CEO's husband is him!" "We aren't even married yet, and Arthur is already acting this arrogant and disrespectful! He has zero respect for our family!" "If you force me to marry a man like him, it will literally kill me!" "If it weren't for the sake of our family's alliance, even touching that naive idiot would make me sick! Me being willing to give him a child was already an act of supreme charity!" "If he doesn't know what's good for him, then he can enjoy being the laughingstock of all of Manhattan! A man whose engagement was canceled in public... he's lower than a pool boy! Who would ever dare to marry him now?!" I looked coldly at the woman I had deemed the love of my life since I was ten years old. Fourteen years of history. I had given her almost everything a person could possibly give. Two years ago, when the old Mr. Sterling passed away, the stunningly mediocre Victoria took over as CEO of the Sterling Corporation. Within three short months, she managed to offend more than half of their primary investors. Not only did she completely botch the corporation's flagship project, but despite the fierce opposition of her entire board of directors, she aggressively poured money into over a dozen ventures that were guaranteed to fail. In just six months, the Sterling dynasty—which had taken a century to build—had its supply chains completely ruptured and was drowning in billions of dollars of debt. The Sterling family liquidated their assets, but they still couldn't cover the deficit. Seeing a century-old legacy about to burn to the ground, I begged my father to step in and save the Sterling Corporation from declaring bankruptcy. At the time, Victoria had knelt in front of my father, weeping hysterically, swearing that she would never betray me in this lifetime. She swore that between us, there would only ever be death, never separation. Relying entirely on my family's immense resources and connections across multiple industries, Victoria was able to bring the Sterling family back from the brink of death in just two years. Now, before the Sterling family had even stabilized their footing in the elite circles of Manhattan, she was already impatient to force me into being her illegitimate sidepiece. The guests in the room looked at her like she was completely clinically insane. Everyone in the room knew that while the corporation technically bore the name "Sterling," aside from Victoria holding the empty title of CEO, the company essentially belonged entirely to my family. A woman who relied completely on her fiancé's money to maintain her billionaire lifestyle... where did she find the audacity to provoke her literal financial lifeline like this? But Victoria was completely oblivious. She genuinely believed that I was still desperately, unconditionally obsessed with her, just like before. Seeing my silence, she tightened her grip around Liam's waist. "Arthur, if you get down on your knees and bash your head against the floor three times right now, I might be generous enough to forgive your childish tantrum." "Otherwise, you will never even get the chance to give me a child, let alone move into the Sterling estate!" Looking at her arrogant, delusional, nauseating face, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. An idiot like this... whoever wants her can have her. A man destined for greatness doesn't walk into a cursed house. My dad let out a freezing, booming scoff. "The absolute treasure of our family... do you really think you are worthy of even speaking his name?" "This wedding is canceled." "In the future, if Arthur ever wants a wife, there are countless brilliant, elite women in New York who would line up around the block for him. If he never wants to marry, I will gladly support him for the rest of his life." With that, he clapped his hands three times. His voice dropped to a dark, commanding baritone as he ordered his security detail: "Men! Pack up every single piece of my son's dowry and load it back into the trucks!" "The two hundred briefcases of cash, the equity shares in twenty different tech firms, the ten custom Rolls-Royces, the thirty luxury properties across eight different countries... and the three billion dollars in liquid cash wired into the Sterling corporate accounts. Claw every single penny of it back! Do not leave a single cent behind!" The sheer, astronomical magnitude of my dowry made the entire room gasp in collective shock. "The Sterling family is completely finished. Without his family's money, the Sterlings aren't even a hollow shell!" "Throwing away a billion-dollar empire for the son of a housekeeper... she is literally as stupid as a pig!" Liam screamed in pure, unadulterated panic. "No! That dowry belongs to me!" My mom stepped forward and delivered a brutal, resounding slap directly across his face. "Our family only has one legitimate son! You think you are worthy of dreaming about that dowry?! If you want a dowry, go ask your housekeeper mother for it!" My family's private security team flooded into the room, preparing to confiscate the assets. "Hold it right there!" Victoria stood up, using her body to block the security team. "Father-in-law, have you conveniently forgotten the prenuptial agreement our families signed during the engagement?" "Only if I betray a son of your family do you have the right to withdraw your funding. Otherwise, not only does this entire dowry belong to the Sterling family, but your family is also legally obligated to surrender all your corporate equity to us!" "Liam's name is legally registered under your family's household. At the end of the day, he is technically a son of your family. Everyone in this room is a witness! The Sterling family kept our promise! It is your family that is breaching the contract!" Legally, her words were flawless. My dad was so furious the blood rushed to his head; he clutched his chest, gasping heavily for air. My mom's eyes were blood-red. She wanted to fight for justice, but Victoria's airtight legal defense left her completely speechless. Liam twisted his waist, leaning seductively against Victoria's chest, smiling with absolute, victorious arrogance. "Brother, it doesn't matter if Mom and Dad refuse to acknowledge me. What matters is that I am now the legally recognized husband of the Sterling CEO." "If you're willing to drop to your knees right now, bark like a dog, crawl through my legs, and entertain me... for the sake of the family that raised me, I might be generous enough to get Dad a job as a security guard." "Consider your dowry a tribute to me, the legitimate husband. It will all be transferred directly into my personal accounts." The Sterling family's private security violently shoved me aside. It looked as though my entire dowry was about to be swallowed whole by the Sterling family. My mom, enraged, tried to physically block them, but the Sterling guards, emboldened by their sudden power, shoved her hard, sending her crashing to the floor.
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