Chapter 1

At my son’s birthday party.

To ease the awkwardness of arriving late straight from the hospital, I pretended to have amnesia.

“Why are you all in my house?”

The moment my son realized what I said, he immediately stepped in front of the refined, gentle man beside him, claiming I had entered the wrong house.

“This is the home I share with my mom and dad. Get lost!”

Meanwhile, my wife, watching this whole farce from the second-floor balcony, chose to act deaf and blind.

1.

“This is the home I share with my mom and dad. Get lost!”

My son, Kian, stood protectively in front of Sullivan Hayes, baring his teeth at me like a feral pup.

Earlier, just to ease the embarrassment of showing up late, I pretended to have amnesia and teased him by acting like I didn’t recognize him.

Instead, he took advantage of it, boldly calling Sullivan “Dad” right in front of everyone.

Upstairs on the mezzanine, my wife stayed completely silent.

The guests around the foyer were all smirking, waiting for the drama to unfold.

A smug gleam flashed in Kian’s eyes before he barked at me again.

“Can’t you understand English?”

“This is my house! You walked into the wrong place!”

Looking slightly uncomfortable, Sullivan pulled Kian aside and whispered gently. “Kian, you shouldn’t talk to your father like that...”

“He’s not my dad!” Kian grabbed Sullivan’s hand tightly, shouting at the top of his lungs. “Once he divorces Mom, the three of us can finally be a real family in the open.”

“Right, Mom?”

He tilted his head toward Joanna Cross on the second floor.

Whispers rippled through the crowd.

Joanna slowly walked down the staircase.

She wore the vintage crimson dress that Sullivan had given her years ago in college.

Standing beside Sullivan, they looked striking and effortless together.

They genuinely looked like a picture-perfect family.

Joanna’s gaze lingered on me for a second, her brow furrowing in irritation.

“What kind of scene are you trying to cause now?”

It was just one sentence, yet the dripping disgust in her voice was impossible to hide.

Kian’s grin widened with triumph.

The guests, who only came to suck up to Joanna in the first place, began pointing fingers at me.

“Did falling down the stairs really give you brain damage and amnesia?”

Joanna’s eyes grew colder by the second.

Honestly, this wasn’t the first time she had spoken to me with such contempt.

In the past, I would have swallowed the humiliation and suffered in silence.

Now, it suddenly felt completely pointless.

I didn’t want to waste another second tangled in their mess.

So, I decided to play along with the lie I had just spun.

“I genuinely have no idea who you people are. But if I remember correctly, I bought this house. You’re the ones who need to get the hell out.”

Kian’s eyes went wide.

Joanna narrowed her eyes, studying my face to see if I was bluffing.

Just then, my phone started buzzing.

I turned on my heel and stepped outside to answer it.

“Silas! Why did you discharge yourself from the hospital?”

To make it to my son’s birthday, I had checked out early. But on the drive over, I got into a minor fender-bender, which made me late.

I was bruised and covered in grime, only to realize I was the only fool moved by my own efforts.

“Silas, where are you right now? I’m coming over!”

The voice on the other end was thick with raw concern.

I snapped back to reality and brushed the dust off my coat.

At the end of the day, only real family actually cared.

During my entire hospital stay, Astrid Bell had been the one taking care of me around the clock. Joanna, my lawful wife, hadn’t even bothered to send a single text.

Astrid was still demanding my location over the line.

She was genuinely terrified for me.

Moved as I was, I pressed my lips together and chuckled weakly.

“I’m your older brother. You can’t keep yelling my full name like that.”

Astrid paused for two seconds before pitching her voice into an exaggerated, sweet whine.

“Then big brother, please send me your location...”

I sighed.

“Stop worrying. I’m already home...”

Before I could finish, Joanna appeared right in front of me on the porch.