“Nothing.” Stephen told the young man as he helped Vanessa stand back up. 

“You called me a bastard!” The man said as he grabbed Stephen by the collar, much to his annoyance. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

Stephen unintentionally laughed and shook his head as he pushed the man’s hand away. An action that earned him gasps from the crowd. 

“I actually have no idea who you are.” Stephen admitted.

He wasn’t lying,

This man may be his half brother, but they had never met. Stephen had seen him multiple times, photos of Liam were sent to him back when he was young master Cho so that he would know his half brother, but they weren’t acquainted. 

Liam Ye looked somewhat like Stephen, they had the same black hair and face shape, but that was all. 

They carried themselves differently. 

Stephen recalled how he was when he was younger, like the man before him he was confident but not cocky. He knew who he could offend and what was in his power to do.

He knew that every action he made in public would reflect on his family, this bastard brother of his had no idea what he was doing.

As if on cue, Vanessa’s uncle stepped out of the room and was shocked to see Stephen fighting with the young master from the Cho family.

“Young master Liam Ye, please forgive him, he is a poor fellow that has no idea about those who are truly influential.” Vanessa’s uncle said as he bowed to Liam Ye, forcing Stephen to do the same.

To his shock, Stephen did not submit as he had.

Stephen stood tall and laughed as he heard Liam’s name.

“Ye? So you aren’t the young master of the Cho family. I guess that title remains with the legitimate son that died a few years back.” Stephen pointed out making Liam Ye visibly get angrier. 

“That’s not true!” One of his companions said as he quickly jumped in to defend Liam Ye. 

“Really? If I know those stuck up old families, and I do like to think that I know them quite well, they would never give their family name to an outsider and they would not so easily hand out their fortune.” Stephen declared, catching everyone off guard.

Those that were with Liam Ye knew that what Stephen was saying was true.

The old man, Stephen’s grandfather, Eldrich Cho, never recognized Liam. As a matter of fact he took it a step further when he forbade his own son from giving Liam and his mother the honor of carrying the Cho name.

“Shut up!” Liam Ye shouted as he threw a punch at Stephen, which he easily dodged. 

“Really, that’s it?” Stephen asked. 

For some reason he was very eager to anger his half brother. He wanted to see what Liam Ye could do and how easily offended this man was.

“Hold him down!” Liam Ye ordered.

His friends quickly moved to grab Stephen, they were already holding him down when a familiar voice spoke from behind Stephen.

“You, bastard, what are you doing here?” It was Stephen’s old friend, Robert Ke that had suddenly shown up. 

Stephen quickly kept his face hidden, worried that Robert would see him and reveal his identity. No one aside from his Uncle William knew he survived his father’s beating. 

“Don’t you dare call me a bastard!” Liam Ye shouted angrily at Robert as he glared at the older man. 

“You really think you can order me around, bastard?” Robert asked with a cold laugh, one that was enough to send a chill up everyone else’s spine.

It took Stephen all his self control not to laugh at what Robert had said. Did Liam Ye really think he could go against the heir to the Ke Family? They were practically kings!

Liam hesitated as he glanced between Robert and Stephen. 

Eventually he decided that it wasn’t worth getting into trouble.

“Drop him, let’s go, this place is too tacky anyway.” Liam Ye said as he waved for his friends to drop Stephen.

At his command, his friends suddenly let go of Stephen, making him fall on the ground. Luckily, Stephen was quick to act and managed to catch himself. 

“Right, too tacky, I know for a fact that you begged Uncle Vincent to get you a table since they refused to serve you here.” Robert chuckled as Liam and his friends walked away, pretending not to hear what Robert had said.

The owner of the restaurant was a good friend of Stephen’s sister, Amalia. As a result he made it incredibly difficult for Liam Ye to be allowed into the restaurant.

“Are you alright?” Robert asked as he watched Stephen get up. 

Stephen kept his head down, hoping that Robert would not catch a glimpse of his face.

“Yeah, thank you. We have to go.” Stephen said as he pulled Vanessa and quickly left the restaurant, leaving a confused Robert suspicious of his actions.

Vanessa’s uncle was quick to take advantage of the situation as he bowed and began to apologize to Robert Ke.

“Young master Ke, I’m sorry about my niece’s fiance, he isn’t from a proper family. He doesn't have any manners and-” He was suddenly cut off when Robert Ke raised his hand, stopping him from speaking. 

“No harm done.” Robert Ke said as he walked off, followed by his assistant.

He continued to follow Stephen and Vanessa with his eyes as he felt that Stephen was familiar. He hadn’t seen his face, but the voice was so familiar that he couldn’t help but wonder who the person he had just helped was. 

When his car arrived he got in followed by his assistant. 

“That man.” Robert said as he looked out the window.

“Liam Ye?” His assistant asked. “Or the man that was trying to curry favor?”

“Neither of them, the one I helped. The one I didn’t get to even see his face, I want you to look into him.” Robert Ke ordered.

His assistant couldn’t help but wonder what his boss wanted with that one, he seemed insignificant. It was as if he simply was at the wrong place at the wrong time, but it wasn’t his job to ask, it was his job to do as he was asked.

“Yes sir.” The assistant said as he quickly sent several messages to their people. He knew that soon he would have the answers his boss needed.