For several seconds, Ethan couldn’t move.Couldn’t breathe.Couldn’t think.The grocery bags hung from his hands as he stared at the scene in front of him.Ryan Sullivan.Inside his apartment.Inside his home.Drinking wine.Smiling.And Vanessa sitting beside him as if nothing about this situation was strange. As if Ethan were the outsider here—not Ryan.The silence stretched until Vanessa finally broke it.“Why are you standing there like an idiot?”The words hit him like a slap.Ethan blinked. “What is he doing here?”Ryan let out a soft chuckle.Vanessa rolled her eyes dramatically. “Ryan is here because, unlike some people, he actually has important business.”Ethan’s jaw tightened.Business? In their tiny apartment that barely fit three people?Ryan stood and extended a hand. “Ethan Carter.”The smile on his face was polite on the surface, mocking underneath.“I’ve heard a lot about you.”Ethan didn’t take the hand. Ryan didn’t seem offended—if anything, he looked more amused.V

Ethan didn’t remember leaving the party.One moment he was standing in the living room. The next, he was outside the apartment building.Alone.The cold evening wind brushed against his face, but he barely felt it. His mind was still trapped inside that room—inside that single moment—inside those innocent words.“Sometimes I wish you were my daddy.”Sophie’s voice echoed again and again, each repetition cutting deeper.She hadn’t meant to hurt him. She was only six. Children spoke honestly, without filters, without cruelty, without understanding the weight of their words.And that made it worse.Because if Sophie had said it… then somewhere inside her little heart, she truly felt it.That realization shattered him.Ethan sat on a cracked concrete step outside the building, staring into the darkness, wondering where he had failed.Was he working too much? Probably. Was he absent? Definitely.Could he blame her? No.Every morning he left before sunrise. Every night he came home exhauste

Ethan sat motionless. The conference room, the sprawling city skyline stretching beyond the glass walls, and even Rebecca Hayes herself—it all felt completely surreal. Everything seemed distant and muted, as if he had accidentally stepped into someone else's life."Three hundred billion dollars." The number kept echoing through his head, over and over again like an endless loop.His entire life had been defined by worrying about money. Every single day, every hour, every minute. He spent his time stressing over rent, food, gas, school fees, electricity, debt—just survival. And now, this woman was calmly telling him that he owned more wealth than entire countries. It didn't make sense. None of it made any sense.Rebecca remained patient. She had seen similar reactions before: shock, disbelief, absolute denial. But she could tell Ethan's reaction was different. Unlike most heirs, he hadn't grown up rich. He hadn't attended elite schools, nor had he been prepared for any of this. The man

The laughter echoed through the boardroom—cold, mocking, and cruel. It was exactly the kind of laughter Ethan had spent his entire life enduring. It was the sound of people who believed they were utterly untouchable, convinced that the numbers in their bank accounts made them a superior species. They looked across the polished mahogany table and saw nothing but a joke: a delivery driver, a construction worker, a poor man wearing an inexpensive suit sitting among titans of industry.Several executives exchanged amused, knowing glances. Others didn't even bother hiding their contempt. One woman smirked openly, while a man beside her shook his head as if watching a train wreck unfold in slow motion.Marcus Kane remained standing at the head of the table, his silver hair perfectly coiffed, his tailored suit likely worth more than any car Ethan had ever owned. Not that Ethan actually owned a car. The acting chairman's smirk widened."You're the heir?"Another wave of chuckles rippled throu