The Reborn Tycoon: Taking Back My Life

Betrayal

"Miller? Are you in there? Answer me!"

Martin's voice echoed through the abandoned building on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Rain had begun to drizzle, pattering against the roof. Two hours ago, a message from an unknown number had arrived on his phone. It contained a confession from the twin brother he had been searching for over the last ten years. Miller claimed he had absolutely no money, not even enough to catch a bus into the city, and begged Martin to meet him alone at this location.

Unsuspecting and driven by a deep sense of longing, Martin had immediately driven over. He didn't even notify his personal assistant or his wife, Moana, so eager was he to finally reunite with his brother.

"Martin? Brother?"

A male figure slowly emerged from the shadows of stacked wooden crates. His clothes were incredibly shabby, his hair slightly disheveled. But that face was a perfect mirror reflection of Martin himself.

"Oh my God, Miller! It really is you!" Martin exclaimed, tears welling up in his eyes. He spread his arms wide and jogged over to his younger twin.

"You came alone? Just like you promised in the message?" Miller asked, his voice trembling as if he were holding back deep, heavy sobs.

"Of course I came alone! I've missed you so much, Miller! I've missed you and Mom every single day!"

Martin instantly pulled his brother into a tight embrace. It was an incredibly warm, emotional hug, releasing all the guilt and longing that had burdened the CEO's chest for years. Martin closed his eyes, thanking God that they were finally reunited. He was already imagining giving his brother the vice-director position at the company and buying him a luxury mansion in the city center so they could live properly, like a respectable family.

However, that gratitude and those beautiful plans lasted for exactly three seconds.

Suddenly, a violently sharp, icy sensation pierced the left side of Martin's abdomen, immediately followed by a searing heat that burned all the way to his solar plexus.

"Argh!" Martin flinched backward. His eyes widened in horror as he stared down at his own stomach.

A hunting knife was buried deep in his gut. Fresh blood began seeping out rapidly, staining his crisp shirt a deep, dark red. Martin slowly looked up, staring at his brother's face with absolute bewilderment. Miller's face was now twisted into a cold smirk, completely devoid of a single ounce of remorse.

"Why...?" Martin whispered, his lips trembling violently. His legs instantly went weak, but he forced himself to stay standing, struggling to keep his balance. "Why would you do this to me, Miller?!"

"Why, you ask? You actually have the nerve to ask me that after all the suffering I've endured, watching you live bathed in wealth?" Miller twisted the handle of the knife slightly inside Martin's flesh before brutally yanking it out.

"Aaaaargh!" Martin let out a stifled scream and collapsed to his knees, clutching his torn, open stomach. Blood dripped heavily onto the floor, mixing with the filthy dust. "I... I'm your brother! I came here to bring you home with me!"

"Bring me home where? To your majestic penthouse in downtown Amsterdam? As the pathetic, mentally ill younger brother who has to beg for your pity every single day?" Miller spat on the floor, right in front of Martin's knees. "Don't make me laugh, Martin. Ever since Dad threw Mom away and took you out of our old house, I've considered you dead. Now it's your turn to actually die."

"That wasn't my fault! I was just a little kid back then! Dad was the one who chose to take me with him!" Martin argued between gasps, fighting the excruciating pain that tortured his every breath.

"You think I care who made the choice?! The fact that you got to enjoy life like a literal prince will never be erased from my memory!" Miller snarled, taking a step forward. "You slept on a soft mattress with air conditioning while Mom and I froze on the streets! Mom died because we couldn't afford medicine! And at that exact same time, you were busy partying on Dad's luxury yacht!"

"I always looked for you! I paid dozens of private detectives to track you both down!"

"Bullshit! You only cared about your company's stock growth and that incredibly sexy wife of yours! I've been watching you two from afar for months, Martin. You showered her with diamonds, designer clothes, vacations to Paris. Your wife is the queen of your world. But you were too busy working that you forgot to satisfy her in bed, didn't you?"

"Shut your mouth! Don't you ever bring Moana into our problems!"

"Tonight, she will be my queen. I know your apartment's PIN code, I know what time you come home, I know exactly which expensive cologne you always wear. Tonight, I'm going to touch her in the wildest ways, and she'll definitely moan your name, even though I'll be the one screwing her."

Martin's eyes widened in sheer horror. "You're insane! Don't touch her! Moana will realize your touch is different! The people at my office will instantly know you aren't me!"

"Power-hungry women don't care about minor differences, Brother. And as for the people at your office? They know your face, Martin. And guess what? I got this face for free the moment I was born into this world. Our voices have identical frequencies. Our body proportions are exactly the same. Not a single person will realize that the arrogant CEO has been permanently replaced."

That terrifying declaration made Martin realize this wasn't just a spontaneous outburst of emotion or a simple revenge killing for past grievances. This was blatant identity theft. His brother had meticulously planned this to hijack his entire life. A fierce denial exploded in Martin's chest. He would not let the company he built with blood and sweat fall into the hands of this psychopath. Above all, he would not let Miller's filthy hands touch his wife's skin.

"I won't let you take my life!" Martin screamed with all his might.

With his remaining strength, fueled purely by adrenaline and surging fury, Martin lunged forward from the floor. He violently tackled Miller's legs, sending his younger brother crashing backward.

"Damn you, Martin!" Miller cursed as the two of them rolled across the floor.

"Drop this insane obsession! I'd rather destroy my own company than let you take it over and touch my wife!"

Martin threw a punch at Miller's face, but his strength was failing him; blood was continuously flooding the floor from the wound in his gut. His vision began to blur, and his breathing felt incredibly heavy. Miller effortlessly blocked the sluggish punch, then swiftly flipped Martin's body over.

"You weakling! You've never experienced the harsh reality of life-and-death street fights!" Miller let out a mocking laugh. He turned the tables, pinning Martin's chest down with his knee, and raised the knife high into the air. "Our faces are too similar. I need to leave a little parting gift so the cops won't mistake your corpse for me."

Without a single shred of hesitation, Miller slashed the razor-sharp blade straight down across his brother's face.

Slash!

The tip of the hunting knife tore diagonally from Martin's left cheek down to the corner of his lower jaw. The flesh was sliced wide open. Thick red blood instantly sprayed out, covering half of the CEO's face in a gruesome hue. The handsome, pristine, and identical face he had maintained for so long was destroyed in a matter of seconds.

"Aaaaargh!" Martin let out an ear-piercing scream of agony, his hands instinctively flying up to cover his blood-soaked face. The excruciating pain made his vision completely white out.

"You still want to fight back?! Fight this, you daddy's little favorite!" Miller roared, crazed and high on the euphoria of his victory.

Miller stood up and immediately delivered a vicious kick to Martin's temple with the tip of his shoe. The brutal impact snapped Martin's head to the side. Martin's vision swam with stars. The world around him spun out of control. The agonizing pain in his stomach and his face merged into a singular entity of absolute suffering that forcefully drained the last remnants of his consciousness. Faintly, the last thing he heard was Miller's shrill laughter before total darkness swallowed him whole.

"Say hello to Dad for me."