Chapter 2

Faris chuckled, offering Blaine a cigarette. "Relax, will you? I'm about to get engaged to Elle. Even if I roughed up her brother a bit over a misunderstanding, it just proves how much I love her. In any case, she'll forgive me!"

Blaine took a drag from his cigarette and nodded. "Fair enough."

It didn't take long for them to find my ID. Faris snatched it, took one look, and burst into laughter. "See? I told you this little bastard was lying!"

Blaine leaned over his shoulder and slowly read my name. "Ash Bennett."

He moved on to my graduation certificate. "Ash Bennett. He really is an impostor. Mr. Brown's name is Noel Brown. On top of that, the country he went to wasn't Kessland; it was Eisenwald."

My heart plummeted straight into my stomach. Following the incident, Noelle had completely removed me from the family registry and secretly changed my name to my mother's maiden name. To ensure I'd never fall victim to another kidnapping, she didn't utter a word about this to a single soul.

Did she lie to everyone about where I actually went just to keep me safe? "Oh, Noelle… Your secrecy is going to be the death of me!" I panicked inwardly.

Blaine's gaze turned ice-cold. "This little bastard actually had the nerve to masquerade as Mr. Brown. Beat him to a pulp!"

I was held in place and brutally beaten, the impact knocking my phone right out of my pocket. The moment the screen lit up, the lock screen caught Blaine's eye. His expression changed drastically. "Hold on!"

It was a selfie of Noelle and me. With trembling hands, Blaine picked it up and inquired, "Is this phone yours?"

I nodded frantically. Faris curled his lip. "It's just a photo, Blaine. For all we know, the kid photoshopped it beforehand!"

I puckered my lips, gesturing for Blaine to unlock my phone and look inside. Reading my mind, he held my phone up to my face to unlock it and pulled up my chat history with Noelle. "Holy shit, he actually has the Boss saved as 'Sis'!" he gasped.

Faris snatched my phone away from him. "He's a scheming boy toy. Of course, he calls her sis. How else do you think they smooth-talk their sugar mummies? Don't fall for his tricks!"

He scrolled up a few lines, and his face instantly contorted with rage. "Would you look at that? Not only did she buy you a villa, but she even calls you 'honey' and says she never wants to be apart from you again?"

I desperately wanted to explain, but the slightest movement of my jaw flared the wounds inside my mouth, stripping away my ability to speak. Noelle and I only had each other; she hated having me so far away overseas.

Growing up, no one had ever dared to lay a single finger on me. Yet here I was, beaten to a bloody pulp by her fiance, unable to even utter a word. Even her subordinate failed to recognize me.

"Noelle, it hurts so much!" I thought to myself. I began to weep silently, causing Blaine to knit his brows. "This kid's personality actually is quite similar to Mr. Brown's. He can't handle the slightest bit of mistreatment, and he's a crybaby. Maybe we should look into this a bit more. Boss spoils Mr. Brown rotten. If this kid turns out to be the real deal, we're going to be in deep shit!"

Faris nodded. "Fine. Let me make a quick call. If he's the real deal, I'll own up to it and take the blame. But if he's not…"

His expression instantly twisted into something hideous and cruel. "I'll make this little pretty boy regret ever being born into this world!"

He ordered his men to gag me before dialing Noelle's number. "Hello? Didn't you mention a few days ago that your brother's flying back for our engagement party? When will he be arriving, exactly? I wanted to pick out a nice welcome gift for him ahead of time, so I figured I'd ask."

Noelle's joyful voice came through the line. "That's so sweet of you! He told me he'll be landing tomorrow night."

My blood ran cold. "I'm done for," I cursed inwardly. Because I had wanted to give Noelle a surprise, I had deliberately changed my flight to today.

Faris's eyes narrowed, his gaze turning venomous as he stared down at me. If he hung up the phone now, I'd be a dead man.