Chapter 2

I turned to Louise and smiled.

“Miss York, congratulations on your wedding with Mr. Stanley. I’m only here today to wish you two a happily ever after in front of everyone.”

Then, I turned to my pale parents. “I’m also here to get what belongs to me.”

“Dad, Mom.” I stressed those words but held no hint of familial love in my voice. “I remember that the 15% shares that were under my name for Xander Corporation were transferred to Stanley three years ago, right after I disappeared.”

My mother’s face turned even paler, and she found herself unable to say anything.

“That’s fine. I’ll go through the legal procedure,” I said with understanding. “From today on, I’ll hire a lawyer to reclaim all the assets that once belonged to me. After all, I’m still alive.”

Finally, my father was unable to keep his silence and growled in anguish, “Nathan, what on earth are you doing? Stanley is your brother! What’s wrong with giving him your shares? We thought that you were dead! Why did you have to come back and make things such a mess at home?!”

My mother started crying as well. “That’s right, Nathan. You never grew up beside us, and we know that we owe you this, but Stanley has been with us for more than a decade. He’s a good, mature boy, and we’ve long since treated him as our son. How can you be so petty and immature!”

Those words again.

I was never as mature and attentive as Stanley.

Since I did not grow up beside them, I was born rotten to the core. It was only right for me to be sacrificed and abandoned.

Just then, Stanley walked over with teary eyes. Regret was prominent on his handsome face as he grabbed my hand. “Nathan, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. As long as you come back, I can give up everything. I’ll return your shares and assets to you… I won’t marry Louise either if that will make you stop being angry…”

Both his concession and that harmless act accurately triggered Louise’s protective streak once again.

She shielded Stanley behind her and hissed at me, “Do you have to be so aggressive, Stanley? He’s innocent! I can compensate you with money and the rest of my life for the pain you suffered, but you can’t hurt him like this!”

As I saw how self-righteous she was acting, I remembered how she behaved when we were in high school. Back then, I had just been brought back to the Xander family. I was unsophisticated and had low self-esteem. I was the joke of the entire school. Only Louise stood up to defend me when the others mocked me. Perhaps it had only been so because she was the student council president.

Still, after school, she would follow me and insist on walking me home.

However, it only took three years of me being gone for everything to change.

I observed the wedding hall. Champagne roses, lights resembling stars, and white chocolate were placed as gifts for the guests.

Stanley had jokingly mentioned that this was his ideal wedding to Louise in the past.

So, she had not forgotten about our past. She had only poured all of her efforts into someone else and replaced all her memories of our past with Stanley.

The final bit of warmth in my heart went out.

I met Louise’s eyes. They were shining with complicated emotions.

Then, I removed an obsidian bracelet from my wrist. She had made the bracelet for me while we were madly with each other, and I treated it like treasure. I threw it on the floor with a loud, resolute crash.

“I’m returning this to you, just like the life I gave you three years ago. You do not owe me anything anymore. We’re through, Louise.” I pointed at the bracelet and looked away.