JAKE.

Rowen's POV

The moment I entered the room, everyone froze. Each of them stared at me as though they'd seen a ghost.

I took the empty seat beside a teenage girl who was gawking at me with her mouth hanging open.

I smiled at her, and she blushed.

She must be Ruby Regnald—my uncle's daughter.

Almost everyone was present.

I knew their names, age, relationship and positions of everyone seated there.

They were my biological family—the Regnalds.

At the head of the table, a blond man with piercing blue eyes had his gaze fixed on me. He was my father. Beside him sat his twin brother, Uncle Richard.

They looked exactly as they had eleven years ago.

"Mr. Rowen. Glad to have you back."

"Haha. Mr..."

I shook his hand.

"Daniel. Daniel Krush."

I nodded and sat down.

"Now that he is here, I'll begin," Mr. Krush said, addressing the rest of the family.

He pulled out the blue file containing my grandfather's notarized will and began to read.

I had seen that exact file a few weeks ago. In fact, I had already read its contents.

My late grandfather had transferred all his shares and fortune into my name. That was the only reason I'd been asked to return home after eleven years.

Eleven years of living like a fugitive in a foreign country.

My father's wife looked as though she was about to cry the moment Mr. Krush finished reading the will.

She had never expected this.

None of them had.

Including me.

Who would've imagined that the abandoned grandson of the prestigious Regnald family—the one banished eleven years ago for allegedly murdering his own mother—would one day be named the heir and successor to the TRX Group?

What an irony.

It took every ounce of my self-control not to burst into laughter as I watched the horrified expressions on their faces.

A few of them seemed unbothered by the news and began leaving the hall one after another.

I stood up as well. I was done here.

The only reason I'd come in the first place was because my grandfather had begged me to.

He allowed me—a murderer, back into his family, knowing fully well, that i would take revenge and ruin their lives.

A few months before his death, the rickety old man had shown up at my company in Italy.

He'd come with Mr. Krush, trying to make me sign some papers.

I'd refused to see him, but he refused to leave. Instead, he waited outside until late that night.

"Rowen. Please... come back home," he'd pleaded.

"Yes. I knew you were innocent, but I did it to protect the family."

I'd grabbed him by the collar, my bloodshot eyes blazing with rage.

"What about me?! Was I just a stray cat to you?!"

After he left that night, I'd suffered a terrible panic attack—the kind that left me drowning in emotional terror for weeks.

How I'd spent years wandering the streets of Italy barefoot, struggling to build a life from scratch.

The blood I'd spilled.

The lives I'd trampled on...

All just to become the man I am today.

Not one of them.

Not a single Regnald deserved to be happy, let alone forgiven.

I'd hunt down everyone who had played a part in destroying the life of a nineteen-year-old boy.

My father, who had looked the other way when Grandfather banished me to a foreign land.

My uncle, who'd been entrusted with my well-being and education, yet never reached out even once.

They had abandoned me on the streets of a quiet Italian town and left me to fend for myself.

A quiet chuckle escaped me as I watched a few of them arguing at the far end of the hall.

I mean, my sly grandfather had betrayed them, probably ruining some of their life plans.

The meeting had ended earlier than expected, while some of the extended family exchanged pleasantries, I leaned against a pillar and observed them.

My secretary should be here soon. I'd have to wait for him, since I couldn't drive in the rain.

The downpour was growing heavier with every second.

I hated the rain.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed someone staring at me.

A young, handsome man with jet-black hair, neatly styled in place. The moment our eyes met, he looked away nervously.

The corner of my mouth curled into a lazy smirk. I was certain he was the first person in the room to recognize me.

Russell Regnald—my father's adopted son.

If my father had wanted a replacement so badly, he could've at least chosen a blond one.

Right now, Russell looked painfully out of place.

“Rowen is finally home haha…” my uncle called out from afar, he and his family made his way towards me.

“Hello Uncle Richard.” I greeted him.

“look at how much you've grown!”

I smiled and shook hands with his wife and daughter.

“Ruby, say Hi to your cousin,” he probed her.

“Hello. Mr…Rowen.” she said shyly, her face flushed.

“Hi Ruby. you can just call me Rowen, like your uncle.” I lowered my face and smiled at her.

Her father laughed and said something to his wife who was clearly uncomfortable, but had no choice but to put up a fake smile.

“Are you joining us for dinner tonight?”

“No. uncle,” I answered politely, with my hands behind my back.

“Certainly you should. That's where you get to meet everyone informally...” he rambled on.

“ Have you met your brother, Russell?”

He held out his hand and called him.

I scoffed inwardly as I watched him make his way towards us.

“Meet your brother, Rowen.”

I turned to him. That lazy smirk returned to my face, without pressure.

“Hi, Mr Russell. Or rather, Jake?”