Played Me for a Fool

Eyes brimming with tears, I'd memorized the name on the business card, but lost the card in the midst of chaos. Now, as I beheld Aaron's handsome yet contemptuous face, a chilly realization settled over me.As it turned out, he and Felicia had been toying with me all along."If you're done making a scene, Julian, I suggest you leave before you embarrass yourself," Aaron said smugly.Felicia stood beside him quietly. She did not speak up for me even as she watched Aaron hurl insults in my face.Aaron patted my face condescendingly and appraised me as if I were a pest. "Felicia saved your life. It's only right that you do everything she asks of you. You were happy to wait on her hand and foot, so why whine about it now?"Felicia is the heiress of the Holden family, and that makes her extremely popular among men. And yet, she settled for an ordinary guy like you. You had nothing to lose!"Nothing to lose? I stared at my callused hands and gritted my teeth. I wasn't born with a silve

Alas, I'd never met my mother, and I had no idea who my father was. Everyone at the orphanage had told me that they were sure I was an illegitimate child, and that I was abandoned by the roadside like a stray mutt because my parents were embarrassed by me.I'd sobbed and argued that I was not an unwanted stray mutt, and that I had parents. However, my bullies only grinned and guffawed, then picked up rocks to throw at me.I wrapped my arms around my head when I saw the rocks flying toward me, screaming, "Don't hit me!"I raised my hands, only to hit the person behind me.Following a grunt of pain, I bolted upright, sweat trickling down my forehead. A pair of hands gently cupped my face. I must not have been fully awake, then, for I thought I was still living the life I'd had a year ago."Did you have a bad dream again, Julian?"I opened my eyes to see Felicia embracing me tenderly and leaning in for a kiss. I frantically shoved her away. "Who said you could come back here, Felici

The docket contained all the paperwork the orphanage had compiled for me before I left. Among the paperwork were a few photos of me, taken when I was a kid. I didn't have happy memories growing up in the orphanage, so I'd never bothered to open the docket after receiving it.As if nudged by a strange, universal force, I blew the layer of dust off the docket and opened it for the first time.Save for the photographs depicting me as a sour-faced child, the docket also held paperwork containing my birth details. I scanned them, only to go still with shock when I came upon the last page.It was my birth certificate!A small photo of me as a baby had been clipped to the certificate, which bore other details.I was at a loss. I was told that I had no parents and had been abandoned by the roadside. If that were the case, why was there a birth certificate in my docket? My eyes drifted down the certificate and widened when I saw the name on the paper.The words "Aaron Schumer" leaped out

Felicia showed up at my place before the DNA test results were out. She said, "Julian, Aaron's desperate and left without options, so I've no choice but to come to you… What will it take for you to disregard all ties with Lewis? Just name your price and we'll pay you!"I saw the pleading look in Felicia's eyes and reckoned that the DNA test results were an open secret by now. As it turned out, I truly was Lewis' long-lost son, and Aaron was the impostor who'd stolen over 20 years of the life I should've had."Lewis will never spare Aaron if he finds out that Aaron has been pretending to be his son all these years…" Felicia continued, close to begging on her knees.Her unreasonable request had me quaking with rage. "That's my biological father you're talking about! Why should I let Aaron have him?"I'd already let Aaron have Felicia, but I'd be damned if I let him take the family I'd always dreamed of having. I continued, "Besides, how will I know what happened all those years ago o