Chapter 3

After dinner, Conor prepared to leave.

As he walked through the garden, Damon followed him, wearing a triumphant smile that was impossible to miss.

"Conor, leaving so soon?" His tone was openly provocative. "There's still plenty I want to tell you."

Conor stopped walking but didn't turn around.

"Conor, I know you love Kendra. But you do realize you're my replacement, don't you? Three years ago, Kendra married you because I had no choice but to go abroad for medical treatment.

"Now that I'm back, shouldn't you know when to step aside?"

Conor's body stiffened slightly as he stood with his back to Damon. After a moment, he lowered his head and gave a derisive chuckle.

It was true. He had been Damon's replacement.

But had Damon really gone abroad for medical treatment?

At the time, Damon hadn't known that Kendra, despite being an illegitimate daughter, would manage to turn the tables and become the head of the Sterling family. He hadn't wanted to suffer alongside her, so the moment she confessed her feelings to him, he had fled abroad.

He had spent three years partying abroad. Once he saw that Kendra had made something of herself, he had found every excuse he could to return.

"What are you laughing at?" Damon asked, staring at him in confusion.

Conor slowly turned around. There was none of the anger or sadness Damon had expected to see in his eyes, only cold, mocking contempt. "I'm laughing at how shamelessly you call yourself anything but the other man."

The smile vanished from Damon's face. His expression shifted between pale and livid.

"Say that again!"

Conor raised an eyebrow, his presence suddenly commanding. "I could say it a hundred times, and it would still be true. You're the other man. The. Other. Man."

Damon trembled with rage. He raised his hand to slap Conor, but Conor wasn't about to let him get away with it. He grabbed Damon's arm and used his own hand to smash it into his face.

Damon stared at him in disbelief. "You hit me?! You actually hit me! Have you lost your mind?"

A flash of resentment crossed Damon's eyes. He wrenched his arm free, then bent forward and rolled down the steps.

"Ah!" His piercing scream rang out.

Almost instantly, Kendra, Brett, and Meredith rushed out of the living room.

Before Conor could react, someone shoved him hard in the back. He plunged uncontrollably into the ornamental lake.

With a splash, he hit the water and thrashed about.

Conor couldn't swim, and the winter water was painfully cold. Before long, he ran out of strength. His body stiffened as he sank toward the bottom.

Just when he thought he was going to die, a hand suddenly reached out beside him and yanked him out of the lake.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

Conor's face had turned bluish. His lungs burned, and no matter how desperately he coughed, he couldn't ease the agony.

Damon hid behind Kendra, his voice trembling with hurt. "Dad, Mom, Kendra… Conor's gone crazy...

"I only asked him to stay a little longer, but he hit me and pushed me down the stairs... It hurts so much..."

Meredith's eyes reddened as she shoved Conor. "Conor, how could you be so cruel? He's your own brother! Were you trying to kill him right in front of us?"

Brett's face turned livid. He pointed at Conor and roared furiously, "Conor! You ungrateful wretch!"

Conor sat on the ground, unmoved by their shoving and insults. His gaze remained fixed on Kendra's face.

She was holding Damon, her pale hand gently patting his back. Her beautiful eyes rested on Conor, but her expression was so dark that he couldn't read what she was thinking.

At that moment, his heart turned utterly cold.

She was the one who had pushed him.

Even though she knew perfectly well that he couldn't swim and how much he feared the cold, she had believed Damon's one-sided story without question, and her first reaction had been to shove him into the water.