Chapter 4

Aster curled up like a frightened rabbit, his eyes swollen and red from crying.

The tablet placed in front of him was playing a video of him rummaging through trash for food on a rainy night, the comments filled through and through with mockery and abuse.

"So the second young master of the Rivers Group is actually a homeless guy who eats garbage!"

"With a face like that, does he actually want to enter the entertainment industry? He can't even hold a candle to his older brother!"

"Hey, go easy now. I hear that Aster's the adopted son, while Charles is the real heir!"

"It's not even a contest!"

Summer's hands curled into tight fists at her sides, her expression indescribably grim.

This was the rainy night when I'd driven Aster home from a tourist attraction, only to accidentally lose him halfway, on that fateful rainy night.

Summer had bought the surveillance footage of Aster rummaging through garbage for food and had already paid to have the story suppressed.

No media outlet had dared report it.

But now…

"Don't be afraid, Aster! I'll find out who's behind this!"

After a round of questioning, it turned out that I was supposedly the one who arranged the whole thing myself, with the intention of smearing Aster.

"Charles, how did you become this heartless?!"

Summer gritted her teeth as she berated me, while Roger and Amelia looked as though they wished they'd never had me as a son.

Well, this was interesting. I was the one behind that video and those comments? Why didn't I know about it?

A trace of smugness flickered beneath the tears in Aster's eyes as he spoke in a pitiful voice.

"Y-You guys… Please don't be mad at Charles anymore, please? It's all my fault! I'm not your biological son, so I don't deserve your love… It's only natural that Charles hates me…"

As soon as those words left his mouth, Summer, Dad, and Mom were even more moved.

On one side was their adopted yet kind, sensible angel, while the other was the devil incarnate, who just happened to have the same blood flowing through their veins.

Without any hesitation, they chose the former.

Mom hugged Aster protectively, her voice firm.

"If Charles loves spreading rumors about his little brother, then we'll spread some dirt about him, too!"

"Let everyone see who really deserves to be the heir of the Rivers family!"

Hearing this, my spirit froze midair.

Were… were they going to do what I think they were?

Summer scrolled to the evidence of the sexual assault I'd suffered at the hands of a group of perverted older women five years ago. Her finger stopped, hesitating as if she wanted to say something.

But then she looked up and met Aster's tear-swollen eyes, and all her hesitation vanished.

And so, the evidence I'd spent five long years trying to bury and finally heal from was unceremoniously sent en masse to every major media outlet.

In support, Roger and Amelia spent two million dollars promoting it.

It felt as though a pair of giant hands had torn open my already broken chest and were ruthlessly twisting everything inside.

So this was the woman I loved with all my heart and the parents who had given birth to me?

How very wonderful.

Ding!

Another weather update came through.

Summer stared at the screen, her face darkening.

"What is it?"

Roger and Amelia leaned over curiously, their expressions falling as well.

"The temperature at the snow mountain where Charles is will drop another eighteen degrees Fahrenheit in an hour!"

"Summer, are you sure you've left enough supplies for him? A drop of eighteen degrees isn't something to take lightly!"

Summer tried calling me again, without any answer. After all this time, the normally calm and composed Summer finally began to panic.

She swallowed hard.

"You know what? I'll go get Charles myself."

Amelia and Roger rubbed their hands together, instinctively glancing at Aster, who was still crying.

After more than ten seconds of hesitation, they finally relented.

"...Fine, go get him, lest anything really happens, but the punishment has to continue. Aster can't have suffered for nothing!"

The very next second, the meteorological emergency team stationed at the snow mountain called Summer.

"Chief, we've got a problem! The patrol team just found a male body inside a cave. The body... the body looks exactly like Charles Rivers, the man who's trending online!"