The Heir Who Lost Everything

I stood frozen in place, watching the joyful and harmonious family in the banquet hall.

Was I hallucinating because of how tired I was from work? Wasn't my family bankrupt?

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief and turned to look at the photo on the golden anniversary plaque beside me.

It was a picture of my parents, Corey Falkner and Sabrina Burke, my wife, Lydia Quill, and my son, Joel Falkner. The fake heir, Xander Falkner, was included as well.

They looked so close, like a real family.

Just then, someone slapped me on the back of the head. It was the car owner who'd asked me to drive for him.

He looked at me with disdain. "What are you spacing out for? Stop staring! Listen up. Today is Mr. and Mrs. Falkner's golden anniversary. Get it together. Don't make any mistakes."

I touched the back of my head. It hurt, but Mom and Dad were still on stage.

So this wasn't a dream.

But why?

If my family hadn't gone bankrupt, why had they lied to me?

I couldn't believe it. Dad, who had tried to kill himself multiple times out of fear of dragging me down, had never cared about me.

And Lydia, who'd eaten scraps with me, had never loved me.

My mind was a tangled mess. Tears welled up in my eyes.

Meanwhile, the car owner kicked me impatiently. "Got nothing to say? Don't tell me you're mute."

He shoved me, and before I knew it, I lost my balance and fell to the ground, shattering a bottle of champagne.

Immediately, everyone turned to look at me.

"Dad!" In a daze, I heard Joel's voice.

"Don't worry. I'm fine…" But as soon as I turned, I saw Joel throwing himself into Xander's arms.

Joel was calling him "Dad", not me.

At that moment, a wave of despair hit me harder than anything before.

"You idiot! You're messing up Mr. Falkner's anniversary! Darn it!"

The car owner punched me a few times, and the noise drew Mom and Dad over. They looked at me, calm and emotionless.

I thought at least they might feel a little guilty. But Dad just said, "You shouldn't be here. You've lost everything by showing up here."

I stood there, stunned, staring at him. "My biological parents faked illness and death to deceive me. My wife has been seeing another man behind my back, and my son is calling someone else his dad.

"Tell me. If I hadn't figured it out, would you have let me live in this lie forever? This is ridiculous! You're all ridiculous and disgusting!"

I couldn't stop myself from yelling. They hadn't treated me like a human being!

Dad looked at me, his eyes full of complicated emotions.

Meanwhile, Joel, in Xander's arms, stared coldly at me as I went wild. He even spat in my direction.

After some hesitation, Lydia walked up to me.

At that moment, I was being forced to kneel on the ground by security. I glared at her with tears and fury in my eyes.

The car owner hurried to apologize. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Lydia. I had a few drinks and called a driver. I didn't know he was crazy.

"I'm really sorry for the trouble. Could you say a few kind words to Mr. Xander so he won't hold it against me?"

I watched him bow and scrape as he called her "Mrs. Lydia" so familiarly. Security called her "Mrs. Lydia" as well, but her husband was clearly not me.

I glared at Xander on the stage, feeling my anger rise.

While I'd been out working hard to support them, they were living in luxury, watching me suffer!

Lydia waved for the security to back off and reached out to help me up.

I shook her hand off, stood up, and glared at her.

"The Falkner family's not bankrupt. You've been lying to me this whole time just to keep me away from the money. You staged all of this, didn't you?"