Chapter 1

The guy standing in front of me looked just like my mom, Claire Harrison.

During the two years I was abroad, he'd effortlessly won over everyone around me.

Right now, my fiancée and my best friend were both standing by his side, watching me warily—afraid that once I learned the truth, I'd throw a fit and lay a hand on Arthur Harrison.

"Cillian," Arthur said softly. "I didn't want to take anything from you, honestly. But in the two years since I came back to the Harrison family, I've heard a lot of things.

"I heard that you've been holding onto the shares Grandpa gave you, collecting massive dividends every year, but you never give Mom any money—and that's gotten her mocked by the other ladies in their social circle.

"I also heard that you refused to let Olivia manage the company, that you wouldn't just settle down and enjoy an easy life, so you and Olivia were always fighting.

"And even your best friend, Nathan—when he asked you to co-invest in a project, you wouldn't even agree to that."

He took a deep breath.

"I don't think that's right. You care too much about money, and you're too cold to the people closest to you.

"If it were me, I'd never treat them that way. They're more important than any amount of meaningless money. So..."

He clenched his fists.

"Can you give back what's mine? I can't let you keep using money that should belong to me to keep hurting them."

When he finished, the living room fell completely silent.

My fiancée, Olivia, and my best friend, Nathan, had looks of deep admiration on their faces.

My mother looked like she was about to tear up.

"You hear that?" she said. "All these years, if you'd been even half as thoughtful as Arthur, we never would've been pushed to this point."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, I sat down on the couch and poured myself a cup of tea.

Then I looked up and spoke, unhurried.

"Mom, you grew up spoiled by Grandpa. After you had me out of wedlock, you just handed me off to a nanny and lived your whole life without a care in the world.

"Everything was fine until your bridge circle friends started whispering in your ear, pressuring me to hand over my shares for you to manage. But you don't know the first thing about any of that.

"Can't you see they're just stirring up trouble between us? I was trying to keep you away from them for your own good."

My mom's face turned red with anger.

"They actually care about me. If you ask me, you're the one who doesn't want what's best for me.

"Let me tell you something—in the two years since Arthur came back, he's been nothing but attentive to me. That's when I finally learned what a real son is like.

"And you? All you do is piss me off and cling to those shares. What else are you good for?"

I sighed.

Then I turned to Nathan McKinzie, my best friend since childhood. There was no trace of the old easy friendship on his face anymore—just pure, undisguised schadenfreude.

"Cillian, you're finally getting what you deserve," he said. "My dad's got a project that would've been a done deal if Harrison Corp. had signed on, but you refused to greenlight it and kept telling me to drop it."

He let out a cold laugh.

"You never really saw me as a buddy, did you? You've always been afraid I'd actually make some money, huh?"

He turned to Arthur, a smile spreading across his face.

"Arthur already promised me that once he gets control of the company, he'll greenlight that project with my dad's firm immediately. Now that's what I call a real buddy."