Chapter 2

"Nathan," I said, my voice steady. "I had that project looked into. The company on the other end was flagged for abnormal operations last month, and their CEO is tangled up in debt disputes across multiple projects. I find it hard to believe you didn't know how risky this was."

A flicker of guilt crossed Nathan's face, but he quickly pulled himself together.

"Cut the crap. You just don't want to help me. All these years of friendship, and I've wasted them on you."

Seeing Nathan upset, Arthur quickly stepped in and put a hand on his arm.

"Don't be mad, Nathan. Once I get the shares, I'll make it happen for you right away."

Watching their little display of loyalty, I smiled.

"You don't have to wait for the shares. You can sign the contract right now, go in as a partner, and share the risk on this project. Then, once you get the shares from me later, you'll have saved a ton of time. How about it?"

Arthur hesitated for a moment, but quickly made up his mind.

"Fine. I'll sign. I trust Nathan."

Even if the project failed, he'd have the Harrison shares to fall back on. What mattered most right now was winning Nathan over completely and taking everyone away from Cillian.

With that thought, he didn't hesitate—he had someone bring the contract and signed his name.

My gaze shifted to my fiancée, Olivia Wright.

Or rather, she was Arthur's fiancée now.

Olivia walked over, looking down at me with a smirk curling at the corner of her mouth.

"Cillian, I told you a hundred times to let me run Harrison Corp., but you wouldn't listen. I said it over and over—you don't have the ability. I could've shared the load, but you had to be stubborn. You had to cling to those shares."

She shook her head, her voice dripping with relief.

"Thank God you were so pigheaded. Otherwise, I might've actually married you—a fraud.

"Now, even if you got down on your knees and begged me to marry you, I wouldn't be interested. The man I'm marrying is Arthur. He's the real heir to the Harrison family. As for you—" She looked me up and down, her eyes filled with contempt. "No matter how capable you think you are, you're still getting thrown out."

My mom let out a cold snort.

"Look at you now. If you'd just listened to us from the start, you wouldn't have ended up with everyone turning against you."

Arthur reached over and held her arm.

The two of them looked like a pair of doting mother and son. His voice was sweet and obedient.

"Cillian, if you'd just been kinder to Mom back then, even after your real identity came out, she would've at least let you leave with some dignity. But you brought this on yourself.

"I know it's hard to accept that you're not really a Harrison, but you can't keep holding onto things that aren't yours, right?"

The smugness and provocation in his voice were almost dripping out.

Is that so?

I looked at him, then at the rest of the room—faces filled with mockery or disdain.

And suddenly, I was back two years ago.

The day before I left for abroad, my grandfather called me into his study. He looked at me, his eyes complicated.

"Cillian, there's something I've kept from you for twenty years. The truth is, you're not Claire's biological son."

His voice was hoarse as he slowly told me a story.

More than twenty years ago, his daughter had been switched at birth by a nurse.

By the time my grandfather found out the truth and tracked down his real daughter, she had just passed away from complications during childbirth—leaving behind a son. Me.

And the baby girl who had been switched into the Harrison family was Claire.

"When Claire went into labor, I'd just uncovered the truth."

My grandfather closed his eyes, as if reliving that painful time.

"I was so furious that I did something terrible. I switched her son with you."

He opened his eyes, filled with guilt.

"She took my daughter's place. I wanted her to know what it felt like to have her own flesh and blood out there, lost."

I was so stunned by the truth that I couldn't speak.

So my mother, Claire Harrison, was the real imposter all along.

"She raised you for twenty years. Whether you still want to call her your mother is up to you."

My grandfather took my hand.

"But everything I have goes to my real bloodline. That's why I made sure all the company shares went to you."

At the time, I couldn't accept it. But once I calmed down, I decided to keep this cruel truth from Claire. After all, I'd called her "Mom" for twenty years. Even if she'd always been cold to me, I still had feelings for her.

Too bad.

I pulled myself out of the memory and looked at the woman in front of me—so eager to cut me off. Only now did I realize she'd been resenting me all along.

The cruel truth I couldn't bear to tell her—she had no problem throwing every bit of malice my way without hesitation.

I let out a bitter laugh and stood up from the couch.

Fine. I'd give them what they wanted.

Claire pulled a document from the coffee table drawer and slapped it down on the table.

"To put Arthur's mind at ease, this is the disownment agreement. Sign it. From now on, you and I are no longer mother and son."

"Mom," I said, looking her in the eyes. "Are you sure you want to cut ties with me?"

"Of course I'm sure."

Claire laughed like I'd just said something ridiculous.

"Don't tell me you still think I'm going to go soft on you. You should understand by now—why would the Harrison family fortune go to anyone but the real Harrison heir? Why would it go to an outsider?"

Olivia chimed in.

"Cillian, stop stalling. If you don't sign, we'll get lawyers involved and sue you for illegally occupying the Harrison family assets."

Nathan joined in. "Yeah, give back what you stole from Arthur."

Arthur didn't say anything. He just watched me with those eyes so much like Claire's, barely hiding his smugness.

I took a deep breath.

"Fine."

I picked up the pen and signed my name.