Chapter 2

"Sorry I missed your call earlier, Beck. Is something the matter?" Dad asked cautiously, his tone tinged with appeasement. "I was in a meeting just now. I picked up the second it ended!"

He clumsily swiped his screen, attempting to adjust the angle, before lifting his phone to show me his surroundings. The spacious conference room was brightly lit, and wisps of steam still curled up from the coffee mugs on the table.

Dad leaned in and lowered his voice. "I'm about to close a billion-dollar deal! Why don't I take you to pick up that purple Bugatti Veyron you had your eye on last time tomorrow, Beck?"

He grinned from ear to ear, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes crinkling together. All of a sudden, he seemed to choke on his own saliva and broke into a coughing fit. He hurriedly picked up his coffee mug and took a big gulp of its contents.

Looking at his graying hair, a wave of bittersweet sorrow washed over me.

Dad was already in his 60s. He should have been enjoying his retirement, yet he was still running himself ragged for the company.

As his only son, I should have been helping him shoulder the burden. Yet, I had always been more interested in having fun and knew next to nothing about running a business.

Still, he had never blamed me. He would always smile and tell me, "Beck, all you have to do is follow your heart and do what you love. I've got the company covered."

Consequently, I had been able to travel the world with a clear conscience. Every now and then, I'd bring him a little souvenir, and he'd light up like a child.

How could I suspect him—a father who had doted on me so endlessly—of fathering an illegitimate child? Guilt surged up within me in a heartbeat. Yet, those glaring words—"new property owner"—were lodged like a thorn in my throat.

"Old man, I'm planning to stay at the beachfront villa for a few days. Have the housekeeper clean it up ahead of time," I casually said, keeping my eyes glued to the screen to watch his reaction.

The kind smile on his face stiffened. His breathing grew shallow and rapid, fine beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. He raised his hand to adjust his glasses before nervously wiping away his sweat.

"Why do you want to stay there all of a sudden?" His eyes darted around, and his tone sounded awkward as well. "Beck, you just came back. Why don't you spend more time with me?"

My rage was ignited in an instant. His reaction was far too abnormal! At that moment, I was almost certain that Kenneth was his illegitimate son.

"Zane Livington!" I growled.

After hearing the harshness of my tone, he flinched and straightened up, panic written all over his face.

"Be honest with me. Is Kenneth your illegitimate son?" At long last, I voiced the suspicion weighing on my heart.

Dad was visibly shaken. He hurriedly closed the distance between him and the camera and raised his right hand to swear. "I don't have an illegitimate child. Don't you know what kind of man your old man is? I swear to God, you're my one and only beloved son!"

Dad was very religious who read the holy text and prayed every single day. The fact that he had actually dared to swear before God made most of my doubts vanish in a heartbeat.

I softened my tone, doing my best to sound calm. "Fair enough. However, when you get home tonight, you'll have to give me a proper explanation about the beachfront villa."

Perhaps the employee had made a mistake. After all, since Kenneth had no connection to Dad whatsoever, Dad had no reason to gift the villa to him.

…

Still, I decided to go to the villa with Dylan to see what was really going on.

Everything looked just as it always had. The gilded plaque reading "The Livington Residence" still stood prominently in front of the villa.

I was certain that this was the beachfront villa where I spent every winter vacation.