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Chapter 3

Penulis: Maroon Cypress
I repeated Mom's words in an icy tone.

The smiles on my parents' faces vanished instantly.

Mom reacted faster. She stepped forward and reached for my hand, but I turned aside and avoided her. "Chris, why are you here?" she asked.

Her voice trembled. "Come here, let me introduce you. This is—"

I cut her off, fixing my gaze squarely on Benjamin. "This is Benjamin Smith, your sweetheart, right?"

The smile faded from Benjamin's face as well. He looked at me, visibly at a loss. A flicker of sympathy passed through his eyes before he turned to my parents for help.

"Who is this?" a guest asked.

Dad's face darkened completely. He lowered his voice and snapped, "Christopher Blake! Stop causing trouble here and go home!"

"Causing trouble?"

I laughed coldly. "Dad, did you forget what day it is? Today is also your own son's birthday—mine."

I spoke every word clearly.

Gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd. Everyone's eyes shifted back and forth between my parents and me, filled with curiosity and gossip.

"So he's the real son… Then—"

"Unbelievable. How can they ignore their own son's birthday and throw such a massive party for an outsider?"

"What's Mr. Blake thinking? I honestly don't understand it."

As the murmurs reached my parents, their expressions darkened. Mom's lips trembled.

Dad's eyes went from panicked to furious. "That's enough!"

Dad slammed his hand on the table. "Did you really have to ruin everything today?"

"Ruin everything?"

I raised my phone and clicked on a video. "Mom, who's really ruining everything? Who's the one who's preparing a surprise for me while putting a crown on someone else and giving him a necklace?"

On the screen, the footage clearly showed Mom gently placing the crown on Benjamin's head.

"Ben, today you're our most precious little prince," she said.

Those words echoed through the silent banquet hall from the phone's speaker. All the color drained from Mom's face.

I switched to the group photo. "And this—how did the son of your so-called important client become your sweetheart?"

I turned the screen toward the crowd so everyone could see the photo and the comments beneath it. The guests' faces contorted with surprise, judgment, and disbelief.

Dad trembled with rage. He jabbed a finger at me wordlessly. "Christopher Blake, y-you—"

"What?" I asked.

I met his gaze. My eyes were welling up, but my voice stayed cold. "I just want to ask you this in person. Does having a new son feel so much better than having me? What did I do to deserve being humiliated and cast aside like this?"

My voice grew louder, echoing the ten years of anguish I suffered.

Benjamin's face turned pale. He tugged at Mom's sleeve and whispered, "Mrs. Blake, this—"

Mom yanked her hand away from him. She looked at me with eyes full of regret. "Chris, it's not what you think. It's really not what you think!"

"Then, what is it?" I demanded. "Come on, say it!"

At that moment, the doors of the banquet hall were pushed open.

Suzy rushed in. When she saw the tense standoff, her face went pale. She ran up to me and gripped my arm tightly. Her voice was shaking. "Christopher, listen to my explanation!"

"Enough! I don't want to hear any more explanations from you!" I shouted.

I struggled to break free from her. I had already achieved my purpose today. I wanted everyone to see the true faces of my so-called model parents, letting the carefully crafted image they had spent years building fall apart today.

I raised my phone high, ready to project the group chat screenshots onto the big screen. "Mom, Dad, this show is over!"

Just as I was about to press the projection button, Suzy snatched my phone and clutched it tightly to her chest. "Christopher! Please! Just wait five more minutes!"

Her eyes were red, and her voice was filled with desperation.
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  • Whose Party Is This?   Chapter 10

    Mom walked out of the kitchen, and tears welled up in her eyes the moment she saw me.She stood there holding a bowl of freshly cut fruit, unsure of what to do. "Chris, you're home."I nodded, took the bowl of fruit from her hands, and said, "I'm hungry. Is there food?"Mom froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes! I'll heat something up right away!"She turned and hurried into the kitchen as if she had received the best news ever.Dad and Suzy came out of the study. Their expressions were equally cautious when they saw me.Suzy spoke up. "Christopher—"I walked up to them and handed the USB drive to Dad. "Thank you for the gift," I said. "Even though the delivery method was a bit unusual."Dad took the USB drive with shaky hands. "Chris, you—""I forgive you," I said.It wasn't because of the party or the overdue presents. It was because I saw their pain and remorse in that surveillance footage.It was also because I finally understood that love wasn't a questi

  • Whose Party Is This?   Chapter 9

    "No matter what you think, you will always be my only brother," Suzy said.The door closed.I stared at the USB drive on the table, hesitating for a long moment before finally picking up my laptop.There was only one folder on the USB, titled "Gifts for Chris". When I opened it, there were ten subfolders labeled from "10 years old" to "19 years old".With trembling hands, I clicked on the folder marked "10 years old". Inside was a screenshot of a flight booking, showing a major theme park as the destination and my birthday as the travel date.There was also a video of Mom facing the camera, rehearsing what she planned to say to me. "Chris, happy birthday. I'm taking you to the place you want to visit most—"In the video, her voice sounded awkward and nervous. They ultimately canceled the booking, citing an urgent last-minute business trip as the reason.I then opened the folder labeled "12 years old". Inside was a design draft of a sports outfit, the same one I had once sketched

  • Whose Party Is This?   Chapter 8

    My parents never considered what this process felt like to me. It was a slow and relentless torment.They still tried to express their love in the way they thought was right. It was just like the past ten years, when they used their self-righteous busyness as an excuse to ignore me while I was growing up."Chris, then what should we do?" Mom asked.Her voice was thick with tears. "Tell us, what do we have to do for you to forgive us?"I looked at her, shook my head, and said, "I don't know. I'm exhausted."After saying that, I turned and walked away from the fairy tale they had built for me, one that suffocated me.I didn't look back. I could feel three pairs of eyes fixed on my back like nails, but I didn't slow down at all.When I walked out of the banquet hall, it was already dark. When the cold wind hit my face, I realized that it was already covered in tears.…I didn't go home. Instead, I checked into a hotel room. My phone vibrated relentlessly in my bag, but I ignored

  • Whose Party Is This?   Chapter 7

    As long as I held no expectations, there was no room for disappointment.However, today, my parents shattered the wall that I had believed was unbreakable, in a way that felt almost brutal. When it collapsed, it exposed the version of me that was already scarred beyond measure, yet still aching to be loved.I looked at them and saw the pain on their faces, raw and undisguised.What was I supposed to do? Should I stand there like a victor, mocking their foolishness and self-inflicted pain? Or should I play the role of the understanding son, falling into their arms for a picture-perfect family reunion?My thoughts were in complete turmoil.At some point, the surrounding guests quietly slipped away. Only our family, the event planner, and Benjamin remained in the banquet hall. Benjamin and his mother were both wearing awkward expressions.I took a deep breath. My gaze moved slowly across my parents' faces and then to Suzy's.In the end, I said, "The party was impressive, and the su

  • Whose Party Is This?   Chapter 6

    "The group chat, the necklace, and even the piano were all part of the act," Benjamin said.He pointed toward the other side of the stage. The curtain slid back to reveal a brand new white grand piano standing in silence. My initials, C.B., were engraved on its body.I was completely at a loss for words.It turned out that the group chat called "Happy Family" was a planning group, and the contact that was saved as "sweetheart" was me. The words that had cut me so deeply were scripted in advance for this day.Benjamin was nothing more than a hired actor with convincing skills. I was the only one who was kept in the dark, the true protagonist of this elaborate spectacle.Suzy handed my phone back to me and said softly, "Christopher, I'm sorry. I knew about it from the beginning, but Mom and Dad wouldn't let me tell you. I could only… remind you in my own way."I remembered the screenshot she had sent me earlier. "Mom, have you arranged everything for Christopher's surprise birthday

  • Whose Party Is This?   Chapter 5

    In the photo showing my 12th birthday, I held a cake by myself with a single candle stuck in it.At 15 years old, I fell asleep at my desk in my school uniform, and there seemed to be tear stains at the corner of my eye.At 18 years old, I stood alone at the gates of my university. Behind me, parents and families came and went, seeing their children off, which made my solitary figure seem even lonelier.Many of these photos were ones I had never seen, as if they had been taken without my knowledge. Each photo precisely captured how I grew up alone during those years when I was overlooked.As the photos played, Mom's low voice sounded off-screen. "Chris, my precious son, I'm sorry. I always said that I was busy—busy with meetings, busy with socializing, busy making money—yet I forgot that my most important responsibility was simply being there as you grew up."I thought that providing you with a comfortable material life meant I had fulfilled my duty as a mother. It wasn't until on

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