Chapter 1

"Benny's my son too! It's truly been unfair to keep him hidden all these years.

"And why are you looking at me like that, Vincent? Look at the sorry state Timmy is in! He's all covered up in bandages! How is he supposed to show up at the birthday banquet looking like that?" my wife, Jacinda Redmont, asked, shooting me an impatient glare.

"Mommy, it hurts…"

Jacinda rolled her eyes at the boy's moan of pain.

But when she turned around, her expression changed immediately. She put on a helpless act and said, "Sweetheart, you're the older one, so there are some things you should give up for your brother. I'll throw you another birthday party once you're better, okay?"

When the boy on the bed heard that, he immediately started howling in protest. "No way! That's my party!"

Jacinda's face darkened in an instant. She snapped, "Shut up! When did you become so selfish? You must have picked it up from your father's terrible behavior! Stay here and rest properly! If you throw another tantrum, I'll have you locked in the basement!"

With that, she shot me a fierce glare.

I stood aside, watching in silence.

Ever since her first love, Jaden Sutton, suddenly returned from abroad with their son, Jacinda had grown increasingly hostile toward me. My once gentle wife had turned cold, throwing tantrums at me countless times, all for the sake of her illegitimate son, Benson Sutton.

Just because our dog had caught their unfamiliar scent and barked a couple of times at them, she had ignored the desperate pleas and cries of our son, Timothy Fuller, and killed it on the spot.

And now, for that same illegitimate son, she had deliberately orchestrated Timothy's severe injury, just for the chance to officially acknowledge the bastard. It must have taken quite an effort on her part.

When Jacinda saw the mockery in my eyes, a flicker of guilt flashed in her eyes.

Jaden, noticing this, spoke up in an aggrieved tone. "Timmy is so badly hurt, yet he still has the energy to scream and shout so loudly. Who knows if he's faking it? It's poor Benny who's been scared out of his wits! He cried the whole night!"

Suspicion filled Jacinda's eyes as she looked at the boy, and without hesitation, she pinched him hard.

The boy—who was actually Benson—winced in pain. He shoved Jacinda's hand away, crying out to Jaden, "Ahh! Daddy, save me!"

But after screaming for so long from being chased by the dogs in the mansion, his voice had already turned hoarse.

Jacinda, knocked off balance, fell to the floor. She immediately got up and slapped Benson across the face.

"Really?" she snapped. "You're faking your condition now? You've really been spoiled rotten! We're discharging you right now and going home immediately!"

I frowned and stepped in front of the boy, trying to stop her. "He's still a child. He can't be discharged yet! Besides, those horrifying wounds all over his body when he was put into the ambulance couldn't possibly be fake!"

Jaden let out a snide snort and said in a sarcastic tone, "I was just wondering, you personally chose those mild-tempered dogs, Jacie, so how could they possibly maul a child that badly?

"It seems someone bribed the staff and the doctors, all to make you feel guilty and stop Benny from returning to his rightful place in the family!"

Jacinda's previously wavering expression hardened into rage.

"No wonder the ambulance arrived so quickly! This was all part of your plan!"