All Chapters of He Took My Place—Until I Took It Back: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I kept holding my phone after the call ended.When the Sterlings found me several months earlier, I had rejected every offer they made. Ryan and I had once promised that if either of us found a biological family, we would never abandon the other. I had treated that promise as the foundation of our lives.My biological parents never pressured me to return or revealed my identity. Once they learned how much Ryan meant to me, they quietly introduced him to investors and connected Vivian’s research team with several institutions. Some of the funding sustaining LumenWorks’ latest clinical program had come through the Sterlings.I had told Ryan and Vivian none of it.Now every unsigned commitment would disappear.Vivian did not visit during the following week. Ryan came every day, rotating between beef stew, roast chicken, soup, and carefully prepared salads. I barely touched any of it.When we were younger, we had split cold sandwiches from a shelter without complaint. Looking at the expens

Maya’s words stopped me.The employee beside her lowered her voice. “Didn’t you say Caleb helped you a lot?”“He threw a few resources my way,” Maya replied with a laugh. “If I were Vivian’s fiancé, I could do ten times as much. I would have earned this position without him eventually. He never needed to interfere.”So that was how she remembered it.I did not confront her. I continued toward the conference room, where Ryan was waiting outside. The moment he saw the tablet in my hand, relief crossed his face.“Caleb, finally.”He took the tablet and hugged me. “The investors arrived early to evaluate our next funding round. I couldn’t leave, and my assistant is out of the office. Come in with me and take notes for the meeting.”“I don’t work here anymore.”“You’ll only be there for a few minutes. Everyone knows you.”Before I could refuse again, he guided me into the room.Vivian sat at the opposite end of the table with two representatives from the investment firm. Her expression shif

Ryan’s cry made me realize he had stepped in front of Vivian.The crystal award struck his temple and shattered, cutting the side of his face. Blood ran down his cheek as he doubled over.I moved toward him, but Vivian shoved me back.“Don’t touch him.”She pulled Ryan against her shoulder. The resentment on his face vanished, replaced by fear and remorse. Only minutes earlier, he had admitted deceiving me and destroying the presentation. Now, trembling in her arms, he once again looked like the vulnerable man she believed she had to protect.“I’m sorry, Caleb,” he said. “This is my fault. Don’t hurt Vivian. I love her.”Then his body went limp.Vivian called an ambulance. Before following the paramedics out, she looked back at me.“You hit him and destroyed the apartment. You’ve had your revenge. We don’t owe you anything now.”After the door closed, I sat against the wall among broken glass and overturned boxes. The apartment I had preserved for years was finally empty, yet I felt no

“What did you just say?”Vivian rose so quickly that the legs of her chair scraped across the hospital floor.Her assistant repeated the message over the phone.“Sterling Capital has canceled the next round of investment. They won’t provide any additional funding to LumenWorks.”Ryan heard every word.He pushed aside the blanket and climbed out of bed, ignoring the pain in his injured ribs and shoulder.“That’s impossible.”The presentation had nearly collapsed when the contents of his tablet disappeared, but Ryan had delivered the proposal from memory. The representatives from Sterling Capital had praised his knowledge of the project, and he had sent them a complete written report that same evening.Nothing about their response had suggested that they intended to withdraw.Vivian tightened her grip on the phone.“Did they give a reason?”“No. Their representative only said the decision was final.”Vivian fell silent.The clinical trial had entered its most expensive phase. If the next

“Caleb?”Ryan’s voice rose sharply.He stared at the engagement portrait, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him. The man wore a formal black suit and faced the camera with quiet confidence, but there was no mistaking that face.Even the faint scar beside his right eyebrow was identical.Caleb had received it when they were twelve. Several boys at their foster home had tried to steal his coat and shoved him into a metal cabinet. The wound required three stitches.The man in the portrait was Caleb.The long-lost Sterling heir was the boy Ryan had grown up with.Ryan’s legs weakened. When he turned toward Vivian, he found her frozen in front of the display, unable to look away.“This is impossible,” she whispered.Her hands had already begun to tremble.She read the name again.Caleb Sterling.In the photograph, Caleb looked healthier and more composed than he had in years. Audrey stood beside him, close enough for an engagement portrait while maintaining a formal distance. They looked