When I'm about to apply for medical insurance for my son, Connor Sawyer, who's about to start his first year in kindergarten, I'm told that I'm not his biological father at all.

"Are you sure this is your son? The system shows that his father is an entirely different person."

I don't respond at all. Instead, I secretly take a photo of the unfamiliar-looking address before tracking it down. It turns out that it's actually a residential area right by my own.

The moment my wife, Giselle Lambert, sees me, she freezes momentarily. At the same time, she blocks the door subconsciously with her hand.

"In the end, you still found out about the truth. But there's no use kicking up a fuss, you know. I never mistreated you in any way over the past three years, after all."

When I notice the familiar figure standing behind Giselle, I feel my limbs going cold. That person is actually my younger brother, Vincent Sawyer, who has just graduated from college.

Vincent hands Giselle a glass of water before smiling at me apologetically.

"Don't blame me, Hayden. The doctor says that I'm severely depressed, so I can't handle hearing a child's cries at all. I'm really thankful to you for raising Connor on my behalf in the past few years."

At that moment, Connor, who's supposed to be waiting for me in my car, rushes into the apartment. He runs into Vincent's arms happily before turning to look at me.

"Don't cry, Uncle Hayden. Daddy says you're a good person, so he's asked you for help. Mommy tells me that if I call you 'daddy' in your home, I'll get to visit my real daddy during the weekends."

My son, Connor Sawyer, burrowed into my brother Vincent Sawyer's embrace and nuzzled his face against Vincent's neck.

I had poured my blood, sweat, and tears into raising Connor for the last three years, and yet he had never shown me such affection.

"Don't just stand at the door, Hayden," Vincent said. "Why don't you come in?"

I stiffly stepped across the threshold.

There was a massive wall of photos opposite the living room. The photos were all of my wife, Giselle Lambert, and Vincent with Connor in between them.

Their family portraits had been neatly arranged in chronological order, showcasing moments from when Connor was born, his first birthday party, and finally his second birthday party.

Although I was Connor's father in name and had raised him for the last three years, I had never taken a proper photo with him.

My entire body trembled as I glared at Giselle. "Where's the other child you gave birth to in the delivery room three years ago?"

Giselle didn't dare look me in the eye. She swallowed before saying, "You were unconscious for three days after you got into that car accident on the way to the hospital. She had already died before you woke up."

Vincent leaned back against the couch with a smug expression. He scoffed and said, "You'd just be wasting your money on her even if she was still alive, Hayden. She's not precious like Connor."

The color drained from Giselle's face. She whipped her head toward him to stop him from speaking further.

"Zip your mouth, Vincent."

I lifted my head and glared at Giselle. There was a buzzing in my head.

So Giselle was pregnant with both my and Vincent's children at the same time. My child was a girl, and I never even got to see her.

Wait. Still alive? What did Vincent mean by that?

Vincent pursed his lips, completely ignoring Giselle's anger. "It's too cold," he said. "Turn up the temperature."

Giselle obediently picked up the air conditioner remote. It was evident that she remembered that Vincent was scared of the cold, but she had forgotten that I would get a headache every time I was exposed to the cold air from the air conditioner.

I developed this condition when Connor was a year old. He was prone to running high fevers at the time. As a result, I barely slept for two weeks, spending all my time cradling and soothing him. Unfortunately, the lack of rest led to me developing a sensitivity to the cold.

Connor grabbed a bag of chips from the coffee table and tore it open. "I want to eat this, Daddy."

I clenched my teeth when I heard how loudly and clearly Connor addressed Vincent as his father.

Giselle approached me and grabbed my wrist, saying, "I know this isn't fair to you, Hayden, but Connor is the Lambert family's only heir. Mom was rushing me for a grandchild who could continue the family line. I'll treat you even better in the future. We'll never lack money for the rest of our lives."

I knocked Giselle's hand away. Disgust roiled in my stomach as I staggered toward the door to escape that horrible place.

My phone rang just as I entered the elevator.

Mom was calling me.

"Did you meet Vince, Hayden? He has a weak constitution. He became sickly because I was busy taking care of you all those years ago."

"You're the older one. You've always been mature ever since you were a child. Why don't you let Vince have his way this time? Just treat it as you doing him a favor," Mom said.

I hung up and leaned against the elevator's cold wall.

It seemed that even Mom had been in on the scheme. My entire family had been plotting against me behind my back.

I staggered back to my home.

There were traces of Connor in every corner of the house. There were lines on the doorframe that I used to measure his height. His favorite superhero figurines were scattered across the couch.

My breathing turned ragged as I rummaged through the cabinets. I also yanked out all of Giselle's drawers and smashed them on the ground.

Finally, I found a metal box in the bottom drawer of the bedside cabinet. Inside the box was Connor's birth certificate.

"Father: Vincent Sawyer.

"Mother: Giselle Lambert."

There was also a property deed inside the box. Only Giselle's name was printed on the document.

To buy this house, I used up all my pre-marital savings. It seemed that all of my efforts had been in vain now.

I turned the metal box upside down.

A yellowed receipt fell out among the mess of ticket stubs. It was a receipt of a donation that was made to Sunshine Orphanage located in the suburbs.

Giselle had donated two thousand dollars to the orphanage a month after she gave birth.

Giselle wasn't the type to do charity. She would even scold the beggars on the streets. So why did she make a donation to an orphanage that was located so far away?

The doorbell rang.

A few seconds later, the door swung open to reveal Giselle.

A hint of panic flickered in her eyes when she noticed the mess on the floor and the birth certificate. She quickly regained her composure and fixed an adoring expression on her face. She then pulled out a cake box from behind her back as well as a tie.

"Don't be angry anymore, Hayden. I got your favorite chestnut cake for you. I also bought the tie you've been eyeing recently but weren't willing to splurge your money on.

"Mom was hounding me for a grandson. The Lambert family needed a male heir to carry on the bloodline. On top of that, you became impotent after the accident. The doctor also said it would be incredibly difficult for you to have children in the future.

"Why don't you treat Connor as your biological son? I swear that I'll never divorce you for the rest of my life if you do."

I was suddenly reminded of all the preparations I had made to ensure that Giselle would get pregnant. I had actually suffered a great deal to increase her chances of conceiving our child.

I stopped smoking and drinking, and I also sacrificed sleep in favor of studying relevant information that might come in handy when Giselle was expecting. I also prepared balanced meals for her every day to ensure that her body was in the best condition.

To earn more money so that we could have our IVF procedure conducted at the best private hospital, I worked in the office during the day while moonlighting as a cab driver at night. Due to overworking myself, I ended up developing a rather severe stomach illness.

I even got into an accident while I was on the way to the hospital to accompany Giselle when she went into labor. Not only did I fall unconscious due to my heavy injuries, but I also ended up becoming impotent.

At the time, Giselle had held my hands tightly, her eyes turning red. Her sobbing was reminiscent of a child when she exclaimed, "Let's give up on having a child, Hayden! My heart hurts so much watching you work yourself to the bone like this."

And now, Giselle was using the gentlest tone to say the cruelest words.

My eyes widened when my gaze landed on the cake.

The box was transparent, so I could clearly see that a corner of the chestnut cake was missing. It became blatantly obvious that someone had taken a bite out of it.

As for the tie, I could see some cologne stains on it that the person had failed to wipe clean.

My limbs suddenly felt unbearably cold.

I suddenly recalled that Vincent had updated his social media just an hour ago.

"I'm sure there's a recycling center out there that's willing to accept my outdated ties and the desserts that I dislike."

He had attached a photo with his message, showing the same cake that was missing a corner and the same tie.

Giselle was attempting to appease me with Vincent's leftovers.

My gut twisted uncomfortably. I grabbed both the cake and the tie and hurled them in Giselle's face.

"Get out. And take your kept lover's trash with you."

Giselle's expression darkened as she wiped the cream from her face. "Don't push your luck, Hayden Sawyer."

She then pulled out a stack of cash from her purse and tossed it on the table. "This is this month's household allowance."

"Don't forget to take Connor to the kindergarten tomorrow for registration," Giselle said.

She turned around when she was done speaking and stormed out of the house.

I dug my nails into my palms as I stared at the yellowed receipt from the orphanage. I pulled out my phone and sent a message to my old boss, Blake Hilton.

"I'd like to return to work, Mr. Hilton."

Blake replied instantly. "You're welcome to rejoin us any time. I've always left your spot vacant for you."

I also hired a private investigator. I snapped a picture of the yellowed receipt and sent it to him, saying, "Please look into this orphanage's records for the past three years. Focus on female babies."

…

The next morning, Giselle dropped Connor off at my house.

Connor immediately began wailing at the top of his lungs after he stepped through the door.

"I want my real Daddy! I don't want to be here!"

I looked down at Connor. He was wearing a new silver necklace around his neck. The words, "Daddy loves you" were engraved on the back of the necklace.

…

I took Connor to the kindergarten for his registration.

The kindergarten was packed that day with most parents standing in line while waiting for their turn.

When it was finally our turn, the staff member frowned as she scanned through the documents.

"The father's information that you submitted doesn't match what's on the child's birth certificate. We need the child's biological parents to be present to sign the confirmation letter."

The other parents shot glances at me and began whispering among themselves.

Just then, the sounds of leather shoes tapping against the ground echoed around the hall.

Vincent and Giselle appeared, their arms locked with one another.

Vincent was wearing a red shirt that day. "My apologies. I'm Connor's actual father," he said.

Connor broke free from my grasp and shouted, "Daddy!"

He then threw himself into Vincent's embrace.

Vincent shot a provoking look at me before he pulled out a pack of peanut butter cookies from his bag.

"Look what I brought for you, Connor. Your favorite snack."

Connor cheered and reached out to grab the pack of cookies.

I dashed over to them and knocked the pack of cookies to the floor, exclaiming, "Connor can't eat that. He's allergic to peanuts. He'll go into shock."

Connor was momentarily stunned as he stared at the broken cookies on the floor. He started wailing at the top of his lungs, screaming, "You evil man! You're jealous because Daddy bought something delicious for me! You poor man!"

Vincent hugged Connor with a pained expression. He turned to look at me before saying, "I know you can't afford these imported snacks, Hayden. Still, you shouldn't destroy Connor's things just because you're jealous. You're being too petty."

The other parents around us also began criticizing me. "What a despicable man. He won't even let the child have a little snack."

Giselle approached us and shoved me aside. She frowned and said, "Are you done causing trouble yet, Hayden? Why are you acting like a lunatic when Vincent just wanted to give Connor a snack out of the goodness of his heart?"

I stumbled back a few steps when Giselle pushed me. I bit my lip and retrieved a small, wooden dinosaur from my bag. I had stayed up for three nights carving it for Connor's birthday.

"A lunatic? When Connor was a year old, he got rashes all over his body after he ate a peanut butter cookie. I even had to take him to the emergency room. I was also the one who kept vigil by his bedside for three days and three nights."

Connor didn't spare a single glance at the wooden dinosaur. He snatched it out of my hands and hurled it into a muddy puddle nearby. Then he even stomped on it a couple of times.

"I don't want your trash! I only want my real Daddy."

The wooden dinosaur was covered in mud and filth. It was completely ruined.

I didn't shed a single tear as I looked at Vincent, Giselle, and Connor. I turned around and left the kindergarten.

I had just left the building when I received a message from the private investigator.

"I've found the information that you wanted, Mr. Sawyer. Ms. Lambert did secretly drop off a baby girl at Sunshine Orphanage three years ago. The orphanage is having a public charity drive today. Ms. Lambert is on their guest list."

My breath hitched in my throat. I hailed a cab and slipped inside.

"To Sunshine Orphanage in the suburbs. Hurry."