I didn't press the issue. I went straight into the lab and got to work.

A fellow intern from my year soon sidled over, phone in hand, his face lit up with gossip.

"Nick, not bad. I heard your family's rich, but I didn't realize you were this rich. That bracelet you gave Sophie must've cost close to twenty thousand, huh?"

I froze. Following his gaze, I saw Sophie's social feed on his screen—a photo of two hands tightly intertwined.

They were wearing matching couple bracelets.

Lately, she had been acting strange. I'd asked her out ten times; nine times she said she was busy.

Now, the answer was right in front of me.

I couldn't see any of these posts on my own feed, so I took my colleague's phone and kept scrolling.

An amusement park.

A Michelin three-star restaurant.

Night drives in a sports car…

And the man's face bore an uncanny resemblance to my mother's.

So this was what she had meant by "something important."

We'd been college classmates. I'd fallen for her at first sight. Later, by coincidence, I learned that her mother worked with my father. It was my dad who had personally set up a dinner to bring us together.

After that meal, he told me to walk her home. She took the initiative and laced her fingers through mine.

"Nick," she'd said, "I actually like you too—from the moment I first saw you."

That night, we held each other tightly beneath the streetlights.

Looking back now, it seemed both my father and I had misjudged people.

This engagement needed to be called off.

…

That evening after work, my dad stayed late at the institute.

I bought some fruit and went straight to Sophie's place.

Karla opened the door. She glanced at the fruit in my hands, then blocked the doorway.

"Nick, Sophie isn't home. You should head back."

I stood there awkwardly. Ever since Sophie and I started dating, this was the first time Karla had turned me away.

"Well, in that case, please take the fruit," I said. "She's not feeling well. It'd be good for her to eat some."

She still refused. "There's too much fruit at home. We can't finish it—it'll just go bad. Take it back for your dad to eat. Goodbye, Nick."

With that, she shut the door.

Through the old wooden panel, I faintly heard her voice, thick with disdain.

"He's so rich, and yet so stingy. After all these years, he hasn't bought Sophie a single decent thing."

Defeated, I walked down the stairs.

Just as I reached the building entrance, a red sports car pulled up in front of me.

Sophie stepped out with the man from her social feed, the two of them clearly intimate.

"Will your parents like the truffles I bought?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied. "My mom knows you're coming for dinner. She's prepared a whole table of dishes."

In that instant, everything clicked.

Karla hadn't turned me away by accident. She simply didn't want me ruining their evening.

Plain fruit, after all, couldn't compare to his truffles.

"Sophie!"

I stepped forward and called out to her.

She saw me and instinctively withdrew the hand hooked around his arm, her face paling.

"Nick? Why are you here?"

I didn't answer. I just stared at her. "Who is he?"

She waved her hands in a panic. "Don't misunderstand—it's not what you think."

"Didn't your mom tell you?" she rushed on. "This is your older brother, Bruce. He just came to Orbor City, so your mom asked me to show him around these past few days."

I turned and looked him up and down.

My gaze landed on the matching couple bracelets on their wrists.

Sophie hurriedly hid her hand behind her back.

The very next second, Bruce Hardman reached over and pulled it out again, brazenly holding it up in front of me.

"Couple bracelets. I bought them," he said with a smirk. "What—got a problem with that, little brother? You're so damn stingy. Am I not even allowed to give her a gift?"

The blatant provocation set my anger ablaze. I swung and punched him square in the face.

He wasn't weak either. He struck back immediately, his strength even greater than mine, knocking me flat to the ground with a single blow.

Seeing this, Sophie rushed over to help me up. "You're brothers. Don't do this, okay? My mom made dinner—come upstairs and eat with us."

I shoved her away.

"Your mom wouldn't even let me through the front door. Eat what—air? Sophie, why did you hide this from me?" I demanded. "Do we not even have the most basic honesty between us anymore? If you don't want to marry me, just say it. I won't hold you back."

With that, I got up, covered in dirt, and ran home.

…

The moment I walked through the door, I saw my mother and Julian seated at the dining table, enjoying a candlelit dinner.

"Nick, this is Julian," my mother said. "I didn't get a chance to introduce him to you yesterday."

I looked up at him with open hostility and sneered, "Oh? Looks like the son really takes after the father—both dressed decently, yet only good at seducing other men's women."

My mother's face darkened. She raised her hand and struck me hard.

"How dare you speak to an elder like that? Since when did you become so ill-mannered?"

I let out a cold laugh. "Ill-mannered? I must've learned it from you. You sent my fiancée to cater to his son—shouldn't that be called having no manners?"

Her eyes red, she slapped me across the face.

"He's my son too!" she shouted. "You're brothers. What's wrong with letting your fiancée keep him company? Why are you so petty? Am I really that filthy and despicable in your eyes?"

Tears streamed down her face as she leaned against Julian's shoulder, sobbing.

Julian patted her gently and spoke in a soft voice. "Nick, this is all my fault. Don't let Bruce and I come between you and your mother. I'm to blame."

My mother quickly covered his mouth. "No, Julian. This has nothing to do with you. I simply failed to raise Nick properly."

At that moment, the villa doors flew open. Bruce rushed straight to my mother's side, concern written all over his face.

"Mom, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

She looked up and immediately noticed the injury at the corner of his mouth. "Bruce, you're hurt! Did you get into a fight? Does it hurt?"

Bruce shot me a wounded glance.

"Mom, Nick hates me. He's had your love for more than twenty years already. I'm really jealous. I want a mother's love too. I'm not greedy—couldn't you just give me a little?"

My mother's tears fell even faster. She straightened up and shoved me hard.

"Is this how you act as a younger brother? I carried Bruce for ten months too. How can you be so intolerant of him?"

I let out a bitter laugh and raised my hand, pointing at the blood still trickling from the corner of my own mouth.

"Mom, I'm hurt worse than he is, and you didn't even notice. Right now, all you see is them. So what are Dad and I supposed to be to you?"

She froze, then finally looked at my injury.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I just didn't notice…"

"Mom, there's no need to say anything more. I get it. Dad and I don't matter anymore. I don't need your fake concern."

With that, I ran back to my room and locked myself inside, my eyes burning with unshed tears.

…

The next day, Sophie was waiting for me outside the research institute.

The bracelet on her wrist was gone.

"Nick, I was wrong. I shouldn't have hidden things from you," she said softly. "Can you forgive me this once?"

I looked at her coldly. "Let's call off the engagement."

Her eyes reddened instantly. She grabbed my hand. "Don't do this. I promise I'll never have anything to do with him again. You know how much I love you."

Staring into her earnest eyes, my resolve wavered. Maybe I really had misunderstood her.

My tone softened without me realizing it. "Sophie, I'm giving you one last chance."

After saying that, I turned and went straight into the institute.

As soon as I entered the lab, I saw my father, his hair slightly disheveled.

"Dad, did you not sleep all night?"

"No," he replied. "The director spoke to me yesterday. There's a research project overseas that wants me to join. It would take five years. I'm still thinking it over."

I knew that despite his disappointment in Mom, he still couldn't let her go.

"Dad, you've already missed so many opportunities just to stay by Mom's side. If you miss this one too, at your age, there may not be another chance."

He shook his head. "That's not what I'm thinking about. I just can't believe that after more than twenty years of love, she could say she doesn't love me and mean it. What if she's just confused for now…"

I let out a deep sigh. We were the same, both too soft-hearted.

That evening, Mom told me she wouldn't be coming home. There was a new product launch.

My dad and I stayed in the lab, squatting side by side, phones in hand, watching the livestream together.

As we watched my mother shine on stage, my father's eyes still flickered with love.

But near the end, she suddenly announced, "Next, I would like to announce two appointments. I hereby appoint Julian Hardman as Vice President of the Group, and Bruce Hardman as General Manager of the new product project."

Julian then stepped onto the stage, wrapped his arms around my mother, and kissed her on the cheek.

Bruce joined them, standing at her side. The three of them smiled happily for the flashing cameras, looking like a perfect family.

A reporter from the audience asked, "Samantha, are you officially announcing your new relationship with Julian today? You two look like a perfect match."

I turned to look at my father.

The light in his eyes was gone. They looked like still water—dull and lifeless.

"Nick," he said, "she really doesn't love me anymore. After I go abroad, you need to take good care of yourself."

I let out a long sigh, forced a bitter smile, and asked, "Dad, would you mind if I went abroad too and lived off you?"

He looked at me in surprise. "What about Sophie?"

I took out my phone and opened a screenshot.

In the front row of the launch event, Sophie was dressed elegantly, the twenty-thousand-dollar bracelet shining on her wrist.

A bouquet of vivid red roses set off her delicate smile.

"Dad," I said, "there's no place for us in that home anymore."