The Heir and the Fraud

On my very first day studying abroad, my mom brought her real son back home. Within two years, he had won over every single person in the family. By the time I came back, she tossed a signed disownment agreement in my face. "To be honest, I've always thought you were pretty selfish. All you care about is money. You refuse to hand over control of the company, and you never show any real concern for us as parents. Thank God my real son isn't that cold-blooded. So do the right thing—hand over your shares and walk away from this family on your own." She stood there waiting for me to break down, to beg her to let me stay. But I just let out a quiet sigh and pulled out a DNA test linking me to my grandfather—her father. "Mom, I'm not your biological son—that much is true. But I am the biological grandson of the man who actually runs the Harrison family. The one who should be leaving the Harrison family isn't me—it's you." Chapter 1 The guy standing in front of me looked just like my mom, Claire Harrison. During the two years I was abroad, he'd effortlessly won over everyone around me. Right now, my fiancée and my best friend were both standing by his side, watching me warily—afraid that once I learned the truth, I'd throw a fit and lay a hand on Arthur Harrison. "Cillian," Arthur said softly. "I didn't want to take anything from you, honestly. But in the two years since I came back to the Harrison family, I've heard a lot of things. "I heard that you've been holding onto the shares Grandpa gave you, collecting massive dividends every year, but you never give Mom any money—and that's gotten her mocked by the other ladies in their social circle. "I also heard that you refused to let Olivia manage the company, that you wouldn't just settle down and enjoy an easy life, so you and Olivia were always fighting. "And even your best friend, Nathan—when he asked you to co-invest in a project, you wouldn't even agree to that." He took a deep breath. "I don't think that's right. You care too much about money, and you're too cold to the people closest to you. "If it were me, I'd never treat them that way. They're more important than any amount of meaningless money. So..." He clenched his fists. "Can you give back what's mine? I can't let you keep using money that should belong to me to keep hurting them." When he finished, the living room fell completely silent. My fiancée, Olivia, and my best friend, Nathan, had looks of deep admiration on their faces. My mother looked like she was about to tear up. "You hear that?" she said. "All these years, if you'd been even half as thoughtful as Arthur, we never would've been pushed to this point." Under everyone's watchful eyes, I sat down on the couch and poured myself a cup of tea. Then I looked up and spoke, unhurried. "Mom, you grew up spoiled by Grandpa. After you had me out of wedlock, you just handed me off to a nanny and lived your whole life without a care in the world. "Everything was fine until your bridge circle friends started whispering in your ear, pressuring me to hand over my shares for you to manage. But you don't know the first thing about any of that. "Can't you see they're just stirring up trouble between us? I was trying to keep you away from them for your own good." My mom's face turned red with anger. "They actually care about me. If you ask me, you're the one who doesn't want what's best for me. "Let me tell you something—in the two years since Arthur came back, he's been nothing but attentive to me. That's when I finally learned what a real son is like. "And you? All you do is piss me off and cling to those shares. What else are you good for?" I sighed. Then I turned to Nathan McKinzie, my best friend since childhood. There was no trace of the old easy friendship on his face anymore—just pure, undisguised schadenfreude. "Cillian, you're finally getting what you deserve," he said. "My dad's got a project that would've been a done deal if Harrison Corp. had signed on, but you refused to greenlight it and kept telling me to drop it." He let out a cold laugh. "You never really saw me as a buddy, did you? You've always been afraid I'd actually make some money, huh?" He turned to Arthur, a smile spreading across his face. "Arthur already promised me that once he gets control of the company, he'll greenlight that project with my dad's firm immediately. Now that's what I call a real buddy." Chapter 2 "Nathan," I said, my voice steady. "I had that project looked into. The company on the other end was flagged for abnormal operations last month, and their CEO is tangled up in debt disputes across multiple projects. I find it hard to believe you didn't know how risky this was." A flicker of guilt crossed Nathan's face, but he quickly pulled himself together. "Cut the crap. You just don't want to help me. All these years of friendship, and I've wasted them on you." Seeing Nathan upset, Arthur quickly stepped in and put a hand on his arm. "Don't be mad, Nathan. Once I get the shares, I'll make it happen for you right away." Watching their little display of loyalty, I smiled. "You don't have to wait for the shares. You can sign the contract right now, go in as a partner, and share the risk on this project. Then, once you get the shares from me later, you'll have saved a ton of time. How about it?" Arthur hesitated for a moment, but quickly made up his mind. "Fine. I'll sign. I trust Nathan." Even if the project failed, he'd have the Harrison shares to fall back on. What mattered most right now was winning Nathan over completely and taking everyone away from Cillian. With that thought, he didn't hesitate—he had someone bring the contract and signed his name. My gaze shifted to my fiancée, Olivia Wright. Or rather, she was Arthur's fiancée now. Olivia walked over, looking down at me with a smirk curling at the corner of her mouth. "Cillian, I told you a hundred times to let me run Harrison Corp., but you wouldn't listen. I said it over and over—you don't have the ability. I could've shared the load, but you had to be stubborn. You had to cling to those shares." She shook her head, her voice dripping with relief. "Thank God you were so pigheaded. Otherwise, I might've actually married you—a fraud. "Now, even if you got down on your knees and begged me to marry you, I wouldn't be interested. The man I'm marrying is Arthur. He's the real heir to the Harrison family. As for you—" She looked me up and down, her eyes filled with contempt. "No matter how capable you think you are, you're still getting thrown out." My mom let out a cold snort. "Look at you now. If you'd just listened to us from the start, you wouldn't have ended up with everyone turning against you." Arthur reached over and held her arm. The two of them looked like a pair of doting mother and son. His voice was sweet and obedient. "Cillian, if you'd just been kinder to Mom back then, even after your real identity came out, she would've at least let you leave with some dignity. But you brought this on yourself. "I know it's hard to accept that you're not really a Harrison, but you can't keep holding onto things that aren't yours, right?" The smugness and provocation in his voice were almost dripping out. Is that so? I looked at him, then at the rest of the room—faces filled with mockery or disdain. And suddenly, I was back two years ago. The day before I left for abroad, my grandfather called me into his study. He looked at me, his eyes complicated. "Cillian, there's something I've kept from you for twenty years. The truth is, you're not Claire's biological son." His voice was hoarse as he slowly told me a story. More than twenty years ago, his daughter had been switched at birth by a nurse. By the time my grandfather found out the truth and tracked down his real daughter, she had just passed away from complications during childbirth—leaving behind a son. Me. And the baby girl who had been switched into the Harrison family was Claire. "When Claire went into labor, I'd just uncovered the truth." My grandfather closed his eyes, as if reliving that painful time. "I was so furious that I did something terrible. I switched her son with you." He opened his eyes, filled with guilt. "She took my daughter's place. I wanted her to know what it felt like to have her own flesh and blood out there, lost." I was so stunned by the truth that I couldn't speak. So my mother, Claire Harrison, was the real imposter all along. "She raised you for twenty years. Whether you still want to call her your mother is up to you." My grandfather took my hand. "But everything I have goes to my real bloodline. That's why I made sure all the company shares went to you." At the time, I couldn't accept it. But once I calmed down, I decided to keep this cruel truth from Claire. After all, I'd called her "Mom" for twenty years. Even if she'd always been cold to me, I still had feelings for her. Too bad. I pulled myself out of the memory and looked at the woman in front of me—so eager to cut me off. Only now did I realize she'd been resenting me all along. The cruel truth I couldn't bear to tell her—she had no problem throwing every bit of malice my way without hesitation. I let out a bitter laugh and stood up from the couch. Fine. I'd give them what they wanted. Claire pulled a document from the coffee table drawer and slapped it down on the table. "To put Arthur's mind at ease, this is the disownment agreement. Sign it. From now on, you and I are no longer mother and son." "Mom," I said, looking her in the eyes. "Are you sure you want to cut ties with me?" "Of course I'm sure." Claire laughed like I'd just said something ridiculous. "Don't tell me you still think I'm going to go soft on you. You should understand by now—why would the Harrison family fortune go to anyone but the real Harrison heir? Why would it go to an outsider?" Olivia chimed in. "Cillian, stop stalling. If you don't sign, we'll get lawyers involved and sue you for illegally occupying the Harrison family assets." Nathan joined in. "Yeah, give back what you stole from Arthur." Arthur didn't say anything. He just watched me with those eyes so much like Claire's, barely hiding his smugness. I took a deep breath. "Fine." I picked up the pen and signed my name. Chapter 3 The tension in the living room noticeably lifted. But there was also a faint undercurrent of disappointment—none of them got the breakdown they'd been expecting. No crying, no begging, no hysterics. I looked at them. "As for the shares—Grandpa gave them to me. If they're going to be transferred, he'll have to agree to it first. If you have something to say, you can ask him yourself at the board meeting in three days." Claire let out a scoff. "He's my father. You don't seriously think he'd choose an outsider over his own flesh and blood, do you? Fine. I'll see you at the board meeting." I stretched, rubbed my brow, and headed to my room. When I opened the door, I found my room had been completely cleared out. All my things had been bagged up and tossed into the basement. The bedroom with its floor-to-ceiling windows and private bathroom had been turned into a storage room. They'd arranged for me to stay in the maid's room at the far end of the third floor. It was barely ten square feet, with only a narrow little window. Arthur smiled at me. "There aren't any extra rooms in the house, so you'll have to stay here for now. You're lucky, Cillian. When I was in the countryside, I didn't even have a room like this." His eyes reddened, as if recalling something painful. I looked at him with a half-smile. "Funny, though—your hands don't have a single callus. They're soft and pale, not a mark of hard work anywhere. Must be a pretty gentle kind of country life." Arthur's face went stiff. Olivia immediately rushed to his defense. "Cillian, making fun of Arthur's suffering is like rubbing salt in his wounds. You really are as vicious as ever." I was momentarily speechless. Wasn't Arthur the one who brought it up first? I waved my hand. "Forget it. You can keep this room for yourselves. I'll just leave." Seeing me walk out on my own, Arthur's lips twitched into a barely noticeable smile. When no one was watching, he stepped closer to me. In a voice only the two of us could hear, he murmured, "Cillian, I really should thank you." I looked at him. His eyes gleamed with excitement. "When I first came back to the Harrison family, I was worried it'd be hard to fit in. After all, you'd lived with them for over twenty years—there had to be real bonds there. Isn't that how it always goes in novels? The adopted son is more beloved than the real one." He let out a soft laugh. "But I didn't expect you to burn every bridge yourself. Cold to Mom, ignoring your own fiancée, even pushing your best friend away. Tell me—didn't you pave this road for me yourself?" He stepped back, putting on that obedient face again, but his eyes were pure malice. "Thanks, Cillian. You're even dumber than I thought." He seemed to be waiting for me to explode. Instead, I gave him the same smile right back. "You're welcome." … Three days passed. I stayed in a presidential suite at a hotel. My phone kept ringing off the hook. Claire had spread the news that the company was about to change hands, and everyone was frantically trying to reach me for inside information. I ignored every single call. To celebrate his soon-to-be-acquired shares, Arthur went on a spending spree with Nathan, hitting up every high-end spot in town. Since Arthur didn't have any money in his account yet, everything went on Nathan's card. Watching the balance drop so fast, Nathan felt a flicker of irritation. But then, he thought about the massive payoff Arthur would bring him once he got those shares—and he swallowed his frustration. On the afternoon of the third day, I walked back into the company. Both sides of the conference table were packed. My grandfather sat at the head, his expression dark and heavy. When I pushed the door open, every pair of eyes in the room snapped toward me. "He actually showed up." Someone let out a low scoff. Most people were looking at me with barely concealed schadenfreude. "Everyone," Claire said, rising to her feet, her voice ringing through the room, "I've called this meeting today to announce two important matters. "First—let me introduce the man beside me. This is my biological son, Arthur, whom I was separated from for twenty-three years. And this man, Cillian, is not a Harrison." The room filled with applause. Claire smiled, satisfied, and continued. "Second—Cillian will be formally resigning from all positions at Harrison Corp. today, and transferring all of his shares to Arthur, free of charge." The applause grew louder. A few shareholders even stood up to cheer. "Congratulations, Arthur. What was stolen will always be returned in the end." Arthur was surrounded by the crowd, accepting congratulations and flattery. He shot a glance my way, his eyes dripping with smugness. Olivia was also at the meeting. She walked up to me and announced, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I'd like to officially inform everyone that my engagement to Cillian has long been called off. In one month, Arthur and I will be engaged. He's the man I truly love." More congratulations rippled through the room. Everyone looked thrilled, buzzing with anticipation. Claire turned to my grandfather, beaming. "Dad, hurry up and have Cillian sign the papers—transfer the shares to Arthur. "Oh, and since Cillian is not really a Harrison, he shouldn't be allowed to take a single thing that belongs to the family. No house, no car, nothing. "After all, why should a bastard get to benefit from Harrison property?" All eyes turned to my grandfather. In the dead silence, he slowly spoke. "Cillian is my one and only biological grandson. The shares in his name do not need to be transferred to anyone."