The True Heir Returns

After a car accident left me with amnesia, a woman claiming to be my girlfriend proposed to me in the most heartfelt way. Everyone around me said I'd been waiting for this moment for seven whole years and urged me to just say yes. In my past life, I nodded along without thinking twice. Her childhood best friend, who turned out to be the long-lost biological son of my parents, ended up going with them to Neller City—and completely leapfrogged into a whole new social class. As for me, I followed Estelle Camden back to her hometown and became just some ordinary guy from the countryside. Cooking, doing laundry, taking care of her bedridden father—I did it all, for thirty years straight. But Estelle left to find work in the city just a year after we got married, and she'd only come back once every few years. The money she sent was barely enough to keep a beggar going. It wasn't until I lay wasted away on my deathbed, barely clinging to life, that I finally saw the truth in her cold, calculating eyes. She let out a sigh of relief and confessed, "The couple who came looking for their child back then—they were your real parents. They're worth hundreds of millions. But you? You're so ordinary—what right did you have to that kind of life? So I gave the DNA test to Derek instead. "Derek is handsome and clever. He deserves the good life way more than you do." When she saw the rage burning in my eyes, she just gave a careless little smile. "You know, sometimes I actually felt guilty looking at you. But now, you're finally about to die—so I guess that's one less thing weighing on my conscience." Right after she said that, I coughed up a mouthful of blood and died, seething with regret. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in that hospital bed—and Estelle was asking me to marry her. Chapter 1 "Nick! Nick! Snap out of it—just say yes already!" My friends were egging me on, all of them saying I'd waited seven years for this moment and to just say yes. I looked at the scene unfolding in front of me—so painfully familiar—and shuddered. It all came rushing back. I'd really been given a second chance. In my past life, my biological parents had come to the orphanage and run DNA tests on several of the men growing up there. But right as the results came out, I got into that accident. When I woke up, the head trauma had wiped my memory, and I'd nodded along like an idiot when Estelle proposed. Not long after, she rushed me back to her hometown. Looking back now, I realized she was terrified I'd regain my memory and ruin the scheme she'd so carefully orchestrated for Derek. What a devoted woman. I bit down hard on my tongue, my stomach churning with disgust. When I didn't answer, Estelle jumped in. "Nick, I know you're over the moon. You don't have to say it—I understand." She grabbed the ring and shoved it onto my finger before I could react. The ring was clearly too small—cheap, outdated. She must've grabbed it from some street vendor in a hurry. She didn't care that my face was twisted in pain, just kept forcing it on. "Enough!" I pulled my hand back coldly. The ring clattered to the floor with a sharp clink. As everyone stared in shock, I looked Estelle in the eye and said, word for word, "I don't know you. Please leave." Estelle's face stiffened. Her eyes went red as she grabbed me again. "Nick, I know you don't remember, but we've been together for seven years. I'm your only family. I'm the one you love most. You can trust me." She put on this lovesick act, and to everyone watching, she looked like the perfect, devoted partner. That just made me look like the ungrateful one. In their eyes, I was an orphan from a group home—poor, uneducated. Estelle might not have been rich, but she was pretty and responsible. By any measure, I was the one getting lucky. But in this second chance, I remembered everything. Every humiliating detail of those seven years. For seven years, I did all her laundry—right down to her socks and underwear. She never let me eat out. The few times I did, it was leftovers from meals she'd had with her friends. The apartment we shared was cheap and cramped. To save money, I even bathed in water she'd already used. Now I had to wonder—was it really about saving a few bucks? No. It was that Estelle looked down on me from the bottom of her heart. She thought I didn't deserve better. So she stripped away my basic human dignity. She said I had no parents. She said I was ordinary and broke. She said I should be grateful because a woman like her, with her looks and prospects, was a gift to someone like me. And that was why, after the accident, she swapped out my DNA test. Chapter 2 "Even if you did make it back to Neller City, someone as mediocre as you would just end up getting laughed at. I was doing you a favor." That was what Estelle Camden had the nerve to say on my deathbed in my past life—still going on and on, trying to ease what little guilt she had by pinning all the blame on me. It made my blood boil so badly I died with my eyes wide open, choked with fury. Just looking at someone that selfish made me sick. "You know I just woke up. Why are you pushing me like this? If you really cared about me, wouldn't you wait until my memory came back before bringing any of this up?" The moment my calm, even voice trailed off, Estelle froze in sheer shock. She furrowed her brow at me like I was some disobedient dog that had just snapped at its owner. Suddenly, Derek Willis reached over and took my hand, putting on a concerned front. "Nick, you made it through the accident—Estelle's just happy. She knows all you've ever wanted is a family, so she proposed right away. Everyone can see you two make a perfect couple. If you don't believe me, just check the photos on your phone." Hearing that, I almost laughed out loud. Derek had to be the most desperate one here right now. We'd grown up together in the same orphanage, but he always thought he was better than me in every way. Whenever someone gave me something, it would mysteriously disappear the next day—and sure enough, it'd show up on him soon after. In my previous life, after he stole my identity, he actually came back to visit. He pulled up in a luxury sports car, his skin no longer rough and dark like before but fair and glowing. Meanwhile, I stood there in heavy, worn-out clothes, my chapped lips parting as I tried to greet him. But Derek recoiled like I was carrying some deadly plague. "Nick, how did you get so old? Estelle was really unlucky to end up with you..." That was just two months after I'd been discharged from the hospital. I had no one to take care of me and still had to cook for myself. Between the physical and mental toll, I was barely holding it together. So I looked at Estelle, hoping she'd say something—anything—to ease the pain. But instead, she glanced at Derek and smiled. "How could you compare to him? You're a rich heir now. He's just a country bumpkin—this is his lot in life..." But now I knew the truth. This was never supposed to be my fate. The two of them had fed on me like parasites, gorging themselves until they were plump and satisfied. Not this time. Never again. I coldly pulled my hand away and replied flatly, "I don't know you either. Please leave—I need to rest." Derek's hand hung frozen in midair, and for a split second, a vicious glint flickered in his eyes. But he kept himself in check and forced a smile. "Alright, then... get some rest." Estelle looked like she wanted to argue, but Derek pulled her away. The others said their goodbyes and filed out after them. I finally let out a breath. The wound on my head was still throbbing, and before long, I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up again, it was already the next day. I remembered the DNA test report and immediately went downstairs to pick it up. But the nurse gave me a confused look. "That was already picked up—for Nick Dalton." I froze on the spot. Estelle. My mind instantly put the pieces together. My parents were flying back tomorrow—they couldn't even wait one more day. They'd already taken my report. Chapter 3 I spent the whole walk back to the ward turning it over in my mind. When I got there, Estelle was waiting for me at the door. "Where did you go?" I dodged her hand as she reached for me and asked flatly, "You took my DNA test results, didn't you?" The moment the words left my mouth, the room went dead silent. "Who told you there was a DNA test?" Estelle stared me down, her lips pressed into a tight line. The look in her eyes made it clear—if I so much as hinted that my memory had come back, she'd be ready to do whatever it took to shut me up. After a few seconds of silence, I played it cool and shrugged. "Just overheard some people talking. Found out I was part of it too. So what did it say?" Estelle relaxed visibly. "I checked it for you. You're not a match." She seemed to think I was getting above myself, because her tone shifted into something almost preachy. "Don't get any wild ideas. Better to keep your feet on the ground." She grabbed my shoulders and looked at me with exaggerated seriousness. "Nick, you know what I've always loved about you? You're not vain. You're not like other guys. So let's just focus on our own life and stop chasing things that have nothing to do with us." I stared back at her coldly, scoffing inside. I couldn't wrap my head around how someone could be so shameless. After stealing my identity, she still had the nerve to tear me down like I was worthless. In my past life, she'd sweet-talked me into signing the marriage papers, and within months, she was off to Neller City. My dream of having a wedding kept getting pushed back, year after year. Eventually, I took the cheapest train I could find and went looking for her. Instead, I walked in on her wedding to Derek. I tried to storm in and confront her, but security dragged me out and locked me in a dog crate. Afterwards, Estelle showed not a shred of remorse—she just pointed at my head and tore into me. "Why do you have to make my life so miserable?! I've been keeping you fed and housed back home—why can't you just be grateful? "I'm trying to climb up in the world—isn't that for our family too? "You've never done a thing to help this family. Stop dragging me down!" She tore me to pieces, then tossed me a few hundred bucks like a consolation prize. Slap on the cheek, candy in the mouth. And I let her send me back home in a daze, too beaten down to fight back. Now, Estelle seemed to think she'd talked me into line again. She turned around and started packing my things. "Hospitals are too expensive. You don't have much savings anyway—better to save that for our future house. Let's go home for now, and once we're—" "Don't bother. I'm staying a few more days. And don't come see me anymore." I cut her off mid-sentence and reached for my suitcase. Estelle's grip tightened, her face darkening. "What are you trying to say? Nick, why are you being so difficult all of a sudden? I'm doing this for your own good! Once your memory comes back, you'll understand. Besides, you don't have a penny to your name—what's there to be afraid of?" Her ugly side was starting to show, the old pattern of twisting my head around. But I wasn't the same Nick she used to push to the breaking point. I just took my suitcase back and said calmly, "I don't know you. Don't come back." Estelle's mind seemed to short-circuit. Her face went even paler. "What are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?" I gave a slight nod. "You can put it that way." Just then, the door swung open, and Derek rushed in, looking frantic. "Nick, what's going on? Why would you break up out of nowhere? You two were about to get married." I didn't answer him. Instead, I held up my phone, showing a recent charge notification. "Did you use this?" His face froze. He touched his freshly permed hair and threw an arm around my shoulder, all buddy-buddy. "You probably don't remember, but we're tight, man. You've always been super generous. Heh, don't sweat the small stuff, right?" "Cash or transfer?" They both blinked at me, confused. "What?" I pulled my arm free and pulled up my banking app. "Cash or transfer?" I repeated. Chapter 4 Derek's eyes went red on the spot, like he was the one who'd been wronged. Estelle's face twisted. She lunged forward and grabbed for my phone, furious. "Nick, are you that obsessed with money? You have the nerve to ask for a few dozen bucks!" I shoved her hand off and shot back coldly, "What is he, a beggar? A few dozen is still money. If you're so generous, you pay me back." "That's enough!" Derek suddenly yelled, glaring at me with pure contempt. "Let me tell you the truth—I'm the heir of the Astor family. When my parents get here tomorrow, forget a few dozen—I could give you hundreds! Thousands! You're nothing but a pathetic loser. Who are you to humiliate me?" With that, he shoved past me and ran out. Estelle's face darkened as she snapped at me, "Happy now? You really did hit your head. Now nobody's happy. Just pack your things and come with me!" "I said I'm not leaving." "What are you even staying for? Are you determined to ruin everything for everyone else?" Estelle's voice cracked as she screamed, then she froze mid-sentence. I stared at her coldly and sneered, "What exactly am I supposed to be ruining?" "None of your business. Just come with me!" Estelle deflected, flustered and angry. "I'm not going. If you try to drag me out, I'll call the police." The room went deathly quiet. Her face turned ashen. She gritted her teeth, nodded once, then slammed the door behind her. I let out a breath. Tomorrow, when my parents arrived, I'd expose Derek's lie. No one was going to steal my life from me. But I hadn't counted on what happened the next morning. The door burst open with a crash. Estelle's father and a bunch of his relatives charged in, grabbed my wrists, and started hauling me out. Their nails dug into my skin, and I broke out in a cold sweat from the pain. I fought back hard. "Let go of me! Let go! Get off!" A crowd gathered fast. When someone tried to step in, Estelle's father put on a weepy act. "This is my son! He lost his memory and doesn't recognize me anymore. He's an orphan—we raised him on our own dime, every meal we could spare!" The good Samaritan backed off and scolded me, "They've been so good to you. Don't be ungrateful." I was frantic, shouting back, "He's lying! I never spent a penny of their money!" In fact, after he was paralyzed, I'd taken care of him for decades—and he'd beat me and cursed me out over every little thing. Then Estelle jumped out of a beat-up van, her face dark, and shoved me toward it. She clamped her hand over my mouth while Estelle's father tied me up with rope. Through the window, I saw a black sedan pull up slowly. My parents—the ones I remembered—stepped out and hurried toward the hospital entrance. Watching them get farther and farther away, my heart raced. I clenched my teeth and bit down hard on Estelle's hand. "Ah!" She screamed in pain. I kicked Estelle's father square in the chest, broke free, and stumbled out of the van. "Nick, stop right there!" Estelle chased after me like a ghost. I didn't dare slow down. Gasping for air, I weaved through the crowd. Up ahead, I saw Derek sobbing into my mother's arms. Estelle's face went purple with rage. She wrapped her arm around my throat and tried to drag me back. My blood pounded in my ears. I dug my nails into the wound on her hand. The moment she loosened her grip, I screamed with everything I had. "Mom, Dad—I'm your real son!"