After I caught my wife with my own brother, everyone in the family pressured me to step aside. So I did.

I accepted the betrayal with a smile, took my half of the assets, and walked away from that life forever. Later, I found three lost children.

Under my care, they grew up to become a titan of the business world, a king of the entertainment industry, and a genius professor sought after by the nation's top research labs.

This winter, my biological daughter tracked me down to the small country town where I’d made my home.

She found me lounging in a patio chair, soaking up the weak winter sun, and sneered. "If Grandma and Grandpa weren't so old and sentimental, I would never have come to this dump to drag you home for the holidays." She looked around my modest, unfinished yard with disdain. "After you left, my sister Lara took over Aura Corp, my brother Isaac became a megainfluencer with millions of followers, and I got into Stanford.

Our lives are better than ever." She fixed me with a triumphant glare. "So, Dad. You threw us away for a bit of cash. Do you regret it now?" 1.

Serena stared at me, her expression a mask of smug superiority, clearly expecting me to crumble with regret.

I just looked back at her and gave a calm, thoughtful nod. "Stanford is a good school," I said. It meant, in a way, she and Talia were alumnae.

Of course, a onceinageneration mind like Talia’s was a different beast entirely. My lack of a theatrical breakdown seemed to annoy her.

A flicker of resentment crossed her face before she quickly replaced it with that familiar, contemptuous smile. "The New Year is coming up. It’s also Grandpa's 80th birthday.

Grandma’s getting on in years, and she’s worried about you. She insisted I come and get you." She sighed dramatically. "Dad, you're a grown man.

It's time to be a little more considerate." I thought for a moment. I did owe my parents. They were old, and whatever bitterness lay between us, a son had a duty.

Serena mistook my silence for weakness.

Her eyes, sweeping over the small country house I’d just bought and hadn’t even had time to renovate, dripped with scorn. "Looks like things haven't gone so well for you since you abandoned us." "But don't worry," she added, her tone dripping with false magnanimity. "Legally, you're still our father.

We'll send you a check when you're old and can't work.

But let me be clear: Grandma might still see you as her son, but in our hearts, Uncle Hugo has always been our real dad." I studied the young woman before me.

The disdain in her eyes was identical to how it had been all those years ago. I saw her then, a little girl standing coldly at the top of the stairs.

She was so small, but her strength was shocking as she shoved me—burning with a high fever—sending me tumbling down the staircase.

Her voice had been sharp with suspicion. "You're not my daddy!

Uncle Hugo is my daddy!" "Mommy and Daddy are supposed to be together!" "Don't you hurt my dad, you bad man!" And behind her, hiding in the shadows, my brother Hugo had worn a look of triumphant glee.

Serena’s push had fractured my leg. Combined with the fever, I was unconscious in the hospital for three days.

But when I woke, everyone took Hugo's side, accusing me of bullying him. "Brother, you can hit me, curse me, slander me, I'll take it," Hugo had said, tears welling in his eyes. "But you can't use your own daughter in your schemes." "I just touched him lightly," sevenyearold Serena had sobbed, her little body shaking. "Daddy fell all by himself…" I had stared at her in shock. "Serena, why are you lying…?" She had only cried harder. "I'm not lying!

You're the one who's lying! You were going to hit Uncle Hugo…" Hugo had scooped her into a protective embrace, dabbing at her tears.

My wife, Bianca, had stood by, her face dark with fury. "She's seven years old, Victor! Can a sevenyearold lie like that?" "How much strength could a child possibly have?

God, Victor, how can a man be so petty?" "And besides," she had spat, the words like venom, "she is your daughter!" Looking at Serena now, the little girl who had championed my betrayer, my heart felt like a desolate wasteland.

Yes, she was my daughter. The treasure I had cherished, turned into a weapon in another's hands and plunged deep into my chest.

All I felt now was a profound and weary disappointment. A sarcastic smile touched my lips. "Don't worry. Your mother and I are long divorced.

I'll be gone right after the holidays." Before leaving, I sent a message to the group chat I shared with my real children.

This year, we're going to spend New Year's at your grandmother's house. Three immediate replies of "Got it, Dad" lit up my screen, and a warmth spread through my chest.

In all these years, with these kids by my side, I had never once been lonely. The next day, I packed a small bag and drove back with Serena to the old family home.

It looked exactly as I remembered, and for a moment, I was lost in time. Stepping inside, I immediately saw the man Serena now called father. My exwife's current husband.

My own brother, Hugo. Dressed in a perfectly tailored suit and goldrimmed glasses, he moved through the crowd of friends and relatives with an air of scholarly charm.

The moment he saw me, his face lit up with a warm, welcoming smile. "Brother! It's been too long.

We were so worried about you." "It's Dad's 80th today, we were all hoping you'd make it.

It's cold outside, come in, have some hot tea." The surrounding relatives started whispering, their gazes a mixture of curiosity and judgment.

I was the eldest son who had vanished for years, neglecting my family. I knew exactly what game he was playing, but I couldn't be bothered to engage.

Serena, however, frowned and pushed past me, running to Hugo and speaking in a deliberately loud voice. "Dad! I brought you so many presents!

Look at this watch!" "Serena, you're such a good daughter.

This is beautiful, it must have cost a fortune," Hugo said, his eyes flicking to me, a glint of triumph in them. "It was just my scholarship money.

Besides, it's only right for a daughter to spend money on her father…" Watching this touching scene of fatherly love, I calmly sipped my tea. Serena was a good kid.

She just had the wrong dad. "Victor! My son!" My mother rushed out from an inner room, her eyes welling with tears as she looked at me. "You've suffered all these years.

You've gotten so thin." "It's good you're back, it's good you're back!" She looked at me with genuine pain in her eyes. They knew they had wronged their eldest son.

When my father's investments failed and the family went bankrupt, it was I who had dropped out of school to work.

They took the money I sent home and scraped by to put Hugo through college. Later, I used my savings to buy back the family home so they could retire in peace.

When Hugo returned from his studies abroad, I got him a job at Aura Corp while I stayed home to raise the three children. A bitter smile played on my lips.

What did all that effort matter? They had always preferred Hugo—the polished, welleducated son who shared their "sensibilities." I was just the embarrassing househusband.

As Aura Corp grew, Hugo, not I, looked like the heir to a fortune. It was Hugo whom Bianca took to galas and highsociety events.

I was the one who helped her build the company from nothing. I was the one who raised the children. I was the one who gave up my own education for my brother.

And yet, every single one of them had given their loyalty, their love, to him. My wife, my partner, had an affair with her own brotherinlaw right under my nose.

And everyone, including my own children, covered for them. "Dad, Uncle Hugo is one of us now. He's educated overseas.

It's better for all of us if he's the man by Mom's side," my eldest, Lara, had told me carefully. "Yeah, Dad.

Image is everything in our circle," my son, Isaac, had added, nodding sagely. "Uncle Hugo is the only one who understands me.

He's my real parent," Serena had declared without hesitation. That's when I knew. My wife was in love with my brother, and my children were no longer my own.

The night I discovered their affair, my parents sat me down for a long talk. "Your brother is stubborn.

He's finally back from his studies, and our family name has some prestige now. We can't let him be a bachelor forever, can we?" "We're family.

He'll be good to the kids." "Just tell everyone you and Bianca divorced a long time ago.

We'll give you another house, you can move out for a while, to avoid gossip." "Victor," my father had said, his words like daggers to my heart. "Just give your position to your brother." Looking at the absurd, grotesque theater of my family, I signed the divorce papers without a fight.

I took my share of the assets and walked out of that house and that life without a backward glance. I moved to the country and bought a small, simple house.

Life was quiet, tending to my flowers and vegetable garden. My biological children, furious that I had taken the money, hated me.

In their eyes, I was a wicked man who had used a woman to get ahead, then abandoned his family for money. They refused to call me father. It didn't matter.

Over the years, I had found three new children. The first was Claire, who ran away from the next village over when her parents tried to sell her to a local drunk for a pittance.

I paid them double and bought her a new life. She was beautiful, and a stunningly fast learner.

The second was Leo, a boy beaten half to death for stealing a loaf of bread from a corner store.

I paid for the damages, brought him home, cooked him a hot meal, and gave him clean clothes. A light ignited in his dark, hopeless eyes.

And Talia… Claire and Leo found her at the bus station, abandoned. She was just a little girl, staring at the departing bus with a look of pure, desolate loss on her face.

I sighed, clutching my rapidly dwindling wallet, and grit my teeth as I told them to bring her home.

For years, they were the ones who stayed by my side. "Now that you're back, you should stay," my mother said now, her voice thick with emotion. "You've had it rough, my child." "He's the one who didn't want us," Serena snorted from the side. "Mom said she would have taken care of him.

I guess he finally realized he's useless out in the real world, huh?" I looked at Serena, a flicker of pure contempt in my eyes. I had raised her with such care.

Her health was fragile as a child, and I was constantly by her side.

But she had hated my attentiveness, my "restrictions," and far preferred Hugo, who let her do whatever she wanted.

Before I could respond, my father walked in with Bianca and the others, laughing and talking. "Grandma! Grandpa!" Isaac cried, throwing his arms around our mother.

The moment he saw me, his smile froze, and a look of disgust flashed across his face. "What are you still doing here?" "Dad, what kind of scene are you trying to cause now?" my eldest, Lara, demanded, stepping in front of Hugo as if to protect him. "I asked him to come back," my mother snapped before I could speak. "Honestly, bringing him back for the New Year.

Such bad luck," Serena muttered under her breath.

My father and Bianca's faces also soured. "My brother rarely comes home," Hugo said, stepping forward, playing the magnanimous host.

The guests murmured amongst themselves. "The younger son is so reasonable." "Yes, they say he studied abroad.

You can tell he's more sophisticated." "What kind of father is so cruel that he abandons his own children…" "Grandpa, we got you gifts!" Isaac announced brightly. "The assistant arranged for them to be delivered later." At this, my father's face lit up. "I hear the children of this family are all so accomplished." "The eldest daughter is the CEO of Aura Corp, the son is an influencer with millions of followers, and the youngest is a top student at Stanford!" "That Bianca really married up!

And to think, her first husband was so foolish, throwing it all away for a little bit of money…" a guest gossiped, before his wife nudged him into silence.

My father's face darkened. He turned his anger on me. "Why did you come back? We haven't heard from you in over a decade.

Now that your life has gone to hell, you know where to find us?" He glanced at the empty space behind me. "You came alone?" "You have three other grandchildren," I said calmly. "They're busy with work.

They'll be here later." "When did you get married? Why didn't I know?" Bianca demanded, a strange, complicated look in her eyes. "You're saying they're already working?

So you had bastards behind my back all along!" "You disgraceful thing!" my father roared, slamming his cane on the floor.

Before he could continue, a welldressed man appeared at the door. His impeccable bearing made everyone gasp. "Isn't that the courier service for ultraluxury goods?

They only handle orders over a million dollars. I heard the delivery fee alone is in the tens of thousands…" "Excuse me," the man said politely. "Who is Mr. Victor Song?

These are New Year's gifts from your three children. Please sign here." Hugo beamed and stepped forward. "Mr. Song's children are so filial! Just look at the delivery man!

These gifts must be very expensive." He took the clipboard to sign, but the courier stopped him, a complicated expression on his face.

He gently blocked Hugo's hand as he reached for the packages. "The recipient is listed as Mr. Victor Song.

Sir, we cannot allow anyone else to sign." "Who did you say the recipient is?" Serena demanded, striding forward in disbelief.

But when she saw the senders' names on the manifest, she relaxed. "There must be a mistake.

The recipient should be my father." The Clarity Group, Lionheart Media, and the Stanford Research Division.

Weren't those her sister's business partner, her brother's investment firm, and her own university department? It was a holiday, and her grandfather's birthday.

They were obviously gifts for her family. They had just sent them to the family home, and since Victor Song was the name on the old deed, they must have made a mistake.

I watched her with a flicker of pity. "Ma'am, these items are extremely valuable," the courier insisted. "We can only release them to the person named." I smiled, stepped forward, showed my ID, and signed my name.

The young man bowed politely and left, relieved. His company never made mistakes. Not with a delivery from those three.

Hugo, however, shouldered me aside, tore open the packages, and displayed the contents for everyone to see. "How thoughtful of the children, to prepare such wonderful gifts for us." There were exquisite jewels, rare vintage wines, and a set of medical supplements that were priceless on the open market. "This is…" Lara and Isaac looked confused.

This wasn't what they had arranged. But these gifts were far too extravagant for someone like Victor to afford. He was just a high school dropout.

How could he possibly know people at this level? It had to be for them. Just a clerical error with the name.

They quickly claimed the credit, a shared feeling of disgust passing between them at the thought that they had ever shared a household with Victor.

As the guests showered them with praise, they smiled and puffed up Hugo. "Yes, we're so proud to have a father like him." "See? Hugo is the good one.

Victor comes home with nothing." "It's the holidays.

No matter how poor you are, you should show some respect." "The eldest son really is a disgrace…" Hugo smirked and stepped toward me. "Brother, I know things have been hard for you.

But as the younger generation, we have to set an example, don't we? Coming home emptyhanded… it's not a good look.

Even if the kids are grown, you still need to show respect to Mom and Dad." He covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes crinkling in a mocksympathetic smile. "Why don't you get on your knees and wish them a happy new year?

It'll bring some good cheer."