My wife wanted me to get a vasectomy so we could be child-free for life. Ten years later, she brought home a pair of adopted twins. It was a boy and a girl and she asked me to raise them as my own.

I complied with her request. From that moment on, I devoted myself to raising them with love and care. By the time they turned eighteen, they had earned admission to the two prestigious universities in the country.

At their college entrance banquet, my wife handed me a property transfer document. She wanted me to sign over all my assets to the twins.

I said yes. Just as I was handling the pen and was about to sign the documents, my mother pulled me aside, her face full of worry." Allan Dellon, these children have an unclear background. You can’t just hand over everything to them!" she pleaded.

I responded calmly, "Mom, I trust my judgment."

Tears streamed down her face as she fell to her knees before me, as she begged me not to be a fool.

When my father saw that her bitter pleas were in vain, he slapped me across the face in anger. "You fool! You’re ruining yourself!" he shouted before storming off.

Still, I signed the document. The moment I did, Clara Smith burst into laughter. Then, she affectionately linked arms with another man. He smirked and tossed a divorce agreement onto the table. "Allan, thank you for taking care of Clara and the kids all these years. However, it’s time to return them to me. Our family of four should finally be reunited."

I let out a mirthless chuckle. "Fine."

***

Eighteen years ago, Clara had promised we would be child-free forever. However, one day, she suddenly brought home a pair of twins. The siblings were a little darker-skinned than us, but they were adorable and giggling at everyone they met.

Clara told me she had adopted them from an orphanage and wanted me to help raise them.

So, I became a stay-at-home dad. I changed diapers, wiped noses and cared for them through every milestone. Eighteen years later, they got into the two most prestigious universities in the country.

At their college entrance banquet, I was ready to transfer my assets to them and take a step back from my career. The news spread like wildfire and shocked the entire city.

Friends and family urged me to reconsider my decision and warned me to be cautious, yet I ignored them all and signed everything over to the twins.

When I handed over the documents, Clara could no longer contain her excitement. She laughed loudly, then turned and with her hands linked to another man's arm, they walked toward me. Together, they handed me a divorce agreement and demanded that I leave with nothing.

My mind went blank.

I stared at her in disbelief, a sharp pain stabbing through my heart because I had just been betrayed by the person that I trusted the most.

It was well-known that I had undergone a vasectomy in order to have a child-free life with her.

For years, I even played the role of a devoted husband and loving father. I was known throughout the city as the perfect family man.

Now, as I stared at the divorce papers, my eyes burned with rage. I bellowed at them as my voice shook with fury, "Clara! Are you telling me you have been with Sean Lamar behind my back all this time?"

Sean was one of my employees. He was known for his flattery and cunning mind. He had worked his way up, so at the moment he reached a director position at my company.

Sean smiled calmly. "Allan, don’t be upset. If you truly love Clara, shouldn’t you make sacrifices for her happiness?"

Clara grew impatient. "Just sign it already! What kind of adult drags things out like this?"

I had met Clara in college. She was my classmate. She had come from a poor rural family and often struggled to afford meals. Many times, I had seen her sitting alone in her dorm while gnawing on plain steamed buns.

Back then, her hair was dry and brittle, her face pale from malnutrition and her health fragile. Her irregular diet had made her menstrual cycle irregular.

One day, she collapsed on the track field. I carried her to the infirmary, only then realizing the extent of her struggles.

After that, I covered all her living expenses, so it was natural that we ended up together.

Sean, her high school classmate, had been her childhood sweetheart. They had broken up long ago, or so I had thought. However, sometime later, I found out they had rekindled their relationship behind my back.

"Isn’t this tragic? Mr. Dellon had just signed over all his assets to those kids and now she dropped the act and divorced him."

"I heard they had agreed to be childfree, but then Mrs. Smith suddenly adopted two kids and today, this banquet was held for those two kids because they managed to enter the two most prestigious universities in the country.

"I suspect these twins are actually the illegitimate children of Mrs. Smith and her lover."

"Do you even need to question it? It’s so obvious! Otherwise, why would she insist on transferring all of Mr. Dellon’s assets to them?"

"Poor Mr. Dellon. He has been jilted."

The guests at the banquet whispered among themselves, their eyes filled with pity and disdain when they saw the turn of events.

Tears streamed down my mother’s face. "Allan, can you see? They had deceived you. Your father and I warned you long ago that this woman has evil intentions and a scheming one. She only married you for money. We even told you these twins had an unclear background, but you refused to listen!"

My father, who had initially left in anger, returned, his face darkened with disappointment. "How could the Dellon family have such a disgraceful son? Why did you hand over all your assets to a woman? Have you lost your mind?" he asked.

The chatter around me grew louder, but I kept my head lowered as I stared at the divorce papers. No one noticed the faint smirk on my lips.

"Allan, you can’t blame me for this," Clara excused. "I’m a normal woman. You got a vasectomy and can’t have children. I had no choice but to find someone else to have children.

Clara attempted to justify her action. She wanted to point out the reason for her affair.

I chuckled coldly. "You were the one who feared the pain of giving birth and insisted we live child-free. I got the vasectomy for you."

She cut my words, "That was back then! The reality is, you’re sterile and I wanted children of my own. So, I had to ask Sean …."

Sean bobbed his head smugly. "That’s right. Can a man who is sterile still be called a man? Sounds more like a eunuch to me."

Laughter erupted throughout the banquet hall.

When my mother recalled the past, with tears in her voice, she confronted Clara, "You came from a poor rural family. You couldn’t even afford tuition and lived off plain buns in your dormitory. Your mother was gravely ill with no money for treatment. If it weren’t for Allan supporting you both, you and your mother would’ve been long gone!"

"When he knew you loved grill ribs, Allan hired the best chef to make them for you. He even learned to cook them himself. When your younger brother was unemployed for years and abandoned by his wife and children, Allan’s father took him in and gave him a managerial position with more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for his annual salary."

At that moment, the three of us fell silent, lost in memories.

Then, my mother muttered, "Our family treated you so well, yet you repay us by stealing everything from the Dellon family."

Clara remained quiet for a few seconds before smirking. "So what? What's the use of talking about the past now?"

She turned to me. "Alright, Allan, how much longer are you going to stare at those papers? Even if you don’t sign, it doesn’t change anything."

"After all, you already transferred the assets to the kids. Our marital assets are down to just a few thousand dollars. However, since you have given up so much for us, I’ll let you keep that few thousand dollars. Consider that money as your retirement fund."

Her grin stretched so wide as Clara smiled in triumph.

Smack!

Suddenly, my father lunged forward in a quick stride and slapped her across the face. "You damn whore!"

His fury at losing the family’s fortune could not be contained any longer.

"She's right. If it weren’t for Mr. Dellon, her mother would’ve died long ago and she wouldn’t be living so well now."

"Mr. Dellon was just unlucky because he had put his trust in the wrong person."

The crowd blew their breath in sympathy.

"Someone! Grab this old fool and teach him a lesson!"

Clara who was humiliated could not take this insult and with a wave of her hand, several security guards stormed in and circled my father with a menacing expression.

They were the same security guards who were, just a moment ago, at the start of the banquet, fawning and smiling while helping my father carry gifts into the banquet.

Now that the tides had turned, so had their loyalty.

"You dare lay a hand on me, huh?" my father growled.

"Why wouldn’t we? Who do you think you are?" one of the guards sneered.

Even though they said that, they were intimidated by the past power so they hesitated to make a move. Well … at least until Sean strode forward and slapped my father across the face.

My father stood frozen on the spot.

After all, he was a man of high status. He had even held the position of the president of the province's business association and well-connected with the elites of this province.

Now, he was being humiliated by Sean. This was an absolute disgrace for him!

Furious, he was about to lash out when I pulled him back.

"This is outrageous! They even dared to hit Mr. Dellon Senior!"

"Mr. Dellon Senior has always been generous with charity. He often donates to struggling students and impoverished families and funds schools. However now, he’s being treated like this!"

"Well, what do you expect? You should blame his son. Hen is a spineless fool. A man who willingly lets a woman walk all over him deserves no sympathy."

"He even sold off the family’s fortune like it’s nothing. If I had a son like Allan, I’d beat him to death myself!"

"That adulterous couple should be drowned in a lake! Yet, they’ve managed to steal a fortune and become the wealthiest people in the city!"

The murmurs of the crowd grew louder and they were filled with indignation. Their contempt was not just for me but it was also directed at Clara.

"Enough!" Clara scanned the crowd and the look in her eyes feared them and instantly silenced the room.

Then she turned to me. "Allan, are you signing or not? Give me a straight answer."

I nodded. "I’ll sign."

The divorce agreement was simple. It only left me with just a few thousand dollars and essentially it meant that I walked away with nothing.

I picked up the pen and swiftly signed my name.

Clara looked over the document with a happy heart and a victorious smile spread across her face. She then sneered, "Good, very good. Allan, thank you! Thanks to you, our family now has billions of dollars in assets. We’ll never run out of money for generations! You are truly our greatest benefactor."

Sean raised his glass and drank it while grinning smugly. "You’re like a second father to me, Allan! I owe you one!"

I smiled inwardly. Oh, really? Let’s see who has the last laugh.

When my father witnessed the smugness on their faces and the loss of our family’s inheritance that was passed down to him from his great-grandfather. he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the floor.

His heart had always been weak. Years ago, when I decided to raise those twins, he nearly had a stroke from the shock.

"Dad!"

"Patrick!"

My mother, relatives and I rushed to his side. Some pinched his pressure points, others tried to get him water.

Clara, who was watching from the side, suddenly noticed a beautiful woman helping tend to my father. Her eyes widened in surprise. Alice Marshall? What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’ve taken an interest in this pathetic loser?"

Alice and Clara were best friends. They had grown up together in the same rural village. Back then, Clara would always tease her for being an unsophisticated country girl.

Alice simply smiled faintly and didn’t respond.

A moment later, my father regained consciousness and we helped him to a quiet place to rest.

"Where are those twins?" someone in the crowd asked.

"I heard they went to pick up their university acceptance letters."

Just then, two teenagers in school uniforms entered the banquet hall. They were a little overweight but had bright, cheerful expressions.

Upon seeing me, they immediately turned away with disgust and ran to Clara. My daughter, Fiona Dellon, said playfully, "Mom, Sean, we got our acceptance letters!"

Clara beamed and pulled them close. "From now on, you two should call Sean ‘Dad.’"

"Dad," The twins called out in unison.

Hearing the children I had raised with my own hands now calling another man "Dad," a pang of bitterness filled my heart.

Sean chuckled. "Good kids. Now I won’t have to sneak around to visit you at school anymore."

My mother couldn’t take it any longer. Furious, she pointed at them and shouted, "Fiona! Rory Dellon! Your father dedicated eighteen years of his life to raising you and this is how you repay him?"

She turned to my son. "Rory, you were a sickly child. You constantly caught colds and fevers. One night, when you had a fever up to forty degrees Celsius, your father ran through the pouring rain to take you to the hospital."

Then she faced my daughter. "Fiona, when you were in high school, you got involved with a no-good delinquent. That night, those thugs tried to drug you at a party. If your father hadn’t shown up in time and taken ten knife wounds in the process, your life would’ve been ruined!"