Calum was even more furious than I was. After hearing what Mom and Dad said, he stood up without a word and grabbed his bag. "Fine, suit yourselves. I'll take Eliza to have your grandson aborted right now so he won't stand in the way of this adopted bastard.

"Since the courthouse is still open ahead of the holiday, I'll file for divorce from Eliza right away. She and Jeremiah aren't related by blood anyway. Since you favor him so much, you might as well let him be your son-in-law."

As soon as he said that, the whole house erupted into chaos.

Eliza looked as if she were about to drop to her knees. "Darling, please stop. This is our son. How could we get rid of him? Have you forgotten how long we waited for this baby?"

Calum didn't actually want Eliza to have an abortion. As he looked at her slightly rounded belly, tears streamed down his face. "Do you think I really want you to have an abortion? Have you thought about what will happen if I don't do something?

"Legally, Jeremiah has inheritance rights. If his biological parents could throw him away, that says plenty about the kind of people they were. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. What makes you think he won't come after our family's assets?

"Besides, there's still a week until the New Year. All these years, he always waited until New Year's Eve to return, so why did he come back so early this time? He obviously came home to claim a share of the compensation money."

By the time he finished speaking, Eliza looked overwhelmed and kept sighing. It was clear she thought he had a point.

I frowned. I had always heard that women tended to listen to their husbands after getting married, but I never imagined my sister, who had spoiled me since childhood, would be one of them.

Seeing that Eliza had gone quiet, Calum stopped pressuring her and turned to my parents. "Dad, Mom, tell me. Who do you want? Me—your son-in-law—and your grandson, or this scum you picked up off the street?"

An eerie silence fell over the room. I wanted to leave right away to avoid putting Mom and Dad in a difficult position, as I knew they would never force me out.

They had always treated me very well growing up, even better than they treated Eliza. Everyone knew that. It was that love that had kept me from losing my temper through all of this.

Thinking of that, I took several deep breaths. "Calum, parents always plan for their children's future. I get it, so I won't be angry with you. I'm willing to write a guarantee that I will never take a single dollar from Mom and Dad. About the demolition—"

Calum cut me off impatiently. "Of course you'd say that now. Who's to say you won't cause problems later?"

I shook my head. "Calum, we're both younger. Do you really have to pressure Mom and Dad like this?"

Calum smiled as if he had just heard something ridiculous. "I'm not pressuring them. Haven't you noticed they have already signed that agreement sitting right in front of you?"

What? I felt a chill run through my entire body. I stood frozen in place, staring at Mom and Dad in disbelief.

Seeing my expression, they both looked a little embarrassed but eventually nodded.

Mom spoke up. "Jeremiah, just let it go. Sign the papers. Your dad and I raised you for 20 years. If you really care about us, don't make this harder than it needs to be. Even after you sign, you're still welcome to visit us, and you'll still be part of this family."

My throat tightened. I couldn't get a single word out.

Eliza sighed. "Jeremiah, you're a sensible person. By now, you should understand where Mom, Dad, and I stand. Do us a favor and let our family have a peaceful New Year, okay?"

My gaze drifted between the three of them several times. In the end, I slumped onto the couch, drained of all strength. "Do you really want to kick me out?"

Calum grew even more smug when he saw my reaction. "Obviously. Can't you see what's happening? Your sister and your parents are all on my side. Do you really think I'd do something like this during the New Year without their approval?"

Seeing that I had no intention of signing, Dad frowned. "Jeremiah, we've said everything there is to say. Why are you still refusing to sign? Are you actually trying to get your hands on our family's assets?"

Mom rolled her eyes at Dad and sighed. "Jeremiah, I know the demolition compensation is a huge amount of money, but we have to be decent people. We took you in, so you shouldn't repay our kindness with such ingratitude."

At that point, Eliza stopped looking at the floor. She walked over and looked down at me. "Jeremiah, I've never treated you badly growing up. Now I'm just asking for your signature to give Calum some peace of mind. If you truly didn't plan on taking anything from the family, why won't you sign?"

The truth was, it wasn't that I was unwilling to sign, but that my whole body had gone rigid. I didn't have the strength to pick up a pen, let alone say anything. Yet my stillness only made the four of them more certain that I refused to let go of the alleged demolition compensation.

They took turns pressuring me. At first, they tried to reason with me. But before long, they began throwing a full-blown tantrum, even dropping to their knees and begging me.

Seeing what was happening, Calum lost his temper and shouted, "Enough! Jeremiah Stark, I'm asking you right now—are you going to sign or not?

"If you sign, we can still be friends, and you can still come by for a meal. But if you don't, I'll take you to court. I'll also tell all your friends and coworkers about this so they'll know how heartless you are!"

Hearing that, I nodded and said in a hoarse voice, "I'll sign."

After I nodded, the four of them visibly relaxed. Eliza immediately handed me the agreement and a pen.

I skimmed through it and found it was all laid out in considerable detail. It didn't just sever any legal ties between me and my parents; it also included a specific clause barring me from asking for money or claiming any share of the family's assets under any circumstances.

As for everything I had given the family over the years, it wouldn't be returned and would instead be counted as repayment for the cost of raising me.

Before reading the agreement carefully, I felt genuinely hurt. But after I understood the terms of the agreement, that feeling vanished and was replaced by a slight sense of relief. After all, it meant the 200 million dollars I had just won in the lottery wouldn't need to be shared with them.

Seeing how carefully I was reading, Calum let out a cold snort. "Don't bother. You're not getting a bad deal out of this. Honestly, you should be paying Mom and Dad at least another one million dollars for supporting you over the years.

"You did give the family plenty of money before, but even a small favor deserves to be repaid many times over, especially since what Mom and Dad gave you was far more than a small kindness."

I didn't respond and signed it with a blank expression.

Once I signed, the gloom on their faces disappeared. They immediately returned to their cheerful chatter. Calum in particular nearly jumped for joy while clutching the agreement.

I looked at their expressions and didn't feel upset, only a sense of relief. I couldn't help but say, "You should laugh while you still can. Once you regret this, you won't be laughing anymore."

Calum's brow furrowed. "What are you even talking about? What do we have to regret? Stop talking nonsense."

Why would they regret it? Because the demolition was fake, and they had just driven away a son worth hundreds of millions over something that didn't even exist.