Grandpa will be announcing his will at his birthday banquet. Apparently, I only possess the right to inherit the family's assets if I'm in a stable relationship with someone.

I beg my girlfriend, Hannah Samson, countless times to have our relationship publicized. But she keeps using her overtime shift as an excuse.

Today, she finally yields to me. "Alright. You should attend the family meeting first. I'll be there soon."

The moment I step into the manor on my own, I hear my relatives' mocking laughter surrounding me.

"You keep claiming that you're busy with your career every day. To think that you can't even bring your own girlfriend to this meeting! You do realize that your inheritance right depends on your partner, right?

"Don't tell me you lied to us about having a girlfriend!"

I clutch my phone tightly, feeling my palm going clammy with sweat.

Time slowly ticks past. Just as Grandpa is about to read his will out loud, someone pushes the front door open abruptly.

I turn around in delight, only for my smile to freeze on my face.

Isaac Letterman, the fake heir, smiles wanly at everyone, his hand still laced with Hannah's.

"Sorry, we're late."

As I stare at the duo, I feel my heart plunging into an icy abyss.

Then, I turn back to look at the relatives, who were mocking me earlier.

"You said you wanted to see my girlfriend, right? That's her right there."

Mom frowned and interrupted me before I could finish my sentence.

"I know you and Isaac haven't gotten along with each other since you were kids, but that doesn't give you the right to run your mouth. Besides, Hannah already introduced herself as Isaac's girlfriend when she visited us three days ago."

Mom's words were like sharp blades that stabbed themselves into my heart.

Hannah Samson and I had been in a relationship for the past eight years. We became a couple during our freshman year at university, but no one knew we were dating.

Hannah would get extremely angry whenever I mentioned wanting to make our relationship public.

"We're from two different worlds. I can already tell what everyone will think about me if they find out that we're together. They'll think that I'm only where I am today because of you. Can't you put yourself in my shoes for even a second and think about how that will affect me?"

I believed Hannah whenever she told me that she needed to work overtime at the company. I even convinced myself that she was working so hard so that she could proudly stand before my family one day.

How ridiculous.

Our eighth anniversary as a couple was three days ago, but Hannah told me that she needed to go on a business trip.

It turned out that her so-called business trip was accompanying my brother, Isaac Letterman, to meet the other Lettermans as his girlfriend.

I stared at Hannah. My voice trembled uncontrollably when I asked, "What are you doing here, Hannah? Have you forgotten that I'm your boyfriend?"

I clenched my fists and stared at her unwaveringly. I wanted to know what other excuses she would come up with.

Hannah swallowed nervously as she averted her gaze, saying, "I know that you're Isaac's brother, Mr. Colin, but I don't understand what you're trying to say. We didn't know each other beforehand."

I couldn't believe what she was saying. Although we had been together for eight years, she claimed we were strangers.

I couldn't help myself and burst out laughing. Tears streamed down my face as I continued to laugh.

Isaac pulled Hannah into his embrace.

"I understand how panicked you must feel because you'll lose your status as the successor for the family if you fail to bring back a girlfriend, Colin," he said in an innocent yet mocking tone. "But that doesn't mean that you can steal my girlfriend.

"Oh, that's right. We saw a pregnant woman who had lost her mind outside just now. Why don't you ask her out? She might be willing to give you a hand," he said while chuckling, his eyes shining with unbridled disdain.

Hannah, the woman I loved for the past eight years, chimed in to talk down to me as well.

"He's right. It's your own problem that you can't find yourself a girlfriend. The madwoman's a good match for you. Also, Isaac told me that you were begging on the streets before you returned to the Letterman family. The two of you are a match made in heaven."

All of Hannah's words were like poisoned daggers that she personally drove into my most vulnerable spots.

My entire body trembled from pain. Her words cut me deeper than the insults from anyone else.

It was true that the person who loved you the most also knew how to inflict the most pain upon you.

The metallic taste of blood permeated my taste buds when I bit the tip of my tongue.

My mind suddenly felt startlingly clear. I stared at her and said, "Let's break up, Hannah Samson."

The color drained from Hannah's face. She subconsciously tried to take a step forward, but Isaac held her back by keeping a death grip on her arm.

Tears rolled down Isaac's cheeks.

"I know that you've disliked me since we were kids, Colin," he blubbered in a shaky voice. "You resent me for taking your place. I'm willing to give you anything you want except Hannah. She's my girlfriend. Please don't force me to give her to you."

Mom immediately pulled Isaac into her arms, her expression heartbroken. She then whirled around and slapped me.

"You damned bastard! Do you have to stir up trouble for the family? I should have strangled you to death when I had the chance. I could have prevented you from bullying Isaac."

Although my cheek stung terribly, I couldn't feel a thing.

I had already gotten used to this type of blatant favoritism.

Mom didn't send Isaac away even after I returned to the Letterman family. She also claimed that he would always be her son.

Truth be told, I never wanted to chase Isaac out of the family. I simply wanted them to share some of their love with me.

Later, I realized that I was nothing more than an invisible presence from their perspective. Isaac was the one whom they truly cherished.

I became utterly disappointed in them. I stopped yearning for their love and chose to close off my heart.

I only started opening my heart again after meeting Hannah. She had broken down the walls around my heart, and now she was personally crushing it as well.

I looked up at Hannah, who was currently hugging Isaac with a heartbroken expression. She didn't spare me a single glance.

"Are you sure that you're his girlfriend?" I asked hoarsely.

Hannah's lips trembled. However, before she could respond, Isaac sank to his knees in front of me and began groveling at my feet.

"I'm begging you, Colin. Please don't do this. Hannah's very important to me. I can't let you have her."

Isaac's groveling dispelled the last of Hannah's lingering hesitation. She pulled him into her arms and pinned me with a cold and indifferent stare.

"I'm only going to repeat myself one last time. I don't know you. Please stop trying to come between Isaac and me. Don't blame me for showing you no courtesy if you insist on being a nuisance."

Everyone around us began whispering among themselves, their words transforming into sharp blades that were aimed at me.

"This is way too embarrassing. He's so despicable for trying to steal his brother's girlfriend."

"Fortunately, a real couple won't let something like this tear them apart. I'm sure that they're going to be together for a long time."

"The bastard should give up on his schemes sooner rather than later. I wonder what gives him the confidence to believe that she'll actually choose him over Isaac."

I clenched my fists as I listened to their mocking insults.

Hannah was well aware of my circumstances, and yet she had still chosen Isaac.

Since she had made her choice, I had no reason to hold back either.

I slowly pulled out my phone under everyone's scrutiny.

The screen lit up, clearly showing my chat with Hannah's current boss—showing how I had begged the other man to give her another chance time and time again.

I scoffed at Hannah's startled expression, asking, "If we don't know each other, why would I spend the last three years using all my connections to secure promotions for you?"

No one expected me to produce this sort of evidence, and they scrutinized Hannah with suspicious gazes.

Isaac was the first to react. He rubbed Hannah's stomach and bashfully said, "I didn't want to share the news in front of everyone, Colin. Hannah and I are expecting, so please stop your pointless arguments."

He smiled at everyone before continuing, "I'm sorry that you had to witness something so embarrassing, everyone. Colin has loved to compete with me since we were kids. He probably can't accept that I have a girlfriend now for the time being."

I stumbled backward as I stared at Hannah's stomach. "That's impossible!" I exclaimed.

Isaac probably predicted that I wouldn't believe him. He pulled out a pregnancy test report from his pocket and asked, "Why would I lie to you about something like this, Colin?"

The report clearly stated that Hannah was two months pregnant, which meant that they had been fooling around with each other behind my back for at least two months.

My heart felt like it was bleeding.

"Do you have anything else to add?" I asked while looking at Hannah.

I wanted to know what other excuses she was going to come up with, but I didn't expect her to outright refuse to look at me.

"I didn't want Isaac to find out about this, but I have no choice but to come clean about everything since I don't want him to misunderstand me."

She scoffed before continuing, "Are you going to keep lying even though we've already reached this point?"

"Lying?" I asked with a frown.

"Everyone in the company knows that you're obsessed with me. You've also been abusing your authority to force me to be with you. I only claimed not to know you earlier because I didn't want to have anything to do with you.

"I'm already pregnant with Isaac's child. He's the only man that I'll marry in the future. I hope you can come to your senses and stop bothering me."

My eyes widened. I hadn't expected Hannah to say such things.

Unable to hold herself back any longer, Mom pointed an accusing finger at me and began berating me.

"I can't believe that someone like you is a child of the Letterman family. How dare you do something so utterly shameless? What did Isaac ever do to you? How dare you do something like that? How dare you try to steal his girlfriend?"

I wanted to defend myself, but I was stunned and rooted to the spot.

Although we had been together for eight years, I didn't have a single photo with Hannah.

In hindsight, my relationship with her was a total failure.

"Colin… You…" Isaac stammered as he stared at me in disbelief.

Hannah suddenly grabbed my wrist, not giving me a chance to respond to her accusations.

"I don't want Isaac to misunderstand me because of you. Hurry and apologize to him right now."

Just then, my phone chimed.

I had just received a message from Hannah.

"The situation isn't what you think it is. Apologize and leave right now. I'll explain everything to you when I get home."

I looked at Hannah as if I were looking at a stranger. It seemed that I had failed to see her true character in the last eight years.

I scoffed and knocked her hand aside, exclaiming, "Why should I apologize?"

Hannah lost her balance and stumbled to the floor.

No one had expected me to suddenly retaliate.