Seeing the disgust on Solana's face, I felt utterly disappointed. Even though she was easily influenced, I thought she at least possessed some basic judgment.

After all, we'd been together for nearly a year, so she surely knew what kind of person I was. Reality, however, decided to pour a bucket of cold water over my head.

I frowned. "Solana, who exactly is your boyfriend here? You so easily believe whatever he says? In that case, I don't see the point of continuing with this dinner anymore."

I stood up, grabbed my bag, and turned to leave. That was when Tyson spoke up again, his smile faint.

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Is it because the rental on that sports car downstairs is up, and you're using this as an excuse to return it?"

I had had enough.

"What makes you so sure my car is rented?" I pressed.

While patting Solana's back to calm her, he gave me a fake grin.

"These little tricks of yours are nothing to a fraud buster like me. I can see through them in a second. Lana already told me that you two met in a car accident. Isn't that a classic move used by people pretending to be rich?"

After firing off this string of malicious speculations, he smiled and quickly switched gears.

"Oh, dear. It looks like my professional instincts are acting up again, Lana. You aren't going to doubt your own boyfriend just because of what I said, right?"

Solana grabbed his hand, her eyes filled with gratitude.

"Ty! Thank you so much for helping me see through this gold digger's real colors!

"What's with that look, Charles? He's just being kind by pointing it out to me! And here I thought you really came from a rich family, but turns out you're just a vain gold digger! You don't deserve me at all!"

I scoffed coldly. Before she could ask to end things, I beat her to it.

"Fine. Let's break up then."

…

At that point, Mom was already waiting for me downstairs. When she saw me coming down alone, she quickly asked me what had happened.

I forced a smile. "It's nothing, Mom. There's no need to go up anymore. Let's just go home."

I had originally planned to reveal to Solana that day my real identity as the son of the wealthiest person in Ralliopolis. By having them meet, Solana's company would also gain a potential ally in the future.

But she herself failed to seize the opportunity.

On the way home, my phone buzzed nonstop with group chat notifications.

I took a look and realized that when Tyson was creating a group chat with Solana and the others, he'd accidentally added me to it too.

He was frantically sharing the results of his analysis of me.

"Lana, he's definitely a fake heir after your money. Did you see how angry he got when I exposed him at dinner?

"I just looked into the car he drives. It's registered to some 50-year-old woman. It's not his at all!

"You're better off with someone more down-to-earth, like me. I, for one, never cared about that flashy luxury stuff."

Looking at the sports car's registered owner's name, I couldn't help but sigh at his stupidity. Even more ridiculous was how Solana and her group of girlfriends were now all very worked up, completely fooled by him.

"So he's a gold digger through and through? He finished leeching off his last target, and now he's targeting Lana?"

"Lana, calculate how much money you've spent on him this past year! Make sure you get it all back!"

Solana was especially enraged.

"If it weren't for Ty, I never would've realized what kind of person Charles really is!

"Don't worry. I'll definitely find a way to get back everything I gave him!"

They continued to chat away excitedly, but I was already over it. I did, however, chime in.

"Seeing you all being played like fools by Tyson is really quite entertaining."

Then I immediately left the group chat.

That night, Solana bombarded my phone with calls. She demanded to know what my message meant and insisted I apologize to Tyson.

I couldn't be bothered to deal with her, so I just blocked her number.

What I didn't expect, however, was for her and Tyson to be waiting for me outside the hospital the next day.

The moment they saw me, she hurled a stack of photos at my face.

"How filthy are you, Charles? It's no wonder you rushed to break up with me yesterday. Once Tyson exposed you, you realized you couldn't get money from me anymore, so you immediately went looking for your next target!"

Tyson stood with his arms crossed, smirking as he gloated.

"You don't even mind that she's almost 50 years old? You sure are willing to do anything for money!"

The sharp corner of the photos cut into my forehead, stinging instantly.

I glanced down at the photos on the ground. They were pictures of Mom picking me up and taking me home yesterday.

Only Tyson had followed me out yesterday, so he had to be the one who took them.

Scowling, I stared at him.

"Before you 'bust' someone, you should at least look into their relationships, shouldn't you? Solana, the woman in the photo is my mother!"

I expected Solana to at least feel guilty once she learned the truth, but she only sneered. She'd already been brainwashed to the point where she didn't believe a single word I said.

"Ty's already looked into it. That woman is the richest person in Ralliopolis. Playing the connections game is something fake rich kids like you always do, huh?"

Tyson wrapped his arm around Solana and sighed, saying how pitiful she was for nearly being scammed by me. Then he urged her to look through my phone.

"Lana, these gold diggers usually have several targets at once. You should check his phone. Who knows, he might have several sugar mamas saved in there."

Solana immediately grabbed my wrist, wrenched my phone from me, quickly scrolled through my contacts, then furiously shoved the screen in my face.

On it were entries saved as "Princess A" and "Princess B".

I was about to explain that they were my real sisters—Alyson and Bianca Ravine—but she glared at me with pure disgust and fury.

"So it's true after all!" she said coldly. "Ty was right! You acted so innocent in front of me, but in reality, you're just pretending to be a rich guy so you can seduce wealthy women!"

"Charles McCain! Give me back all the money I spent on you this past year!"

My anger vanished the moment I heard that last sentence, and a bitter laugh escaped me.

So it was all about the money.

If we really calculated it, the amount I spent on Solana in the past year of our relationship was far more than what she'd spent on me.

I snatched my phone back and met her gaze coldly.

"If it's money you want, you're not getting a single cent. But if you want to get down to the bottom of who actually cheated in this relationship, I'd be more than happy to settle accounts with you!"

With that, I turned and stormed off, while Solana screamed furiously behind me.

…

After getting out of surgery, the hospital director, Julian Rappert, called me to his office and showed me a social media post that had gone viral.

"Dr. Charles McCain from a prestigious hospital is a heartless fraud who only pretends to be wealthy. He plays the role of the perfect doctor in front of patients, but at night, he runs around with multiple sugar mamas! Patients should beware! Who knows what infectious diseases he might have?"

The post was already trending, and the comment section was full of criticisms, insults, and curses. Someone even photoshopped my obituary and posted it in the thread.

Julian's expression was grave as he said, "Charles, you're suspended for the time being."

My nails dug hard into my palms as I tried to defend myself.

"Dr. Rapport, those are all lies. And more importantly, I'm at a crucial stage in my career right now…"

Julian sighed. "Do you think I don't know they're lies? But the hospital's phones were ringing off the hook this morning, with demands that we provide an explanation.

"As for your promotion review… Let's talk about it again in five years."

I felt my nose sting. I'd already waited five years for that promotion. How many more five-year periods could I wait?

It wasn't hard to guess who was behind the social media post. It was Tyson's usual way of operating. He wanted to ruin me and made sure I could never recover from this.

Swallowing the bitterness, I forced myself to accept the reality and left the office, only to be met with a swarm of furious family members of patients.

One of them raised his hand and slapped me across the face, roaring, "A doctor with a personal life as messy as yours doesn't deserve to work in a hospital! Someone just told me that you've been so attentive to my mother because you're after her pension!

"I actually thought you genuinely cared for the elderly. Turns out, you're just vile!"

The same family members who had once been so grateful to me now looked at me with the most hateful and contemptuous expressions.

From among the crowd, Tyson and Solana—the people behind all this—walked toward me hand in hand. Both of them wore identical mocking smiles.

"Ty already tried to talk some sense into you," Solana said coldly. "It was all for your own good, but you refused to listen. And now you're reaping what you sowed. Serves you right!"

Tyson's eyes sparkled with satisfaction as he looked at me. Then he addressed the crowd in a self-righteous tone, "Terrible people like him always get what's coming to them. Don't worry, everyone, I'll demand justice on behalf of you all! I'll get this gold-digging man kicked out of the hospital, never to be hired again!"

Thunderous applause exploded around him.

Solana lifted her chin arrogantly and said to me, "Ty has already contacted the other three sugar mamas in your phone and told them the whole truth. They all said they would confront you in person. We've formed a victims' alliance and hired lawyers. You can wait to be served!"

I couldn't believe my ears. They had contacted my mother and sisters—people who doted on me endlessly—to sue me?

Tyson saw the surprise on my face and mistook it for fear. He continued adding fuel to the fire.

"Let me tell you—I've handled countless fake heir cases like this, and these wealthy elites truly are the best at tormenting people.

"When they come for you, they'll disfigure you and send you off to the brothels to be played with. You'll waste the rest of your days away there! They'll be here soon. Just you wait!"

I curved my lips into a knowing smile.

"Alright, I'll wait for them. But you two had better not run off!"

Not five minutes later, a middle-aged woman walked into the hospital flanked by two younger women. More than a dozen bodyguards cleared the way for them, advancing aggressively.

Tyson hurried forward with an appeasing smile and greeted the older woman in front of him.

"You must be Ms. Sherman. The fake heir is right there! We've already taught him a little lesson, but we'll leave the heavy lifting to you. After all, you're the biggest victims here."

The woman stopped in her tracks, raised her hand, and slapped Tyson hard across his face.

"So you're the one who accused my son of being a homewrecker?" she asked icily.