The conglomerate family’s new grand building was called the Kennedy Building. My mom’s young lover was named William Kennedy.

I confronted my mom, Agatha, demanding she change the name. She just smiled and said, “Come to the rooftop banquet tonight. I’ll make sure you’ll be satisfied.”

That night, my mom had me hung upside down on the rooftop. She looked down on me from above, like an empress dowager ruling from behind a curtain.

Everyone was fawning over William, as if everything would be his if I died. Even my fiancée didn’t defend me. She instead made me apologize to William.

When no one was paying attention, William quietly showed me a note. [Your mother is pregnant. If you die, my child will inherit everything, which means I will inherit everything!]

——

At the edge of the rooftop, everyone laughed at me, as if I had truly done something wrong. This building was built for my new project and was very important to the Chanton Group. Moreover, the building’s name was decided long ago due to the project’s unique nature.

But my mom’s boyfriend, William, secretly named the building. The golden signboard, “Kennedy Building,” was already standing there.

I tried to explain to my mom, but before I finished, she smiled and told me to come to the rooftop party that evening, promising to please me.

Instead, she had me hung upside down over the edge when I arrived. “Bertrand Chanton, I gave you life. How dare you disobey me?”

My mom tilted the wine glass in her hand, pouring red wine down, splashing it onto my face. “When you apologize to Uncle William, I’ll let you up. Otherwise, you’ll stay hanging like this!”

“I’m your son! How could you treat me like this for a man you’ve only known for less than a year?”

I stared at her in utter disbelief. Then I looked at my fiancée and saw a faint smile on her lips.

“Celine, you’re my fiancée! Won’t you help me?”

I couldn’t help but ask. Celine only sneered, “Uncle William is Auntie’s boyfriend. Once we are married, he’ll be your stepfather. As a son, you’re arguing over naming rights for a building. You’re unworthy of being called a son and you actually expect me to help you?”

Then she nodded at William, smiling brightly.

William chuckled softly, then secretly gave me the middle finger. To my mother, he said, “Agatha, it’s understandable that the child has a problem with me. Just let Bertrand off the hook. A little humiliation won’t kill me.”

“You’re just too kind-hearted!”

My mom patted William’s cheek with a look of pity, then turned her gaze to me. “Bertrand, why don’t you apologize to Uncle William?”

Apologize? I stared at them intently, saying nothing.

“Mr. Chanton is so stubborn. Doesn’t he realize he’s not the spoiled heir anymore?”

“Doesn’t he know that since he went off to college, it’s been Mr. Kennedy accompanying Mrs. Lismore?”

“He probably still thinks the Chanton Group belongs to the Chanton Family.”

“Chanton Group? What a joke! It’s already been in the hands of Mrs. Lismore.”

The crowd’s chatter reached my ears. In fact, what they said was true. My father passed away when I was in college and my mother soon got together with William. I was depressed, so I often didn’t go home.

When I returned after graduation with the project above, I also intended to fix our mother-son relationship. I had even made up my mind to accept William.

I didn’t expect that they had already regarded me as their enemy. Even my first love, now my fiancée, Celine Barbieri, seemed to be on their side.

I took several deep breaths, stared at them coldly and said, “Let me go now, or you’ll face the consequences!”

“You’ll face the consequences?”

“He’s already hanging here like a sausage and he’s still threatening others?”

“Bertrand, did all that studying make you lose your mind? Can’t you see your situation right now?”

The crowd’s laughter grew louder.

“I’ll give you one chance.”

“Let me go now and I’ll pretend this never happened.”

“Otherwise, everyone here will face the consequences soon!”

My tone was icy, but no one was afraid. William warned my mom, “An important person is coming soon. Wouldn’t it be awkward if they saw this?”

My mom frowned, thinking for a while. Celine stepped beside her, smiling softly.

“Auntie, I heard that the important person who came here is very strict with his family, especially with his children. If he saw you disciplining his rebellious son, he might even think you had the same vision.”

My mom nodded in agreement. “That’s right. I’m taking care of my own children. Who can say anything, no matter how powerful the person is? Besides, my strictness also shows my good character.”

William smiled slightly, but said, “But Agatha, Bertrand is still a child. Even if he peed in my glass, it was just him being naughty. Please don’t be too harsh on him over this.”

“What?”

My mom screamed in surprise when she saw William’s face filled with genuine pity. “He actually peed in your glass?”

My mom raised her voice as she glared at me, shouting, “Bertrand! Is that what I taught you since you were a child? All those years of studying, were they all for nothing? How could you become so cruel?”

I was stunned because I had never peed in a glass. But when I looked at William’s expression, the contempt in his eyes seemed to say he had just made up a lie. My mom would believe it and punish me severely.

“What?”

“Agatha, you didn’t know?”

“Oh dear, it’s all my fault. If I had known you didn’t know, I wouldn’t have said to you. I thought you knew about it.”

William’s face looked so guilty. My mom felt even more sorry for him.

“William, you don’t need to feel guilty. You have to be strict, or you’ll spoil the child!”

“Auntie, Bertrand did something wrong. He needs to be punished.”

Celine’s face looked worried. “Otherwise, if he keeps doing this, what will happen in the future?”

“Right, he absolutely must be punished!”

My mom thought hard, gritting her teeth. “But how should we punish him?”

Celine said lightly, “Punish him the same way he harmed Uncle William. Otherwise, he won’t realize his mistake.”

So they wanted to pee in my glass? But I never did like that.

William suddenly said, “Celine, do you want someone to pee on Bertrand? That’s absolutely not allowed!”

Before Celine could say anything, my mom waved her hand dismissively and beckoned to nearby security guards.

“You eight, teach Bertrand a lesson.”

Her tone was as indifferent as if she were disciplining a dog that had rummaged through trash. Then I saw those eight guards approaching the rooftop’s edge, their faces filled with malicious smiles as they looked at me. What was about to happen would surely be a nightmare.

Would someone come to save me? But instead, eight security guards sprayed me with artificial rain. As the filthy liquid hit my face, endless humiliation seemed to seep through my skin, relentlessly shredding my dignity.

I was her son! How could she treat me like this? About Celine, we had known each other since elementary school and were inseparable all the way through high school.

We confirmed our relationship after the college entrance exam and haven’t fought since then. Celine was someone I could give my heart to.

Why would the two most important women in my life side with that freeloading man? Why did this happen?

My self-esteem felt shattered entirely and my emotional support seemed to be gone. For a moment, I even thought my life had no meaning.

In that dazed state, I remembered what my senior one said. She always advised me that someone deserved punishment if they made a mistake. But we should have lived well if we hadn’t done anything wrong.

Yeah, I hadn’t done anything wrong. Why were my mom and the other punishing me? Why should I punish myself, too?

“Don’t do that!”

William yelled, trying to tear at the security guards, but my mom and Celine quickly pulled him aside.

My mom’s expression was impassive, while Celine hid a smile. William, as usual, occasionally secretly gave me the middle finger.

My mom coldly asked, “Do you realize you were wrong now?”

I replied coldly, “The new project, the new building. They all have special meaning!”

“I know why he’s being so stubborn!”

“Why?”

“He’s the one who pushed and led the new project. He probably feels like it won’t go forward without him, so he’s being so stubborn.”

“That makes sense. He thinks he’s irreplaceable.”

Whispers arose, but these people were clearly not ordinary passersby. William likely arranged them. Sure enough, upon hearing this, my mom immediately sneered with contempt.

“Bertrand, I’m your mother, also the Chairwoman! Do you think you can use a project to control me?”

“Listen carefully, the new project and the new building have absolutely nothing to do with you from this moment on!”

My mom said coldly, “The new project and the new building are now entirely under Uncle William’s control! Anyone can do this project!”

“Agatha, you can’t do this!”

“Bertrand already has a problem with me. If I steal his project now, he’ll definitely hate me.”

“Even if I originally proposed this project in the first place, it’s already been stolen by Bertrand. Oh no, I gave it to him.”

“Anyway, we can’t let Bertrand suffer.”

William stayed firm, but his words made my mom explode again.

“What?”

“You proposed this project?”

“And then this ungrateful son stole it?” My mom was furious beyond words.

“I heard you, Bertrand, went to a top-tier university. What did you study there? Just how to steal projects?”

“No wonder Mr. Kennedy has been so gloomy lately because it turns out his project got stolen.”

“Yeah, that day by the river, I saw Mr. Kennedy almost jump in. I saved him.”

The crowd started gossiping again.

“What? William, you’ve thought about suicide?”

My mom was so heartbroken that she started crying.

William burst into tears too, but insisted firmly, “Don’t blame Bertrand. After all, I was the one who messed up first. I know loving you is a mistake.”

My mom cried as well. The whole crowd enjoyed their lovey-dovey drama.