After my son finished his final exams, I ordered him a limited-edition supercar as a gift.

But not long afterward, I came across a video of him riding an electric scooter and delivering takeout orders.

I was deeply moved.

I thought he was trying to learn how difficult life could be. Just as I was about to tell him not to overwork himself, I stumbled upon a post from a struggling student my wife was sponsoring.

"Thank you for the gift. I'll work even harder from now on."

Cyrus Young looked nothing like his usual modest self. He was dressed in a custom-tailored suit, wearing handmade leather shoes and a luxury dive watch as he posed beside my wife for a photo.

And parked behind them was the limited-edition supercar I had carefully picked out for my son.

A surge of anger rose in my chest.

Unable to hold it back any longer, I called my wife.

"Olivia Quinn, if this is the best you can do as my wife, then we're done. I'll find someone better."

###CONTENT

####CHAPTER-NAME:

"Honey, stop joking. I'm in the middle of organizing a birthday celebration for our son."

The automatic response from the other end of the call made me freeze.

A surge of disbelief spread through me.

"You've got some nerve acting like everything's fine. Our son is out delivering food orders under the blazing summer sun. Do you even care about him?"

Olivia Quinn snapped back after realizing what I was talking about.

"What are you talking about? Why are you suddenly so angry?"

"Then why do you treat Jared and Cyrus so differently? Do you have any idea what your son is doing right now? He's out delivering food orders.

“He spends all day running around in this heat just to make a few bucks. Have you spared a single thought for him? His arms are burned raw from the sun, and he's only eighteen!"

Olivia paused for a moment before responding dismissively.

"Jared wanted to experience the real world. I couldn't exactly stop him, could I? As for Cyrus, he's had a hard life since he was a kid. What's wrong with letting him have something nice for once?"

So, she thought our son, Jared Ford, should experience the real world, while her sponsored student, Cyrus Young, was simply being compensated for years of hardship.

I let out a cold laugh.

"Let's put everything else aside. That sports car was a limited-edition model I personally arranged to have imported for Jared. There are only eight in the world. What gave you the right to hand it over to someone else?"

Olivia fell silent for a few seconds before answering with complete confidence.

"Jared just turned eighteen! He doesn't even have a driver's license yet. It makes more sense to let Cyrus drive it. He's nineteen this year and just got his license. What's wrong with letting a young man toughen himself up a little?"

Before she could finish, she hurried to add, as though afraid I would argue further.

"Besides, sports cars are dangerous. I'm doing this for our son's own good!"

How had I never realized this woman always had an excuse for everything?

By now, Olivia's impatience was obvious.

"Enough! I'm busy, so I'm hanging up."

Just then, I caught the voice of a real estate agent on her end of the call.

"Miss Quinn, these are all the available properties near Rivergate University. Have you decided which one you'd like to buy for your child to live in?"

Rivergate University?

Wasn't that the mediocre college Cyrus had been accepted to?

"You're buying him a house too?!"

I blurted out in shock.

Before I could demand an explanation, the call was disconnected.

Our son had gotten into an elite university, yet she never once talked about buying him a place to live.

Meanwhile, she was pouring all her attention into a kid who had only gotten into an average college through an alternative admissions program.

The more I thought about how Olivia couldn't go three sentences without mentioning Cyrus, the more frustrated I became.

Cyrus was a student my family sponsored.

Years ago, during a charity event in a rural town, Olivia had been moved by his determination to pursue an education. She cried and insisted that we support him.

In my opinion, there had been plenty of students at that school who studied harder or came from even poorer families.

But Olivia seemed to have singled him out from the very beginning.

According to her, she simply felt a special connection with the boy.

Back then, I reluctantly agreed.

I figured that if it made her happy and gave her something meaningful to focus on, spending a couple million dollars was nothing.

After all, life as a wealthy housewife could get pretty boring.

What I hadn't expected was that she had only been holding herself back in those days.

Now she wasn't even trying to hide the favoritism anymore.

I rubbed a hand over my face, desperate to find out how Jared was doing.

"Mr. Ford, you still have several business meetings scheduled for this afternoon, and there's a banquet tonight."

At that moment, my assistant walked in and interrupted my thoughts, reminding me of the rest of my schedule.

I frowned.

The more I thought about it, the less I could put my mind at ease.

"Cancel all of them."

The assistant looked confused.

"Mr. Ford, even the market expansion meetings?"

I rose to my feet, loosened my tie, and gave a concise order.

"Yes. Book me the first available flight home."

Nothing mattered more than my son right now.

####CHAPTER-NAME:

A year after leaving the country, I returned home to find that the only person waiting to pick me up was my son, still wearing his delivery uniform.

The moment I saw how much darker he'd become and how much weight he'd lost, my eyes instantly turned red.

When I left, Jared had been a fair-skinned, bespectacled young man with a scholarly look about him. How had he changed this much in just one year?

"Dad."

Jared seemed a little shy. After greeting me, he didn't make any further move.

I immediately pulled him into a hug and laughed as I scolded him.

"What's this? You don't even recognize your own father anymore? All that money I gave you must've been wasted!"

His body stiffened.

Only after hesitating for a moment did he return the hug before answering awkwardly.

"It's not that. You came back so suddenly. If you'd told me a few days earlier, I would've been prepared. I'm still trying to process it."

I draped an arm around his shoulders and walked toward the airport exit.

"Fine. This time I'll stay longer and keep you company. Let's see if you're still in shock then. Come on, let's go home."

I chatted and joked with Jared along the way, but the thought of going home left me cold.

Before boarding my flight, I called both Olivia and Jared.

Jared answered.

Olivia hadn't even picked up.

When I mentioned it, Jared merely responded with a quiet acknowledgment.

"She's probably... out shopping with Cyrus. He's starting college soon, so she wants to help him buy everything he'll need.

"You're starting college too, aren't you? Why isn't she taking you shopping? A few days ago, she even posted about buying Cyrus a Submariner. Does he even know how to appreciate a watch like that?"

The more I thought about it, the more irritated I became.

The idea of going home and seeing those two only made it worse.

I immediately changed my mind.

"Jared, let's not go home yet. How about we go to your place instead? We haven't had a proper father-son talk in a long time. The reason I came back this time is because of you."

I needed to understand the situation from my son's side first.

"Sure."

The smile on Jared's face looked forced.

For a brief moment, he looked like he wanted to refuse, but I didn't notice.

Instead, I quietly reminded him, "And stop pushing yourself so hard with those delivery jobs. There's no shame in honest work, but our family isn't in a position where you need to be out there doing that."

"Got it. Thanks, Dad."

Jared brushed it off with a perfunctory response.

I sensed something was off and let the matter drop.

We took a taxi to the entrance of his residential complex, only to be stopped by security.

"This is a luxury community. Delivery drivers aren't allowed inside!"

The security guard looked down his nose at my son.

Jared lowered his head slightly, unable to say a word.

I spoke up coldly from the side.

"Delivery drivers aren't allowed in? Fine. What about homeowners? He's the owner of Villa 1, Building 5, Unit 24! What kind of training does your management company provide? How can you be this unprofessional?"

It was the gift I gave Jared when he was accepted into a top high school.

The security guard merely sneered.

"Sir, you shouldn't say things like that. I know all the homeowners here. That villa hasn't belonged to him for a long time. It belongs to Mr. Young now. I don't have the authority to let him in."

I frowned.

It took me only a second to realize exactly who this "Mr. Young" was.

I immediately turned to Jared in disbelief.

"Cyrus Young? The villa belongs to Cyrus now?!"

Jared stayed silent for a long moment before finally nodding.

I grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look me in the eye.

"Jared, tell me what's going on."

"...It's nothing, Dad. Please don't ask."

Jared instinctively looked away.

The more reluctant he was, the more certain I became that something was wrong.

Only after I pressed him repeatedly did he grit his teeth and speak.

"It... it was Mom. She made me transfer it to him. She said there was no point in me keeping it anyway."

I was so furious I nearly saw red.

"And then she just gave your house to him?! She never even mentioned this to me!"

I was still seething when, by sheer coincidence, I saw Cyrus and Olivia approaching the entrance, chatting and laughing together.

"Yeah, Mom, I really liked that outfit. The only problem is that the custom tailoring was a little expensive."

Olivia covered her mouth and laughed.

"Oh, my boy, what's a little money? You're already wearing a Submariner."

The moment they spotted Jared and me standing at the gate, both of them froze mid-step.

Cyrus was the first to speak, though his expression looked awkward.

"M-Mr. Ford."

I didn't even spare him a glance.

My fists clenched so tightly that my knuckles cracked as I stared at Olivia.

"What did he just call you? Mom?"

####CHAPTER-NAME:

"Well, Cyrus is a good kid, so I accepted him as my godson. Otherwise, he wouldn't be calling me Mom. You were in a bad mood earlier, and you're still acting like this now that you have come home?"

Inside the house, Olivia sat on the sofa, anxiously explaining herself.

Cyrus, sitting beside her, wore an equally sincere expression.

"It's true, Mr. Ford. I owe Olivia a great deal for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. Without your family's help, I'd probably still be working in some remote backwater somewhere."

My gaze shifted between the two of them.

A humorless laugh escaped me.

"So, becoming your godson gives him the right to take someone else's house?"

A flicker of guilt crossed Olivia's face.

Even so, she continued trying to justify herself.

"When you take a godson, of course you have to give him gifts, especially for families like ours. If the gift isn't valuable enough, wouldn't that reflect badly on you?"

As she spoke, she glanced at Jared, who had remained silent the entire time.

"Besides, everything you own will belong to our son eventually anyway. I only prepared a few things for Cyrus."

The moment the conversation turned toward him, Jared lowered his head uncomfortably.

I remained cold and said nothing.

Instead, I took a sip of the tea the housekeeper had just served.

The room fell silent.

No one spoke.

Cyrus saw I wasn’t warming up to him and put on a pitiful expression.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ford. I never meant to cause this much trouble. How about this? I'll give everything back. Maybe that'll help calm you down."

I raised an eyebrow but still didn't respond.

Who taught him to act as though he was making some noble sacrifice by returning things that had never belonged to him in the first place?

As he spoke, Cyrus rose to his feet and started taking off his clothes.

"Oh, Cyrus, don't do this. What are you doing?"

Olivia hurried over and stepped between us, trying to smooth things over while repeatedly glancing in my direction.

"Simon Ford! Cyrus is still just a kid. Are you really going to take back gifts you've already given him? Do you have to make this so embarrassing for me? Can't you be a little more generous?"

Watching Cyrus take off his jacket and shoes while stubbornly keeping the Submariner on his wrist only made my anger flare even higher.

I took a deep breath to keep myself under control.

"That's enough! Stop taking things off."

Olivia immediately broke into a smile.

She stepped forward and lightly hooked an arm through mine.

"See? That's just how you are. I know I was wrong this time. Cyrus, aren't you going to thank Mr. Ford?"

Cyrus paused halfway through removing his clothes before obediently responding, "Thank you, Mr. Ford."

Olivia seemed quite pleased with his reaction and immediately tried to persuade me.

"Simon, I think Cyrus is genuinely smart and considerate. Why don't you take him on as your godson too?"

The color drained slightly from Jared's face at her words.

I caught every change in his expression, and my anger surged again.

"You're really saying something like that right in front of our son? Aren't you worried about hurting his feelings? You want me to take Cyrus as my godson? In your dreams!"

With that, I shook Olivia's hand off.

Her expression stiffened for a moment before she forced it down and blurted out, "Jared isn't even your biological son. You've devoted yourself to him all these years, so what's wrong with having another godson?"

I froze, staring at Olivia in disbelief before instinctively looking at my son.

"What nonsense are you talking about?!"

But Jared's expression remained calm, and he merely gave a bitter smile.

"It's okay, Dad. I've known for a long time."

I shot Olivia a vicious glare and pointed at her, so furious that I couldn't get the words out.

"What did we agree on back then?! Olivia Quinn! Have you been treating my words like they meant nothing?"

Olivia looked somewhat uncomfortable.

After a long pause, she muttered, "I... I accidentally let it slip before! Why are you getting so angry over this?"

"Why am I getting so angry?"

I was on the verge of exploding, barely suppressing the rage inside me.

"Olivia, have I spoiled you too much all these years? Why haven't you told me about everything that's been happening in this family?!"

####CHAPTER-NAME: