The crisp scent of champagne hung in the air, complementing the restaurant's refined and tranquil atmosphere.

Under the guidance of a waiter, we took our seats.

My father-in-law frowned and looked around. "Why is there only one table here?"

Brandon glanced around as well.

"Don't tell me the whole place has been reserved?"

My mother-in-law gasped in surprise. "Reserved? That must've cost a fortune, right?"

All four pairs of eyes turned toward me at once.

Brandon rested his chin on his hand. After noticing something nearby, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Wow! That's a world-class pianist! I heard the appearance fee for just one piece is in the five figures!"

"What?!" My mother-in-law's jaw nearly dropped. She shot me an angry glare. "You prodigal! Tyler, do you have so much money that it's burning a hole in your pocket? Is all this really necessary just for a meal?"

My father-in-law raised his hand and called to the waiter.

"Waiter, we're not eating anymore. Hurry up and refund us the money!"

He had barely sat down before trying to stand up again.

The waiter looked at me awkwardly.

Without changing my expression, I released Megan's hand, which I had just warmed.

"The payment's already been made. It can't be refunded. If you don't eat, the money will just go to waste."

I didn't particularly care, but the other four all looked visibly pained at the thought.

Megan sighed. "Mom, Dad, since we're already here, let's just enjoy the meal. Try something new."

Brandon exchanged a glance with her.

Understanding immediately, he patted the two elders on the shoulders and cracked a few playful jokes.

The pianist played three pieces.

My father-in-law gripped his knife and fork.

"What kind of nonsense is he playing? It's not even as nice as my harmonica!"

A waiter placed an eight-hundred-dollar medium-rare steak in front of each of us.

My mother-in-law's face twisted with disgust.

"Does this chef even know how to cook? It looks terrible!"

Brandon grinned and asked Megan how it tasted.

She took one bite before setting down her knife and fork, wiping her mouth.

"It's nowhere near as good as the beef stew you make."

Brandon shot me a casual glance, his face brimming with smug satisfaction.

The entire dinner was excruciating.

After we finished, the waiter asked if the next part of the evening could begin.

But when they learned there were still fireworks across the city and a sports car waiting as part of the surprise, my mother-in-law slammed the table in fury.

"Are you done yet?! Megan pinches every penny at home, and here you are throwing money around outside—just to show off?"

I frowned and tried to explain.

"Mom, I'm not wasting money. These are all Valentine's Day gifts for Megan. She rides an electric scooter to work every day, exposed to the wind and rain. Having a car would make things much more convenient."

But my father-in-law kept a stern face.

"No matter how expensive the car is, it'll still get stuck in traffic during rush hour! It's not even as practical as the electric scooter Brandon gave her. If you ask me, you didn't put any real thought into this. You're always trying to solve everything with money!

"You've got a little money now, and your ego's already soaring! Instead of wasting money on all these flashy things, you should save it for something practical for the family!"

A tight heaviness built in my chest.

"Dad, I earned this money. I'm happy to spend it this way. I haven't neglected the household expenses, so you really don't need to worry about it."

My father-in-law's eyes widened with anger.

"I say a couple of words, and you dare talk back? Well, well, Tyler—you've really made something of yourself now!

"You talk to me like this right in front of my face—who knows how you bully Megan behind closed doors! I should never have agreed to let my daughter marry you in the first place!"

A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me.

Months of nonstop overtime had left my chest tight, my heartbeat dull and heavy with pain. Disappointment and grievance tangled together inside me, swelling until they were about to erupt.

Just then, Megan suddenly pressed her hand over mine.

"Honey, don't be angry. Mom and Dad just hate to see money wasted. They got a little anxious—that's all. They don't mean anything by it."

Looking into her bright, watery eyes, my shoulders sagged helplessly.

Ten years ago, I had nothing.

Back then, even filling my own stomach was a daily struggle.

Yet Megan—our university's campus beauty, pursued by countless rich trust-fund heirs—had chosen to be with me without hesitation.

When I tried to back away, she held me tightly and told me she believed I would achieve great things someday. She was willing to walk beside me from nothing all the way to the top.

I promised her that the day I finally succeeded, I would set off fireworks across the entire city for her from the rooftop of the most luxurious restaurant in Alyes City.

I would buy her the newest model of a luxury sports car.

But now that I had finally done it, the feeling was completely different from what I had imagined back then.

After calming her parents, Megan tugged lightly on my hand. "Honey, take us to watch the fireworks."

A weary smile tugged at the corner of my lips. "Alright."

…

Standing on the rooftop, the dazzling nightscape of Alyes City stretched out beneath us.

Brilliant fireworks burst across the sky for a full thirty minutes.

As the finale faded, the name "Megan" lingered in the night sky, drawing crowds of people below to stop and stare.

While preparing this surprise, I had imagined countless times how she would react—so moved that tears streamed down her face.

We would kiss beneath the fireworks.

Megan would become the happiest woman in Alyes City.

But when I looked at her expressionless profile… the last shred of expectation in my heart quietly collapsed.

"Is it over? Then let's go home."

There wasn't the slightest ripple in Megan's eyes, as though she had merely completed a task.

My mother-in-law widened her eyes, glancing around in disbelief.

"What? Thousands of dollars just for a bunch of loud explosions? What a waste! With that kind of money, you could buy a house back in our hometown! And instead, you spend it on these flashy but useless things. How much suffering must our Megan endure being with you?"

My father-in-law hunched his shoulders, hands tucked into his sleeves, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Young people really don't understand the hardships of life. No regard for anyone else's feelings. All this for a moment of happiness and some so-called romance—polluting the air and adding extra trouble to the city's environmental work! Absolutely selfish!

"That's enough. Now that it's done, let's head back. This wind is cutting my face."

With a cold snort, he turned and started downstairs.

My mother-in-law hurried after him, muttering under her breath.

"If I'd known it would be this miserable, I wouldn't have come!"

Brandon asked a waiter for three cups of hot water and carried them over.

"Here, have some hot water to warm up. It's not much, but it'll help."

He flashed a pleasing, slightly shy smile.

My in-laws immediately stopped complaining and accepted the cups with approval.

"Ah, Brandon is so thoughtful and observant! When Megan's dad hurt his back not long ago, you ran back and forth taking care of him at the hospital like a real son."

My mother-in-law deliberately shot me a sideways glance and snorted.

"Not like a certain someone who didn't even bother to show their face!"

A glint flashed in Brandon's eyes, but he pretended to defend me.

"Please don't say that. Tyler was just too busy with work to come."

But instead of calming them, his words only fueled their anger.

My father-in-law's face flushed red as he shouted, "How busy can work possibly be? Acting like some big-shot president in front of me! If I dropped dead one day, would he still say he's too busy with work to come?!"

My mother-in-law chimed in indignantly.

"Exactly! Tyler, even though you don't have parents, you're almost thirty now. How can you still not understand basic manners?

"You married Megan, which makes you part of our family. When your father-in-law is hospitalized, no matter how busy you are, you should still be at the bedside showing filial respect. No excuse is acceptable!"

I wasn't stupid. I could hear the hidden meaning behind their words.

In the past, my father-in-law and mother-in-law had looked down on me, but at least they maintained a basic level of courtesy.

Recently, however, their words had turned sharp and sarcastic, constantly comparing me with Brandon.

So this was what it was about.

They were still upset that a week ago, when my father-in-law sprained his back, I hadn't gone to the hospital to visit him.

But they seemed to have forgotten the reason I couldn't come.

After I gained my boss's trust at the company and started holding real authority, they forced me to hire Brandon.

But he hadn't even finished middle school. Even starting from the most basic position as an intern assistant, he caused trouble every other day.

He once misremembered the time of an important meeting and showed up late, offending the client so badly that the deal nearly fell apart.

Another time, he accidentally sent our core profit data to a partner company.

They seized on the information as leverage, and our company ended up losing thirty percent of its profits.

Every time, I had to clean up the mess he left behind. Yet, he never learned his lesson.

With Megan and her parents backing him, he acted recklessly. In the end, his stupidity and ignorance were exploited by someone with ulterior motives.

For the sake of a massive kickback, he abused his position and secretly embezzled company funds. Luckily, I discovered it in time and stopped it.

I went to enormous lengths to calm the client and pleaded with my superiors. Only then did we barely manage to preserve the partnership.

I even kept him from going to prison.

Because of the disaster he caused, I had been running around like crazy, apologizing everywhere, begging forgiveness.

Meanwhile, he simply resigned and ran off, then busied himself flattering my in-laws.

And now it seemed he hadn't said a single good word about me to them.

A truly ungrateful wolf.

I glanced at Megan.

She kept her eyes lowered, as if silently consenting to everything.

I had expected it—but my heart still grew a little colder.

At last, I could no longer suppress my temper.

"Dad, Mom, you can't have it both ways. If I didn't focus on my work, where would you get the money to stay in a VIP room at a private hospital?

"I hired the best doctor in Alyes City to treat you. Seven days in the hospital cost eight thousand. Yet in your eyes, that's not worth as much as Brandon casually asking how you're doing?

"If that's the kind of concern you want, fine. I'll give it to you from now on. But the three thousand dollars I send home every month for living expenses will be adjusted to three hundred instead."

My mother-in-law was so shocked that the cup in her hand slipped and shattered on the ground. Her voice rose to a shrill pitch.

"On what grounds? Who could live on three hundred?!"

My father-in-law pointed at me angrily.

"Tyler, as a junior, supporting your elders is your duty! What right do you have to reduce our living expenses without permission?!"

Brandon chimed in, pretending to mediate.

"Tyler, don't be jealous. I know you're acting like this because you think I stole the spotlight. But when you didn't come to the hospital, it's normal that they had complaints. You could just behave better and smooth things over with them. Why do you have to argue like this?"

My mother-in-law patted his hand approvingly.

"Brandon is the thoughtful one. Everything he says and does always hits right at our hearts!"

My father-in-law nodded along.

"Exactly. If you can't do things properly yourself, can't others say a few words about it? You're not even one-tenth as sensible as Brandon!

"Oh right—speaking of that, I heard the salesperson who sold you that car was introduced by Brandon. How are you planning to repay that favor?

"No matter how busy you are, you can't push everything onto Brandon. He's not your servant. And he took care of me for several days while I was in the hospital—you definitely owe him compensation for the work he missed!"

My mother-in-law looked at Brandon with sympathy.

"Brandon delayed his own work to help us. At the very least, he should be compensated three times his usual salary!"

Then she turned to him.

"Brandon, how much do you earn?"

Brandon quickly waved his hands, pretending to decline.

"It was only right for me to take care of you while you were hospitalized. How could I possibly take your money?"