The Unloved Replacement

On my first day back with my wealthy family, Caelum, the young man who had taken my place, stood off to the side with his shoulders hunched, looking timid. He looked nothing like the privileged young heir he was supposed to be.

He hid whenever he saw anyone. When he could not hide, his eyes would turn red, almost as though he was about to cry, especially whenever he ran into my mom, Linda.

Linda threw herself into my arms and sobbed. "Your brother has never been close to me, not since he was little. No matter how hard I tried, he never let me love him. Thank goodness you're back."

My three sisters weren't fond of him either. "He's been a troublemaker since childhood, and now, we find out he's not even related to us by blood. No wonder we could never bring ourselves to treat him as family."

Caelum's face went pale, and I instinctively held his hand. The next moment, we both heard a vicious woman's voice.

[Here comes another brat. Watch how I deal with eyesores like you!]

After my sisters left, my mom finally got up. "It just so happens that the kitchen ordered some foie gras, and it came in today. Since you grew up in the countryside, you must never have eaten anything this fancy, right? I'll prepare some for you to try."

She smiled and stroked my face with her well-kept, smooth hand before turning toward the kitchen.

As a wealthy wife who had lived in comfort for years, she looked barely over forty despite being in her fifties and still had a girlish charm. It was obvious that she had lived a very happy life.

When I first saw her, I was genuinely happy. If not for the voice I had just heard, I never would have connected those vicious words to her.

I looked at Caelum. "Did you hear that?"

His face was pale, and he looked like he wanted to say something to me, but hesitated. He cast a fearful glance toward the kitchen before murmuring, "I... You should go take a look in the kitchen..."

Before Caelum could finish his sentence, a sharp crashing sound came from the kitchen, followed by a startled cry.

We ran over and saw that Linda had knocked over a pot. The chicken consommé the kitchen prepared had scalded her arm red, and blisters soon appeared.

My third sister, Mia, who had gone back to her room to play games, rushed downstairs and shoved us aside, then grabbed Linda's hand in distress. She immediately roared at the house staff. "Did we hire you to sit around? Why is my mom personally cooking?!"

Caelum shrank behind me.

"It's not their fault. Silas had never eaten something like foie gras before and wanted to try it. I'm the useless one for not being able to handle something this simple."

Linda looked at me with tears in her eyes. "You won't blame me, right?"

Mia immediately glared at me in fury. "If you wanted to eat it, you could've made it yourself! You're already acting like the heir the first day you're back?!"

She looked at my rough hands with a disdainful look and said, "Mom spends a fortune a year just taking care of her hands. You grew up in the countryside, right? What hardship haven't you gotten used to? Yet you still made her cook for you herself?"

But I had never said I wanted to eat it at all. If Linda had not mentioned it, I would never have known that there was even foie gras at home.

Mia did not even ask before blaming everything on me.

I instinctively argued, "I didn't."

As soon as I spoke, I realized I had made a mistake. Beside me, Caelum nervously tugged on my hand.

Sure enough, Mia became even angrier. "You didn't?! If not for you, why would she have gotten hurt so badly? We normally won't even let her do the smallest of chores, but you ordered her to cook for you the moment you came back? Just who do you think you are?!"

She even raised her hand, but Mom patted her back and calmed things down. "It's fine. Your younger brother has only just come home today. Don't scare him."

However, there was nothing but smugness in her heart.

[No one can outrank me in this house.]

[If I'd known he would be found one day, I would've strangled him at birth instead of merely abandoning him... No, if I'd known he was a boy, I would've gotten rid of him before he was even born.]

My eyes narrowed.

She was still cursing in her heart.

[This is George's fault, too. He was so scared I would be upset, he brought me back a fake one!]

[It took years to turn that one into a failure, and now he's brought the real one back.]

I could not stay there any longer. I apologized to her, then hurriedly pulled Caelum back to my room.

I could not help but ask him. "Have you lived like this all these years?"