Part 1The Outcast’s Counterattack

My brother, Caleb, was the illegitimate son, the family's dirty little secret.

Growing up, he made it his mission to oppose me at every turn. When I finished first in my class, he reported me to the school for cheating. When I joined the board of directors, he crashed his sports car into the main gates of our headquarters.

And when I finally found someone I loved, he became obsessed with stealing her from me.

Thankfully, my girlfriend, Reese, came from a respected family of academics and carried herself with a cool, aloof grace. Every one of Caleb’s pathetic declarations of love was met with a stinging slap across the face.

"I am going to be your sister-in-law," she would tell him, her voice like ice. "So get rid of those pathetic little ideas you have."

Eventually, it seemed Caleb had accepted his fate. He stopped fighting me, starting from the very bottom of the company and working his way up. My father even praised him publicly at the annual company gala. Even Reese remarked with a pleased smile that my little brother had finally grown up.

That all changed on the night I was officially appointed CEO of the entire corporation.

Caleb sent me a video.

On the screen, Reese, who had been conspicuously absent from the ceremony, was lounging in his arms, her eyes hazy with pleasure.

…

I didn't hesitate. I floored the accelerator, racing to the hotel I recognized in the background.

I kicked the door open. Reese scrambled for the sheets, but they couldn't hide the messy constellation of love bites that stained the pale skin of her neck. Caleb, a smirk playing on his lips, provocatively tossed a used condom at my feet.

"Sorry, big brother. Looks like you're a step too late." He leaned back, the picture of arrogance. "It's a shame. I could've given you a few pointers on how to make Reese scream."

The cloying scent of sex in the room was so thick it made me want to gag.

I strode over to the bed, ripped him out of it, and drove my fist into his smug face.

Reese shrieked at me. "Julian, are you insane? Calm down!"

I whipped my head around to face her, my eyes burning as I stared at her lips, swollen and red from his kisses. "Calm down? How the hell am I supposed to calm down when you're in his bed?"

Caleb staggered to his feet, a cold sneer on his face. "Is this all it takes to break you?" he taunted. "I told you, Julian. I'm going to destroy everything you have. Your love, your career, all of it."

I raised my fist again.

Before it could land, Reese threw herself in front of him and slapped me hard across the face. The sharp crack echoed in the silent room, and a fiery sting spread across my cheek. She turned back to Caleb, tenderly wiping a smear of blood from the corner of his mouth before rounding on me again.

"He's your brother, Julian! How could you hit him?"

My nails dug into my palms, the pain so sharp it felt like it was stealing the air from my lungs. Just hours ago, I was sick with worry because she wasn't answering my texts.

I was such a fool. She was busy rolling around in bed with my own brother; of course she didn't have time for me.

As if my humiliation wasn't complete, Caleb added in a whiny, pathetic voice, "Come on, bro. We both have Vance blood, but you're the one in charge of the whole corporation. I have nothing. Reese was just trying to… compensate me in bed. You're not going to get petty over a little thing like that, are you?"

At his words, Reese's glare intensified. "He's right. You don't need to blow this out of proportion," she said, her voice dripping with disdain. "Caleb just wanted to see what it was like to be with a woman. If you're that bothered by it, I can go to a clinic and have it 'fixed'."

She knew. She knew the betrayal was what was killing me, but she was deliberately trivializing it, trying to force me to back down.

"No need," I said, my voice flat and dead. Each word was a shard of glass. "Since you were so eager to climb into my brother's bed, the wedding is off."

I turned and walked out. But the moment I opened the door, I realized the media had already caught the scent of scandal.