Garland’s POV
Five years ago, Barrett was an underprivileged student I sponsored.
When I went to the school to select a student to support, a crowd of boys and girls rushed over to show off, each desperately sharing the hardships of their lives. Everyone wanted to be chosen as the recipient of the sponsorship.
Everyone except Barrett.
He stood at a distance in a clean white shirt, his sneakers washed so many times they had faded. He looked like a quiet butterfly, staying far away, neither fighting nor begging—just calmly watching.
At that moment, he reminded me of my younger self.
In the end, I chose to send him the stipends to support his studies and living expenses. When he couldn’t find a job, I even kindly recommended him to work at Cherity’s company.
If it hadn’t been for that initial sponsorship… maybe that night would never have happened—the night Cherity was drugged and, by some cruel twist of fate, ended up sleeping with him.
Thinking back now, maybe all of this was karma. I got involved in someone else’s fate, and I had no one to blame but myself.
Cherity had more patience with him than I’d ever seen. She gently coaxed him for a long time before Barrett finally calmed down. When he turned and saw me, the tears started to fall again.
“I’m sorry, Garland…” he cried.
“You don’t need to apologize to him,” Cherity cut in coldly, staring straight at me. “That night wasn’t your fault. The fact that I got pregnant with your child means that was all meant to happen.”
She turned her attention back to Barrett. “Babe, you’ve been like family to me for a long time. No one can take your place.”
She pulled him back into her arms and kissed him softly.
“Don’t ever run off like that again, or I’ll truly lose my mind.”
In the end, she took Barrett home with her.
Heart aching, she held his small frame with trembling hands, kissing his forehead over and over—five or six times on the way back.
Moved by her possessive love, Barrett dropped to his knees in front of me the moment we got back to the villa.
“Sir, I know I’ve betrayed your kindness. I can never repay what I owe you. But the truth is…” he said, “I’ve fallen in love with Cherity. Can you… Can you…”
He choked on his words, on the verge of crying again.
I gave him a bitter smile, the corners of my lips barely lifting. “You want to know if I can step down as the head of the family?”
It had been a year since I last saw him.
He’d filled out a little—looked healthier and more like a grown man now, even carried a hint of a married man’s presence. But there was sorrow in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
During Cherity’s pregnancy and delivery, she’d told the media that Barrett had been sent abroad to further his studies.
But only I knew the truth—she had secretly hidden him in her private villa.
Every time she didn’t come home at night, she was with him.
At first, Cherity just wanted to keep the baby and raise her with me.
But people weren’t made of stone. Day after day, she too was moved by this pure and kind-hearted boy. Eventually, she gave her heart to him.
Panic flashed across Barrett’s face. He shook his head exaggeratedly. “That’s not what I meant! I know it’s just wishful thinking on my part. It’s just that… Sir, we already had a child…”
I lowered my head and gave him a faint smile before pulling up the identity cancellation form on my phone and showing it to him.
“Don’t worry. In seven days, I’ll go abroad.”
I said it slowly, but with unwavering certainty.
“By then, you’ll be the only head of this family.”
When I returned to my room, my younger brother was still anxiously waiting for me.
As soon as he saw me, he rushed over, his brows furrowed with concern.
“Bro, what happened? You and Cherity always got along so well, so who’s that guy?”
I shook my head, worn out. “Come with me abroad, Ashwyn. Let’s leave this place.”
My brother had always understood me.
I told him everything—even the truth about my rebirth.
Listening to all that, Ashwyn was filled with sympathy. He grabbed my hand and said, “Alright. I’ll go with you, bro. Let that bitch spend the rest of her life trying to find you—and never succeed.”
