Chapter 1

Before my brother Adam died, he entrusted me with the child he and his same-sex partner had adopted. He begged me to raise Liam until he turned eighteen.

I hated my brother, and naturally, I hated Liam too. So, even though we lived under the same roof, I never gave Liam a moment of peace. The day he turned twenty, I couldn’t wait to sever all ties with him.

Later, Liam brought down my company, forcing me to grovel before him. As he pinned me to the bed, he said, "Uncle Julian, do you know? I truly loathe you."

I looked at his desperate, distorted face and suddenly smiled. "What do you hate me for?"

He froze, and a single tear fell onto my face.

"You just hate me for not loving you enough."

The hospital call came, and I sat at my desk, burning through three cigarettes. My assistant, Brendan, carefully asked, "Mr. Blackwood, are you going to visit?"

"No. I don’t have a brother."

He acknowledged it and left. I stared silently out the window until the last ray of sunset vanished from my sight.

Eventually, I got up, grabbed my car keys, and headed out.

Adam Blackwood was in the best private hospital, his room overflowing with every imaginable luxury. But the lonely figure lying in the bed was so frail that no amount of wealth could conceal his solitude. He wore an oxygen mask, fogged with the white mist of his agitated breaths.

He looked at me with effort, "Jules, you came."

The small boy sitting beside him, nervously fidgeting with his hands, secretly glanced at me, then quickly looked down again.

"Don’t call me that." The name Jules belonged to the gentle, steady brother I once had. It didn’t belong to Adam Blackwood anymore.

I pulled up a chair and sat down. "Didn't you claim to be madly in love back then? You broke from the family for him, drove Mom and Dad to their graves. How is it you're the only one lying here now?" I scoffed, but seeing the sorrow in his eyes, I found no satisfaction.

"I was a fool back then. Now, I guess this is my karma." He coughed weakly. "Jules, I don't have many days left. When I die, I'll apologize to Mom and Dad. But Liam is innocent. Once I'm gone, he'll have no one. Consider this my last request, please, raise him for me."

"My inheritance, I've divided it into two parts. One for you, and the other, you'll give to him when he turns twenty." He paused, taking a shallow breath. "If possible, I'd like to be buried in the Rose Garden. I've already bought a plot there. Would you be willing to oversee my funeral?"

He rambled on about his final wishes. I stared at him, suddenly feeling a desolate emptiness inside. Liam looked up at him, his grape-like eyes brimming with tears, but he held them back. The atmosphere was too heavy, suffocating me. I stood up, ready to leave.

He called out more urgently, and with his agitation, the heart monitor began to spike wildly. Liam immediately reached out and clutched my hand. It was the first time I'd heard the kid speak. His voice was tearful, a pitiful plea, "Uncle, please don't go yet. Will you listen to Dad finish what he has to say?"

I paused, took a deep breath, and said nothing.

Adam’s voice was faint and strained. "Jules, your brother begs you."

I closed my eyes, fighting back the sting in my nose. "From the day Mom and Dad died, I stopped having a brother."