Chapter 4

I looked at the young man who bore a striking resemblance to Brandon, and a suspicion began to form in my mind.

This must be Yvonne and Brandon's love child.

They had kept it well hidden for over twenty years, never letting me find out.

It seems this drama is even more intriguing than I had imagined.

My mother-in-law, sitting at the head of the room, looked at the young man with a stern expression. "Yvonne, what's going on here?"

The atmosphere in the living room froze once again.

The young man's eyes were red, as if he was about to cry.

"Brother, my name is George. I... I've always known about you," he stammered, his voice barely above a whisper, trembling slightly.

He glanced at me furtively, then quickly lowered his head, as if afraid I might scold him.

"My... my dad often talked about you, saying how excellent and handsome you are..."

Brandon began to sob on cue, his shoulders shaking.

"Noah, my precious son, daddy has missed you so much all these years..."

He looked up, his eyes brimming with tears, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

"George... he's always wanted to meet you too. We often secretly went to see you..."

George nodded eagerly, rushing to add:

"It's true! Brother, I even went to your school, just to... to be closer to you..."

He pulled out a stack of photos from his pocket and carefully handed them to Noah.

"These are your photos. I... I took them secretly..."

Noah took the stack of photos and flipped through them briefly. There were pictures of him in his graduation gown, smiling brightly; exhausted after basketball practice; engaged in a debate with classmates, looking animated...

Noah felt his skin crawl. All these years, there had been a stalker-like figure hiding nearby, watching him and taking secret photos!

Yvonne wasn't idle either. She walked up to my mother-in-law, pointing at George, her voice heavy.

"Mom, this is the Rivers family's grandson! All the extended family members are here to witness. Please... please accept him!"

Yvonne was quite clever. She knew that after my father-in-law's passing, my mother-in-law was the one who truly held sway in the Rivers family.

She had invited all the extended family members to pressure my mother-in-law into accepting this child.

She was certain that if my mother-in-law agreed to let George be recognized as part of the family, I would have no say in the matter.

After all, she had observed my obedience and filial piety towards my mother-in-law over the past 25 years.

George, being quite sharp, immediately turned to my mother-in-law and respectfully called out, "Grandma!"

My mother-in-law looked at George, then at me, her eyes complex. She didn't immediately respond to George's call.

I knew my mother-in-law cared for me.

Not wanting to put her in a difficult position, I spoke up to break the awkward silence.

"Yvonne, isn't your real goal to have this illegitimate child recognized and inherit the Rivers family business? Why drag Noah into this?"