Decade of the Fool

The company had just taken off when a project my wife, Lenora Peterson, was in charge of ran into trouble.

To ease her mind during her pregnancy, I went overseas in her stead, spending ten perilous years abroad before finally returning home, barely alive.

Instead of the joyful reunion I had imagined, she greeted me with cold detachment and thinly veiled disgust.

"Why are you back?" Lenora asked.

"Today is Nathan’s housewarming party," she added. "Let’s head there first—we’ll talk later."

We rode in silence the entire way.

When we arrived, a ten-year-old girl came dashing over and clung to Lenora affectionately.

“Mommy, why did you take so long? Daddy’s been waiting for you forever!”

Daddy?

My eyes burned with rage—until I saw my old friend Nathan Grant stepping out to greet us with a smile.

"Lily, come to Daddy. Mommy’s tired—don’t bother her now."

When I met Lenora’s eyes, the guilt I saw there told me everything I needed to know.

I turned away and texted my assistant, Morgan Williamson, to begin acquiring the company that, by right, had always belonged to me.

He soon reported back.

"Mr. Brooke, the acquisition process will be completed in three days."

I had waited ten years—what were three more days?

After my fingers danced across the screen and sent a single word [Okay], I looked up at the picture of domestic bliss before me: a perfect little family of three.

Nathan Grant paused for a second, then gave me a smug, pointed smile.

“Duncan, you came back at the perfect time! Lenora just bought me this place. Even with you staying here, there’s more than enough room!”

A sinking feeling crept into my chest.

I stepped back, avoiding the hand he tried to place on my shoulder.

“What do you mean, Lenora bought you this house? And what’s this about me staying here?”

When I had left, I’d asked Nathan to look after Lenora Peterson, my wife, and our unborn daughter. I never expected that my request would turn into houses and fatherhood.

Lenora has become his. How painfully ironic.

Seeing I wasn’t playing along, Nathan withdrew his hand awkwardly.

The fake warmth faded from his face and was replaced by a cold sneer.

“Exactly what you see. Lenora and I just need the paperwork done. Since you’re back, let’s get that divorce agreement signed tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Sure. I’ll sign it,” I said.

I had no interest in being with a woman who had betrayed me, who couldn’t stay loyal.

“But Lily is mine. She stays with me.”

A flicker of amusement passed over their faces as I spoke.

Lenora’s expression quickly twisted into anger.

“Impossible!” she snapped.

“I gave birth to her. You weren’t there for a single moment in ten years. What right do you have to fight me for custody?”

She stepped in front of Nathan.

She seemed to forget that her lax oversight had caused her project to fail, forcing me to take an overseas post.

In the initial period, I had eaten in the wind, slept on dirt, starved more days than not, and rarely drank a clean drop of water.

If I hadn’t accidentally reunited with my birth parents, I would’ve died at the hands of criminals long ago.

And now Lenora had the nerve to blame me for abandoning them, for not being there for Lily.

How utterly absurd.

“Because I’m her father,” I said calmly. “And because I can provide a better life than you can.”

Lenora stared at me, clearly confused.

“You… provide Lily with a better life?”

Nathan’s shoulders began to shake with laughter.

“Better life? Come on, Lenora, don’t let him fool you. I’ve been keeping tabs on Duncan’s situation abroad for years.

“He was living like a dog—filthy, desperate. You think he had time to build anything? This is just a ploy to trick you into handing Lily over. Don’t fall for it!”

His words dispelled the last of Lenora’s doubts and revealed something to me.

This so-called “friend” had been watching me suffer all along… and never once reached out a hand.

My chest tightened with a bitter ache.

Just then, Lily came running up and began pounding on me with her fists.

“You’re a bad man! Don’t bully Mommy! I wish you were dead!”

This was my child—my flesh and blood.

The little girl I had longed for all these years… and all I wanted in that moment was to hold her.

But Lenora stepped in front of her, shielding her from me.

“I know you don’t want a divorce, Duncan. That’s why you’re lying and trying to use Lily to force me into submission.

“For the past ten years, it’s been Nathan who stood by us. From the moment Lily could remember anything, she saw him as her father.

“She doesn’t feel anything for you. If you really care about her, then you should respect her wishes.”

There was a sliver of truth in her words.

I had suffered in her place, only to be repaid with betrayal and humiliation.

She had given Lily to someone else and cuckolded me.

Where was I supposed to take my pain?

Who would listen to my side of the story?

I looked at the three people in front of me, my heart bleeding.

I couldn’t understand how a family that once seemed whole had fallen so completely apart.

Before long, employees from the company, who had been waiting, began to come in.

Familiar faces lit up.

“Mr. Brooke, you’re finally back!” one longtime staff member exclaimed with joy.

Nathan cast a sharp glare in his direction, which caused him to lower his head in reluctant silence.

Those who didn’t recognize me began whispering among themselves:

“Who’s that guy? He looks like a beggar—how dare he show up at Mr. Grant’s housewarming party?”

“No idea. Maybe some freeloader scrounging off them.”

“Miss Peterson and Mr. Grant are too kind. If it were me, I’d have chased him two streets down with a broom!”

In my rush to return home, I hadn’t had time to change clothes.

Even so, the casual outfit I wore was clean and decent, not nearly as bad as they made it sound.

They flattered Lenora and Nathan blindly, hoping to win their favor.

I understood that well.

I laughed coldly.

“Let’s see if you still dare say that to my face in three days,” I challenged them.

Lenora, clearly irritated, interrupted with a frown.

“That’s enough, Duncan! The man who topped the Financial Power Index has the same name as you, but he built an empire while he was still young, and now he controls international trade routes.

“And you? All you do is talk big. What else can you actually do?”