Chapter 382
When Austin was seven, Dylan personally arranged for a third of Aaron’s assets to be transferred into Austin’s name.
Once Austin started high school, Dylan began having him get involved in the company’s affairs.
Back then, Austin thought Dylan was truly looking out for him. After all, ever since he returned to the Pierce family, Dylan had always acted like a loving grandfather, showing concern for him in every way.
The Pierce family had a lot of relatives, and most of them lived together in the Pierce Manor. At just three years old, Austin got picked on and left out all the time because he was the illegitimate child.
But whenever that happened, it was always Dylan who would step in and have his back. So to little Austin, Dylan was the person he felt closest to in the whole world.
But as he got older, Austin finally realized what Dylan was really up to..
Dylan didn’t fight for a third of Aaron’s assets for Austin just to give him the guts to stand up to Isabella-it was all about driving a wedge between him and Aaron.
For a man like Aaron, who cared about profit above everything, having an illegitimate son who admired and depended on him was fine-but having a son who might fight him for his interests? That was absolutely out of the question.
Whenever Dylan stepped in to scold the other Pierce family members for picking on Austin, it wasn’t about having his back at all-it was just painting a bigger target on him.
After all, if Dylan had wanted to protect Austin, those people would’ve been too scared to mess with him, instead of making things worse every single time.
Having Austin get involved in the company wasn’t because Dylan saw him as a true member of the Pierce family—it was because Dylan saw Austin as a whetstone.
A whetstone meant just for Calvin-the legitimate son who’d had a smooth ride all his life and needed some real challenges if he was ever going to be worthy of inheriting the Pierce family.
“I can’t even remember when I finally saw through it all, but I’ll never forget how I felt the moment everything clicked,” Austin said. His voice stayed steady the whole time, calm as if he were talking about someone else’s life.
Usually, whenever he was with Emily, his face was always lit up with that bright, sunny smile.
But right now, all that warmth was gone-he was calm in a way that felt like staring out at a patch of dead, barren earth, the kind that pressed down on Emily’s chest like a heavy stone.
Without thinking, Emily held his hand, wanting to say something. She parted her lips, but no words came out. All she could do was hold his hand even tighter.
It was her grip that finally seemed to pull Austin back to himself. He lowered his gaze to their joined hands, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He seemed to slip right back into his usual sunny self.
He flashed Emily a sweet smile and asked, “Emily, do you know why I just can’t let you go, no matter what?”
Emily stayed quiet, and Austin didn’t wait for her answer-he just kept going.
He said, “My birth mother brought me into this world. Even when we were so broke we couldn’t scrape together enough money for a pack of instant noodles, she still insisted on keeping me. I always thought she must love me.
“After all, what parent doesn’t love their kid, right? But then I watched her take the money and walk away without even looking back
“Even when I chased after her, crying, all she said was, I went through all that trouble to give birth to you and raise you for three years, just for this day.
“If the Pierce family hadn’t come for you, I was ready to drown you myself—so you wouldn’t drag me down and mess up my chances with someone else.
“That was when I realized-there really are parents who don’t love their own kids. And me? I was that kid-the one my own birth mother abandoned.”
