I gave a faint, indifferent smile without answering, though in my heart, I already knew the truth.
After this episode passed, the wedding proceeded as planned.
But on the eve of the ceremony, a series of explicit photos exploded online.
My fiancée, Olivia White, and my younger brother, Eric Smith.
In my own car, lost in their passion.
The footage had been captured by a nearby surveillance camera.
The timestamp: July 19, 10:35 a.m.
Exactly ten minutes after Olivia had hugged me and promised she would protect me forever.
In an instant, Olivia and Eric were thrown into the eye of a storm.
At the company headquarters, outside the mansion—reporters swarmed everywhere.
Reading the countless reports online, I only felt exhausted.
It was as if, over the past ten years, I had never truly known Olivia.
All I had possessed was an empty shell.
At that moment, I no longer cared about anything else.
My mind was consumed with one thought: how to protect my own interests.
The night before I was ready to act, Olivia’s PR team suddenly released a statement.
They claimed that Eric had been Olivia’s first love in her youth.
That the two had been together for over a decade, but hadn’t gone public due to business reasons.
That I was merely her business partner.
Facing the cameras, Olivia earnestly explained,
“Back then, when Eric went abroad for further studies, we were forced to separate for a time.”
“He cared deeply about his older brother, and asked me to look after Daniel in his absence.”
“It was out of trust and love for Eric that I chose Daniel as my business partner.”
“I hope people won’t confuse our relationship, and certainly won’t do anything to hurt Eric because of this.”
She spoke with sincerity, but her words shoved me directly into the fire.
Overnight, Eric’s reputation was restored.
Meanwhile, every accusation and condemnation turned toward me.
Fueled by Eric’s own manipulative posts that blurred the truth, nearly everyone came to believe it.
That I was a selfish, greedy man who, while my younger brother studied abroad, seduced his girlfriend.
My phone rang off the hook.
Red paint and dead rats were thrown all over the doorstep of my home.
In an instant, I went from being a respected, enviable businessman to a reviled homewrecker.
Even my parents stepped forward to testify against me.
My father claimed I had always been cruel, bullying my younger brother.