Chapter 270: What does that make me?

A bitter, broken laugh escaped his lips. "Treated like an Allen?" he repeated slowly, his eyes wide and glassy. "So that’s it? You gave me everything but the one thing that mattered. You kept me close just to remind me I didn’t belong."

Elder Allen sighed, his shoulders drooping like the weight of old age had finally caught up with him. "It was not to mock you, Desmond. Your situation wasn’t a common one. My late wife found you. dressed and wrapped tightly in a blanket by the roadside. His eyes closed as the memories floated back like the tidal waves.

~Flashback, Years ago~

The morning sun slanted through the curtains, golden light spilling onto the polished floors of the Allen estate’s grand living room. A soft breeze whispered through the open window, carrying the scent of fresh dew and blooming lilies from the garden.

The front door creaked open gently.

In stepped a young woman, her skin glowing from the light sheen of sweat from her morning workout. Her ponytail swayed with each step, and in her arms, wrapped in a faded white cloth, she cradled a tiny baby—no more than six months old.

The child blinked sleepily, cheeks plump, lips parted, unaware of the silent storm waiting to unfold.

Maxwell Allen stepped out from the hallway dressed in a sharp pristine suit walking as he adjusted his cufflinks, stopping dead in his tracks as he laid eyes on the infant.

"Lucy?" he asked, brows furrowing, voice laced with confusion. "What’s that... who’s that?"

Lucy Allen turned toward her husband, Maxwell, his expression mixed with disbelief and tension. His eyes darted between the child and his wife. Her calm expression unsettled him.

"I found him," she said softly, gently bouncing the child in her arms as if instinctively calming him. "Along the roadside. Near the trail behind Oakridge."

Maxwell’s eyes widened. "You... found him? Like that? Alone?"

She nodded. "Wrapped in a thin sheet, lying in the shade. No one was around. I waited for an hour, asked around the nearby houses, but... no one knew anything. Not even the vendors on the trail."

Maxwell slowly approached, his gaze dropping to the infant. The baby yawned and cooed softly, one hand curling into a tight little fist near his cheek.

"He’s just a baby," Lucy murmured, her voice cracking with emotion. "Barely six months old, maybe less. He was crying when I found him—his voice hoarse, eyes swollen. He must have been there for hours."

asked, still trying to make sense of the

a questioning gaze. "Would you rather I

Silence fell.

looked away for a long moment, then exhaled slowly. "No. Of course not. It is not that I wanted him to die but taking the child from such spot

infant stirred but didn’t cry. Maxwell’s shoulders

keep him," Lucy whispered. "Raise him. Give him a

sharply, but what he saw in her eyes silenced his doubts: fierce

even had our own child yet,"

maybe...

a moment. Then he stopped, eyes fixed on the baby. "It won’t

it work," she said. "We’ll handle the paperwork. Adopt him

a beat longer, then slowly nodded. "Alright. We’ll do it. If that’s what

asked, her tone

I think, there will be a challenge. He will be our first son but the Allen family and group he won’t be allowed to handle because he is not of

matters." She muttered as relief flooded Lucy’’s face, and she smiled.

fallen into a peaceful sleep in her arms, as though

name him?" Maxwell

thumb over the baby’s forehead. "Desmond,"

and silence kept, Desmond Allen’s place in the family was sealed—not by blood, but

act of compassion had now turned out to become the root of

~Back to Present~

I raised you like my own, because I couldn’t allow

her chest tighten. She glanced at Davis, whose expression was unreadable.

stood up suddenly, his chair screeching against the

and heavy. "You raised me under your roof, let me believe I was one of you, only to strip it away now?! You’ve lied to me all my life! You’ve robbed me of

Elder Allen said calmly. "I protected you from a truth I thought would break you too soon. I wanted you to build a life first, not shaped by bitterness or shame. I gave you the Allen name to survive—but never to deceive. You made your choices.

does that make me now? A fraud? A

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