The Billionaire's Mistake

MISTAKE 168

Chapter 168: When the dust settles

Ben shuffled back into the dreary apartment in a daze, his entire world having shifted on its axis once more. He had gone to the hospital with hopes of finding solace and comfort in the wake of his mother's arrest of knowing that at least he still had his father's support to lean on through this nightmare. But Martin had utterly shattered those hopes with a few terse statements that cleaved straight through to Ben's very core.

"I am not your father."

The words reverberated through his mind like a death knell, chasing away any lingering flickers of the idyllic family life he had taken for granted all these years. Just like that, he was untethered from the one male presence whose love and guidance he had naively expected would always be a constant in his turbulent life.

How could his own father disown him so callously? How could any man turn his back on a child in their most desperate hours of need?

Chest heaving with ragged breaths, Ben shrugged off his jacket and sank heavily onto the worn sofa. He forced his eyes away from the abandoned video game controller sitting on the cushion beside him a silent reminder of the afternoons he used to while away after school before his perfect world had disintegrated around him. That life was over. He was alone now, a pariah tossed aside by both of his parents as if he were nothing more than collateral damage from their toxicity.

Reflexive tears of anger and betrayal burned hotly against his lashes, but Ben angrily swiped them away with a swipe of his hand. No more crying, he vowed to himself. If he was destined to become the forgotten, discarded offspring of these broken people, then sobbing uselessly would only compound his own disgrace.

After several steadying breaths, Ben rose and crossed the small living area to retrieve his laptop from the kitchenette counter. If writing had been his outlet through the upheaval of his parents' turbulent marriage, perhaps it could help dull the sting of losing them both altogether.

For the next hour, Ben poured his anguish and disillusionment into the form of a ranting blog post unlike any of his previous literary efforts. He spilled forth every seething detail of Martin and Emma's deliberate ostracizing of him and his mother from the family estate. He described the years of whispers and sidelong glances whenever Gina was around, the blatant disdain Emma had always leveled towards her stepparent and half-brother.

torrent of grievances and accusations about his selfish, toxic lineage that he

the very beginning, twisting every innocent action into some maniacal plot to entrap their father and bleed the family dry of money

decided to frase their Art attempted meter once my

They poisoned my father against Cina, turned his against his com son whom be one

his own flesh and blood. If they have their way, I'll soon be just another nameless, fatherless orphan tossed to the cold cruelty of

face rejection because my word was poisoned by a

They're a

to their supremacy along the

congratulations, just know that I'll be watching as the mighty Jones empire crumbles to dust around your cold, empty lives. Maybe next time you'll think twice before

out the final words before hitting post. A small vindicated smile tugged at the comers of his mouth as he imagined his blistering diabe sending shockwaves through the upper echelons of Metropolis society. No more cowering in

furious writings for a few more moments before closing his laptop with a decisive snap. Now all he could do was wait to gauge the internet's reaction to his newfound honesty about the Jones clan's seething dysfunction. He may have lost everything else, but he could

to his post began as little more than morbid curiosity from the outside world. Usernames he didn't recognize attached to flippant comments like "I love messy rich people drama" and "I'm here for this next chapter of

however, seemed to take his defiant accusations

kid - having to learn his parents are depraved criminals in such an ugly way.

blame him for those feelings

to him with his no-holds-barred self-expression, but at least he'd