Too Late, Mr. Billionaire: You Can't Afford Me by Thedora Birnir

Chapter 1056:

A paternity test risked exposing his shame, stripping away what little pride he had left. So Ferris simply ignored Eric entirely, treating him like a ghost. Pitying servants slipped him scraps to eat, and somehow, he survived. As he grew, Eric learned that his mother was the madwoman confined in the estate’s shadowed corner.

Whenever Ferris visited her, he would return in a rage and take it out on Eric, lashing him with a whip. At first, Eric would cry out, “Dad, it hurts! Please stop! I’ll behave!” But Ferris was unmoved.

“Don’t call me that!” he would sneer. “You’re nothing but a bastard, unfit to claim me as your father.” So Eric stopped speaking.

Even as the whip tore his skin and left him bloodied, he never called Ferris “dad” again, nor begged for mercy.

“Bastard!”

“You’re just like your mother—a worthless stain!”

“Why don’t you die? How dare you still breathe?”

Eric was trapped in the nightmare, his face contorted, shaking his head. “No… no…”

awake, bolting upright on the couch, chest heaving. His heart pounded rapidly, sweat soaking his brow

temple, and then staggered to his feet, crossing to the liquor cabinet. He grabbed a bottle, twisted it open, and took a long gulp,

and being welcomed into the Flynn family, he’d never have known

found family, friends, education, and purpose—things to cherish and responsibilities to uphold. But now, the

gave a wry smile. “Borrowed joy always comes with a price…” He had never truly belonged to the Flynns. Nyla was right; he

had a family of

warmth, Hadley’s grace, Joy’s infectious laughter. His beloved and

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still want him? He wasn’t Ernest, born to privilege and prestige. He was a stand-in, a nobody.

a mantra, raising the bottle again and drinking

a moment to herself, Brady’s words kept replaying

I can

me

her daughter’s peaceful face and made up her mind. She retrieved the business card Brady had slipped her, opened her phone, and