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…”

sharp gasp, he jolted awake, bolting upright on the couch, chest heaving. His heart pounded rapidly, sweat soaking his brow and

faint, lingering pain. His head pounded. Eric pressed a hand to his temple, and then staggered to his feet, crossing to the liquor cabinet. He grabbed a bottle, twisted it open, and took a long

he realized that without meeting Ernest and being welcomed into the Flynn

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

He gave a wry smile. “Borrowed joy always comes with a price…” He had

a family

Hadley and Joy—their warmth, Hadley’s

ɢ𝓪𝓵𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓼.c𝓸m hosts the latest

Hadley still want him? He wasn’t Ernest, born to privilege and prestige. He

name like a mantra, raising the bottle again

Hadley had been preoccupied for days. Whenever she had a moment to herself, Brady’s

I can help

me make

peaceful face and made up her mind.