Chapter 63: The Hidden Past.

POV: Male Lead (Min-jae)

Min-jae sat across from his mother in the dimly lit living room. The encounter with Jang Hyun-sik still lingered in his mind, but he knew the answers he needed were right in front of him. His mother had been hiding something—something about his father, about the past, about himself.

Ha-neul stood nearby, arms crossed, her sharp gaze watching every detail. She was waiting for the truth just as much as he was.

Min-jae took a slow breath. "Tell me everything."

His mother hesitated. She looked down at her hands, fingers trembling slightly, before she finally spoke.

"You were never supposed to be part of this world, Min-jae," she whispered. "Your father… he never wanted a son. He only wanted an heir—a tool to carry out his ambitions."

Min-jae's fists clenched. "I know he never loved me. But what is he hiding?"

She looked up, her eyes filled with sorrow. "The truth about your birth."

Min-jae stiffened. "What?"

Ha-neul leaned forward, sensing the gravity of the revelation.

His mother swallowed hard. "Your father was never meant to be the head of the Ahn family. He wasn't the legitimate heir."

Min-jae's heart pounded. "Then who was?"

She hesitated before finally saying the words that would change everything.

"Your uncle. Ahn Ji-hoon."

Min-jae froze. He barely remembered his uncle—only faint memories of a man who was kind to him as a child before suddenly disappearing.

"My uncle died in an accident," he said slowly. "That's what you always told me."

His mother shut her eyes. "That was a lie. Your father betrayed him."

The words struck like a blade.

Min-jae's breath caught. "What do you mean?"

His mother looked away, as if ashamed. "Your father framed Ji-hoon for a crime he didn't commit. He destroyed his reputation, forcing him to flee the country. But Ji-hoon knew the truth—he knew what your father had done."

Min-jae's body went rigid.

"You're saying my father stole his own brother's legacy?"

She nodded. "And when Ji-hoon tried to come back… he disappeared."

A chill ran down Min-jae's spine. "He was killed."

His mother didn't answer, but her silence said everything.

Min-jae exhaled sharply, trying to process the weight of the revelation. Everything he had believed about his father, about his family—it was all a carefully constructed lie.

He looked at Ha-neul, who had remained silent, but her expression was unreadable.

Finally, she spoke. "There's something else, isn't there?"

Min-jae turned back to his mother, his gut twisting with unease. "Tell me the rest."

She hesitated for a long moment before finally whispering,

"Ji-hoon had a son."

The room went completely silent.

Min-jae felt his pulse hammer in his ears. "What?"

His mother met his gaze. "Your cousin. He's alive, Min-jae. And if he ever finds out the truth… he has the right to take everything back."

The ground beneath him felt like it was shifting.

Somewhere out there, his cousin—his uncle's lost son—was living his life, completely unaware of the power, the revenge, and the legacy that should have been his.

Min-jae swallowed hard. He had spent his entire life fighting his father's control, trying to escape his grasp. But now, he was standing at the center of a war far bigger than himself.

And if his cousin ever returned…

Min-jae might not be the only Ahn fighting for the truth.

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