“Huo Kairan is the fake young master of the Huo family from West Sea!”
“His real name is Zhao Tiedan! He’s been a cuckoo in the nest for twenty years don’t let him fool you all!”
At the grand birthday banquet, a nanny suddenly pushed open the manor doors and loudly proclaimed.
In an instant, all eyes at the party turned toward the high platform
The beautiful young man, dressed in a luxurious haute couture gown and adorned with expensive jewelry, became the center of attention.
Whispers immediately erupted.
“No wonder he looks so sinister and eerie nothing like the Huo family at all. Especially compared to his older brother, Huo Lin, who truly embodies righteousness.”
“I heard he’s been sickly since childhood, and the Huo family has spent so much effort on him. Tsk tsk, turns out he’s just a fake young master here to collect debts.”
“This damn cripple has been throwing his weight around because of his family background. I’ve long been fed up with him!”
“You cuckoo in the nest, Zhao Tiedan! Go on, everyone! It’s time to uphold justice!”
A flood of guests surged toward the high platform.
“I’m not Zhao Tiedan… I’m not.”
The young man shook his head desperately, retreating step by step.
His foot slipped, and he fell from the platform.
“I’m not!”
Huo Kairan jolted awake, his chest heaving violently, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead.
The familiar furnishings of his bedroom came into view, and he was covered by a soft, gold-threaded silk quilt.
That dream again.
This was already the third consecutive day he had dreamt the same scene.
“Who is Zhao Tiedan?”
A deep voice came from the window, startling Huo Kairan and making him tremble all over.
The tall figure of a man stood by the window, his sharp, handsome features appearing especially profound in the half-light.
The curtains swayed gently in the breeze, and he was holding the comic book Huo Kairan had left on his desk.
Huo Kairan instinctively shrank deeper into the quilt. “Why are you back?”
The man studied his face, closed the mindless comic in his hand, and frowned slightly. “Are you unwell? Why are you sweating so much?”
The young man in bed had skin so pale it was almost translucent, his features as delicate as a porcelain doll in a shop window as if he might shatter at the slightest touch.
Yet it was this seemingly fragile and beautiful young man who suddenly. pulled a white snake thicker than his wrist out from under the quilt.
“Xiao Bai was coiling around me too tightly.”
Normally, Huo Kairan would have impatiently told anyone questioning him like this to get lost, but now he explained weakly.
Xiao Bai hissed, flicking its tongue. If it could speak, it would surely be pointing its tail at its own head: “Me again?”
Huo Kairan patted the little snake’s head, once again taking the blame, to comfort it, then glanced up at the person who had entered his room without knocking again.
In this household, although Huo Kairan and Huo Lin were brothers, Huo Kairan always felt a sense of unfamiliarity and was even unwilling to call him “big brother.”
Not just because they spent little time together.
But also because…
Huo Kairan genuinely felt there was a generation gap between them.
This man before him was accustomed to his position of authority, his gaze always carrying a scrutinizing edge, inch by inch, as if he wanted to devour someone whole.
Most importantly, he didn’t allow Huo Kairan to keep snakes.
Feudal, rigid, utterly boring!
Huo Lin’s scrutinizing gaze lingered for a moment on the slightly open collar of the young man’s pajamas before shifting away. “I’ve told you, don’t bring pets into the bedroom.”
Here it comes again.
Huo Kairan: “I know.”
Huo Lin’s gaze flickered slightly, seeming surprised by Huo Kairan’s unusual compliance today. His eyes swept over the tightly clutched pillow.
“Father is back. He said there will be guests staying with us next week, around your age. Put away those ugly things you keep. Don’t let them crawl out and scare people.”
Huo Kairan immediately retorted, “They’re not ugly!”
Seeing him revert to his usual self, Huo Lin turned and walked toward the door. “Get dressed and come downstairs for dinner. Your birthday banquet suit for tomorrow has arrived. Try it on after the meal.”
Only then did Huo Kairan remember tomorrow was his twenty-second birthday. No wonder Huo Lin, the workaholic, had rushed back from the company.
Huo Guoxun and Zhuang Jing had always doted on Huo Kairan the most, throwing lavish birthday celebrations every year. This time, they had booked the entire Jinxiang Pavilion, inviting prominent figures from all walks of life to celebrate his birthday.
But… these past few days of nightmares had left him a bit.
Huo Lin had already turned and left.
Huo Kairan watched his tall figure disappear behind the door, then reached under the pillow and pulled out the paternity test report that had mysteriously appeared at his doorstep.
It clearly stated that he and Huo Lin were not biologically related.
He knew it was most likely forged. After all, when it was first delivered. even the printed ink hadn’t fully dried yet.
Using such a low-class method it didn’t take much thought to figure out who was behind it…
“Zhang Zhen is the dumbest,” Huo Kairan murmured, rubbing his cheek against Xiao Bai coiled around his wrist. “Right?”
Xiao Bai affectionately nuzzled back against his little master, nodding as if understanding human speech.
Huo Kairan tore the crudely fabricated report to shreds and tossed it into the trash bin. Yet, once certain doubts took root, they were hard to shake off.
“Strange. I know it’s fake, so why does it bother me so much?”
It had even given him nightmares.
“Is it because Huo Lin and I really don’t look alike?” Huo Kairan got up and picked up a mirror to examine himself.
The boy in the mirror had soft facial features, almond-shaped eyes that seemed to hold water, and full lips with a pronounced cupid’s bow an entirely harmless appearance, though his pale complexion lent him a somewhat sickly air.
“It’s so unfair. I look like this, while Huo Lin is so handsome.”
“And he’s 192 cm tall, while I’m only 180 cm?”
Well, actually, it was 179.53 cm a fact that had always bothered Young Master Huo since childhood.
Xiao Bai also straightened up as much as possible, trying to show that he, too, was tall.
Huo Kairan hugged him and stroked his scales, as if comforting himself. “Zhang Zhen can’t even come up with a believable story. If I really weren’t biologically related to Huo Lin, would I be able to act so arrogantly in Xihai? I’d have been chopped into mincemeat long ago. That scoundrel just wants to drive a wedge between us. Hah.”
“But… his ‘gift’ really did give me nightmares for days.” A mischievous smile curled at the corner of his lips as he lightly tapped his chin with a fingertip. “Let me think, how should I ‘repay’ him?”
Huo Kairan didn’t feel like going downstairs for dinner. Still in his pajamas, he decided to try on the suit first.
Passing by his desk, he finally noticed the gift box on it.
So, Huo Lin had come to deliver a gift.
Huo Kairan tilted his head slightly and unwrapped it
Another longevity lock, a yacht, and a property deed.
“He gives the same things every year. How boring.”
Even so, he carefully stored the gifts in a locked drawer before heading out with light steps to try on his suit.
The second floor of the villa was the activity area. The left side had been opened up into a walk-in closet comparable to a shopping mall the evening gown should have been delivered there while the right side housed the study and the gym.
The elevator was at the far right.
Huo Kairan descended to the second floor, passed through the gym, and headed left.
As he passed the study, a startled cry came from inside.
It was his mother’s voice.
The room was extremely soundproof, but Zhuang Jing’s voice when she was agitated could pierce through ten layers of soundproofing.
Worried, Huo Kairan stopped in his tracks.
“How could this be? How is this possible! Lao Huo! What are we going to do.”
“Hey, don’t panic.”
Huo Kairan tilted his head to listen. Had his father really returned? Was he in there too?
The voices were intermittent and unclear. Unconsciously, he leaned closer to the door.
“How can I not panic! That’s our own son! How can we not bring him back!”
“We have to give… some buffer time, let him prepare mentally.”
“So we just let our own son suffer in that impoverished backwater? I looked it up that place is deep in the mountains, even going to school is a problem. What a sin!”
“Sigh… this business of swapping the prince with a commoner, how could it happen to our family.”
“I’ve decided. Next week, we’ll bring that child back, bring him home!”
“What about Ranran?”
“There’s no other way. Send him away.”
The voices through the door were fragmented, yet each word pierced clearly into Huo Kairan’s ears.
He slowly processed the meaning of the words. Once he understood, his face instantly turned deathly pale, the last trace of color draining away. His legs went weak, and he slid down the wall, collapsing to the floor.
“Send away…?”
Huo Kairan clamped a hand tightly over his mouth, not allowing a single sound to escape.
Footsteps sounded from inside the study. Huo Kairan immediately hid behind the wall.
Listening to the sound of the door opening and closing, he waited until his parents had left. Then he walked to the study door, his slender, pale fingers touching the handle as if steeling himself, and pushed open this Pandora’s box.
Inside the study, several bookshelves stood neatly arranged, nothing out of the ordinary.
Huo Kairan’s thoughts were in chaos. After a moment of hesitation, he walked to the computer and lightly clicked the mouse.
The screen lit up, displaying a search page.
The first entry in the search bar was information about the remote area of Beigui.
Breathing rapidly, Huo Kairan closed the page, wanting to pretend he hadn’t seen it. But a complete document on the desktop caught his attention.
With trembling hands, he clicked it open, revealing a full personal profile.
Zhao Yan, male, 22 years old, height 188cm, from the mountainous region of Beigui, illiterate.
In the photo, the young man’s skin was tanned dark by the sun, but whether it was Huo Kairan’s imagination or not, upon closer inspection, the features of this person were identical to those of Huo Guoxun, Zhuang Jing, and Huo Lin!
Those vague suspicions in his heart were finally confirmed.
So… they were the real family.
Huo Kairan felt as if all his strength had been suddenly drained away.
Perhaps those nightmares were projections of his inner unease. All the details he had forcibly ignored these past days now flooded his mind.
Why was he the only one in the family who had been weak and sickly since childhood, while everyone else was healthy?
Why were his memories before the age of twelve a complete blank?
Why did he bear no resemblance to Huo Lin, neither in appearance nor in build?
Why did Huo Lin have full control of the company, yet never allowed him to learn about or get involved in the group’s affairs?
Looking back now, perhaps I had already harbored suspicions and guarded against him.
Even his doting mother, after finding her own flesh and blood, was determined to send him away.
So that’s how it is! So that’s how it is!
He was the fake young master in the tale of the true and false heirs, the wildcat swapped for the crown prince, the cuckoo that usurped the magpie’s nest the cuckoo?
Huo Kairan felt as though the sky had collapsed and the earth had split open.
Since birth, he had been the pampered young master of the Huo family, cherished by his parents and indulged by his elder brother. Even with his willful temper and unpredictable moods, no one had ever reprimanded him harshly.
But now, all that affection had never truly belonged to him.
He was nothing but an imposter, a cuckoo that had usurped the magpie’s nest!
In his despair, he suddenly recalled what Huo Lin had said earlier the guest arriving in a week.
That must be Zhao Yan.
In a week, the true young master would return home.
And he would be sent away.
Sent where the northern frontier? The remote mountains?
Huo Kairan stared at the harsh living conditions displayed on the information page. Fear of the unknown sent uncontrollable tremors through his body.
He couldn’t bear the thought of his parents no longer doting on him, perhaps even looking at him with disgust.
He dared not imagine how he, accustomed to a life of luxury, would survive after being driven out of the Huo family.
He abruptly pushed himself up from the wall, desperate to escape this place. Limping quickly out of the study, his mind in disarray, he didn’t notice he had already reached the edge of the balcony.
The next moment, his foot slipped, and as he stumbled over the step
A strong hand caught his wrist in time.
After a dizzying spin, his nose collided with a firm chest.
It was a comforting scent.
“What are you running around for at home?” A low voice rumbled from above.
Morning light filtered through the gaps in the curtains, casting dappled shadows. The white gauze curtains swayed gently in the breeze, fluttering beside the two of them.
Unconsciously, Huo Kairan clung tightly to the person before him, as if grasping a lifeline. His slender, pale fingers actively wrapped around the strong waist, burying himself firmly in the other’s embrace.
With soft warmth in his arms and it was his younger brother, who had always been indifferent to him the usually composed, decisive, and authoritative CEO, the undisputed ruler of Xihai City, froze completely. His hands hovered in mid-air, not daring to touch the person in his arms.
After what felt like an eternity, Huo Lin finally regained his senses. His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he lowered his head and asked hoarsely, “What’s wrong? Tell your big brother.”
Stay in the Huo family.
No matter what, no matter what means he had to use, he couldn’t leave this place.
Huo Kairan forced himself to look up, feigning composure:
“Brother, can you help me cancel tomorrow’s birthday party?”
Huo Lin looked down, gazing at him
The young man’s eyes were red-rimmed, his hair disheveled, his pajamas slightly open, revealing half of his delicate, fragile collarbone.
After a long pause, he heard himself reply:
“Alright.”
November 7, 2025, the beginning of winter.
The younger brother who had always kept his distance had thrown himself into his arms.
He had walked right into the trap.