My Boyfriend's Family Cursed Me as Brother-Doter, But He's My Son

My boyfriend wanted us to get engaged and get a marriage license.

But what he didn't know was that the little brother in my family, the one registered as my parents' son, was actually my son with my first boyfriend.

And the little sister was my daughter with my second boyfriend.

At the engagement banquet, with the elders firing questions at me, the whole thing was one breath away from falling apart.

Except my boyfriend's family turned out to be even more of a circus than mine.

His older cousin suddenly showed up with a foreigner sporting an eight-pack, announcing he was done pretending and was going to live his truth and chase real love.

The younger cousin insisted on dropping out of a top university to go make big money with some people he'd met online, and was pushing the whole family to sell the house and invest.

The girl cousin came in crying that she was pregnant with some domineering headmaster's baby, loudly declaring she'd rise through her child and live as a kept woman.

In a matter of minutes, the engagement banquet dissolved into chaos.

The elders wailed to the heavens, all of them insisting something had gone wrong with the family graves.

And my full-of-holes family background? Nobody cared anymore.

I'm a cheater appraiser.

As long as I marry a designated cheating man on a client's orders, I collect a massive settlement.

My daughter is waiting for cleft-lip surgery. My son is waiting for a kidney transplant.

I gritted my teeth and took the last job.

If this one went through, both kids' surgery money would be covered.

But at the engagement banquet, Aunt Gloria Fox held her cup of tea and looked at me like she was interrogating a thief.

"So you're telling me your parents had your little brother at fifty, and then had your little sister at fifty-five?"

"A woman's long past menopause by fifty. You think we're idiots?"

My back went damp in an instant.

Those two children were mine, from my first two boyfriends.

To keep them from being whispered about at school, I'd registered both of them under my parents' names.

To the outside world, the story was simply that my parents had children late in life.

But I'd forgotten to do the math on the ages.

I opened my mouth, ready to make up some excuse to smooth it over.

Then Zachary Fox suddenly stepped in front of me.

"Aunt Gloria, there's a limit to how hard you can nitpick! What's wrong with having a baby at fifty? Joy Bennett's parents are in good health, so what?"

"People have kids at sixty! Just because you couldn't doesn't mean nobody else can!"

Aunt Gloria's face went sour, and she slammed her teacup down on the table.

"Zachary Fox, what exactly are you implying? I couldn't? Then what's Hunter? Did he just pop out from between two rocks?"

"I'm looking out for you here. Don't go marrying some girl who bleeds her whole family dry for her brother and cleans out everything we've got!"

Zachary laughed coldly.

"My parents died young. I raised my little brother and sister on my own. So Joy takes care of her family, and I understand that! From now on, her family is my family, and I don't need any outsiders worrying about it!"

Zachary was just like me, someone who put family first at his own cost.

Back then, these relatives hadn't lifted a finger to help. They'd even schemed over the compensation money from his parents' deaths.

Bringing them here today was purely to go through the motions.

Watching him stand up for me, something in my chest twisted.

But my daughter's surgery slot was almost here, and my son finally had a kidney donor. All that was left was the money.

The doctor had messaged, asking me to pay the deposit as soon as possible.

I secretly reached out to the client, asking if they could pay half the fee up front.

The reply came back instantly: "No marriage license, not a cent."

I pinched my thigh hard, and my eyes went red in a heartbeat.

"Aunt Gloria, I know you've always wanted to push your coworker's daughter on Zachary, the one who's divorced with a kid, but he wasn't interested, and that's still no reason to come after me."

"Yes, I don't have much going for me. I've got elders at home, a little brother and sister to raise. But making up things about me at my own engagement banquet, with no proof, how are my parents supposed to hold their heads up? How is my little brother and sister ever supposed to face anyone?"

By the end, tears were sliding down my face.

Zachary's heart ached even more. He gripped my hand tight. "Don't listen to their nonsense. The second this banquet's over, we're going to get the license!"

But before I could even nod, Vanessa Abbott, the daughter from the elder uncle's household, suddenly leaned in and asked me,

"Joy, the more I look at you, the more familiar you seem. Why is that?"

"Three years ago, didn't you go to Metro City Women's & Children's Hospital for a prenatal checkup?"

Back then, pregnant with my daughter, I'd bundled myself up head to toe and driven to the next city over for my checkups. I never imagined I'd still be recognized.

My whole body stiffened, but I forced myself to deny it.

"Vanessa, you've got the wrong person. Three years ago I wasn't even married..."

But Vanessa had no intention of letting it go.

"The name matches, the face matches too. It can't be a mistake. I remember that pregnant woman had a petal-shaped birthmark on her waist. Just lift it up and we'll know, won't we?"

And with that, she reached out to yank at the hem of my dress.

I shrank back, breaking into a cold sweat.

"Sis, this is my engagement banquet. You're going to strip my clothes off in front of all these people?"

"If I actually let you look, how am I supposed to hold my head up afterward?"

"I got smeared with some filthy rumor out of nowhere. I'd rather call off this engagement than swallow this humiliation!"

But instead, Vanessa let out a scoffing little laugh.

"What's the big deal? If you're shy about it, fine, I'll just go into the restroom and check with you. Problem solved."

"Zachary, you don't want your wife hiding things from you either, do you?"

Aunt Gloria was right there fanning the flames.

"Exactly. Zachary, you'd better keep your eyes open. Some girls these days, they act so innocent, but behind closed doors they've already been through several. We're only saying this for your own good."

A flicker of doubt crossed Zachary's eyes, and I broke out in a full sweat.

If they found out I'd had a child, the engagement banquet would collapse right there.

No commission. And my daughter's and son's surgeries would lose their slots on the schedule.

I gritted my teeth and got ready to gamble, ready to say I'd had a miscarriage.

Right then, the door to the private room was suddenly shoved open.

A tall, mixed-race guy with curly hair walked in, easily six feet, looking like something off a runway.

I thought he'd gotten the wrong room, but he went straight to Aunt Gloria and pulled a polite curve onto his lips.

"Mom, our flight's this afternoon. We came to say goodbye."

Aunt Gloria's face went darker than the bottom of a pot, her teeth grinding.

Before I could process any of it, the curly-haired guy actually pulled a gift envelope of cash out of his pocket and pressed it into my hand.

"You're Joy, right? I won't get the chance to be at your wedding with Zachary, so here's the envelope early. I wish you both happiness."

Flattered and caught off guard, I hurried to answer.

"Thank you, cousin! Someone as handsome as you, you must be married already, right?"

The second the words left my mouth, the whole room went dead silent.

Zachary tugged at my sleeve and dropped his voice. "That's not my male cousin. That's my"

Before he could finish, Roland Fox snatched up a teacup and hurled it to the floor.

"If he dares walk out of here with that man today, I no longer have a son!"

Aunt Gloria let out a wail and buried her face in her hands, crying.

"What sin did I commit in a past life!"

Just then a lanky guy in glasses rushed out and grabbed the curly-haired man's arm, trying to pull him toward the door.

"Then disown him! What century is this, and you're still on about all that? These days it's love as you please!"

"Opposite sexes are for making babies. Same-sex love is the real thing!"

"You old relics, what do you understand?"

His eyes were rimmed red, and he tugged at the curly-haired man's sleeve, wounded.

"I told you not to come, and you came anyway! Happy now?"

The curly-haired man quickly wrapped an arm around him, his voice tender enough to drip.

"It's all my fault. From now on I'll do whatever you say."

The two of them laced their fingers together and walked out without looking back.

The instant the door slammed shut, Roland clutched his chest and toppled backward.

"A disgrace to this family... a disgrace to this family!"

Aunt Gloria cried like her heart was being torn out.

"I miscarried three girls before I finally had him, and this is what he pulls on me!"

"Something must be wrong with the family graves! I'm going to bring in a master in a few days!"

Vanessa rushed to rub her back, fetching water and pills.

I stood frozen where I was, the envelope of cash almost hot in my hand.

So the curly-haired man wasn't my male cousin. He was going to be my cousin-in-law.

Still, no one brought up the prenatal checkup again.

Because a cousin coming out was a hundred times more explosive than my birthmark.

I thought that was the end of it.

Turns out I was being far too naive.

Halfway through the engagement banquet, Uncle Gary Fox's wife, Aunt Denise Fox, suddenly pulled out her phone and held it up, comparing it to my face over and over.

"Joy, the more I look at you, the more you look like someone I know online."

She dug up a screenshot of a profile picture and shoved it in my face.

"See? This mom's profile pic, that's got to be seventy, eighty percent you, right?"

"She was in one of the moms' group chats asking if anyone had cheap secondhand kids' clothes to pass on. I even mailed her a few packs of diapers."

"Address was over at Southlake Apartments."

"That's you, isn't it?"

I froze.

After my daughter was born with a cleft lip, I stretched every dollar in two to save up for her surgery.

I'd joined more than a dozen moms' group chats, hoping to pick up gently used baby things cheap, the kind that still worked fine.

One of the women said she'd send me some diapers. I was thrilled, and I gave her my address.

But after the package arrived, she insisted her gold bracelet had fallen inside it and demanded I pay her back for it.

I turned that package inside out and never found a thing.

Still, she went to the group chat and dressed the story up, dragging my name through the mud.

After that, no one dared sell me anything cheap ever again.

Later, I heard she'd found the bracelet in her son's backpack.

But she never posted a single word to set the record straight.

Even now, thinking about it makes my chest tighten.

I glanced at the screenshot in her hand. It was my old profile picture, a photo of me with my daughter and son.

Blurry, and I was a little heavier then, but yeah, seventy, eighty percent me.

I stared at that gloating face of hers, my teeth practically itching.

Better to play along and own it than to deny it.

"Aunt Denise, yes, to save money I did buy secondhand things in those groups for my little brother and sister. That's nothing to be ashamed of, is it?"

"But back then, you accused me of stealing your bracelet and made sure the whole group knew about it."

"And when you found it yourself, why didn't you say a word in the chat? Were you afraid people would find out your son was the thief?"

Denise's face changed. She opened her mouth to fire back.

Then Tyler Abbott, Uncle Gary's son, suddenly let out a scoff.

"A necklace, what's that even worth?"

With that, he grabbed his mother's arm, his eyes lighting up.

"Mom, sell the house. I'm going to drop out and go abroad to do something big!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the whole room fell into that strange silence all over again.

I turned and stared at him, stunned.

If I remembered right, Tyler was a top student, an Ivy League early-admission kid, only a sophomore now, and he'd always been Uncle Gary and Aunt Denise's pride and joy.

Seeing his mother frozen there, he kept going.

"What's the point of an Ivy League degree? You graduate and you're still just working for somebody else."

"I met this guy online who's got connections overseas. You just put money in and it's a fortune, ten thousand back for every one you spend! You can clear tens of millions in a single year!"

"Isn't that a whole lot better than finishing college just to be somebody's workhorse?"

"Mom, you've been saving up money for my wedding house, right? Take it out, quick, I need to invest it!"

"I already gave the school a heads-up and finished the paperwork to withdraw. All that's left is to take my startup capital and fly out!"

Aunt Denise was so furious she couldn't catch her breath, coughing violently.

But Tyler thought she was just overcome with excitement, so he turned to work on Zachary next.

"Zachary! Don't be in such a rush to get married either! Take that wedding money and invest it with me!"

"In a year I'll buy your wife a mansion outright!"

"Then we'll see who isn't jealous of how well you've done..."

The more he talked, the more worked up he got, his face flushing red.

Before Zachary could answer, Vanessa sidled over.

"Little bro, you've really got a way to make that kind of money? Why didn't you tell me!"

"Zachary's an ungrateful leech. You bring him in and not me? What kind of brother does that?"

Tyler scoffed. "You're just a woman, and you've got no money. What are you going to invest with?"

Vanessa's eyes lit up. "I just got married. The bride price and my dowry are all in my hands, who says I've got no money?"

"That old Fox family house is worth something too, isn't it? Sell it and we'll put it all in together!"

The second Aunt Denise heard that, her eyes rolled back, and she passed out cold.

Uncle Gary rushed to press the pressure point under her nose.

Grandpa Fox slammed the table so hard a wine bottle flew off it, chest heaving with rage.

"The eldest branch has no heir! And the third branch has lost its mind too, stirring everyone up to sell the ancestral home! This is madness!"

"Zachary, you make me proud! Go get that marriage license right now!"

Tears streaming down his face, he seized my hand and Zachary's and shoved us toward the door.

"Anyone who picks at my grandson's wife again answers to me!"

The instant the door of the private room closed, a crash of shattering dishes came from inside.

Along with Aunt Denise's shrieking, sobbing curses.

No one asked anymore how my parents had a child at fifty.

No one brought up the birthmark on my waist.

And no one cared whether I was the light-fingered mom from the group chat.

Zachary stood outside the county clerk's office, holding my hand with guilt written all over his face.

"Joy, I'm sorry. My family's a mess. They ruined our engagement banquet today."

"But don't worry. From now on I'll be good to you, and good to my little brother and sister."

"Let's get the license."

I nodded.

Thinking to myself, my family's far more of a mess than yours.

But I didn't feel the slightest guilt. He was a cheater, after all.

According to my client, this Zachary Fox traded on his looks to hook up with college girls a dozen years younger than him.

Her best friend had fallen for it.

Or maybe the friend had read too many novels and web dramas, always dreaming of landing a rich alpha and living as his kept bird.

So the client decided to spend the money and get her revenge, to pull her best friend back from the edge before she wrecked her own life.

Ten minutes before closing, the little red booklet was in my hands.

The seal came down, and Zachary and I were legally husband and wife.

I clutched the marriage certificate, my palm slick with sweat.

Done.

I opened the chat with my client, ready to report progress, collect my money, and disappear.

Right then, she sent a fifty-nine-second voice message.

My hand jerked, and I converted it to text.

"What the hell are you doing? Didn't I tell you to go after that cheater? He got my best friend pregnant, and today the two of them went shopping for baby stuff together. Where the hell are you?"

My head buzzed. I quickly snapped a photo of the marriage certificate and fired it over.

"Zachary Fox and I already registered. We got engaged today. He didn't go anywhere."

She typed for a long time, then sent one line:

"You got it wrong! The cheater I meant is Carl Stewart, not Zachary Fox!"

My mind went blank.

Then she sent a photo, the big-bellied man circled in red pen.

But the first thing I saw was the girl beside him, her belly just barely rounded.

She looked about twenty, her stomach slightly swollen, smiling down at a crib.

I stared at her face, and my pupils shrank.

Wasn't that the cousin from the engagement banquet, the one who threw up partway through, said she wasn't feeling well, and left early to go pick up medicine at the hospital?