Faux Vows, True Desires novel Chapter 178

"Even without considering the Blue family's fortune, he's still a billionaire in his own right. He's a big shot in the business world, no doubt about it. Since our mom lost her marbles, he's been all about making money. In just over twenty years, his wealth has grown multiple times. But,"

When it came to his love life, he's not exactly known for his loyalty and commitment.

If he wasn't his father, Ethan might think he's just a regular Joe. But he is his father, so Ethan thought he's pretty messed up.

Lucinda said if he's tired of his wife, then he should just get a divorce and then remarry.

But his dad didn't divorce, yet he's super tight with Madeleine. Now, everyone in Skywatch saw Madeleine as Nathan's second wife.

Whenever Nathan needed a plus one for social events, Madeleine was always his go-to.

They're always together, like a married couple. They just didn't bother with the paperwork.

"What's his name?"

Lucinda asked softly.

As lousy as he was, he's still her biological father. She can't just not know his name.

"Nathan."

Lucinda was surprised, "Your names are so alike?"

No wonder Janice always mixed up her son and husband.

"Yes."

Ethan said gloomily, "Actually, my name on the documents isn't this. My original name is Keith Blue. When I was a kid, mom often forgot my name. After she lost her mind, she only remembered you and dad's names. It hurt, so I insisted on changing my name."

"I wanted Mom to remember me, but I couldn't use your name, so I insisted on having the same name as Dad. Dad had no choice but to verbally change my name to Ethan, very similar to his. But it's never been changed on my documents."

"Dad said our names were given by Mom. We can't just change them."

"I was about four or five at the time. From then on, I changed my name to Ethan, similar to dad's, and I'd tell mom every day that her son's name is Ethan, her daughter's name is Lucinda. Mom got confused by this constant input, and she thought her son really was called Ethan."

Keith gave a bitter smile, "I got Mom to remember my name, but she only remembers my name, not me. Whenever she sees me, she just calls me dear, thinking I'm my dad."

Lucinda felt for him.

She grew up surrounded by love, while he grew up in adversity.

Even though his parents were around, his father was too busy with business, thinking making money was more important than taking care of his son. His mother was not in her right mind and couldn't even take care of herself, let alone her son.

He didn't get to experience the warmth of a normal family. In order for his mother to remember him, he insisted on changing his name to something similar to his father's, hoping that would help his mother remember him. But the result was that his mother remembered his name but not him.

"Our mom will get better, and I believe she will!"

Lucinda comforted him.

Keith looked at Lucinda, "Lucy, thank God for looking out for us."

Lucinda reckoned this was a mercy from the Big Guy Upstairs, letting her have that dream, which led her to bump into her biological mom and actually recognize her.

They dodged the bullet of a tragic scenario where a mom and daughter meet but don't know each other.

After gabbing about their folks, they started to whine about family assets. Through Keith’s intro, Lucinda got the 411 on this cousin named Pete, who was Ashley’s golden boy.

Pete was a real go-getter. He was already the Vice President when he stepped into Blue Corporation. If it weren’t for Keith going all macho and decking Kayla and Ashley to defend his mom, drawing Dad's wrath, Pete would still be the VP of Blue Corporation.

Even though Nathan gave his son a whooping, he also got sweet revenge on Kayla and Ashley. The first thing he did was demote Pete from his VP position and made him Keith's sidekick. For all these years, Pete had been under Keith’s thumb.

In Ashley's bitter words, Pete was busting his hump but not getting his due.

Outside the company, everyone still thought Pete was the VP of Blue Corporation. His business card even still had "Blue Corporation VP" on it. But the truth was, inside the company, he was just Keith’s lackey.

This situation had Pete and Ashley seething, but Pete was biting the bullet, still busting his ass, making sure Keith couldn’t pick at anything.

Keith thought this kind of guy was the scariest.

He had mad patience and adaptability.

His father also warned him that if he couldn't suppress Pete or make Pete give up on Blue Corporation, then Pete would become a ticking time bomb, exploding at his side one day, hurting him.