One Man Band System

Eric looked at the four middle-aged women in front of him, all smiling warmly his way. He set the letter down on the table, and their faces instantly lit up. Without missing a beat, they dove into the whole story. Just as Joe had previously told Eric, they explained that Ethan had vanished into thin air to go after a pregnant Vanessa.

They, along with Charles, had absolutely no idea where Ethan had gone. But before disappearing, he had channeled everything he owned into his friends’ businesses, with the exception of Miranda, who was already a famous celebrity at the time.

He funded Charles’s portfolio and became a co-founder of his company, and he kept Layla and her husband’s struggling business afloat by injecting much-needed capital. He also financed Anna’s husband right after he graduated from law school and married Anna, helping him open his own firm.

Finally, he became a co-founder of the hospital owned by Vicky and her husband, which had just lost its main investor at the time. He did all of this quietly under the radar using the name E-R Holdings before completely dropping off the grid.

Naturally, they all figured out who was behind E-R Holdings and tried to track Ethan down, even going so far as to reach out to Joe for help. Then, a few years later, the letters started arriving.

Sometimes they included photos, other times just notes, but they were always filled with updates on his son’s growth. In fact, he was so incredibly proud that he even talked about arranging marriages between his son and his friends’ daughters, though they couldn’t tell if he was just joking or not.

Once Miranda, Layla, Anna, and Vicky finished sharing their nostalgic stories, a heavy silence settled over the room. The smile faded from Eric’s face as Miranda locked eyes with him, her expression completely serious.

"Ten years ago... Ethan came back. We all met up at Grandfather Elliot’s building, except for Charles... since he had already passed away by then," Miranda said gravely.

Miranda went on with the story. Ethan had returned, but he brought devastating news: he was sick with stage four lung cancer and only had about six months left to live. Naturally, everyone who heard the news was absolutely crushed, including Elliot and Joe, who were informed at the time.

Then Ethan began undergoing chemotherapy, and his friends took turns staying by his side. It was during those moments that he finally opened up about everything that had happened. He had met Vanessa when she was working at his office as a consultant from another firm, and she had listed herself as single on her profile.

They grew close and started dating, but then someone came to see Ethan to negotiate a business partnership. That man was named David Watts, and the moment he spotted Vanessa standing next to Ethan, he completely froze.

Vanessa froze too, and then she immediately bolted out of the office. Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Ethan demanded answers, and David laid it all out. He revealed that Vanessa was actually already married and was only working at Ethan’s company to represent her husband’s business, Horizon Corporation.

"David Watts? My uncle... Caleb and Jade’s dad," Eric muttered under his breath.

"You know him? Alright, let me continue then," Miranda said.

David told Ethan that Vanessa’s husband was his own younger brother. Ethan was completely heartbroken, especially since Vanessa was already pregnant with his child and they were engaged, just waiting to get married.

Naturally, Ethan demanded answers from Vanessa and even went as far as hiring a private investigator to unearth the truth. When he finally cornered her, Vanessa broke down, confessed to everything, and begged for his forgiveness.

Ethan decided to let Vanessa go, but he insisted on raising the child once it was born so it wouldn’t cause any issues for her husband. But right when Vanessa was about to give birth, she vanished.

By the time Ethan tracked her down again, she had already delivered the baby. The child was officially recognized as the son of her husband, Martin, since his name was on the birth certificate, even though Ethan had gone ahead and processed a birth certificate of his own, too.

After that, Ethan dropped off the grid and moved to Vanessa’s town, quietly watching over his son from the shadows by working as a preschool and elementary school teacher.

Eric fell silent, but a cynical, unpleasant smile crossed his face. Naturally, the four middle-aged women sitting in front of him couldn’t fathom what his smile meant.

"Turns out the guy I thought was my dad all this time, the one who kicked me out without an ounce of mercy... is a complete idiot. Did he seriously not realize he was raising someone else’s kid? It’s honestly hilarious," Eric said, looking down, his frustration visibly boiling over.

"He knew," Miranda said.

"What?" Eric asked in shock, snapping his head up to stare at Miranda.

"Your dad knew, but it was too late. He found out because Ethan went to see him and entrusted you to his care before he came back here. He knew, but your mom had no idea that he knew, because that’s exactly how Ethan wanted it," Miranda answered.

Eric went dead silent again. The mystery of why his father had suddenly changed his attitude and turned cold toward him back in elementary school was finally solved. From that exact point on, Martin had completely prioritized Jason and Ruby.

Whenever Eric showed him something like a drawing or a test score, Martin would just give a brief nod, at best, offering a single pat on his head before walking away. That was also when everything had started falling apart.

He had felt like an outcast in his own home. Even at dinner, he was seated apart from Jason and Ruby, who got to sit right next to the food, while he had to explicitly ask permission whenever he wanted to reach for anything on the table.

The misery he had endured since childhood replayed in his head, though he felt detached from it, as if he were merely watching someone else’s story unfold.

"Well... that answers that. So he knew all along. Good to know," Eric said.

"Are you doing alright?" Layla asked, keeping her eyes on Eric.

"I’m fine, ma’am," Eric replied with a smile.

"Good. Go ahead and read the letter now, it’s alright," Anna encouraged.

Eric picked up the letter and broke the seal, which had never been touched. He pulled out three pages written in neat cursive handwriting, though it was a bit tough to decipher.

The first and second pages covered everything the middle-aged women in front of him had just explained regarding E-R Holdings. The third page was filled with personal notes for Eric, apologies and wishes for him to live a happy life. But right at the very last line, it read:

"Eric, your dad has one favor to ask. If my friends, Miranda, Layla, Vicky, Anna, Charles, and Joe, whom I consider a brother, ever fall on hard times, please help them out. They helped me and kept an eye on you all this time. And if they ever entrust their daughters to you, please just accept them. Without my knowledge, they went ahead and arranged matches between all of their daughters and you. Thank you, Eric. And if you ever find yourself at your grandfather’s place, you’ll find a surprise waiting for you, an inheritance of immeasurable value. Goodbye, Eric. Your dad will always be watching over you from above."

"Huh... what the hell?" Eric thought to himself. He turned to look at Miranda, Layla, Anna, and Vicky. They were all wearing massive grins and looking at him with knowing eyes. Everything finally made sense now, like how the very first time he met Miranda, she had immediately insisted he call her "Mom."

Or how meeting Layla, Anna, and Vicky had gone; they knew exactly who he was right off the bat, to the point of entrusting their daughters to him. Even when he had met Joe, a notoriously fierce man whom regular people couldn’t even dream of getting an audience with, Joe had embraced him out of nowhere without him understanding why.

In short, it was crystal clear now that these four middle-aged women and Joe had known exactly who he was long before he ever crossed paths with them, and they had clearly been watching him grow up from a distance.

On top of that, it solved the mystery of why they had so easily allowed Emma, Priya, Heidi, and Monica to move in with him, and why Joe hadn’t thought twice about putting Laura in his care. It was because they had known exactly who he was all along.

Eric’s emotions instantly became a tangled mess. He had no idea whether he was supposed to feel happy or sad right now over his dad’s parting words, which sounded like a total joke, and an inheritance of immeasurable value.

Eric knew exactly what his dad was referring to the system he now possessed. His jaw tightened as his eyes instinctively drifted down to his palm, where the tattoo of that ancient guitar pick he had found back then still rested.

"So that’s how it is. Well then... thank you so much to my dear old dad, the guy who never actually raised me and only watched me from a distance... and now you’re dumping all of this responsibility on my shoulders. Truly a fantastic father... and now I finally get why they all shoved their daughters onto me. Here I was thinking millennial parents were just incredibly easygoing about handing their daughters over to a guy they barely knew... what a disaster," Eric thought to himself, his mind dripping with sarcasm toward both his dad and the women sitting in front of him.