Chapter 2

I didn't take Mueller's words to heart and continued attending classes attentively and working hard on practice problems after school.

Say what you will, the faculty at this elite private school was genuinely exceptional.

Until the day we had to submit our competition registration forms, I couldn't find mine anywhere.

I remembered the last time I saw my registration form, Mueller happened to be right beside me.

"Competition registration form?" Mueller said casually. "I didn't see it."

I grew anxious. "Think harder. Tomorrow's the final deadline—if I don't submit it, I'll lose my eligibility!"

He snorted. "Why bother with that thing? I already told you last time, learning all this stuff is useless. You're a girl—no matter how good your grades are, you'll still end up getting married."

"Come with me after school to Rivers's birthday party. Learn how to deal with people. It'll help you manage business for me in the future."

I looked up at him and asked calmly, "Mueller, I'm asking you one more time. Did you take my registration form?"

Students around us noticed the tension between us and turned to look.

I knew it. He'd hidden it.

I held out my hand. "Give it back."

He suddenly laughed derisively. "Can't give it back. I burned it. It's in the trash can—go look for it yourself."

My hand involuntarily tightened into a fist, anger surging through me. "Why?"

Mueller said indifferently, "Who told you not to listen to me? You kept going against me, so I had to make you understand who's in charge of this family!"

I froze. I never imagined that my brother, who'd grown up with me since childhood, would turn into this.

I looked at him deeply, then turned to go to the office to ask the teacher for another form.

But the teacher told me, "No one from our school has ever participated in this competition. I had to pull strings just to get that one form."

Even though I was confident I could place well, without a registration form, I didn't even have the qualification to compete.

I laughed coldly. If Mueller could only pull these petty tricks, he wasn't worth worrying about.

I'd only signed up for this competition to see what the Washington competition was like anyway.

As I left the office, Mueller blocked my way. "Well, since you can't participate anyway, you can finally come with me to Rivers's birthday party, right?"

Only then did I realize why he'd burned my registration form.

I looked at him coldly. "I'm not going. I'm going home to study."

He scoffed. "How many times do I have to tell you? Why do you only know how to study like a bookworm?"