Chapter 4

I was too angry—one slap wasn't enough. I raised my hand to slap him a second time.

Mueller suddenly grabbed my hand. "Are you crazy?"

My eyes locked onto Mueller's. "Do you know what Rivers was just doing to me?"

"My life was almost ruined!"

Mueller lost his patience, frowning at me.

"Olivia, stop being so ungrateful!"

"It's only because you're my sister that I'm thinking about your future. You're a girl—what other path do you have besides marriage?"

"If you keep Rivers happy and marry him in the future, you can be a comfortable rich wife. Isn't that good?"

"All this talk about studying hard—you just want to fight me for the inheritance. Well, let me tell you, no way!"

I looked at Mueller, who stood half a head taller than me.

For the first time, I felt this brother I'd grown up with was a complete stranger.

Before today, I'd always thought he was just a bit narrow-minded.

But I never imagined he could be both stupid and vicious.

I laughed coldly. "Mueller, this isn't over between us."

"You'd better pray the Franklin heir is me. Otherwise, I have ten thousand ways to make you bankrupt and homeless."

"And you, Rivers," I looked at him with icy eyes, "a good-for-nothing punk like you probably doesn't know that attempted rape is also a crime, right?"

"This time, I'll let you off for the sake of our families' business relationship."

My voice grew increasingly oppressive. "I suggest you stay away from me from now on. If you piss me off again, I won't mind sending you to prison to experience life there."

Rivers's face darkened, but he couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal.

He could only watch helplessly as I picked up my backpack from the floor.

Mueller looked at me mockingly. "You're a girl, and you think you can compete with me for the heir position? As if you're qualified."

"Make me bankrupt and homeless? Ha!"

I knew he didn't take me seriously at all.

I looked at him quietly, my eyes frighteningly calm.

"Mueller," I said mockingly, "so you want to be the Franklin heir?"

I paused, my gaze sweeping over everyone who was watching the drama unfold.

Finally, my eyes landed on Mueller's face, full of mockery and contempt.

"Then let's each rely on our own abilities."

From that day on, I started treating Mueller like air.

I continued studying hard every day, working through practice problems. Every exam, I held steady in first place in the entire school.

But after the brief attention I received when I first ranked first in school, I practically disappeared from view.

I didn't care whether anyone paid attention to me. I only wanted to work hard toward my goal.

While I studied, Mueller thrived in the elite school.

He used his identity as the billionaire's son to form cliques.

Until just before the SATs, Mom and Dad specially held a grand recognition banquet.

They formally introduced us to society as the children of the Franklin family.

I looked at the important figures before me—people I'd only seen on TV and in magazines—and felt involuntarily nervous.

But Mueller was completely different. He moved through the crowd with ease, wine glass in hand.

As the banquet ended, Mueller stopped me, his tone smug. "Did you see that?"

"Many of the people who came today are parents and relatives of our schoolmates. They don't even recognize you, but they praised me highly."

"Mom and Dad were so happy just now. I brought them so much honor."

His eyes showed contempt and disdain as he said matter-of-factly, "What's the use of you being first in your class every day?"

"In society, it's all about who has the wider network and knows how to deal with people, right?"

"Look at those big bosses and rich people—how many of them were first in their class? Understanding how to navigate social relationships is more important than anything."

I looked at him calmly. "So?"