Chapter 1 Useless Family

I smashed the robot right onto the ground. My sister, Yvonne Riverstone, showed up right at that moment. Either it was a coincidence, or she'd been keeping an unusually close eye on me.

"What are you doing, Samuel?" She looked at the broken robot like it was her most prized treasure, but when she looked at me, her eyes were dripping with venom.

I met her gaze without fear, and a sneer curled my lips. In my previous life, I always relented when it came to my sister, all to protect her fragile ego. Sometimes she would steal my credit, but I just let her, since it didn't matter to me.

To my shock, she was the first to turn her back on me and to think I cared for her. Since elementary school, I'd shown great thinking skills and an interest in AI robots. I picked computer science in college and won many intraschool contests.

Even so, that did not stop the Internet from calling me a thief overnight. I froze to death on a winter day, and my sister's orders made that happen.

Now all I felt was rage.

"That robot's taking part in the nationals! You can't just smash it!"

"I designed this robot, Yvonne. I can do whatever I want with it! It's none of your business!"

"What? I… You… I'm just being helpful! The nationals aren't that far away! Remaking this is going to take a lot of time and effort!" Yvonne retorted as strongly as she could.

If this wasn't my second chance at life, I'd have believed her. I snapped, "You seem awfully worried about a competition that you won't be a part of. Or did you put in your registration without me knowing?"

Yvonne snapped back, "Fine, do whatever you want! Don't come crying when you lose!" She stormed off in a huff, and then she went downstairs to snitch.

I calmly swept the broken robot into the bin. Yes, I put a lot of time and effort into it, but all the more reason not to let it become the reason for someone else's success.

Good thing this was incomplete when I was reborn. No one could take advantage of this.

I should've been in the lab on campus, but Yvonne convinced me into coming home. "It's quieter here. No one's going to bother you," she said. Now I saw why she wanted me home. She had other plans.

But she had no access to my computer, so I wondered how she got her hands on the code. Then a suspect came to mind. A good friend of mine, Zack Cheshire. He went into my room all the time. No one would suspect anything.

My parents were welcoming him happily. Our families were slated to have a marriage, after all.

"I bet you'll win the nationals, Samuel! Everyone knows you win any competition you join!"

My father laughed. "Well, nothing's sure, you know. But I know Samuel can do it."

I looked at my father, then at my mother. That woman was grinning like she'd just won a ticket to eternal life. To me, they looked no different from the twisted demons that sent me to the asylum in my past life.

They shoved me into that hellhole the moment I outlived my usefulness. The nurse told me she was only abusing me because Yvonne told her to. I knew my parents allowed that to happen as well.

Yvonne said sarcastically, "He smashed his robot. There's no way he can join now. He's only going to embarrass us!"

My father put his fork down, and he looked at me with displeasure. "Did you really do that?"

"Yeah. I am not going to join the competition," I said calmly, but my hand tightened around my fork.

Zack was the first to speak. He stood up in disbelief. "What, but…"

I looked at Zack with surprise in my eyes.

He quickly changed his tune. "I mean, you were interested in the competition. Why are you pulling out now?"

My father burst into a fury. Threateningly, he said, "Either you join the competition, or I'll kick you out of my house!"