Chapter 2

At my wit's end, I brushed him off with a few vague excuses, saying I'd make my own way home, and spent the next few minutes talking my parents out of picking me up.

Hanging up the phone, I shook my head and sighed.

Honestly, neither of them was capable of staying out of trouble. If they ever found out their precious son was locked in a dark storage room from school bullying, they'd probably blow the entire campus sky-high.

Even though I was just a background character, this was a trashy melodrama after all.

My grandfather was a legendary mafia don. My dad inherited the family business, and my mom was the number-one assassin on the global hit list, charging a flat rate of a hundred million dollars per contract. The two of them hit it off like soulmates, got together, and had me—their one and only precious child.

In the words of my dad, George Simkin, it took ten generations of straight-up criminals in our bloodline just to sprout a single kid who actually liked to read.

I still remember back in elementary school, when I brought home a report card with straight A's for the first time. My parents looked at me with terror in their eyes.

First, they suspected I had cheated. Then they thought I had threatened or bribed the teachers for those grades. They even wondered if I wasn't their biological son, simply refusing to believe I had earned them myself.

It wasn't until later that they realized I truly had zero interest in sports or fighting. I preferred staying home to study and had somehow mastered eight languages at a young age. After that, they finally gave up.

When I scored first on my high school entrance exams, my parents almost passed out from the shock. That very night, my dad excitedly surrounded the headquarters of over a dozen rival gangs, setting off demolition charges one by one just to give me a fireworks show.

Meanwhile, my mom hunted down every single person on the top ten bounty list to clear them out, claiming she was putting together a flawless gift to celebrate my achievement.

My only wish after that was simple: once I started high school, they were strictly forbidden from revealing my identity so I could study in peace.

In the past, whenever anyone found out who my parents were, they would end up trembling in fear. Now that I’d finally managed to live quietly as a background character and focus on my studies, I couldn't let them ruin it.

With that thought in mind, I crouched down in front of the storage room's lock.

In no time, the lock clicked open. After years of passive exposure at home, picking a standard lock was child's play.

That afternoon, I showed up to class right on time, sitting back in my desk and opening my textbook as if nothing had happened.

When Brock saw me, a quick flicker of unwillingness flashed across his eyes. He spent the entire class period staring at me with a stubborn look.

During recess, he couldn't hold back anymore. He walked over and stopped right in front of my desk, his voice firm. "Aiden, I admit you're good. But I'm telling you, I'll definitely win back first place on my own."

I looked up at him and said with utter sincerity, "Then, on top of beating me, you've got another eighty-two people to cross off your list."

Brock froze for a second, pressed his lips tightly, and turned back to his seat with a lonely back.

I shrugged and went straight back to solving practice problems.

It didn't take long before Elena walked over with a scowl. She wore a high-end red designer dress and high heels. "Aiden, I really underestimated you. It looks like you haven't learned your lesson yet."

She raised her hand to slap me across the face.

I was just about to dodge when a hand reached out from the side to stop her.

It was Lara Wheeldon, the heiress of the Wheeldons. She wore a gentle smile, but her eyes were filled with shrewd calculation.

Lara looked down at me, her tone soft. "Aiden, how about I give you money, and you let Brock take the top spot?"

Curious, I asked, "How much are you offering?"

The smile on Lara's face deepened. "Whatever amount you want, I'll give it to you. The Wheeldons never lack money."

I thought it over for a moment, then held up a hand with five fingers.

Lara raised an eyebrow. "Five million? Done."

She turned to sneer at Elena. "That's why you should always use your brain instead of brute force when you run into problems, Elena. Why get hands-on when money can solve it?"

I didn't rush to reply and asked a question back. "But the scholarship for taking first place is only five thousand dollars. Why don't you just wire five million to Brock? Isn't he trying to rank first for the money anyway?"

Elena let out a cold laugh from the side. "Brock isn't a gold-digger like you. The five thousand dollars he earns through his own hard work is worth more than anything. You don't understand how genuine he is."

I nodded. "Well, I'm not asking for five million."

Lara frowned. "Then what do you want?"

"I want..."

Slowly, I folded four of my fingers down, leaving only my middle finger sticking up. I silently mouthed two words at her. "Dumb-ass."

The gentle smile on Lara's face shattered instantly, her eyes darkening. "Aiden, don't push your luck."

I stepped back, catching sight of our homeroom teacher, Mr. Colas, walking down the end of the hallway out of the corner of my eye.

Taking a deep breath, I cleared my throat and yelled at the top of my lungs.

"Mr. Colas! Lara's trying to bribe me with five million dollars to throw the exams for Brock!"