Chapter 5

I just glanced at Justin before grabbing my stuff and heading to the library. I wasn't interested in talking big. I wanted to beat him once and for all.

To my surprise, this actually won me some favor with the girls in my class. Girls this age seemed to prefer the mature, level-headed type. They gathered their own textbooks and even asked the math teacher for help, hand-copying a book of math competition problems for me.

Then the class representative, Jemima Walker, personally handed it to me.

Although I didn't really need problems this easy, I gladly accepted them because I remembered that Justin had always liked her.

In my past life, Jemima and Justin had attended the same schools from elementary school through college. Justin was a math genius, but Jemima was even better than him overall. He pursued her relentlessly, but Jemima never gave him the time of day.

She was a perceptive girl. She must have seen the dark, vicious heart hidden beneath Justin's gentle, refined facade.

When Justin saw Jemima taking the initiative to talk to me, he gritted his teeth in anger and glared at me with even greater hostility.

On the day of the competition, the Meyer family woke up early to get Justin ready. Dad got him dressed in a whole new outfit, while Mom prepared a special breakfast for him, happily wishing him luck. Even Tiana, who normally loved to sleep in, got up early to give Justin a card with her own handwritten wishes.

Justin basked in all the attention, then added in a sweet voice, "Don't forget Marco is participating in the competition too."

Tiana waved her hand dismissively. "Him? He's just there to participate!"

Mom and Dad agreed. They even discussed whether to have a congratulatory sign made in advance to celebrate Justin winning first prize.

The four of them laughed, clearly not taking me or any of the other contestants seriously.

Half a month later, when the results were announced, the Meyer family was stunned.

Justin got second place, while I was first.

Dad stared at the result, even wondering if the winner shared the same name as me, while Tiana gave me a look of disbelief. "How is this possible? Did they get it wrong?"

I stood with my arms crossed, watching Justin with an amused smile. He was grinding his teeth in rage, but he still had to pretend he was genuinely happy for me in front of the Meyer family.

"Congratulations on getting first place, Marco! Guess all that time I spent helping you with math at school paid off. I even fell behind on my own practice."

Realization dawned on my family, and they seemed to think that was why their genius boy lost to me. He'd been too busy helping me prepare for the math competition, and it had held him back.

Mom patted Justin's head, looking pleased. "Justin, you're such a good boy. We're incredibly lucky to have you in the family."

I nearly laughed out loud.

They thought they were lucky to have Justin in the family?

In my past life, Justin nearly took over the family's entire wealth, to the point where they couldn't spend a single cent without his approval. He also slept with Tiana, whom my parents had spoiled since childhood, cheated on her, and even beat her so badly that she miscarried.

Dad noticed the disgust on my face and immediately frowned. "Marco, Justin has done so much to help you. The least you can do is thank him!"

I rolled my eyes at Justin. "Stop making excuses just because you're not good enough. Let's see how you do in the next competition. We'll find out if you can actually beat me."

With that, I left Dad and Tiana fuming and walked away.

I told John about the good news, and he jumped up in excitement. "I didn't know you were so talented! Let's go. I'll close the clinic early today. We'll go and have an amazing dinner."

Someone who actually cared about me would react like this.

John and I went to the fanciest steakhouse nearby. When we sat down, I noticed Jemima walking toward our table.

As it turned out, she was John's daughter. What were the odds of this happening?

I opened Instagram and saw that Tiana had just posted an update. The Meyer family had brought Justin out to celebrate since second place was no easy feat.

They seemed to barely think about me anymore. After all, life was much more peaceful for their family of four without me around.

I wanted to get under Justin's skin, so I took photos of myself having dinner with John and Jemima and posted them on my Instagram Story, adding Tiana to my Close Friends list so only she could see them. Knowing what a busybody she was, I was sure Justin would see the photos in no time.

Justin had lost first place to me, and now his crush was having dinner with me. He must have been so pissed that he couldn't even enjoy celebrating.

The thought made me so happy that I ordered another steak and really ran up John's bill.