Chapter 4

I walked out of the venue into the harsh sunlight.

My phone showed several missed calls from unfamiliar numbers back home, along with a text from my mother.

[Sam, your brother won the bid! It's a huge project! He knows he was wrong. Family should support each other. He said once the project is finished, he'll buy a house and bring us all over so we can live comfortably. It's not easy being on your own. Why don't you come work at your brother's company instead? A family business is always better than working for someone else.]

I read the message, smiled faintly, and deleted it.

Then I called our legal and PR departments.

"It's time. Follow the original plan. Release the material."

…

A few days later, Daybreak's winning bid came under fire after investigators exposed falsified core data. The key technology could not actually be implemented, and the proposed timeline violated regulations. The evidence was comprehensive, and public outrage erupted.

Immediately afterward, a whistleblower filed a report under their real name: Daybreak's project lead, who went by Sam Thompson, had allegedly stolen that identity along with his twin sister's admission to Tarcona University. The report included her transcript from that year, a group photo, and an audio recording:

"Sam, you're the older sister, but you're also the older brother. Let your brother go to school in your place."

"The two of you are twins anyway. You've been a tomboy since you were little. Who could tell you and your brother apart?"

It was academic credential fraud layered on top of project fraud.

Daybreak's stock price plummeted, and the company spiraled into crisis. Almost overnight, Cam became a pariah.

…

That afternoon, my mother stormed into my office with a disheveled Cam in tow.

The moment she saw me, she dropped to her knees with a thud and wailed hysterically, "Sam! You can't be this heartless! He's your own brother! Are you trying to drive him to his death?!"

My father hauled her up, his eyes red with fury, then pointed at me and cursed, "You vile woman! You planned this from the start just to bring down your own brother! Was that project a trap you set for him? Do you want to see our whole family fall apart?"

Cam stood behind them with his suit rumpled and his eyes bloodshot.

He glared at me with pure hatred. "Taylor! You fucking set me up! Did you plant all that evidence? You let me win the bid on purpose! You've been scheming against me since the interview!"

Everyone in the office stared at the scene in shock.

Misha and another coworker moved to intervene, but I raised my hand to stop them.

I rose from behind my desk and walked toward my family. My mother sobbed on her knees. My father seethed with rage. My "brother" stared at me with venom in his eyes.

I studied them for a few seconds. Then I turned, returned to my desk, picked up the remote, and pressed a button.

The large screen across the room lit up. Secretly recorded footage showed Cam meeting privately with a supplier, accepting bribes, and promising to use materials that failed to meet code.

His face was unmistakable. So was his voice.

Cam turned deathly pale.

I couldn't have cared less.

I pressed the remote again. More evidence appeared on the screen: forged household registration documents used to transfer my university admission to his name, falsified enrollment records, and a "voluntary declaration waiving admission" bearing my father's signature.

My father swayed on his feet.

Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come.

The screen changed once more before freezing on a single line of stark, bold text:

[Investigation confirms that the 1993 Ivy League freshman admission physical examination report for "Sam Thompson" lists a blood type that does not match the enrollment records on file. The real Sam Thompson is female.]