Chapter 3

The moment those words left my mouth, the wounded expression on Josephine’s face instantly froze.

“A-Are you insulting me?” Her eyes reddened, and tears spilled down her cheeks like pearls from a broken string. She turned and threw herself into Alice’s arms. “Mom! Is Meredith still sick? I was only trying to show her some kindness. How could she humiliate me like that?!”

Alice hugged her precious daughter protectively before turning toward me and shooting me a vicious glare. Her carefully maintained face was twisted with rage.

“Meredith! You’re a spoiled little brat who was clearly never taught any manners! Josephine is the top science student in the entire state. She’s the crown jewel of the Shaw family! You’re nothing but some country bumpkin. You’re not even fit to carry her purse! Apologize to Josephine now!”

“No manners?”

I repeated those words slowly. My gaze turned icy as I fixed it on Alice. “Ms. Fenton, did you forget whose name is on the deed to this house? The carpet beneath your feet, the designer clothes on your back, even the acceptance letter in your daughter’s hands… Do you remember whose money paid for all of it?”

“You…” Alice felt a chill crawl down her spine under my piercing stare. The words caught her so off guard that she was left speechless.

“That’s enough!” Issac slammed his palm onto the coffee table and shot to his feet, finally putting on the air of the head of the household. He strode toward me and looked down at me condescendingly. His eyes were filled with calculation and malice.

“Meredith, I didn’t bring you back here to throw a tantrum. Looks like your 14 years in the countryside didn’t cure your mental illness. If anything, you’ve gotten worse. You’ve even forgotten the most basic respect for your elders!”

He let out a cold sneer, turned around, and pulled a thick stack of documents from the coffee table drawer. He tossed them down in front of me.

“Now that you’re 20. It’s time we settle a few things.”

He pointed at the documents, his tone leaving no room for argument.

“This is an Inheritance Waiver Agreement. You’re a country girl with a serious psychiatric history. How could someone like you possibly manage the Shaw Corporation, a company worth hundreds of billions? So sign it.”

Issac lit a cigar and slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke. “I’ll manage the company for you, and I’ll deposit 50,000 dollars into your account for your living expenses every month. You’ll have enough to live comfortably in the countryside for the rest of your life.”

I lowered my eyes to the agreement. I saw the black ink on the white paper, every word reeking of greed and shamelessness.

“What if I don’t sign the agreement?” I looked up at him, wearing a faint, mocking smile on my face.

Issac’s expression darkened. He pulled a document bearing an official hospital seal from the folder.

“You’re not signing? Meredith, you were diagnosed with severe schizophrenia and violent tendencies fourteen years ago. I can have you committed to a locked psychiatric facility whenever I want!

"Once you’re in there, you won’t get a single cent, and you’ll spend the rest of your life behind those doors!”

“Dad, don’t be so hard on Meredith.” Josephine had stopped pretending to cry by now. She stepped up beside Issac, glancing at my cheap clothes with undisguised superiority and fake sympathy.

“Meredith, just sign it. What would you even do with all that money? You don’t even know how to spend it. Once I get into Matterson College and take over Shaw Corporation someday, I’ll take good care of Mom and Dad. I might even throw you a bone.”

Looking at this shameless family of three, I suddenly found the whole thing absurd.

For 14 years, they had stolen my place and lived as though this trillion-dollar empire belonged to them.

They lived off my mother’s hard-earned money, stole my sister’s future, and crippled my adoptive parents. Now, they were threatening to have me locked away in a psychiatric facility unless I handed everything over?

“Fine.”