Chapter 3

The next day was the reading of my grandmother’s will.

She had always loved me more than anyone.

Even after I went missing, she had made it clear in her will that all of her shares in the family conglomerate were to go to me.

When I kicked open the conference room door at the law firm with the Ragdoll in my arms, Ryan was just about to sign the share transfer documents.

The moment my mother saw me, her brows drew together.

“What are you doing here?” my father snapped, disgust written all over his face. “Haven’t you embarrassed us enough?”

I ignored him and slapped the gold heirloom my grandmother had left me onto the table.

“Grandma had a rule. Whoever holds this heirloom speaks with her authority.”

I looked coldly at Ryan.

“So an impostor like you has no right to sign anything.”

To my surprise, Ryan didn’t panic.

Instead, he sighed.

Then he pulled out an identical gold heirloom.

“Ethan, I know you hate me for taking Mom and Dad’s love away from you. And I know you want Grandma’s inheritance.”

His voice choked with emotion.

“But how could you have some cheap copy made and try to pass it off as something Grandma left behind? That’s incredibly disrespectful to her memory.”

Claire immediately pointed at me.

“Ethan, you’re unbelievable! How greedy can you get? You’d stoop this low just for money?”

Lauren gave a contemptuous laugh from beside her.

“I guess you can take the boy out of the countryside, but you can’t take the countryside out of the boy. You seriously thought you could show up with some cheap knockoff and fool everyone?”

The attorney looked troubled.

“Judging by the appearance and materials alone, these two pieces are identical. There’s no way to determine which one is genuine with the naked eye.”

He closed the file in front of him.

“To avoid any dispute, I recommend that both items be secured and the inheritance proceedings temporarily suspended. We can have an internationally recognized authentication expert examine them next week.”

The cat instantly arched its back in my arms.

Its frantic voice rang inside my head.

【Hell no! You can’t wait until next week! Ryan will have someone switch them before the appraisal. By then, your real one will magically become the fake!】

My eyes turned cold.

Wait?

Forget that.

I was settling this today.

I walked straight toward Ryan.

Before he could react, I ripped the gold pendant from around his neck.

Then I picked up mine from the table.

“Ethan, what are you doing? Put those down!” Claire shouted as she rushed toward me.

I stepped back.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, I smashed both pieces against the floor.

Everyone froze.

I pointed at the shattered pieces and gave a cold laugh.

“No need to wait until next week now.”

I looked at the attorney.

“Take a good look.”

Everyone lowered their eyes.

Ryan’s pendant had been crushed completely flat.

There was nothing inside.

Mine was different.

When its outer gold casing split apart, a small signet seal rolled out from inside.

The Ragdoll smugly licked one paw in my arms.

【Ha! Your grandmother was a genius when it came to hidden mechanisms. Let’s see that two-faced bastard talk his way out of this one!】

The attorney’s hands began to shake with excitement.

He carefully picked up the seal, pressed it into an ink pad, then stamped it over the concealed security mark at the bottom of the will.

A perfect match.

“There’s no mistake!”

The attorney raised his voice.

“Ethan Spencer is the sole legal heir to the entire Spencer family business empire!”

Ryan’s face drained of color.

He stared at me with pure resentment.

Claire and Lauren looked just as awful.

I took a moment to enjoy their expressions.

Then, feeling better than I had in days, I picked up the cat and walked out.