Chapter 2

He took a deep breath, then pressed his lips together, the very picture of a man struggling to get the words out.

He had the whole "I'm the victim" act polished to perfection.

For a second, I honestly wondered if those three years of "making his way in the world" had actually been spent in acting school.

"All these years, you've done nothing but tear me down."

The room went quiet all at once. The reporters smelled a scandal and snapped even faster, cameras practically shoved into Felix's face.

The entire summit was being livestreamed online.

The comments started rolling in.

[So that's what Felix's home life was like. No wonder he ran away.]

[My heart breaks for Felix. Say something, Felix!]

Looking at my brother's righteously wounded face, I suddenly wanted to laugh.

I asked, "Go on, then. Where exactly did I tear you down?"

He sniffed hard and looked at me with watery eyes.

"You never let me eat as a kid. If I so much as ate a piece of candy, you'd pry my mouth open and dig it out."

I nodded. "That did happen."

The room erupted. The livestream comments scrolled even faster.

[She admitted it! You all heard that, right? She admitted it!]

[I can't believe Serena is that kind of person. It was one piece of candy. Why couldn't he have it?]

I paused for a second. "Because it wasn't candy at all. It was a pill made from wolfsbane. If I hadn't dug it out of your mouth back then, you wouldn't even have the chance to stand here talking to me."

The comments went silent for a full three seconds.

Then the screen drowned in a wall of "HAHAHAHA."

[Turns out his big sister saved his life. He should be on his knees thanking her!]

Felix's face froze. Refusing to quit, he said, "When our cousin Toby came to stay with us, you gave him all the moonstones I'd worked so hard to collect. I'm your own brother. Why did you take his side?"

He raised his voice and stared at me as if daring me to explain.

Every pair of eyes in the room swung toward me, waiting for my reaction.

After all, Felix's story sounded airtight. How was I going to argue my way out of this?

I sighed as he dragged up another memory I'd rather forget.

"Toby had it rough. A fire destroyed his family's house. He wanted those moonstones, so why not let him have them?"

Felix got even more worked up. "What does that have to do with me? Just because he had it rough, I had to give in at every turn, even hand over my favorite things? If that's not favoritism, what is?"

"Because you started that fire."

Felix's jaw dropped in disbelief. You could practically see the gears turning in his head as he scrambled for an explanation.

It took him forever to squeeze out one sentence. "I don't remember any of that."

I pressed a hand to my forehead and shook my head, resigned. "Of course you don't. You were a late bloomer. Other kids were already talking while you were still trailing after me, drooling. No wonder you don't remember."

[HAHAHA, so Felix was a little dummy as a kid.]

[Poor Toby. Lost his home AND Felix is still holding a grudge against him.]

Great. The sob story flopped, and he'd aired out his own embarrassing history instead.

Now every pack out there knew Felix had been a slow-witted kid.

I'd meant to spare him some dignity. Having a brother like this was embarrassing for me too.

But his nerve and his improv skills were honed to perfection.

No matter how badly things turned against him, he never lost his composure.

It took him all of three seconds to fix his expression.

Once again, he packaged himself as the poor, pitiful victim.

"Well, didn't I find him a job afterward? You have no idea how long I searched for that job. But instead of being grateful, he went and tattled to you, and you beat me black and blue. I will never forget that humiliation as long as I live."

He was the picture of righteous fury, his eyes so red they looked ready to spill over.

"Every single slap you landed on me, I remember clear as day."

The tide of the livestream comments flipped instantly.