Chapter 3

Two weeks later, the mailman's voice disrupted the peace of our meal.

"Two acceptance letters for the Hawkins family!"

Dad hastily brought the two envelopes into the house, looking like he was going to tear them open on the spot.

I tightened my grip on my fork. The acceptance letter from Grendill University was in one of the envelopes.

However, I didn't expect Terence to suddenly dart forward and grab the two envelopes, tossing them into a corner of his suitcase.

"No need to look at them, Dad!" he exclaimed. "Marcus' name is on the letter. I'll get upset if I see it, so I don't want to look at it!"

His intentions were so obvious, but none of them found anything amiss with his behavior.

Jillian shot an affectionate smile at him and said, "Alright then. We won't look at them. You can just complete your registration when you're at Laville University. It doesn't make a difference whether we look at the letter beforehand."

She then looked at me and asked, "Am I right?"

The corners of my lips curled up into a smile. "Yes, you're right."

Jillian was briefly stunned and looked a little suspicious. After all, I always retaliated in the past, making my displeasure clear even when I knew it was futile. It was odd that I wasn't making a scene even though Laville University was involved.

I stared into her eyes.

Jillian mulled it over before averting her gaze, unable to figure out what was going on.

…

Terence showed up shortly after I returned to my room. He pinched his nose as he entered, making his disdain clear.

"Your room is so tiny, Marcus. It looks nothing like mine. It gets the most sunlight in the entire house."

I didn't respond, not wanting to get into an argument with him.

"It's fine. I can give you a hand after I attend Laville University and make it big."

"I don't need your help," I said, taking a deep breath. "Leave."

Terence pursed his lips. He caught a glimpse of the metal box under my desk and grabbed it when I was distracted. "What's this?"

My chest tightened as my eyes went wide.

"You kept your torn award certificates, Marcus?" Terence asked as he opened the box. "Don't tell me that you're collecting these to expose me in the family group chat in the future?"

"Terence Hawkins! Give that back to me. Do you really think that I'm as despicable as you?"

Terence pulled out a lighter. "I don't care. I can't allow these things to exist."

He brought the lighter closer to the box, making it obvious that he was going to burn the torn pieces of paper.

"Give it back!" I shouted as I lunged forward to snatch the box out of his hands.

The torn award certificates had been my pillars of emotional support for years.

Terence screamed as he staggered to the floor. His pained cries attracted Mom's, Dad's, and Jillian's attention.

"Terence!"

Jillian hastily rushed over to Terence's side and helped him back to his feet when she burst into my room. She then slapped me hard across the face even before she found out what was going on.

"How dare you raise your hand against him, Marcus?" she roared.

I turned my head to the side and kept my eyes on the floor. My cheek stung terribly. "I did no such thing."

However, Jillian refused to listen to me, choosing to only believe in Terence's words. "What happened, Terence?"

Terence aired his grievances, his eyes bloodshot. "I noticed that Marcus had a metal box and realized that he was keeping his award certificates in it when I opened it. I just wanted to take a look at them, but he shoved me to the floor."

Dad looked like he recalled something as he picked up the overturned box on the floor. His expression darkened as he snapped, "Why are you keeping these, Marcus? Are you waiting for an opportunity to expose Terence in front of the rest of the family?"

I barked out a mocking laugh.

Expose? The first award certificate that I kept was from elementary school. How would I use it to prove that Terence was a fraud now? Although it was utterly ludicrous, they still stubbornly thought of me that way.

Jillian immediately snatched the box out of Dad's hand upon hearing his words. She glared at me and hissed, "You're such a wicked person."

My eyes went wide with shock as she pulled out a lighter and set the pieces of paper aflame.

"No!" I shouted. "Don't burn them!"

Jillian shoved me aside so that I could only watch as the pillars of emotional support that I had safekept for more than a decade were reduced to a pile of ashes at that moment. She looked at me coldly and said, "Don't get any funny ideas, Marcus. I already told you that you owe Terence."

I sat on the floor and stared at the pile of ashes in a daze even after they left. I scooped them up little by little and carefully placed them back into the box. I didn't stop even when my hands turned red from the heat.

Hatred and disgust raged within me. I had planned to come clean to them about how I hadn't enrolled in Laville University at the start of the semester, but I swiftly discarded that idea after what just happened.

They could travel all the way to the university for all I cared. In fact, the more people they brought with them to show off, the better. I was also curious to see what they were going to do once the truth came to light.