Chapter 2

The confirmation email was still on my screen when my dad called.

He did not ask when I had gotten home the night before or who had paid the extra 18,000 dollars for the party.

"Be at the office before nine. Ryan's taking over your project, so get the materials ready for him."

I held my phone, my fingertips growing cold. I had negotiated that project myself after joining Wellington Group. To secure the other company's use license for their technology, I had flown out eleven times. Despite my alcohol allergy, I drank with clients until I had stomach bleeding.

Dad had patted my shoulder back then and promised me a seat on the board once the deal became final.

Now, when we were one step away from signing the contract, he wanted to hand it to Ryan.

The conference room was full of senior members from the management team. When I walked in, Ryan's nameplate was already in front of my seat.

He wore my dark suit and was flipping through the proposal I had spent six months writing. He looked uneasy when he saw me.

"Leon, are you upset? I don't want to take your work away from you, but Dad said I should learn how the company works as soon as possible."

Dad tapped the table. "No one's stealing anything from anyone. It all belongs to the family. What difference does it make to who's in charge?"

Claire pushed the presentation remote into my hand and told me to stand in the corner. "Ryan's memory is still unreliable, so he might get some of the numbers wrong. He'll be giving the presentation later. Text him the answers."

I stared at Claire. "How can he take over the project when he can't even understand the proposal?"

Ryan's eyes welled with tears.

Claire's expression darkened. "Ever since you came home, Ryan's been terrified we'd send him away. All we're asking is that you give up one project. What's there to complain about?"

The conference room went silent.

I almost laughed. I had been separated from my family for more than twenty years and had only been home for a few years, yet she acted as though I was the one taking things away from someone else.

The clients arrived shortly afterward.

Ryan had been reading from his script for less than ten minutes when he put the decimal point in the wrong place in a key cost ratio.

The client frowned. "If that figure is correct, we'll lose more than a million dollars a year."

Ryan looked at me in a panic.

Claire kicked my chair under the table as she whispered, "Text him the correct figure."

I switched off my phone instead. "If the person in charge doesn't even know the basic numbers, what's the point of this presentation?"

Ryan's face went pale.

Claire got up to her feet. "Leon, do you have to humiliate him in front of all these outsiders?"

Dad didn't blame Ryan for his mistake. Instead, he stopped the meeting and took my laptop and employee badge in front of everyone.

"You've been too emotional lately. You're suspended. Come back when you understand that family matters more than who gets the credit."

When I got back to my office, the nameplate on the door had already been changed to " Project Director, Ryan Wellington."

My trophy had been shoved onto the floor, and one corner was cracked. My work notebooks and client files had all been packed into cardboard boxes.

The finance director stood in the doorway and avoided my eyes. "Your father instructed us to transfer the project bonuses to the new team."

"Even the part I've already earned?" I asked.

Claire answered for him.

"After all the years this family has supported you, you expect us to pay you for helping out? Ryan has just taken over the project. He needs results to prove himself. You're our parents' biological son. What are you going to lose by taking a little less?"

It was those words again.

Because I was their biological son, I was supposed to be understanding. Because I would always be related to them by blood, they could take anything that belonged to me.

I picked up my box and walked straight to the elevator.

I held my employee badge against the security gate. A harsh red light flashed, and the screen read "Access revoked."

I had to use the visitors' exit to leave the company where I had worked for three years.

I had barely reached the sidewalk when an email arrived from Summit Group confirming about a certain project.

At the bottom was a personal message from Peter.

[You're the one we've wanted for this project all along. If Wellington Group changes the project leader, we'll have to reassess our partnership.]

I archived the email.

I said nothing about it to Dad or Claire.