Chapter 2

Mom had been thinking about me and the company even on her deathbed.

But it wasn't even a month later when Dad came back with Alicia and Christina, letting them barge into my home and treat it as theirs instead.

Maybe Dad had already planned to steal everything away from me from that very moment onward.

I sat in my bedroom for a long, long time. I thought a lot about things until the back of my shirt was drenched in sweat.

In the end, I made a call to my aunt, Heather Miller, Mom's younger sister. She was a renowned top lawyer in the industry.

"Cher? Why did you suddenly call me up?" Aunt Heather asked in surprise.

"Aunt Heather, I need a temporary ID card," I said, hesitating slightly. "Also, can you please help me check the status of my academic records and where my real Starward University direct admission letter is?"

There were a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

Aunt Heather was smart. She immediately put two and two together.

"Did something happen?"

I replied, "Dad gave me a fake direct admission letter from Starward. I need to get to the bottom of this."

I took a deep breath.

After all, I was the national math champion, and it was supposed to have been more than enough to warrant a direct admission into the top college in the country for me.

That was why I never even questioned the authenticity of the direct admission letter in my hand.

"I'll get on it," Aunt Heather said at once.

Half an hour later, she came to pick me up from school. She took the admission letter from me and looked at it.

"They even managed to forge such a realistic stamp. Melvin's such a beast! How dare he try to deceive his own daughter like this?"

She gritted her teeth and put my letter into a case file folder. She then told me, "I've checked the direct admission system, and your name isn't in it at all. You're just a regular high school student. If you don't sit for the college entrance exam tomorrow, you'll fail it for absenteeism."

I bit on my lower lip. It was turning out just as I thought.

"But although your name wasn't in the system, I saw Christina's name there," Aunt Heather said, her voice turning solemn.

I cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

Christina Cooper? My stepsister?

But she always got the worst grades in class. How could she possibly be directly admitted into Starward University?

"We're a little short on time, so I haven't found out the reason she's on the direct admissions list yet," Aunt Heather said.

"I'm taking you to get your temporary ID for now. I've also asked someone to reprint your exam slip for you. Take the college entrance exam tomorrow like normal for now."

I looked outside the window and nodded.

Thankfully, there was still time to change things around.

…

The college entrance exam lasts for two days. For the next two days, I left home early every day and only returned late at night.

Even if the direct admission letter was fake, I had real brains and abilities to back myself up.

I didn't necessarily need that piece of paper to get into Starward or any other top institutions and colleges in the country.

As usual, nobody at home paid any attention to me.

Once, Alicia accidentally walked into my room by mistake.

When she saw that my eyes were closed, she scoffed coldly and mumbled to herself, "She's still sleeping? Did she really think she was a top scorer now just because of a fake piece of paper?

"What an idiot. Let's see how hard she's gonna cry when the college entrance exam results are released next month!"

The door then shut behind her.

I chuckled coldly in the dark.

Sure. I couldn't wait until the results were released the next month either. But I was looking forward to seeing who else would be crying if it wasn't me.

…

After the exam was over, Dad suddenly invited me to a family dinner with him and Christina, something that he'd never, ever done before.

"Chrissy's just finished her exam, Cher, and it's been some time since we had a proper meal together as a family. You must come with us this time."

I spared a glance at Christina, who was lazing on the couch next to me.

She might have looked as though she went to sit for the college entrance exam these days, but I knew she was actually out shopping for a luxury car with Dad and Alicia.

Aunt Heather had found out and told me about it. She also told me that she highly suspected that Christina had somehow managed to replace me in the direct admissions system.

"Alright. Let's have dinner together," I said, a corner of my mouth lifting.

I wanted to see what other tricks they had up their sleeves.

Dad was obviously excited and popped open a few bottles of expensive red wine to celebrate. And after a few hours of drinking, he finally let some of his true colors slip.

"Cher, I've been facing some cash flow issues at the company lately… There's a project that requires mortgaging some of our assets…"

He then looked at me in his tipsy state.