Chapter 2

Lily gave a dismissive laugh.

"Next is Math. Your best subject.

"Seven and a half million."

The lobby went silent.

Then everyone surged toward the monitor at once.

A few of them practically pressed their faces to the screen, desperate to see how a wager like that landed.

Lily dragged over a chair and started filing her nails.

"Claire, you can still quit.

"Even as the Bennett successor, I can't pull seven and a half million out of the air."

In my last life, I lost seventy-five million to her in this same game.

Then the Bennetts threw me out.

I lost my shot at college. I lost every decent job I applied for.

What was left of that life was a damp basement room.

"If you admit you're not as capable as I am," Lily went on, "I might still find you something at Bennett Group.

"Our cleaners make three thousand a month. Work hard for five years and you'll be ready to start on the interest."

She got a laugh out of me, and the look I gave her could have cut glass.

"You? You think you've earned the right to pop champagne at halftime?"

Lily's expression changed instantly, and she shot to her feet.

Then a voice cut across the lobby from the entrance.

"Break it up! All of you. This is a company, not your living room."

Richard and Diane Bennett had arrived.

My father's face stayed hard until he saw Lily. Then it eased.

"Lily, don't lower yourself arguing with a girl who grew up in the middle of nowhere."

Lily's eyes reddened on cue.

"Dad, Claire never had any exposure to the company growing up. The board and the longtime shareholders already question whether she can lead them.

"I'm only thinking about Bennett Group. If we're choosing an heir, shouldn't it be the one with real ability? We can't afford to sour them on us."

"That's..." Richard hesitated.

Diane's eyes slid over to me.

"Lily has a point. Once Claire walked through our door, she became a Bennett.

"This is about the long term. A fair contest for the succession, and the old men on the board won't have anything to make noise about."

She didn't sound like a mother talking to the daughter she'd lost for years.

She sounded like an executive pricing an asset.

I looked at the three of them standing there together, warm as any family, and something in me went cold.

"If we're doing this, do it. Stop wasting everyone's time with the family theater. If you're scared, say so and clear out."

Lily's temper went up like a struck match. The tears and the fury together made a ridiculous picture on her face.

Her knuckles cracked.

"Show me the Math score."

"146."

Cheers broke out.

"Richard, your daughter improved that much? No wonder she's taking over the company. She's been hiding what she can do."

"And this one came in here playing the genius. Climbing after money and making a fool of herself."

Richard and Diane looked at Lily with open approval.

She shot me a challenging glance and turned back to Greg.

"And Claire?"

"45."

The laughter came louder and uglier.

"Worse than the last one!"

"She isn't even in range."

"At this point a loan shark wouldn't finance her."

Lily leaned into Richard's arms.

"Dad, I scored that well. Don't I get a reward?"

Someone laughed.

"Richard, having a daughter like this ready to take the helm — that's a blessing."

"Unlike some people. Imagine risking everything you have just to climb into a rich family."

Lily soaked up the praise, then looked at me the way you look at someone you're about to hand a coin.

"Claire, do you still want to keep going?

"There's no shame in conceding now. Lose two more and you'll spend your life paying me back."

I didn't bother answering any of it. I just said it again, flat.

"Keep going."