Chapter 2

I was immediately at a loss for words.

I gave Dad a few half-hearted replies, telling him I'd come home on my own. It took quite a bit of convincing before I finally talked my parents out of coming to pick me up.

After hanging up, I shook my head and sighed.

Honestly, neither of them was easy to deal with. If they ever found out I'd been bullied at school and locked in a storage room, they'd probably blow up the whole school.

Sure, I was just a nameless extra in this world. But this was a stereotypical romance story, after all.

Grandpa was a legendary figure in the underworld.

Dad inherited the family business, while Mom was the world's top-ranked female assassin, charging 100 million dollars per hit.

The two of them were a match made in heaven. After getting together, they had me, their one and only precious daughter.

As Dad liked to put it, it took ten generations of criminals in our family to finally produce one kid who was actually good at school.

The first time I came home with perfect scores in all three subjects when I was in elementary school, my parents looked absolutely horrified.

They suspected I'd cheated. They wondered if I'd threatened or bribed my teachers into giving me perfect scores. They even wondered if I was adopted.

They simply refused to believe I'd earned those grades myself.

It wasn't until later, when they realized I had no interest in sports and fighting, spent all my time studying, and had mastered eight languages at a young age, that they finally accepted the truth.

And when I somehow ranked first in the entire city on my high school entrance exam, becoming the city's top scholar, my parents nearly passed out from shock.

That very night, Dad excitedly surrounded the headquarters of a dozen rival gangs and blew them up one by one, setting off fireworks for me.

Mom killed every one of the top ten people on the bounty list to celebrate my achievement.

And yet, I had only one wish.

Once I started high school, I made them promise not to reveal my identity. I just wanted to study in peace.

Every time people found out who my parents were, they'd tremble with fear. Now that I finally had the chance to study as an ordinary student, I couldn't let them ruin it.

With that in mind, I crouched down and examined the storage room lock. With a few quick moves, it popped open. Having grown up surrounded by people like my parents, picking a lock was child's play.

That afternoon, I showed up in class right on time. I sat in my usual seat, opened my textbook, and acted as if nothing had happened.

The moment Sienna saw me, her eyes immediately turned red. She stared at me for the entire class, her gaze filled with hurt and defiance.

During the break, she finally couldn't hold it in anymore and came over to my desk.

"Daphne, I admit you're smart. But remember this: first place belongs to me, and I'll take it back eventually," Sienna said, her hands clutching the hem of her skirt nervously.

I looked up at her sincerely. "Besides beating me, you'll also have to beat 82 other students, too."

Sienna froze for a full second. Then she covered her face and ran off crying.

I shrugged and went back to working on my practice questions.

Not long after, Zander walked over with a dark look on his face. Wearing a charcoal-gray designer shirt, he looked every bit the dashing young heir.

"Daphne, I seriously underestimated you. Looks like you still haven't learned your lesson."

As he spoke, he reached out to grab my arm. I was just about to dodge when a hand shot out from the side and caught his wrist.

It was Leo Jamison, scion of the Jamison family. He smiled with an air of effortless elegance, but his eyes were sharp and calculating.

Leo looked down at me. "Daphne, I'll pay you. How about you give first place to Sienna?"

I tilted my head curiously. "How much are you offering?"

The arrogance on Leo's face grew even stronger. He replied smugly, "Name your price, and I'll pay it. My family has more money than we know what to do with."

I thought for a moment, then held up a hand, spreading my fingers wide.

Leo raised an eyebrow, and his smile widened. "Five million dollars? Fine, it's yours."

Then he turned to Zander with a mocking smile. "Zander, stop relying on brute force all the time. Use your brain. If money can solve a problem, why bother getting physical?"

I didn't answer right away. Instead, I asked, "But the scholarship for first place is only five thousand dollars. Why don't you give that five million directly to Sienna? Isn't she trying to rank first for the scholarship money anyway?"

Zander let out a cold laugh. "Sienna isn't some gold digger like you. Earning that money through her own hard work means more to her than anything else. You have no idea how pure-hearted she really is."

I nodded and said flatly, "But I wasn't asking for five million."

Zander frowned. "What do you want then?"

"I want… "

I slowly lowered four of my fingers, leaving only my middle finger raised. Without making a sound, I mouthed two words at him—Fuck you.

Leo's face instantly turned red. His refined, gentle facade disappeared, replaced by a dark, menacing look. "Daphne Quinton, don't push your luck."

I stepped backward. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted our homeroom teacher, Cecelia Moore, walking toward us.

So, I took a deep breath and yelled at the top of my lungs, "Ms. Moore, I want to report something! Leo is trying to bribe me with five million dollars to give first place to Sienna!"