Chapter 4

The night before my departure, I went back to the family home.

I wanted to collect the watch, photograph albums, and the patent documents Mom had left behind.

The PIN for the digital lock remained unchanged.

As soon as I stepped into my room after a long time, I froze at the doorway.

My room had been transformed into Levi’s gaming room.

The framed graduation picture that had once hung on the wall was gone.

The trophies on the bookshelf had been tossed into a cardboard box.

A wooden sculpture my late mother handcrafted for me was tucked away underneath the speaker.

Then, Levi emerged from the bathroom, dressed in one of my limited-edition jerseys.

He stopped like a deer in headlights the moment he saw me.

“What brought you here so suddenly?

“I know it’s a little messy in here. Please don’t get the wrong idea.”

“It’s my room.”

He pressed his lips together before continuing, “Nylah tells me that after you get married, you’re going to be one of the Greys.

“Since I have so many things with me, she said I should just move in here.”

Toward the end, his voice grew fainter.

“You’re not going to object to letting me have just one room, are you?”

I approached the display case, only to notice that he was wearing the mechanical watch Mom had left for me.

I gestured, “Take it off.”

He immediately clutched his wrist defensively.

“Mia let me wear it.

“She said that if your mother was still living, she would have treated me like I was one of her own.

“You had her love when she was living. Won’t you at least spare one heirloom for me?”

Suddenly, his finger loosened.

The watch slipped off his wrist and fell to the floor.

The face of the watch shattered in an instant.

He turned white.

“I’m so sorry!

“I didn’t mean it!

“Go ahead and hit me if you’re upset.”

Without warning, he grabbed my hand and pulled it toward his face.

At that exact moment, Nylah and Mia walked into the room.

An awful thud echoed across the room.

Levi clutched his face, then stumbled back until he hit the wall.

Nylah charged forward and shoved me aside so hard that I slammed my lower back against the corner of a table.

The pain was so intense that I could feel all my strength withering away in an instant.

“Zaire, how dare you hit him?”

I protested, “He was the one who—”

“Shut up!”

Mia stood protectively in front of Levi and shot me a look so severe it looked like she was going to tear me apart.

“Look at him! You did a number on him! How dare you try to shift the blame on him?”

Levi murmured, “It’s not his fault.

“I was the one who broke the watch.

“He has every right to take it out on me.”

Upon seeing the broken watch on the floor, Nylah sneered condescendingly.

“It’s just an old watch left behind by someone who is now dead!

“You should be thankful Levi is even wearing it at all out of respect!

“How could you attack him for something crappy like that? You’re even worse than a hyena!”

She proceeded to stomp on the already broken watch.

“Mom would roll over in her grave if she knew she had given birth to a scumbag like you.”

Levi tried to intervene.

“Nylah, Mia—please, stop. You’re going to hurt his feelings.”

The more he tried to stop them, the more incensed they became.

“He deserves all the hurt in the world!

“If it weren’t for us looking out for him all these years, he would have turned into a useless vermin!”

I did not bother to defend myself.

Instead, I dialed my lawyer’s number.

“Please revoke Nylah’s trusteeship of the shares held under my name.

“Also, revoke the licenses for my three personal patents granted to Thornton Corporation.”

Nylah’s expression shifted as she cried out, “Are you threatening me using the company?”

I stated icily while trying to ignore the sharp pain in my lower back, "The company isn't mine."

Then, I started to collect the documents and albums Mom had left behind before saying, “And for the record, my shares aren’t yours either.”

Mia pointed toward the door and screamed, “Get out! After you leave, you have my word that you are no longer my brother, even when Acara throws you out and you start pleading outside the house!”

As I was leaving, Levi caught up to me and thrust an umbrella into my hand.

He lowered his voice so nobody would overhear him.

“Look, they chose me over you.”

Then, he stepped back and raised his voice to declare dramatically, “Take the umbrella! I don’t mind the rain. It’s not like anyone cares about me anyway!”

As soon as he said so, my sisters immediately went up to him.

I left the house keys in the entryway.

Moments before the front door closed, I overheard Nylah.

“I give it three days, tops, before he comes crawling back.”

An hour past midnight, I dragged my luggage out of the room I once shared with Acara.

By daybreak, I was in a car headed for the airport.

Around nine-thirty the next morning, Acara arrived at the wedding venue with Nylah and Mia by her side.

Meanwhile, Levi was dressed in a handsomely tailored suit paired with an expensive watch that was gifted to him by Acara.

Glancing over the empty banquet hall, he then asked hesitantly, “Is Zaire still angry with me?

“Maybe it’s better if I don’t show up.

“I can come back once the wedding is over.”

Acara placed a hand on his shoulder to assure him.

“Why should you hide away from him?

“Even if he causes a scene, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re more important than him.”

Meanwhile, Nylah’s expression turned grim after she checked the time.

“Where is he?”

Mia chuckled.

“He must be late on purpose because he’s expecting us to beg him to show up.

“That sure sounds like the kind of pathetic tactic a loser like him would use!”

Soon, the wedding planner approached them.

“Ms. Grey, why are you here?”

Acara frowned.

“The wedding is scheduled for ten o’clock today. Have you forgotten?”

The planner was taken aback.

“The wedding was canceled three days ago.

“We took down the decorations yesterday.”