บททั้งหมดของ Golden Boy, Broken Crown: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

Crack!A slap landed across my face without warning, hard enough that my vision blurred at the edges.Half my face went numb instantly. My ears rang.The person who'd hit me was my own mother, Valerie Winslet. She stood there jabbing a finger at my nose, her perfectly maintained face twisted with fury."Nick! You shameless, poisonous wretch! How did we ever raise a son as disgusting as you?"You're a lost cause who can't even hold yourself together, and you spent a whole year dropped out of school running wild. Now you actually have the nerve to pull some underhanded trick and steal Bill's acceptance letter to Braxton University?"Do you have any idea what you've done? Because of your selfishness and vanity, Bill's years of hard work are worthless now. You've dragged the entire Cyrus name through the mud!"We were standing in one of the Cyrus family's private estates. Today's event had originally been planned as a college send-off party for my brother, Bill Cyrus.His acceptanc

I almost laughed out loud at my father's words.When it came to protecting his firstborn, my father would rather believe I'd somehow hacked into the national education system than spend two seconds thinking about how absurd that actually was."Nick, just admit it," Bill said, seizing yet another chance to pour fuel on the fire. "I know you've made some connections out there in the world. Just change the name back in the system, and we won't call the police on you. After all... we're still family."That single line nailed the "hacker" theory firmly in place.Rick was beyond furious. He jabbed a finger at my nose and let loose."Have you lost your mind? You ungrateful disgrace! A whole year out of school running with delinquents, and now you actually pull something this criminal?"I've spent my whole career building a spotless reputation in the business world. How did I end up with a stain like you for a son? Do you have any idea how far Cyrus Group's stock would fall if word of th

After I hung up, the temperature in the hall dropped to freezing."You... you actually dared to call the police?!" Rick pointed at me, his hand shaking. "Do you have any idea how much damage this could do to the Cyrus name?""Damage?" I pulled out a chair and sat down like I owned the place, twirling the knife between my fingers. "The second you decided to lock me up in an internet-addiction center, whether the Cyrus name lives or dies stopped being my problem."About twenty minutes later, the sound of sirens cut through the air outside the estate.A string of official vehicles marked with the Department of Education's insignia pulled up right after.Several uniformed police officers and a handful of middle-aged men with badges pinned to their chests strode inside.The man in front carried himself with quiet, unmistakable authority. He swept his gaze around the room."I'm Director Bruce Maddox, here with the State Department of Education's inspection team."We just received a f

At the very bottom of the screen, one more line blinked in bright, unmistakable red: [This student's file falls under National S-Class Talent Reserve classification and is protected at the highest level. Unauthorized access to the detailed record is strictly prohibited.]The room erupted.If Bill's score had drawn mockery a moment ago, this file inspired something closer to awe.The livestream exploded completely. The server even lagged for a few seconds under the load.[HOLY. Special admission?! And it happened a whole year ago?!][Dropout my ass, he was recruited straight into the National Talent Reserve Program early!][An S-Class Talent file! How big of a genius do you have to be for that? Three national-level seals. I've never seen anything like it in my life!][This is hilarious. The Cyrus family had a national treasure of a genius under their own roof and treated him like garbage? They wanted to send him to an internet-addiction center?][A guy who scored 229/400 accused

The day I left in Charles's private car, public opinion online detonated completely.The scandal of an older brother framing his own sibling after failing the National Exam hit the front page of every major outlet.The relevant authorities moved fast.Shane was stripped of his teaching license on the spot and handed over to the judicial system. Prison time was waiting for him.Bill avoided actual prison time because of his age, but he was left with a serious criminal record and placed on a public credit blacklist. Forget college. Not even a factory floor job would take him after that.As for Cyrus Group, the fallout was catastrophic. The stock hit its daily limit down for two straight weeks, wiping out tens of billions in market value. Once word got out that the Cyruss had crossed both Charles and the National Talent Reserve Program, the political and business heavyweights who'd once partnered with them pulled their funding and tore up their contracts one after another.…Six