Chapter 1

On the night the Vance family held their grand homecoming banquet, I, their biological son, was not even allowed to walk through the front door.

My biological mother, Victoria, threw a maid's uniform through the iron gate, her face twisted in disgust.

"Put this on and come through the back door. Keep your head down. Do not let anyone see your face and embarrass our family."

Inside the grand ballroom, Christian—the adopted son they had raised for eighteen years—stood at the center of attention. He was dressed in a bespoke designer tuxedo, surrounded by my biological parents, looking like the true sole heir to the Vance empire.

Seeing me, he immediately walked over with a warm, welcoming smile, calling me his "brother."

The guests fawned over him, praising how kind and generous he was to the newcomer.

But I could hear his inner voice loud and clear:

Look at this trailer trash trying to steal my life. I will kick you back to the gutter where you belong sooner or later.

My biological sister, Olivia, also leaned in to hiss a warning: "Behave yourself, Ethan. Do not even dream about touching the Vance family fortune."

I did not say a word. I just lowered my head and smirked.

What they did not know was that I could not just hear people's inner thoughts—I could broadcast them directly to the entire house's smart speaker system.

I reached into my pocket, tapped my phone, and gently pressed the "Broadcast" button.

In the next second, Christian's malicious, venomous voice echoed through every single speaker in the Vance mansion.