Chapter 2

When my father called, I was reading a business report.

My phone vibrated on the desk, and the word “Father” flashed on the screen.

I did not answer.

I let it ring until it hung up automatically.

He thought freezing my bank cards would force me to give in.

He did not know I had stopped needing the money he gave me long ago.

Many scenes from the past flashed through my mind.

I had known since I was little that my father did not like me.

He gave all his favoritism to Adrian.

Adrian had good grades, knew how to talk, and could always make my father happy.

As for me, I was introverted and bad with words, so in his eyes, I was just a useless, dull mute.

I remembered one time when I spent a month making a startup proposal for a smart home project.

I excitedly brought it to my father, hoping to receive even one word of praise from him.

He merely flipped through it casually before tossing it aside.

“Kids playing business. Completely unrealistic.”

I was devastated at the time.

But what hurt me even more was that a month later, I saw Adrian confidently presenting an almost identical proposal at the company’s board meeting.

That proposal received praise from every director.

My father publicly announced that Adrian would be fully responsible for the project and allocated five million dollars in startup funding.

I rushed into my father’s office and confronted him.

“Dad, that was clearly my proposal!”

He did not even raise his head as he looked at his documents.

“What’s yours or mine? You’re a Bennett, so your things belong to the Bennett family. Your brother is more mature and steady than you. I feel more at ease giving the project to him.”

“But...”

“No buts.” He cut me off. “Your brother is the future heir, and he needs achievements to convince people. As his younger brother, shouldn’t you help him?”

At that moment, I understood.

In his world, the only value of my existence was to become Adrian’s stepping stone.

Another time was my eighteenth birthday.

My family held a birthday party for me and invited many guests.

My father gave me a gift in front of everyone, a sports car.

Everyone looked at me with envy.

But when I took the car keys, my father leaned close to my ear and said something.

“This car was bought for your brother. It’s only under your name for now. He’s been drawing too much attention recently and needs to lay low. Remember, don’t touch what isn’t yours.”

That night, Adrian drove away in the car that was supposed to be my birthday gift, taking his friends with him.

And I sat alone in an empty room and finished the piece of birthday cake no one cared about.

There were many more things like that.

Stolen credit, ignored effort, and the humiliation of being treated as a stand-in.

I had once longed for his approval too, desperately trying to prove myself.

But disappointment after disappointment had completely killed my heart.

My phone rang again, and this time it was Adrian.

I hung up directly.

Then I opened Snapchat.

I found the group chat named “The Bennett Family.”

There were dozens of people in it, all relatives from the Bennett family.

At that moment, they were discussing me heatedly.

“Ethan is so immature. He actually dared to talk back to his father in public.”

“Exactly. Without the Bennett family, what is he?”

“Adrian is right. Let him starve for two days, and he’ll behave.”

I looked at those familiar profile pictures as they spoke the most hurtful words.

Not a single person spoke up for me.

Calmly, I pressed the “delete and leave” button.

Next came my father’s, Adrian’s, and every relative’s contact information.

One by one, I blocked and deleted them.

After doing all of that, I felt like the whole world had become quiet.

I would never turn back again.

From the moment I tore up that agreement, I had nothing to do with the Bennett family anymore.