Chapter 1

Our father caught my older sister, Daphne Wilson, skipping class to party at a nightclub. By the next morning, he'd confiscated all her debit cards, credit cards, and sports car keys.

Dad sneered at her. "If you're old enough to cause trouble, you're old enough to earn your own money."

And just like that, the eldest daughter of the Wilson family, whose fortune was worth hundreds of millions, found herself so broke she couldn't even afford an extra chicken drumstick at the school cafeteria.

With no other way to support herself, she had no choice but to swallow her pride and come to me.

"Lend me 250 dollars."

I lounged on the sofa and casually pulled up the calculator on my phone. "I don't lend money, but I do have a job for you."

From that day on, the former campus beauty became my personal maid, paid monthly.

Saving me a seat cost 12.50 dollars. Copying my notes cost 40 dollars. Running errands and buying me food cost 60 dollars. And whenever I got tired after playing basketball, she had to stand beside me and fan me. That service came at a slightly higher price: 125 dollars.

Everyone at school thought I was using my wealth to humiliate her.

Lucas Tomlinson, a student from a poor family, was particularly outraged on her behalf.

When I asked Daphne to buy me lunch, he immediately stepped in. "You're a grown man with two perfectly good hands and feet. What gives you the right to order her around?"

When I asked Daphne to write a self-criticism letter for me, he snatched the money off the table. "She's not some servant you can buy with your money!"

Then, one rainy day, I asked Daphne to hold an umbrella over me and escort me back to my dorm.

Lucas rushed over, snatched the umbrella from her hand, and shoved me into a puddle.

The next day, he reported me for financial bullying and forced me to sign a written pledge: [From this day forward, you are forbidden from using money to humiliate Daphne Wilson.]

I signed it without a word. Then I promptly stopped transferring money to Daphne's account and instructed our housekeeper to stop setting aside meals for her.

Lucas looked at me with satisfaction. "Daphne is finally free. Even if she starves to death, she won't take another cent of your dirty money."

I stared at him thoughtfully.

Wait a minute. Before appointing himself the guardian of my sister's dignity, shouldn't he have asked her where she was supposed to get the money for next month's living expenses?

Chapter 1

The moment I finished signing, I slid the agreement back across the table to Lucas Tomlinson.

He'd prepared an entire speech to talk me out of it, but the words suddenly caught in his throat. "You actually signed it?"

I glanced at my signature. The ink hadn't even dried yet. "What else was I supposed to do? Wait for an auspicious day?"

Lucas stared at me for several seconds. "Aren't you going to think it over?"

"What's there to think about?" I screwed the cap back onto my pen. "You just fired an employee who earns more per hour than a CEO and has a worse temper than her boss. I should be thanking you, not questioning your decision."

Lucas' expression darkened. "Daphne isn't your employee! She's a living, breathing person, not some toy you can order around just because you have money!"

I nodded. "Oh. And?"

Lucas' eyes reddened instantly. "Dominic Harris, do you seriously think she'll come crawling back to you the moment she runs out of your money?"

"Not really." I considered it for a moment. "She should be able to hold out until dinner, at least."

He crumpled the agreement in his fist, apparently stunned by my heartlessness. "I can survive on 2 dollars a day, too! People might be poor, but that doesn't mean they should sacrifice their dignity for money!"

I looked him up and down. "Daphne spends 200 dollars on a single meal. Your 2 dollars might not even cover the chewing gum she has afterward."

Someone nearby couldn't suppress a snort of laughter.

Tears immediately spilled down Lucas' cheeks. "You're still flaunting your wealth at a time like this? Daphne is beautiful, intelligent, and comes from a once-wealthy family. You're exploiting her misfortune because you enjoy the thrill of forcing a princess to bow her head to you!"

I didn't bother arguing.

Daphne had bowed her head to me plenty of times. Usually, it was to check whether my shoelaces were tied. She charged 25 dollars per inspection, and actually tying them cost another 12.50 dollars.

One of us had the audacity to name those prices, and the other had the audacity to pay them.

Lucas was the only one acting as though she'd sold herself. He snapped a photo of the agreement and posted it on the campus forum with an eye-catching headline.

[She's nobody's toy. Stop using money as an excuse to control your classmates.]

Lucas clearly expected everyone to join him in condemning me.

The first few comments did exactly that.

[So having money means you can treat your classmates like servants?]

[Taking advantage of Daphne when she's down and out? What a shameless jerk.]

But before long, a guy from the basketball team joined the discussion: [Hold on before you start feeling sorry for her. Last time Daphne fanned him, she charged him 125 dollars right in front of our entire team.]

Another student immediately chimed in: [She charged him 40 dollars to copy his notes, too. I saw her collect the money before she even picked up her pen.]

Public opinion shifted almost instantly. Soon, an entirely different comment had risen to the top.

[So is Daphne's position open now?]

The comment section quickly descended into chaos.

[Must be nice being pretty. You get paid to hang around a rich guy, and the whole school still feels sorry for you.]

[Mr. Harris, look at me. My dignity is very flexible.]

[If Daphne doesn't want the job, hire me. I'll copy your notes and even carry you up five flights of stairs.]

[Was the 125 dollars for fanning him real? Because I'll bring my own fan.]

[Please hire me. I know how to keep my mouth shut and follow orders.]

Lucas was so furious that he began replying to the comments one by one.

[This isn't a job. It's humiliation!]

[Don't any of you have self-respect?]

Someone promptly replied: [Of course we do, but we can put it in storage temporarily for anything over 40 dollars.]

Another student asked a far more pointed question: [Has Daphne herself ever said she doesn't want to do it?]

Lucas gripped his phone and stared at the screen for a long time, unable to type a single word.

The truth was, he barely knew Daphne at all. Whenever they passed each other in the hallway, she didn't even acknowledge him.

But Lucas didn't take that as a sign that they were practically strangers. Instead, he'd convinced himself that Daphne was the type to endure everything in silence and bury her suffering deep in her heart.

After reading his analysis, I made a startling discovery. Apparently, my older sister had an incredibly rich inner world that even I knew nothing about.

Nobody at school knew Daphne and I were siblings. She had our father's last name, while I had our mother's.

As for why we'd kept our relationship a secret, the reason was simple. Daphne thought I was an embarrassment.

On the first day of freshman year, she'd warned me, "Don't call me your sister at school."

"Why not?"

"It'll hurt my market value."

I'd promptly stuffed the half-eaten corn dog in my hand into her backpack.

From that day on, we practically stopped acknowledging each other's existence at school. Whenever we crossed paths, we simply rolled our eyes at each other.

Later, Daphne skipped classes to go to a bar, and our father cut off her allowance. After that, she became even more determined to deny we were related. According to her, working for her own brother was humiliating enough. There was no way she could let the entire school find out that he was financially supporting her, too.

In other words, all the hardship and humiliation Lucas imagined her suffering amounted to nothing more than the terms of a job she'd personally begged me to give her.

Unfortunately, Daphne had left with the basketball team the day before for an away tournament at a training camp. All the players had been required to surrender their phones.

She had no idea that Lucas had just heroically restored her dignity. And in the process, he had conveniently destroyed her livelihood.

Chapter 2

Lucas still wasn't satisfied. "Signing a pledge isn't enough. Cancel all of Daphne's upcoming orders right now."

"Sure."

I opened the campus gig platform. Daphne's status was so painfully straightforward that it almost broke my heart.

[Desperate for money. Trying to survive. Urgent.]

Below it was a list of her bookings for the next two weeks: buying me breakfast before morning classes, helping me organize the mistakes I'd made on practice tests during lunch break, saving me a spot in the shade during PE, taking my basketball shoes to the gym after school, and practicing tennis with me on weekends.

Daphne had originally charged just 40 dollars for tennis practice. But she thought my skills were so terrible that practicing with me would ruin her mood, so she'd stubbornly raised the price to 100 dollars.

Right in front of Lucas, I canceled every order, one by one.

[Order withdrawn.]

[Exclusive booking privileges disabled.]

[Outstanding balance payment suspended.]

Lucas' tense expression finally softened. He thought he'd freed Daphne from my clutches.

To me, it looked more like a termination notice.

Suddenly, a guy nearby raised his hand. "Hey, Dominic, do you still need someone to save you a seat? Daphne charges 40 dollars. I'll do it for 35 dollars."

Another student immediately chimed in, "I'll do it for 32 dollars. I'll even wipe down your desk for free."

Lucas stared at them in disbelief. "How can you willingly subject yourselves to this kind of humiliation just for money?"

The first guy scratched his head. "It's just saving a seat. What's so humiliating about that? My mom makes me get up early to buy groceries, and she doesn't even pay me a cent."

Someone nearby burst out laughing.

Lucas's face turned pale.

I waved the students off. "I'm not hiring anyone for now. I don't want someone else getting all worked up on your behalf again."

Lucas carefully tucked away the pledge, his eyes bright with the satisfaction of victory. "When Daphne comes back, she'll thank me. Starting today, she won't have to put up with your attitude just to cover her living expenses."

I glanced at the remaining balance on her campus card: 1.08 dollars.

Fair enough. She wouldn't have to put up with my attitude anymore. She'd just have to answer to her bank balance instead.

…

The next morning, I'd barely stepped into the classroom when every conversation around me came to an abrupt halt.

The guy in front of me hurriedly flipped his phone facedown. He looked at me as if I were some criminal whose crimes had just been exposed on the evening news.

I set down my backpack. "What? Did the campus forum convict me overnight?"

My deskmate slid his phone over to me.

Lucas had posted another lengthy exposé in the early hours of the morning.

[Who will save Daphne Wilson from being conditioned by money?]

This time, he'd attached plenty of photos: Daphne carrying my basketball shoes, waiting in line to buy me cake, and picking up my jacket beside the sports field. One photo even showed her kneeling at the foot of the steps, her head bowed as she tied my shoelaces.

Lucas had added a special caption: [She used to be so proud. Now, for a few hundred bucks, she's forced to bow her head to Dominic Harris in front of everyone.]

The comments section was ablaze with outrage.

[So having money means you can treat people like dirt?]

[Does making the campus bell kneel and serve him give him some kind of sick thrill?]

[Dominic is absolutely shameless. He's taking advantage of her misfortune to force her into some twisted romance.]

[I feel so bad for Daphne. She used to be too proud to even read the love letters people sent her. Now she has to put up with this just to eat.]

…

Lucas approached me, his eyes red. "Have you seen it? I'm not the only one who thinks you're in the wrong."

I looked at the photos and nodded. "Yeah, I've seen it."

His expression relaxed. "So you're willing to apologize now?"

"No. I've just figured out why the school's average literature grade never improves," I said flatly.

Lucas' smile froze.

Just then, someone at the back of the classroom suddenly shouted, "Wait a second! I found Daphne's gig account!"

Chapter 3

The student immediately shared Daphne's public profile in our grade's group chat.

The photo Lucas had posted of her tying my shoelaces matched one of her service listings perfectly.

[Service: Shoelace inspection. Base fee: 25 dollars. Note: Inspection only covers checking whether the laces are loose. Retying them is not included.]

Another listing appeared directly below it.

[Service: Retying loose shoelaces. Additional fee: 12.50 dollars.]

The students soon dug up the rest of her orders.

Taking my basketball shoes to the gym. Original price: 12.50 dollars.

Daphne considered the gym too far away, so she raised the price to 35 dollars.

Practicing tennis with me. Original price: 40 dollars.

She thought my tennis skills were terrible and resented how I always blamed my mistakes on my practice partner. To compensate for the frustration, she added another 70 dollars for emotional distress.

Getting rid of my admirers. Original price: 40 dollars.

When she discovered that one of them had a black belt in taekwondo, she tacked on another 90 dollars for workplace injury insurance.

As for low-paying jobs, Daphne turned them down without a second thought.

[Not enough money. Not interested.]

[Too far. Pay extra.]

[Call me Boss for 5% off. Call me your maid, and that'll cost you an extra 70 dollars.]

The comment section, which had been overflowing with sympathy for her just moments earlier, fell completely silent for a full thirty seconds.

Then all hell broke loose.

[Wait, she gets 40 dollars just for bowing her head?]

[Who's the one who actually needs saving here? Someone save me first! I only get 100 dollars a month for living expenses!]

[Must be nice to be pretty. You get to make money off a rich guy and set your own prices.]

[Mr. Harris, I'll carry you up five flights of stairs for 25 dollars!]

[Looking for a sugar daddy. My dignity is available on a monthly subscription.]

Before long, a new comment shot to the top: [@Lucas, if you're going to report him, why didn't you include the recruitment link?]

Lucas stared at his screen, his face alternating between red and pale. "She only learned to haggle because you forced her into it!"

I was genuinely impressed by his reasoning. When Daphne raised her prices, it was oppression. When she rejected a job, it was a trauma response.

Apparently, once you'd decided on a conclusion, you could twist any evidence to support it.

…

Ten minutes later, I was summoned to the faculty office.

My teacher, Richard Lewis, slammed screenshots of the orders onto his desk. "Dominic Harris, have you no shame? You're a man! Do you even know what it means to have some dignity?

"You make a girl carry your things, tie your shoelaces, and chase away your admirers. Do you think that makes you impressive?"

I pointed at the screenshots. "She accepted those orders herself. And she set her own prices."

Richard sneered, "She was so desperate for money that she had to turn to you. And you still have the nerve to claim she did it willingly?

"Daphne is one of our school's top students. We're counting on her to win awards and bring honor to this school.

"She's not here for you to humiliate with your money!"

His twisted logic was giving me a headache.

"She was selling her labor. Why are you making it sound like she was selling something else?" I asked.

"Shut up!" Richard slammed his palm against the desk. "You throw money around every day to make girls run errands for you, and you're actually proud of it? You don't even understand basic respect! Who would ever think highly of a man like you?"

Lucas hurried forward to calm him down. "Please don't put it that way, Mr. Lewis. Maybe Dominic just likes Daphne too much and went about expressing his feelings the wrong way."

With that single sentence, he'd practically established that I was desperately pursuing the campus beauty.

Richard's expression grew even more disgusted. "So you think liking someone gives you the right to exploit her misfortune and force her to serve you?

"Lucas comes from a struggling family, but even he understands that poverty is no excuse to sacrifice your dignity.

"Your family has money, yet somehow you've turned out even more shameless!"

By then, several students had gathered outside the office to watch the spectacle.

Someone quietly spoke up. "But Daphne really does make a lot of money from those jobs."

Richard stormed over and yanked the door open. "No amount of money justifies trampling on someone's dignity! And now you're all joining in the mockery? You've all been led astray!"

He ordered the class monitor to compile a list of everyone who had spoken in my defense. Every student on that list would have to attend a group counseling session on proper values and behavior.

The students who'd been scrambling to apply for my jobs just moments earlier scattered in an instant.

Lucas wiped away his tears before speaking softly. "Mr. Lewis, this has gone beyond an ordinary disagreement. This is financial bullying."

Richard immediately agreed to launch an investigation. He contacted the campus gig platform and had Daphne's 350 dollars in completed but unpaid earnings frozen.

I raised an eyebrow. "So now I get to have people work for me without paying them? What a bargain."

Richard glared at me. "Are you still trying to corrupt her with money?"

The school eventually decided to hold a disciplinary hearing over the financial bullying allegations on the day the basketball team returned to campus.

Lucas would present the evidence, and I would be required to make a public apology and reflect on my misconduct.

Meanwhile, Daphne would attend as the victim.

Lucas stood nearby, his eyes still red from crying. "When Daphne gets back, she'll understand that I did all this for her own good."

I glanced at the frozen payment page.

[Pending settlement: 350 dollars.]

[Current status: Frozen due to dispute.]

I nodded. "Let's hope she still feels that way when she gets back."

Chapter 4

That afternoon, on the day of the disciplinary hearing, I received a text from an unknown number.

[Daphne's old injury has flared up. She's been taken to the rehabilitation center on the outskirts of town. Her emergency contact must arrive as soon as possible to sign the necessary paperwork.]

The message also included Daphne's competition number and details of her previous injury.

Ordinary students wouldn't have access to that kind of information. But just a few days earlier, Lucas had helped the student council organize the basketball team's records.

I stared at the message for several seconds. I knew it could be a trap, but I couldn't afford to take chances with Daphne's leg. After all, our father had beaten her so badly over a night of clubbing two years ago that he'd injured that very leg.

She had a mouth foul enough to make you question whether she was even human, but she was still my sister.

…

I rushed to the rehabilitation center on the outskirts of town.

The staff searched the entire registration system, but there was no record of Daphne anywhere.

Outside, the rain was coming down in torrents.

The ride-hailing app showed more than 200 people ahead of me in the queue. With no other choice, I set off on foot toward the nearest bus stop.

Just then, a truck barreled through a puddle.

I dodged to the side, lost my footing, and tumbled into a roadside drainage ditch. The skin on my palm was scraped raw, my knee was bleeding, and my ankle soon began to swell.

In the end, I had to hitch a ride back to school in a vegetable delivery truck.

…

By the time I pushed open the gym doors, Richard was already onstage, announcing, "Dominic Harris' failure to appear proves that he still refuses to acknowledge his mistakes."

Hundreds of pairs of eyes immediately turned toward me.

Richard took one look at my mud-soaked clothes and frowned. "You knew exactly when the disciplinary hearing was scheduled, yet you deliberately showed up late. And now look at the state of you.

"Harris, do you think playing the victim will get you out of your punishment?"

He pointed at the giant screen.

[School Investigation and Disciplinary Hearing on Financial Bullying]

[Victim: Daphne Wilson]

[Bully: Dominic Harris]

Daphne hadn't even arrived, yet my alleged offenses were already on display for everyone to see.

"After a preliminary review, the school has decided to issue Dominic Harris a formal demerit." Richard thrust a written confession into my hands. "Read it."

I glanced down at the page.

[I exploited Daphne Wilson's feelings for me and used money to coerce her into fulfilling my personal demands.]

They'd even invented a secret crush on Daphne for me.

I crumpled the paper into a ball.

Richard slammed his hand on the table. "Daphne doesn't like you, so you use money to force her to spend time with you. You're a grown man harassing a girl. Have you no shame?"

Lucas hurried forward and made a show of calming him down. "Please don't yell at him, Mr. Lewis. He just can't accept that Daphne is finally about to break free from his control."

With that, Lucas stepped onto the stage and opened the campus gig platform. The 350 dollars that Daphne had earned from her completed orders was still frozen in her account.

In front of the entire school, Lucas clicked the refund button.

[Refund successful.]

Then he terminated the exclusive work arrangement between Daphne and me.

[Partnership permanently terminated.]

Once he'd finished, Lucas let out a long sigh of relief. "Starting today, Daphne won't have to bow her head to anyone just to cover her living expenses. Even if life gets a little harder, at least she'll be able to hold her head high."

I pressed a hand against my bleeding palm and asked, "Did she agree to let you refund her money?"

Lucas met my gaze without hesitation. "People who've been controlled for a long time often can't bring themselves to admit they've been hurt. She doesn't dare say no to you, so I'll say it for her."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a sudden burst of cheers erupted from the back of the gym. The basketball team had returned earlier than expected.

Daphne walked in wearing her black team uniform, with a medal hanging from her shoulder and a suitcase rolling behind her.

Their coach had confiscated everyone's phones for the duration of the training camp. Until that moment, Daphne had no idea what had happened at school.

First, she saw the word "Victim" on the giant screen. Then she noticed the 350 dollars marked as successfully refunded. Finally, her gaze settled on me.

My school uniform was soaked through, my knee was bleeding, and I could barely put any weight on my right foot.

Daphne's expression darkened instantly. "Dominic, who did this to you?"

Before I could answer, Lucas hurried over with the pledge clutched in his arms. "Daphne, you're finally back! You don't have to be afraid of him anymore.

"I've already made sure the school punishes Dominic. He won't be able to use money to boss you around anymore. And I've refunded the money he used to humiliate you."

Daphne frowned. "What money?"

"The 350 dollars in your account." Lucas tried to reassure her, "Things might be a little harder without that money, but starting today, you're free."

Daphne stared at the refund confirmation, so furious she nearly fainted. She had earned every last cent through the jobs she'd completed for me.

"Where's my money?" she demanded.

I jerked my chin toward Lucas. "He took it upon himself to protect your dignity."

Lucas looked at her with red-rimmed eyes. "Daphne, he's humiliated you so much. Why do you still want his dirty money?"

Daphne snatched the pledge straight out of his hands. "He's my younger brother! I'm the one who begged him to give me work and feed me! Who the hell are you to turn down that money on my behalf?"