"Narrow-minded?"

I laughed.

"You see all his hard work, but what about me? When I was drinking myself into a stomach ulcer trying to land investors and clients—where were you then?"

I kicked over a chair. It barely grazed Lionel.

Mom and Dad stared at me in shock. This was the first time I'd ever defied them like this.

But then Lionel suddenly collapsed to the floor, crying out in pain.

"Ah, my leg!"

"It's okay, Luke. You're right to hit me. I know I'm just the adopted son—I shouldn't be competing for your position as heir. I don't want it anymore. Just please, stop hurting me."

Dad's face darkened with rage.

"You've been bullying Lionel since you were kids. Now I see we made the right choice. If we'd made you the heir, you probably would've beaten him to death!"

Mom rushed to pull up Lionel's pant leg. Just a scrape.

But she shot me a furious glare. "If anything happens to Lionel, you're out of this family! And don't even think about being heir!"

Watching them rally around him, I felt ice spread through my chest. I let out a bitter laugh.

"Fine. Then let's just cut ties."

"Forget being heir—I don't want any part of the Dickersons."

I strode out of the private room.

But the moment I slammed the door, I heard Stewart's voice from inside:

"Look, Cecil, this wasn't my idea. You're the ones who wanted to use this opportunity to keep Luke down so Lionel could secure his position as heir. You asked me to say those things."

Dad replied, "If I'd known he'd react this badly, I wouldn't have gone through with it."

I froze, thinking he might actually feel bad.

But his next words were: "What if he holds a grudge and tries to get back at Lionel?"

Mom scoffed. "Have you forgotten? We bought off his investors and clients specifically so he'd never get back on his feet."

"He's just putting on a brave face. Once he hits rock bottom, he'll come crawling back."

Hearing that, I couldn't hold back my tears any longer.

So that was it.

All those times I couldn't land investors, couldn't close deals—they'd arranged it all from the start.

If I hadn't turned my attention overseas, I'd probably be drowning in debt by now.

At that moment, the stomach I'd ruined drinking with clients decided to flare up. The pain hit hard.

Outside, an ambulance wailed.

Paramedics rushed past with a stretcher, heading inside.

Cold sweat beaded on my forehead. I reached out. "Excuse me—"

"Coming through. Someone's badly injured in there. We need to get them to the hospital immediately."

They brushed past me and into Lionel's private room.

Moments later, Lionel was wheeled out on the stretcher.

As they passed, one of the paramedics noticed me clutching my stomach, face pale. "Hey, this guy doesn't look good either—"

But Mom cut him off. "Ignore him. Get my son to the hospital now. If you delay his treatment, I'll file a complaint."

Dad chimed in. "That one's technically my son too. He just couldn't handle losing the heir position to his brother, so he attacked him."

"This is all an act. He's been pulling stunts like this since he was a kid."

The paramedic shot me a disgusted look and hurried Lionel into the ambulance.

Just before the doors closed, Lionel flashed me a smug little smile.

The pain in my stomach kept getting worse.

In the end, a stranger called an ambulance for me.

By the time I reached the hospital, the doctor said if I'd arrived even a few minutes later, I could have ruptured my stomach lining again.

After checking in and taking my medication, the pain finally began to ease.

Just then, Lionel posted a video update.

In the footage, their father handed him inheritance agreements to sign, one after another, while their mother held a bowl of herbal soup, spooning it into his mouth.

The caption read: "Grateful to Mom and Dad for giving me their best."

I let out a bitter laugh.

And here I'd been worried about creating conflict with my brother over the family assets. I'd worked myself to the bone building my own company from nothing. I'd actually been naive enough to think our parents would be proud of what I'd accomplished.

But watching how they doted on him now, I suddenly felt like a fool.

They'd never really seen me as their son.

After all, from the time we were kids, anything Lionel wanted, they made me give up for him. Anything Lionel said, they believed without question.

To them, I was just a good-for-nothing deadbeat. A waste of space with no ambition.

In their eyes, I probably ranked below the family dog.

My phone buzzed with a message from one of my people.

"Mr. Dickerson, we've smoothed things over with the tax authorities regarding Dickerson Corp. But they're saying the company evaded a significant amount this time, and there's a crackdown coming in the next few days. We'll need twenty million to plug the hole before it becomes a problem."

I shook my head. "Forget it. Put that twenty million toward the new project instead."

"But what about Dickerson Corp...?"

"Dickerson Corp has an heir now. It's not my place to bail them out anymore."

After leaving the hospital, I'd planned to head back south.

But the trains had stopped running unexpectedly—wouldn't resume for another week.

With nothing better to do, I decided to swing by Dickerson Corp.

Back when I was building my business, I'd quietly funneled a multi-million dollar contract under the company's name. I'd meant it as a surprise for them down the road.

But now? There was no point.

Sales and finance operated independently, so the accounting department would just assume the sales team had landed the deal. If I wanted to reclaim it, I'd need to verify the revenue figures first.

But the moment I walked in, I ran straight into Lionel.

He sauntered over, smirking. "Well, well. Dad said you'd have nowhere else to go and would probably show up here. Didn't think you'd actually do it."

He'd finally dropped all pretense with me. No reason for me to keep playing the dutiful brother either.

"You went through a lot of trouble for that future CEO title," I said flatly.

A smug grin spread across his face. "Can't help it. You've always been better than me. Without a few tricks up my sleeve, I never would've stood a chance against you."

Then he leaned in close, his smile widening.

"Oh, by the way—Dad already told the Galloways about me becoming the heir. Day after tomorrow, I'm getting engaged to Myrtle Galloway."

"You've had a thing for her since we were kids, haven't you? How does it feel now, brother?"

Looking at that self-satisfied expression on his face, something inside me snapped.

Here I'd been trying to salvage our relationship.

And all along, he'd been scheming to take everything from me.

I grabbed him by the collar.

But at that exact moment, our parents appeared at the top of the stairs—just in time to see it happen.

Mom's voice rang out, sharp with fury.

"What do you think you're doing? Let go of him this instant!"

She rushed over and shoved me hard, pulling Lionel behind her like a shield. Her eyes locked onto mine, cold and hostile, as if I were some kind of enemy.

"Lionel earned his position as heir through his own merit, and here you are trying to hurt him again! How did we end up with such a vicious son?"

Then she turned to Lionel, her tone shifting to anxious concern. "Sweetheart, are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

Lionel shook his head, his expression wounded and pitiful.

"It's okay, Mom. He's just upset that I'm the heir now. He's always been better than me at everything, so I understand why this is hard for him."

"He's just having trouble accepting this. Please don't blame him."

At those words, Dad looked at me with disappointment.

"Luke, when will you ever have even half of Lionel's capacity for forgiveness?"

Mom glared at me, teeth clenched. "Him? Forgiving? It'd be a miracle if he wasn't scheming against Lionel behind our backs."

Then she pointed at me. "You'd better shape up. Otherwise, don't blame me for disowning you."

With that, she didn't spare me another glance and left with Lionel.

I could still hear her comforting him as they walked away.

"Lionel, you wanted a dog, didn't you? I bought you a Labrador."

Dad looked at me, sighed, shook his head, and followed after them.

I watched their figures disappear, my expression cold, before finally looking away.

The office was empty by now—everyone had gone home.

It took me hours of digging before I finally confirmed the exact situation with that project.

But in the process, I discovered something else. A year ago, to keep Lionel happy, my parents had diverted company funds to buy him a yacht.

He'd gotten bored of it later and sold it.

Only, that transaction had been hidden from the books.

The deeper I dug, the more I found. Deals like this, buried one after another.

God knows how much tax they'd evaded.

Last year, a friend had tipped me off that the Dickersons were dodging taxes. I'd spent a fortune covering it up for them.

But this time? I wasn't sticking my neck out again.

The train south wouldn't depart for a few more days, so I checked into a small hotel.

The next evening, my parents somehow tracked down where I was staying.

I'd barely stepped outside when they blocked my path.

The moment she saw me, Mom let out a scornful laugh.

"Without us propping you up, this is the best you can do—some dingy little hotel."

"At the end of the day, you're just a useless nobody who can't survive without the family."

I ignored her and turned to leave.

But Lionel stepped in front of me.

"Hey, we're family. There's nothing we can't work out." He put on an earnest expression. "I brought Mom and Dad here because I want you at my engagement party tomorrow. Me and Evelyn."

"I already talked them into giving you a tenth of a percent of the company shares."

"So stop making a scene and just come home with us."

Dad sighed. "Luke, Lionel's offering you those shares out of the goodness of his heart. You should be grateful to have such a considerate brother."

"A tenth of a percent?"

"I don't want it."

I shoved Lionel's hand away. He stumbled back and fell, scraping his palm bloody.

Mom immediately exploded.

"If it weren't for Lionel's engagement tomorrow—if it weren't for the family's reputation—you think we'd actually want to bring you home?!"

"You've bullied him since you were kids, and now you have the nerve to shove him right in front of us? We never should've bothered!"

"Fine! You don't want the shares? Then you get nothing!"

"Let's see how long you last without our support!"

Hearing that, I almost laughed.

"Do you even hear yourself?"

"When—when—have you ever actually seen me bully Lionel?"

"Every single time, all he had to do was point a finger at me, and you'd punish me without a second thought!"

"In elementary school, he threw away his own backpack and told you I tossed it in the river. You made me go a whole day without food."

"He flipped up a girl's skirt and told you I put him up to it. You beat my back raw and made me apologize in front of the entire school."

"Later, he stole money from home. But you believed his sob story—said I was a bad influence as his older brother. You threw me outside in the freezing cold with nothing on, while you bought him a cake to make him feel better."