My parents mentioned long ago that they wanted to host a grand banquet to celebrate my coming of age.

However, unexpected work issues delayed their arrival.

The crystal chandelier cast a dazzling light over the room.

Dressed in a tailored cocktail dress, I descended the spiral staircase into the living room.

From a distance, I spotted my brother, Shawn Wood. He was dressed sharply in a suit, his expression cold and detached as he called out to me, “Sierra, come here.”

I walked over, deliberately ignoring Alec’s piercing gaze and Linda’s tearful, pitiful display behind him.

Smiling sweetly, I asked, “What’s up, Shawn? Did you prepare a gift for me?”

Shawn’s icy stare lingered on me for a moment before he spoke.

“Bullying your classmates and insulting your friends—Sierra Wood, is this the kind of behavior the Wood family taught you?”

His voice was loud and unyielding, drawing the attention of every guest in the room.

“What are you talking about, Shawn? I don’t understand.”

I turned to Linda, tilting my head innocently.

“Who did I insult? When did I bully a classmate? I don’t even know her.”

“Denying it now won’t help you. When you make a mistake, you pay the price.”

Shawn’s voice was stern as he continued, “With Mom and Dad away, it’s my responsibility to discipline you.”

He reached for a ruler from the antique shelf nearby, turning to face me with a harsh command.

“Kneel down.”

…

In the grand banquet hall, countless guests turned to watch, their faces a mix of curiosity and barely concealed amusement.

“What? Bullying a classmate? Even the Wood family’s heiress does things like this?”

“Well, she’s been spoiled her whole life. It’s not surprising she’d lash out at someone better than her.”

“Good thing her brother is stepping in. At least he’s not covering for her.”

Under Linda’s triumphant and provocative gaze, I stood tall, refusing to bow.

I smiled, letting venom drip from my words.

"What nonsense are you spouting, Shawn? People who know you might recognize you as Shawn Wood, but those who don’t might just think you’re an outdated, overly dramatic lunatic”

I tilted my head, feigning thought before continuing with a mocking grin.

"I only kneel for the dead. Tell you what, go take a dive off a building, and I’ll happily bow three times to send you on your way."

Shawn’s face darkened instantly.

Behind him, Linda put on her usual act, speaking in a soft, tearful voice.

"Shawn, I know Sierra doesn’t like me, and it’s fine if she bullies me. But how could she say something like that to her own brother?"

She widened her eyes, letting tears glisten as she deliberately assumed an innocent and childlike expression.

Alec, standing nearby, caught sight of her performance.

A shadow of something dark and unreadable flickered in his gaze before he spoke quietly.

"Sierra, if you’ve done something wrong, just admit it and apologize. There’s no need to—"

I cut him off, my own eyes widening in mock distress.

"Sorry, I don’t understand whatever nonsense you’re saying. Care to try again in plain English?"

"Enough!" Shawn barked sharply.

"Sierra, you’re a young woman! Have you no sense of shame? Who taught you to speak so crudely and behave so disgracefully?"

As always, he didn’t believe a word I said.

No matter what came out of my mouth, it was useless.

Instead, he always judged me with intense bias, nailing me to the pillar of shame time and time again.

I curled my lips into a smirk, mimicking his cold expression as I replied, "Mom and Dad are too busy to bother with me. So, guess who taught me?

"Of course, it was you, my dear brother."

…

In my previous life, I had always felt a mix of fear and admiration for Shawn.

He was several years older than me, and in my eyes, he had always been an imposing figure.

When we were younger, Mom and Dad were often tied up with work at the company, leaving him in charge of me.

Whenever I made a mistake, even a small one, he’d strike my palms with a ruler or punish me by withholding meals.

When I brought home a curly-haired stray puppy, Shawn wouldn’t let the housekeeper open the door for me.

“It’s filthy. We don’t welcome things like that in this house.”

So, I sat on the steps outside, clutching the little dog in my arms, all night long.

I was still young back then and thought that was just his nature—incapable of the gentle affection other brothers showed their sisters until Linda came along.

That was when I realized Shawn wasn’t incapable of being affectionate. He simply chose not to show me such affection.

I’d seen him sitting in his car, handing Linda a cup of warm milk while ruffling her hair, saying, "Make sure you eat three proper meals a day. If you ever need money, you know I’ve got you."

I’d seen her pick up a frail stray cat on a rainy day, with him standing beside her, holding an umbrella and gently asking, “Do you want to keep it?”

Even when Linda got drunk and clung to his shirt, rambling nonsense, he listened patiently, his eyes filled with nothing but tenderness.

In my previous life, I was trapped in a delusion of love.

I kept wondering why my brother didn’t love me, why my fiancé never sided with me.

Given a second chance at life, I finally saw things clearly.

I was my own person.

I didn’t need someone’s love to survive.

…

The birthday banquet didn’t end on a high note after all.

Just as Shawn and I stood locked in confrontation, my parents finally returned.

They thanked the guests politely and saw everyone out of the hall.

Linda tried to pull the same pity act in front of my mom, but she shut her down with a simple smile.

“Sorry, Miss Lowe, but we will handle our own family affairs. Please leave.”

Linda froze, her face stiffening as she cast a tearful glance at Shawn before reluctantly turning to leave.

Once the guests left and it was just Shawn and me in the house, my dad finally spoke, his expression stern.

“Enough. Now, explain what happened.”

Before Shawn could say a word, I cut in.

“A new transfer student arrived at school recently. On her first day, she suddenly poured water over her own head and accused me of doing it, claiming I was bullying her.”

I paused for a moment, then continued, “Later, I found out she’s the same girl Shawn has been secretly sponsoring, a poor student named Linda Lowe.”

Shawn, seated on the couch, snapped his head up to look at me, his eyes filled with shock.

“Surprised, aren’t you, Shawn? You didn’t think I’d find out so soon about the little connection between you two, did you?” I thought.

I pressed the corner of my reddened eye and said in a choked voice, “Honestly, I don’t blame her. It’s just a birthday party. I can let it go.

“But what hurts is... why doesn’t my own brother believe me?”

After all, Linda wasn’t the only one who knew how to play the innocent victim.

As my voice broke slightly, laced with tears, my dad brought the matter to a decisive end.

“Enough. I don’t care who bullied whom. None of you are to stir up trouble again. If this gets out, it won’t look good for anyone. This ends here.”

…

When I returned to school, I started bullying Linda openly and without remorse.

I poured ink into her desk drawer, loudly mocked her accented English as she recited passages in class, and tore her physics test paper to shreds, scattering the pieces over her head.

"Go on, report me again," I said with a smile. "Isn’t that what you’re best at?"

A piece of torn paper drifted lazily from her hair to the ground.

She stared at me, a flash of deep-seated hatred glinting in her eyes.

But in the end, she still trembled and cried as she apologized.

"I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Sierra. If I’ve done anything to upset you, I’ll apologize now. I’ll change, okay?"

"Your existence upset me."

I raised an eyebrow, feigning curiosity. "How do you plan to fix that? By dying right here and now?"

She was at a loss for words, unable to utter a single sentence.

In the end, all she could do was keep crying.

For the first time, I realized how satisfying it was to embrace being the villain.

Of course, she ran to tell the teacher.

The teacher called me to the office, where I put on a tearful performance, recounting the events of my birthday party.

By the end, I pulled out a hospital diagnosis.

"Because of her lies, my brother humiliated me in front of everyone that night. I cry every time I think about it, and I even wake up from nightmares.

"I’m seeing a therapist now, and I’m on medication. The doctor says I’m severely depressed."

In the end, the teacher ended up comforting me instead.

It was no secret that I disliked Linda.

Rachel, baffled, asked, "Why do you keep targeting her? Did she ever actually do anything to offend you?”

I tilted my head and smiled at her.

"Can’t I just be a spoiled rich girl who looks down on the poor transfer student?"

"Yeah, right."

She rolled her eyes at me.

"If you were really like that, why haven’t you bullied me? My family’s even worse off than hers.

"On our first day as friends, you bought me enough school supplies to last three years. If I’m supposed to believe you’re a bully, I might as well believe I’m Cleopatra. Even I’m not that clueless."

Exactly.

Everyone understood that much.

Everyone except my brother and the man I liked.

I curved my lips into a faint smile, but there wasn’t a trace of warmth in my eyes.

…

A month later, the school prepared to celebrate its hundredth anniversary.

In my previous life, Linda performed a piano solo at the anniversary gala, arranged by Shawn and Alec.

Her performance caught the attention of a talent scout in attendance, who granted her the only special admission spot to their prestigious program.

And me?

I had been trained in dance since I was four years old, practicing for over a decade. I had prepared a classical dance routine for the gala.

But Alec found me before the performance.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the campus, he pulled me into a gentle hug and murmured, "Don’t perform, Sierra. I don’t want everyone else to notice how beautiful you are—it’ll make me jealous. Just dance for me, okay?"

Back then, I was a fool.

I thought it was his way of caring about me.

So, on the night of the gala, I didn’t perform.

Instead, I stayed in the empty dance studio, performing for him over and over again.

When my routine finally ended, a thunderous wave of cheers erupted from the auditorium in the distance.

Alec heard it and suddenly smiled.

He was always so gentle and reserved around me, his smiles faint and almost hazy, as though separated by a veil.

It was the first time I saw him show such obvious emotion.

I stopped dancing, naively asking, "Are you happy?"

He hesitated for a moment. "Yes, I’m happy."

At the time, I thought his happiness came from watching me dance just for him.

It wasn’t until much later that I learned the truth.

He was happy because Linda’s performance was a resounding success.

The only light in his life had found her bright, dazzling future.

…

I submitted the dance routine I had prepared long ago.

But this time, it wasn’t a solo performance.

I pulled in every girl in my class who was interested in performing, and together, we choreographed a group classical dance.

I hired a professional instructor, splurged on the most expensive costumes, and had the finest props custom-made.

By comparison, Linda’s simple piano solo in a plain white dress seemed far too underwhelming.

I wasn’t sure what sob story she told Shawn, but that evening, when I returned home after school, he stopped me in the garden.

"Sierra Wood."

He looked at me with a cold, expressionless face.

"For the school anniversary performance, I want you to drop out from your act.”