Chapter 3

The shareholders didn't catch my drift, but the three of them knew exactly what I meant. Eleanor gave Chloe a subtle look. Chloe forced herself to look composed, though her voice shook:

"You crazy beggar, now you're questioning my identity? We gave you too much food, and now you don't know your place!"

Pinned against the floor, I forced my head up and laughed coldly. "I return those exact words to you."

Suddenly, Chloe noticed the pendant around my neck. It was an heirloom my grandmother had left me before she died—my most treasured possession.

She stepped forward in her heels, crouched down, yanked it off my neck, and threw it across the room.

The snap of the chain broke the last bit of strength holding me together.

Chloe still wasn't satisfied. She unlocked her phone, opened an Instagram Live stream, and aimed the camera at my face.

"Drama of the year, everyone! The charity case we sponsored went completely insane, claiming he's the sole heir to Vantage Group! How hilarious is this?"

At that moment, my dignity was trampled into dust.

I stared desperately at my grandmother's necklace on the floor. Chloe shoved the lens right into my face, broadcasting my tears and humiliation to tens of thousands of viewers.

I looked at Eleanor, feeling completely helpless. She was once the woman I trusted most in the world. I thought she would stop this madness.

Instead, she walked over coldly, pulled Brandon behind Chloe, and murmured:

"Stream him all you want, but don't show Brandon or the board members. It’ll hurt our public image."

Hearing those words, the last warmth in my chest froze over.

In this family, I wasn't even human to them. I was just trash to be stepped on.

She had never loved me. I had never mattered to any of them.

Lying on the icy floor, listening to the room's mocking laughter, my head spun.

It had been the exact same in my previous life. One voice against an entire room of liars.

Back then, I chose to endure it, thinking stepping back would bring peace. But that retreat was the start of my personal hell.

The shares my father had set aside for me were seized by Eleanor and Chloe, handed on a silver platter to Brandon.

Back then, I was naive enough to think sacrificing my inheritance would buy me a chance to survive.

Instead, reality drove a knife through my heart.

The moment they stripped me of everything, Chloe revealed her true colors.

She orchestrated my kidnapping, shipping me off to an overseas cartel-run compound in South America.

Locked in a shipping container, I finally understood that every sacrifice I made had been meaningless.

They had planned to silence me from the very start.

As they tied me up, I begged Chloe for an explanation. She smiled cruelly:

"Don't blame us for being ruthless, Ethan. You just know too much. For Brandon to secure the throne of Vantage Group, you have to die."