“The reputation of the Grant family cannot be ruined like this!”
Liam immediately added fuel to the fire.
Elizabeth burst into tears, sobbing in despair. “What a sin… how could my own son turn out this way? I don’t even want to live anymore.”
Richard shouted angrily. “You’re at the age where you should be studying, and yet your head is filled with these improper thoughts. Get up!”
I casually pulled the blanket back over myself and tapped my phone a few times.
The lights in the room shut off, and the projector flickered on.
What played was the surveillance footage from this very room—starting from the moment Liam brought me inside, right up to now.
I didn’t feel like talking, but I wasn’t about to let myself be framed either.
Richard and Elizabeth both glanced at Liam, their expressions shifting.
But Richard still said, “Your brother brought you here so you could have a better environment. You should know how to avoid suspicion.”
Elizabeth sighed. “That’s what happens when you grow up in a small town—you don’t know the rules and you don’t think about others.”
I finally understood. They didn’t care about right or wrong. They just didn’t like me.
But if they didn’t like me, why go through so much trouble to drag me back?
I felt helpless but chose not to argue.
Thankfully, Sophia returned and helped me out of the situation.
But as they left the room, I overheard Richard muttering something unpleasant, more or less:
“You need to behave yourself. You’ll be part of an arranged marriage for the Grant family in the future. If your reputation is ruined, you won’t be worth anything.”
I caught the look on Sophia’s profile as she heard this. Her face was expressionless, like all the life had drained out of her.
Soon after, I was called downstairs for dinner.
At the table, Richard and Elizabeth sat with Liam between them. They looked more like a real family of three.
Liam was charming, always knowing how to say things that pleased them.
Richard and Elizabeth kept glancing at me with disappointment, then at Liam with satisfaction, as if constantly making comparisons.
Suddenly Liam asked, “Brother, did you go to school in that small town?”
“I already graduated,” I replied lazily.
Richard frowned. “You and Liam are the same age. He’s only a senior in high school, and you’ve already graduated? What did you study?”
“Computer science and welding,” I answered truthfully.
Richard slammed the table. “How could a child of the Grant family study something so unrefined as welding?”
Elizabeth quickly added, “Liam is now a senior at St. Augustine Academy. He has a chance at getting into the Ivy League. You should spend half a year there too. Even if you don’t get into a good university, your father and I can donate a building wing and get you a diploma from a decent school.”
“But I’ve already graduated.”
I wanted to tell them that I had been in the MIT Early Admission Program, had long since graduated, and was already working. This trip home was only a family visit; I would soon be returning to work.
But my job was classified—so sensitive that I couldn’t even mention it.
And frankly, I was too lazy to explain.
Richard slammed the table again. “Still daring to talk back? I’ve decided—tomorrow you’ll report to St. Augustine Academy!”
So they wanted to send me back to school for a do-over?
If I remembered correctly, the year I graduated from MIT, I had already come to St. Augustine Academy to give guidance.
I really wanted to see Principal Harris’s expression when he saw me enrolled as a student at his school.
Just then, guests arrived.
It was a family of three. The middle-aged couple looked wealthy and dignified.
With them was a man about Sophia’s age—handsome, but with sunken eyes and a pale face.
He looked like someone hollowed out by indulgence.
