Chapter 1

The night before the Northbridge Graduate Admissions Exam, my aunt Brenda brought her daughter to our home for dinner.

The girl turned the house upside down, and I tolerated one disaster after another.

During dinner, I left my phone on the table while I went to the bathroom.

When I returned, Aunt Brenda smiled and handed it back to me. "Put this away before you lose it."

I thought nothing of it.

The next morning at the airport, an agent told me my flight had been changed to the following day.

My mind went blank.

In my deleted messages, I found the rebooking verification code from the night before.

I returned home in shock and found Aunt Brenda waiting with her daughter.

"Since you were already traveling to Bellhaven, I moved your flight so you could take Kayla to her father tomorrow.

"I'll reimburse the airfare. No need to thank me."

I shook with anger. "Aunt Brenda, if I leave tomorrow, I'll miss the exam."

She dismissed me with a wave.

"What exam could matter more than family? It's only an admissions test. Take it next time.

"I already offered to cover the ticket. That's almost a thousand dollars. Why are you so ungrateful?"

As I looked at her entitled expression, my anger suddenly became calm.

"All right, Aunt Brenda," I said with a cold smile.

"You're the one who asked me to take her."

Chapter 1

After I agreed, Aunt Brenda swaggered away with Kayla.

My father looked guilty and eager to please. "Mason, don't stay angry with your aunt. She's running a big company now and always busy. When family needs help, we should do what we can."

My mother couldn't take another word. She pointed at him and shouted, "Mason prepared for this exam for an entire year. Didn't you ever notice him studying until two or three in the morning?

"The registration fee alone was more than four hundred dollars, and he earned it by delivering food after class.

"Now your wonderful cousin erased all that work with a few taps. Why didn't you make her reimburse him?"

Dad sat on the couch with his head lowered, sighing repeatedly.

Faced with Mom's shouting, he frowned and struggled for a long time before muttering, "It's only an exam. He can take it next year. If relatives destroy their relationship over one disagreement, how are we supposed to face each other later?"

"Face each other? To hell with that."

Mom shook with anger. She grabbed the gift basket Aunt Brenda had brought and shoved it in front of Dad.

"This is the gratitude your wonderful relative brought us.

"It was produced last year and expires in three days.

"She drives a luxury SUV and lives in a mansion, yet this is what she gives the man who saved her business?"

Dad's expression stiffened, but he still raised his chin defensively.

"She may have been too busy to notice. Owners of large companies don't study expiration dates. The intention matters. Stop assuming the worst about everyone.

"Mason is her own nephew. Taking Kayla to Bellhaven is nothing. He was going that way anyway."

My heart sank.

I looked at my father.

He was an honest, timid man who treated every scrap someone gave him as a blessing, yet somehow never saw what his own wife and son were swallowing.

Brenda Sawyer was my father's distant cousin.

Ten years earlier, her business collapsed, her husband threatened divorce, and creditors crowded her front door.

Dad emptied our savings and borrowed from everyone he knew to cover her losses and help her start again.

Later, Aunt Brenda caught the right market and built Sawyer Building Supply into a real company.

She visited our apartment often, speaking loudly enough for the entire building to hear.

Then she'd leave behind whatever warehouse stock was about to expire or too damaged to sell.

Dad insisted relatives shouldn't keep score. He accepted everything cheerfully and still prepared an expensive dinner whenever she visited.

"Dad."

My voice came out calm. Unnervingly calm.

"Since you think it's on the way, and since you think we owe her more than we owe ourselves—fine. I'll take her."

Mom's eyes were red when she grabbed my hand. "Mason, we don't have to accept this humiliation."

I patted her shoulder gently.

"Aunt Brenda trusts me enough to place her precious daughter in my care.

"How could I repay the kindness of that flight change without giving her something special in return?"

Chapter 2

Early the next morning, Aunt Brenda delivered Kayla exactly on time.

Kayla was only ten years old, but she was already round as a beach ball.

She made a face at me.

"Mom said you have to obey me for the entire trip."

Aunt Brenda laughed awkwardly. "Mason, once you reach Bellhaven, just hand your cousin over to her father. Keep an eye on her during the trip. She's energetic, but easy enough."

I sneered inwardly.

Kayla wasn't energetic. She was a brat, plain and simple.

Endless energy, a real talent for destruction, no manners at all, and a full-blown princess complex.

Whenever she visited our home, she either broke one of my models or poured soda into Mom's prized houseplants.

Aunt Brenda always said the same thing. "Oh, she's a girl. A little spoiled just means she was born lucky. Kayla takes after me. She's got a charmed life ahead of her."

The moment Kayla entered the car, she planted her muddy shoes against the back of my seat and chewed gum loudly.

Aunt Brenda stood beside the window and handed me a bank card.

"Mason, there's fifteen thousand dollars available on this card. Buy whatever Kayla wants during the trip. Don't be stingy.

"But I can see every transaction, so don't think about buying anything for yourself."

She looked at me like I was already a thief. Beside her, Dad rubbed his hands together, embarrassed.

I accepted the card and smiled brightly. "Don't worry, Aunt Brenda. Every cent will be spent on Kayla."

Kayla became restless again at the airport.

While we waited for security, a young woman ahead of us wore an adorable character backpack.

Kayla stared at it for two seconds, then rushed forward, seized one strap, and yanked backward.

"Give it to me. I want it."

The woman stumbled and almost fell. She turned around in shock. "What are you doing?"

"It's mine. If I want something, it belongs to me."

Kayla refused to release the strap.

I calmly took out my phone and began recording.

The woman's face reddened with anger as she looked at me. "Are you her guardian? Control your child."

I spread my hands helplessly. "I'm sorry. I'm only her cousin. I don't have authority over her."

"Her family is wealthy, and her mother owns a large company. Before we left, she specifically warned me never to suppress Kayla's natural personality. Whatever Kayla wants, I have to give her.

"If I interfere, her mother will punish me when we return."

Kayla heard that and went in harder.

She released the strap and spat at the woman. "Poor loser. My mom has money. She'll pay you."

Then she pulled out the wad of spending money Aunt Brenda had stuffed in her pocket that morning and threw it into the woman's face.

Bills scattered across the floor.

Everyone nearby gasped.

"What kind of parenting produces this?"

"Money doesn't make you better than anyone."

I stepped forward, made a show of gathering up the cash, and dipped my head in apology.

"I'm truly sorry. Please take this and have your clothes cleaned. Don't argue with the child. Her mother isn't someone people like us can afford to cross."

The woman studied my humiliated expression, then Kayla's arrogance. She cursed us as lunatics, took the money, and stormed away.

Kayla looked at me triumphantly. "See? Mom says money can solve anything."

I patted her head and said gently, "Excellent work, Kayla. Your mother was absolutely right."

Chapter 3

Once we boarded, Kayla became restless again.

A middle-aged woman in professional clothes sat directly in front of us. I caught a glimpse of the documents on her tray table.

I had a fair guess about what she did for a living.

Kayla began kicking the back of the woman's seat. The repeated thuds sounded painfully loud inside the quiet cabin.

The woman endured it without turning around.

When Kayla received no reaction, she grew bored. She stood, leaned over the seat, and poured half a cup of juice down the woman's collar.

"Ah!"

The woman cried out and jumped up.

Sticky liquid ran down her blouse and soaked several documents on the tray.

A flight attendant hurried over with towels. "Ms. Whitlock, I'm so sorry—"

Ms. Whitlock's face was dark with fury. "Whose child is this? Who is responsible for her?"

Instead of feeling afraid, Kayla stood on the seat with both hands on her hips. "You look like a drowned rat. Serves you right."

I pulled off my headphones and put on my most helpless expression.

"Ma'am, I'm so sorry."

My eyes reddened instantly, and my voice began to shake.

"I can't control her. At home, she even hits the housekeeper.

"Her mother told me that if Kayla suffered any inconvenience outside, she would beat me with a clothes hanger when we returned."

Ms. Whitlock wiped juice from her blouse and stared at me coldly. "Who is her mother to make threats like that?"

That was the question I had been waiting for.

I glanced at the passengers listening around us and announced the name clearly.

"Her mother is Brenda Sawyer, the owner of Sawyer Building Supply.

"She often says that money can solve any problem in Ashford. She says she's got friends inside the revenue department and business-licensing office, and that anyone who touches her daughter will be driven out of the city."

Then I turned to Kayla and encouraged her warmly. "Kayla, didn't your mother say your family has enough money to fear nobody?"

Kayla immediately lifted her chin when she heard someone questioning her mother's influence.

"Yes. My mom is richer than everyone. She says those government people are beggars next to us. Give them money and they'll do anything.

"Your ugly shirt costs nothing. My mom can buy you ten."

The cabin became completely silent.

Ms. Whitlock stopped wiping her blouse.

She narrowed her eyes and studied Kayla, then me.

She photographed Kayla and the juice-soaked documents with her phone.

A few words in red were just visible across the top of the page.

Ms. Whitlock sat back down, her voice unnaturally calm and edged with cold amusement.

"Brenda Sawyer of Sawyer Building Supply in Ashford. Understood. I'll remember that.

"Young lady, your mother sounds extremely capable. I hope she can solve what comes next."

Chapter 4

The plane landed in Bellhaven.

The moment we left the airport, Kayla demanded toys and an expensive dinner.

"I want that."

As we passed an upscale shopping center, she stopped in front of a display containing a limited-edition collector doll.

I checked the price. It cost forty-two hundred dollars.

Without hesitating, I took out Aunt Brenda's card and waved one hand.

"Buy it."

I led Kayla straight into the store.

The sales associate initially paid little attention to a child.

Then I placed the card on the counter. "Charge it. I want the limited edition. Wrap it."

Kayla hugged the enormous doll box and grinned from ear to ear.

"Mason, you're wonderful. You're more generous than Mom."

I smiled. "Your mother is the generous one. This is her card, and she said no amount was too much if it made you happy."

"Really?" Kayla's eyes lit up.

"Of course. She also said your father has struggled to raise you alone, so now that we're here, you should buy him something."

I pointed toward the men's luxury store next door.

"Look at those belts, wallets, and watches. Your father would love them."

Kayla might have been spoiled, but she was naturally attached to her father.

The moment she heard that, she dragged me toward the next store. "I want to buy Dad a watch. The most expensive one."

For the next two hours, Kayla bought one item after another.

If she said something looked attractive, we purchased it.

The total came to forty-two thousand dollars.

The card had only fifteen thousand available, but its linked credit line covered the remainder.

It was Aunt Brenda's account.

Kayla beamed at the mountain of shopping bags.

"Mom is so good to me."

At eight that evening.

I brought Kayla to her father's home.

Her father, Peter Grayson, was an intelligent and cautious man.

After Aunt Brenda became wealthy, she began seeing other men and forced Peter into divorce. Their fight over custody and property had been vicious.

The door opened. Peter stared at the mountain of luxury bags and froze.

"What is all this?"

"Uncle Peter, these are gifts Kayla chose for you."

I gently pushed Kayla inside. "Aunt Brenda said she regretted how much she hurt both of you and wanted Kayla to choose proper compensation."

Kayla proudly offered him a watch that cost eighty-seven hundred dollars. "Dad, Mom paid for this. Do you like it?"

Peter took it, his face hard to read.

He gave me a suspicious look. "Brenda? That skinflint actually opened her wallet?"

I sighed, pulled him aside, and lowered my voice. "Uncle Peter, she may be trying to ease her conscience."

"Her conscience?"

"Yes. Kayla mentioned that Aunt Brenda might be pregnant. The father is Trey Halloran, the young guy she's been seeing. Apparently she bought him a large house and moved a serious amount of money his way.

"Maybe she felt guilty about Kayla and told us to spend freely."

Peter went livid.

"What did you say? She bought Halloran a house and she's carrying his kid?"

"Quiet."

I pretended to panic and covered my mouth. "Please don't say I told you. Aunt Brenda said nobody could know. She claimed some of the money had been moved before your divorce and that you must never discover it."

"Brenda, you lying bitch."

Peter's hands shook with fury.

During the divorce, he had always believed something was wrong because Brenda's records had been impossibly clean. Now he thought he understood why.

"Kayla." Peter turned toward his daughter, who was opening the doll. "Did your mother really buy that man a large house?"

Kayla knew nothing about hidden assets, but she remembered Brenda taking a handsome younger man to look at a house.

"Yes. Mom took me with them. Trey's really handsome. Mom's stomach has gotten bigger lately, and he touched it while they laughed."

That was enough for Peter.

Anger burned in his eyes.

He took out his phone and called his attorney.

"Ms. Specter, I want to reopen the financial terms of my divorce from Brenda.

"I have new evidence that she concealed marital assets. I want every dollar the law allows me to recover."