
I was out wandering the streets with my brother, Ethan Stone, when a streamer suddenly rushed over with her camera crew and shoved the lens right in his face.
"Congrats, handsome! You just got picked as today's lucky passerby. You'll get 100 bucks if you work as my servant for three days!"
Before my brother could even respond, she barked orders at her team. They forced an apron and rubber gloves onto him and shoved a bucket full of rags into his hands.
"First task: clean my shoes!"
I had never seen Ethan look this pathetic before. I was already cracking up when I noticed the veins at his temple start to bulge.
Oh, boy. The devil of Avensville was pissed.
The streamer's assistant caught it, too.
She crept over nervously, tugging at our sleeves as she whispered, "We're live right now. That's the heiress of Stone Corporation, the only daughter of the richest man in the city. If you offend her, you won't survive in Avensville."
Wait a second. She was the Stones' only daughter? Then what were Ethan and I supposed to be?
I pulled out my phone and called my father, Arnold Stone.
"Dad, did you disown Ethan or something? Have you finally decided to leave the whole inheritance to me?"
My brother, Ethan Stone, was the billionaire CEO of a multinational empire, the so-called devil of Avensville's business world.
And right now, he was wearing pink rubber gloves, holding a filthy plastic bucket with two blackened rags floating inside.
His face, usually as cold and unmoving as ice, was now as dark as a stormy cloud.
The one responsible, the influencer claiming to be the Stone heiress, was smiling brightly at the camera like she was having the time of her life.
"Guys! This is today's lucky winner!"
The livestream chat was flying by.
[Holy crap, the heiress is savage! This guy's ridiculously hot, but even he has to bow to money!]
[Guess this is how the rich keep themselves entertained!]
Ethan took a slow breath. Those hands that usually signed billion-dollar deals were now gripping the bucket handle so tightly that they turned white at the knuckles.
I stood off to the side, holding back laughter so hard that my stomach hurt.
Ethan was obsessively clean. If a housekeeper left so much as a fingerprint while cleaning, he would stare them down with a freezing gaze until they nearly broke.
And now, he was being told to scrub someone's shoes in the middle of the street.
"Miss." Ethan's voice dropped low, calm in a way that felt like a storm was about to hit. "I never agreed to play your little game. Move."
He tossed the bucket onto the ground. Dirty water splashed out, and a few drops landed on Julia Stone's white shoes.
"Ah!"
Julia shrieked and jumped back.
"Are you blind? Do you even know what these shoes cost? They're limited edition! You couldn't afford them in a million years!"
The two burly bodyguards behind her stepped forward immediately, shoving Ethan.
"Watch how you talk to Ms. Stone. You didn't even bother asking around? In Avensville, nobody disrespects the Stones!"
Ethan staggered half a step, and his eyes turned cold and dangerous.
That was the look he'd have right before things went bad.
My heart skipped. Sure, seeing him get knocked down a peg was satisfying, but if this girl kept pushing, things were about to get ugly.
Her assistant, who had been hiding in the corner, must have felt it, too. She hurried over, trembling, and tugged at my sleeve.
"Miss, please just back down…" Kylie Mack's voice shook like a leaf. "She really is the Stone heiress, the richest man's only daughter. He spoils her rotten. The last time someone talked back to her, they got fired the next day and blacklisted from the entire industry…"
I raised an eyebrow and looked at the arrogant woman in front of me.
The Stone heiress? The richest man's only daughter?
I immediately pulled up her livestream on my phone and saw her name.
Julia Stone.
I snorted. Seriously? Even her name was close to mine.
I turned to Ethan and gave him a look. Since when did our father secretly create a whole extra daughter behind our backs?
Ethan let out a cold laugh. He calmly peeled off the pink gloves and flicked them straight into Julia's face.
Smack!
The sound was sharp. The entire scene went silent.
"The Stone heiress?" Ethan's lips curled slightly, his tone dripping with mockery. "Since when did my father have a daughter like you?"