It has been seven years since I shadowed Eula Ross like a fawning puppy. Under my dedicated tutoring, she successfully became a top student.

But after the SATs scores were released, she casually dropped a single line at a class reunion.

“Why don’t you apply for a community college with me? I have to go be with Luke Stetson.”

All these years, I have been at her beck and call while granting her every wish.

To make her happy, I even humbled myself to the point of slapping myself in front of everyone.

Everyone said I was her shadow that she could never shake off. They bet that I would be stuck with Eula for the rest of my life.

Right then, our classmates were standing by. They waited to see how me, the valedictorian, would humbly agree.

For the first time ever, my expression was cold as I flat-out refused her.

“Screw that! You’re the one with a screw loose. I’m not.”

The moment I finished speaking, the air in the private room seemed to freeze.

“Did I hear that right? Did Zephyr Golding just insult Eula Ross?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. He’s usually such a subservient simp. What a sudden change!”

Eula’s expression turned red with rage.

“Say that again!”

Luke Stetson, who had been leaning against her the whole time, gently tugged at her sleeve.

“It’s okay, Eula. I’m not worthy of having you and the Golding family’s eldest son accompany me to Blue Oak Technical School.”

As he spoke, he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. His gaze carried a hint of barely perceptible defiance.

After Luke’s “persuasion,” Eula barked at me.

“Zephyr Golding, apologize!”

Whenever I heard those words in the past, I would have apologized without hesitation.

Because the moment I showed the slightest resistance, a sharp, electric shock would jolt through my brain. It would inflict unbearable pain.

I waited two seconds, three seconds…

No electric shock came.

It seemed I had truly broken free from that damn plot.

The realization lifted my spirits.

I took a step back to create distance between us. I drawled lazily, “I won’t. Why should I apologize?”

My complete defiance to her orders at present was a mirror of my complete subservience to her in the past.

Eula was thoroughly enraged by my response.

“Very well, Zephyr, I’m telling you. I’m not coming home starting today. Don’t even think about seeing me!”

I chuckled. I could not wait for her to never come back.

She thought she had me in her grasp and waited for me to cave.

But all I could think about was where to go to relax. The Maltives? Or skiing in Swisserland?

Eula waited for ages without seeing me cry and beg for mercy. Just as she was about to lose her temper, Luke chuckled softly and slipped his arm around hers.

“Eula, don’t get angry at Zephyr for my sake. How sad would being homeless be?

“Come to think of it, I’ve never stayed in such a huge villa before. I really envy Zephyr.”

His words were like a fuse. It instantly ignited the excitement of the people around us.

“That’s right, Eula, we’ve never seen it either!”

“Let’s have a look for ourselves!”

The crowd surrounded Eula and made her swell with pride. She waved her hand flamboyantly.

“It’s no big deal. Come on, I’ll take you guys to my villa! You can stay as long as you want this summer!”

I frowned and snapped coldly.

“What gives you the right? Eula Ross, that’s my house. I won’t allow it!”

She forcefully shoved me aside. My shoulder slammed into the doorframe. It stung with pain.

“We can because I said so! Zephyr Golding, don’t push your luck!”

All these years, I had indulged her unconditionally. To add on to that, my father liked her too.

He had somehow groomed her to be his daughter-in-law and made her forget that she was nothing more than an adopted orphan.

She had long taken it for granted that everything in the Golding family, including me, belonged to her.

By the time I stepped through the door, the place was already in complete disarray.

My dad’s prized vinyl collection had been turned into frisbees.

A few girls were posing and taking selfies while holding my mother’s limited-edition handbags.

My blood boiled with rage.

I pulled out my phone to call the police. But just as I pressed the call button, a hand knocked it out of my hand. It crashed heavily to the ground.

Luke stood in front of me. He wore an innocent yet hurt expression.

“Zephyr, I know you look down on me and think that ordinary classmates like us aren’t worthy of entering your home.

“But how could you call the police to arrest us just because we came over to Eula’s house to hang out?

“What did we do wrong?”

His words instantly ignited everyone’s anger.

“We’re just here to have some fun. Do you really need to call the cops?

“Do you really think you’re some big shot? How could you be so cruel!”

Eula raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face twice.

“Zephyr, have I spoiled you too much?”

My cheeks burned with pain. A metallic taste filled my mouth.

Luke covered his mouth. He put up a fake, heartbroken expression.

“It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, none of you would have upset Zephyr.

“It’s only natural that a rich guy like Zephyr looks down on ordinary people like us.”

He was bringing up that same old class conflict rhetoric. It had never once failed before.

Sure enough, his words made all the classmates’ expressions change.

“For crying out loud, I can’t stand people who think they’re special just because they’ve got a few stinking bucks!”

“Why waste our breath on him? Let’s show him who’s boss!”

Two male classmates immediately stepped forward, grabbed my arms, and roughly shoved me to the ground.

Eula pulled out a bottle of red wine and walked up to me. Her eyes were brimming with malice and glee.

“Zephyr, I can tell you’re not thinking straight today. Come on, I’ll help you clear your head.”

The dark red liquid poured down over my head and soaked my clothes. I looked pitiful.

The sticky liquid smeared across my eyes, while their unrestrained laughter and jeers rang through my ears.

“Come on, let’s see if he’s still so cocky now!”

They laughed and joked while taking photos and videos to preserve this moment as a source of eternal embarrassment.

I was both furious and exasperated, wishing my parents had not happened to be on a trip abroad. This group would never have dared to act so brazenly otherwise.

“Hey, what are you guys doing?”

“Let go of Zephyr!”

Luke shouted insincerely, but made no move to intervene.

He walked over to Eula, slipped his arm around hers, and spoke gently.

“Eula, don’t be like this. Zephyr surely knows he was wrong.

“Let’s just let it go, okay?”

He turned to look at me. His eyes gleamed with the smugness of a victor.

“Zephyr, just apologize to Eula, and we’ll put this behind us.

“We’re all classmates. It wouldn’t look good if we made a scene.”

I stared intently at the pendant around his neck.

“Luke, take that thing off your neck right now!”

“My grandmother left that to me. How dare you wear it?!”

She had given it to me on her deathbed, calling it a family heirloom and told me to take good care of it.

Every night before bed, I would take it out and look at it. It felt like my grandmother was still right there with me.

Luke blinked innocently. He ran a hand over the necklace around his neck, and spoke in a hurtful tone.

“But Eula… she gave me this necklace.

“She said it looked good on me.”

Eula’s gaze shifted away for a moment before returning to normal.

She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration and snapped impatiently.

“It’s just a lousy necklace. Did you need to go this far?

“Zephyr, can’t you stop being so unreasonable!”

Her words cut like a knife, piercing my heart.

I could no longer control my emotions. I violently broke free from the two boys’ grip and staggered to my feet.

“Eula! Have you no conscience left?!

“That’s my grandmother’s heirloom!

“What right do you have to give it away?!

“For the sake of the seven years our family raised you, give it back to me!”

Eula’s face instantly twisted into a hideous grimace.

Smack!

With a sharp slap, my head was violently jerked to the side. My ears rang.

Eula hated it most when people brought up her past as a dependent.

It shattered what little self-respect she had left into a million pieces.

“Who told you to bring that up?!

“As expected, you really have always looked down on me!

“Zephyr, you really have always thought of me as nothing more than a dog your family kept!”

Luke wrapped his arm around her as he added fuel to the fire.

“Eula, don’t get angry. Zephyr didn’t mean it. He’s just in a bad mood.”

As he spoke, his gaze drifted casually toward my room. A sinister smile played on his lips.

“By the way, I think I saw Zephyr’s computer in his room just now. The browser was even logged in.

“Why don’t we just fill out his college applications for him? Let’s save him the trouble.”

My heart clenched suddenly.

“No!”

I screamed at the top of my lungs. But my arms were once again pinned down so tightly I could not move an inch.

The fury on Eula’s face slowly faded. A cold, cruel smile took its place.

“Zephyr, do you think being the valedictorian makes you so great?

“Let me tell you, even if you get into the top universities like Ozford and Hafard, you’d still have to do as I say!”

She turned to look at Luke. Her flippant tone was tinged with a hint of barely perceptible affection.

“Luke, where would you like Golding to go to school?”

Luke tapped his chin with his finger, pretending to think.

“Hmm, let me think. I heard there’s a community college with a pretty good beauty and hairdressing program. Why don’t we send Zephyr there to further his studies?

“With his looks, he might even become the school’s heartthrob!”

A burst of laughter immediately erupted around us.

“Eula, I’m begging you.

“This is my future. You can’t do this to me…”

My pleas did not elicit a shred of pity. Instead, it only made them laugh even more wildly.

“Zephyr, I’m just trying to help you. What’s wrong with studying beauty and hairdressing?

“You’ll be able to blow-dry my hair for me in the future. Wouldn’t it be convenient?”

Luke snuggled up beside her and grinned happily.

“That’s right, Zephyr.”

He sighed and feigned concern. In contrast, his tone was shrill and grating.

“You’re always so eager to serve Eula. If you study beauty and hairdressing, it’ll be the perfect way to learn even more service skills.

“You’ll even be able to design hairstyles for Eula in the future. Don’t you see how thoughtful that’d be?!”

He deliberately emphasized the word “service”. His gaze was full of provocation and mockery.

“Hahahaha! Luke is right!”

“We might be able to get in on the action too! Having the valedictorian wash our hair? That kind of treatment is beyond our wildest dreams!”

“Eula is awesome! That’s exactly how you deal with him!”

I watched helplessly as Eula filled out every slot on the application form, listing that community college as the sole choice.

I screamed in agony.

“No! Eula, you can’t do this to me!”

She finished submitting the application and flashed me a triumphant smile.

The application had been submitted. Everything had been set in stone.

The two arms that had been holding me down finally let go. I collapsed to the ground in despair.

Eula seemed to want more. She intended to crush my last shred of hope in the most ruthless way possible.

Amid the deafening cheers and applause from the crowd, she grabbed my laptop.