“So the fake [foreigner] wants to make a name for himself, eh?” The biggest guy laughed. With him as an example, his lackeys also laughed. Eric Lykos stood tall, washing his hands calmly. His eyes assessed his prey, but it wasn’t like the wannabe bullies noticed that glint. “See that?”

  The biggest guy continued, pointing at the security camera. Its familiar searching red dot was clearly shut off; its lifeless fixture unplugged and dangling partially out of the socket like a ripped-out headlight.

  “You aren’t going to the exams today, fake,” one of them laughed, sticking a broom through the door handle and barring anyone from entering.

  “So, security’s down?” Eric calmly asked, wiping his hands off with a paper towel.

  “Yeah,” the biggest guy cracked his knuckles. “Dog who claims to be the Lykos heir, your life is over.”

  “Then I suppose no one’s coming to witness anything?” Eric eventually sighed after seeing them nod.

  Without a hint of trouble, Eric’s fist instantly dropped the man after it collided with his jaw. Blood splattered on the tiled walls, shocking the lackeys. They wasted no time in their attempt to counterattack, but Eric was too quick. His palm caught another’s forehead, brought the assailant’s nose to his knee and kicked the last one into the bathroom stall. The flimsy walls toppled over onto him as he folded over the toilet while Eric lazily checked if they were alive still. Not that he cared. The lackey who had the broom and the key in his pocket now sat in a daze as the metal sink’s reverberations still hummed its tune of his crooked head’s destruction. Eric wiped his hands off of the fallen guy’s lapel before washing them again and then he took the key from his pocket nonchalantly.

  “It turns out, actually you guys are the ones not getting to the uni exams today,” Eric said calmly to the biggest guy who was struggling to even remember who he was. “Besides, I’ve already been accepted abroad.”

  With that, he retrieved his backpack and unlatched the door. Once he walked out, some of his notebooks fell out of it. Eric scolded himself for forgetting to zip it up, but just as he knelt to scoop it up he noticed a pair of feet standing above him. A girl stood there aloof with one of his notebooks already in her hands. He wasn’t embarrassed at all, but it seemed this girl just left the adjacent restroom herself. She glanced at the aftermath’s carnage leftover in the boy’s side but thankfully said nothing, before handing him the notebook and walking away. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed she pulled a tissue out of her bag and wiped her hands off. A fellow neat freak, he chuckled.

  Eric stared at the notebook dumbly in his hand before storing it and double checking if his backpack was zipped up all the way. That woman was familiar. He’s seen her in class a couple times and her name was top ten across the school monthly exam results, though never in the first place. That place naturally belonged to him. Ice cold, emotionally distant and not really into the topics her peers liked to chase. Her name was… Hazel? The real heiress of another rich family, like the rest of his “real” classmates. He shook his head. He could not recall much about her besides her shooting down every suitor that came her way. For now, he should see how high he could get his exam scores since he was quite bored.

  His flight to his home away from his adoptive parent’s house— the one he’s been apart of for eighteen years now— was going to be three hours after that so he had a tight schedule. He suspected those bullies were sent from some petty “relative” of his, but which step sibling was a mystery. It had to be someone younger than him who had large intestines for brains, given their worthlessness. Eric learned he was a so-called fake heir recently, but it wasn’t like he spent his time playing around like one.

  Everything was a pawn to him— that naturally included both of his families.

  His network of wealth was built privately as an escape route while he interned at the family company, his entourage of tutors were elite and paid for by the family, and he knew that he had to be prepared for all kinds of attacks both inhouse and abroad so he paid for those lessons himself. Though, he originally intended his mastery from self-defense classes to be used when he confronts his “real” family in the States and not for these paid off bullies.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Consider it practice? He thought with a disdainful scoff. He’s had more close calls with thugs holding knives out in alleyways. A couple of students is nothing, but what are places of education up to these days? Violence and bullying should have been extinct awhile ago.

  An exam and another fight on the way to the airport later, Eric was on his way home to deal with his “country bumpkin” family. Because of his painstakingly built up connections and secret company set up abroad, he had learned of those fools and his relationship with them before his adopted family did. He also knew he had a timer placed on his head the second he launched the investigation, since days later his adopted family discovered he was not biologically related and apparently swapped or whatever incompetent excuse they wanted to suit them for getting rid of him. They announced severing ties with him effective immediately once he turned 18, making him really glad he was born with a paranoia streak. The Family wasn’t really a wolf pack, more like a pit of treacherous snakes.

  By the time his people sent those country bumpkins to jail &/or hell, Eric ran into an unexpected visitor. A black car drove up to him with a familiar Wolf emblem on it. How odd, he figured the Lykos Family would eventually get bored of him after he flew away. It wasn’t like he was a true threat or a big player in the group, so, he simply stood there speechless as the car’s door slowly opened by itself. A high heel entered the battlefield first, attached to someone gorgeous standing about a head taller than him. He barely recognized anyone in his family since the Lykos family rarely spent time at their residence and this woman was no exception to the rules.

  “Who do I get the pleasure of meeting with?” He spoke in [REDACTED]. The woman’s blonde hair, bright smirk and starry blue eyes did her wonders in keeping him from killing her on the spot.

  “One of my favorite little birds told me about you, Brother,” the woman spoke cheerfully, extending a black and gold trimmed card to him. “Quite the busy one, aren’t you?”

  Claire Lykos. Eric forced his eyes to raise in mock-surprise. He truly didn’t know who this woman was, but if she was addressing him as Brother it meant she had walked an incredible yet similar path to his.

  “Not as busy as you,” Eric complimented her. Claire laughed knowingly, but he wasn’t angry that she concealed her tracks from him so easily. There was something in her tone that warmed him. Camaraderie? Why did he feel so close to her suddenly? “So, let’s talk about our future business collaboration.”

  Claire nodded, not wasting her words and offering him a seat in the car. Eric didn’t waste her time either and hopped in. Conveniently, it was about to start raining anyway. She sat across from him, resting her hands and expensive bag nonchalantly on the table between them. He noticed that one of her arm’s skin tone did not match her beautiful jade. A prosthetic, he decided not to ask. A missing arm was a testament to this Family’s sins.

  “Our dear Father wants me in on a certain project,” Claire sighed mockingly. Then she pouted. Surprisingly, she was quite adept at being childish. Was she doing this because of some kind of trauma? He wondered how much older she was compared to himself, but asking her would be too close. “But alas, he doesn’t want to give me full control of it, of course. But your dear Sister has plans that I think would align with your vision.”

  Robotics, huh. Eric glanced at the black business card in his hand a second time. This card was worth millions to him now. Claire nodded after he looked back at her. The driver was pulling up to a private airport, but a hologram showing a certain logo suddenly flickered to life from the car’s center console. The logo, of course, belonged to his private venture company. Eric had to admit, she was quite impressive. It wouldn’t surprise him if she was the one who leaked his private investigation to Father.

  “I see,” Eric scrolled through his phone.

  As he suspected, his private group indeed had a small amount of shares in the Robotics Division setup already. Claire hummed in response. Joining forces with him would narrowly put her in control of that small project. Knowing how vicious this woman was, it wouldn’t take long for her to get full command of the entire Branch by forcing Father’s people out of there swiftly and privately. That would benefit him, since he would have a foothold behind that company before Father kicks Claire out.

  “Who shared with you that small company’s connections?” Eric asked her, though he already knew the answer. The logo was designed on the notebook that he dropped. The same one picked up by that Hazel girl and handed to him awhile ago. He had a favorable impression of that girl already, but since she was acquainted with this Big Sister of his that impression only improved.

  Again, Claire hummed in response. Instead, she stuck out her hand and waited for him to agree readily. Eric cracked a small smile and shook it warmly.

  “I look forward to working with you, Mr. President Eric,” Claire smirked.

  Eric gave a genuine grin, too. This woman only thinks too much about robots, while he’s always had his designs on the Family. If his dear Big Sister wants, he can pave the way for her independence on the side.