Chapter 3

From childhood, everyone always preferred my brother.

He was handsome and lively, like the sun.

Because of the scar on my face, I was always dust hiding in the shadows.

From that day on, I stopped mentioning the fire, and I stopped arguing.

I became Sienna Maxwell’s secret bedmate.

Unable to win my brother’s affection, she unleashed all her desires on me.

Only, every time, she would cover my face with her hand or a pillow.

She only wanted to look at my eyes.

She said those eyes were very similar to Landon’s.

I became my brother’s substitute.

But after each time, she would hold me for a long while, silently, yet with a hint of dependence.

That rare tenderness she occasionally offered gave me a false hope.

A mistaken belief that I might actually have her.

It wasn’t until today, with that single word “distraction,” that I fully woke up.

I mocked my own foolish infatuation.

The next day, as soon as I sat at my desk, Landon Reed walked up to me.

He stopped in front of me and placed a document on my table.

“Asher, I’m taking over the ‘Luna’ project from now on. Here are the handover documents, just sign them.”

I snapped my head up, staring at him intently.

“What did you say?”

“Luna” was my brainchild, a project I’d poured my heart and soul into.

For three years, I’d handled countless tasks for Sienna Maxwell.

From technical support to system maintenance, but I never gave up on my own expertise.

Programming was my only passion, the only light I could cling to in my dark life.

As soon as I plunged into the world of code, I could temporarily forget all the disdain and ridicule.

If the project succeeded, it would be the company’s core competitive advantage for the next decade.

And I was the lead architect of this project.

Sienna Maxwell once said in front of everyone, “Only Asher Reed can handle this project.”

At that time, the appreciation in her eyes was my only comfort.

But now, even this last comfort was being taken away.

Landon gave a slight smile.

“I know it’s hard for you to accept, but this is the company’s decision. You’re always so quiet and withdrawn; your personality isn’t suited to lead such an important project.”

He paused, then reached out to straighten my collar, his action intimate, but his words like knives.

“Leave it to me; I’ll make it even better. Don’t worry, I’ll lead everyone to success.”

He turned his head, flashing a confident smile at the surrounding colleagues.

“If anyone has any questions from now on, you can come directly to me.”

I watched his posturing, feeling a wave of nausea.

He turned back, lowering his voice to my ear:

“Asher Reed, you’ve always been like this, unrefined. How come you haven’t improved at all? You’re a complete lost cause.”

My chest tightened as if squeezed, a sharp, continuous pain.

Just then, a commotion broke out at the office door.

Sienna Maxwell had arrived.

I looked at her, pleading.

“Sienna Maxwell…”

My gaze was so fervent, so full of desperate hope.

The moment her eyes met mine, she seemed to pause, a flicker of complex emotion in her gaze.

But that emotion was quickly suppressed, replaced by an indifferent expression.

Sienna Maxwell frowned, “Giving the project to Landon was my decision.”

Her words were like daggers to my heart.

“Landon is right, you really do need more experience.”

“Don’t you know my capabilities?”

I asked, my voice hoarse, clinging to a last sliver of defiance.

In these three years, she knew better than anyone how many technical problems I’d solved for the company, how much core code I’d written.

My question seemed to annoy her.

Her voice was full of impatience: “Asher Reed, why do you always have to compete with your brother?”

“Let me tell you, you’re just not as capable as he is, and nowhere near as likable!”

She leaned close to my ear, whispering a warning: “Don’t think that just because you got into my bed, you can forget your place!”

I knew it deep down, but my heart still throbbed uncontrollably.

I lowered my head, no longer looking at her.

I picked up the pen and meticulously signed my name on the handover document.

Done, I walked out of the office without looking back.