"This was your idea. From now on, you have no claim to anything in this family!"
I signed without hesitation.
"Of course. And from now on, you have no claim to anything of mine."
I'd actually been planning to split my fifty-million-dollar prize with them.
Now? No need.
The ink barely dry, I turned and walked out without looking back.
I hadn't made it far when I nearly collided with my uncle, aunt, and cousin—they lived nearby.
Philip James spotted me first. His lip curled into a sneer.
"Well, well. If it isn't my brilliant college-graduate cousin."
"Heard you landed yourself a decent job after graduation?" He let out a mocking laugh. "Too bad my family's about to cash in on demolition money. Five million! How many lifetimes would you have to work for that?"
Philip had been a dropout and a delinquent for as long as I could remember, always drifting from one scheme to another. He'd never hidden his disdain for anyone who actually studied.
When we were kids, I never understood why he'd team up with my sister to torment me every time he visited—tearing up my homework, hiding my pens.
Now, seeing that smug, untouchable arrogance, it finally clicked.