Zoe Pierce thought that by saying it out loud, Damien Pierce would realize just how ridiculous he was.

But to her surprise, Damien Pierce’s expression didn’t change at all.

"There’s something wrong with your gland. You can’t secrete pheromones anymore. What’s wrong with Miles Sherman or the others?" Damien Pierce felt that since losing her memory, Zoe had become shockingly ignorant about pheromones. "Do you think a gland is just a sex organ?"

"Omegas with damaged glands rarely live long. Is there a problem with finding an Alpha who can take responsibility for you?"

In Damien Pierce’s eyes, it seemed everything he did was justified.

As if everything he did was for her own good.

But it was so absurd it made one want to laugh.

Zoe Pierce gave a cold laugh. "Damien Pierce, you really are a schemer."

"The family finances were a mess because of you, and I was the one who cleaned it up. And now you’re trying to pawn me off like this to salvage the accounts."

"I have to bear the burden for everything, while you get to wash your hands of it all."

He was the one who created the problem, yet every solution seemed to revolve around her.

Worse still, Damien Pierce’s expression and his words clearly indicated that he genuinely thought this was a good solution.

She had to take back her previous assessment of Damien Pierce.

He wasn’t overly conniving; he was just hopelessly stupid.

"And you even admit that you’re mediocre." ’How could a fool who knows his own limitations still dare to make such decisions?’

No wonder they say you should fear a fool’s sudden inspiration more than a villain’s cunning plan.

If Damien Pierce hadn’t said it out loud himself, Zoe would never have imagined he could think that way.

"In your eyes, an Omega is naturally inferior to an Alpha. A damaged, injured Omega must spend their entire life depending on an Alpha to survive."

Zoe Pierce felt a profound sense of sorrow.

"You’re too arrogant, Damien Pierce."

So self-righteous, and so quick to make decisions for others.

"Yes. From the moment you became the top scorer in the joint exams, I knew this day would come, that you’d mock me." Damien Pierce laughed self-deprecatingly.

Even after losing her memories and having her gland destroyed.

She could still make a name for herself.

She could still win everyone’s love, while he was forever living in her shadow.

First it was his parents’ shadow, and now it was hers. When people looked at him, they didn’t call him Damien Pierce. They’d just say, "That’s Zoe Pierce’s brother."

No matter what he did, it was all for nothing.

He stood up. Now that he had voiced all his innermost thoughts, the heart that had been heavy for so long finally felt a sense of release.

Once certain things are done, there’s no going back.

Even he, as foolish as he was, knew that much.

As he reached the front door, Damien Pierce asked with his back to Zoe Pierce, "Did you know I’m not your biological brother?"

Zoe Pierce stared at his back. "I’ve known since the very beginning."

Damien Pierce glanced back over his shoulder and scoffed. "Are you kidding me?"

’How old could she have been?’

"The first night after your father passed away, you couldn’t sleep. You were curled up in a corner, crying." She paused. "That day, I heard Dad say he wanted to adopt you, and he asked me if I was willing to have you as my brother."

"I was the one who took your hand."

No one knew the feeling of being parentless better than Zoe Pierce, especially since Damien’s father had died in an accident like that.

’He was so young.’

She had approached him, her tiny hand grabbing onto Damien Pierce’s.

It meant she was willing to share the love from her father and mother, which had once been hers alone, with him.

The villa, with only the two of them inside, now felt even colder.

For a moment, Zoe Pierce felt a profound weariness wash over her.

At first, Damien Pierce thought their parents must have told her, but listening to Zoe’s words, they didn’t ring false.

’She had always been precocious and clever...’

All his words died in his throat.

He had nothing left to say and prepared to walk straight out the door. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

But just as he stepped out, he heard Zoe’s voice again.

"Damien Pierce."

He froze.

"There was never... any ledger..."

"You can go now."

"From now on, you’re on your own."

"You are no longer... my brother."

"Congratulations. You’re free." He no longer had to live in her shadow; he could live however he wanted. In that moment, all debts between them were settled.

But Damien Pierce suddenly spun around, his eyes shot with red, and strode back to stand before Zoe Pierce.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Zoe Pierce looked up at him, her calmness bordering on coldness.

’Yes, sometimes you don’t even need memories. You just have to remember this was the brother she’d accepted since she was a child, the one she grew up with, who had cherished her and played with her.’

’When a family member made a mistake, how could she possibly use it as a threat?’

’It was nothing more than a verbal warning.’

’She had hoped he would learn his lesson and stop letting people lure him into investing in shady projects, cooking the books, and committing tax evasion.’

The ledger he couldn’t find no matter how hard he searched, the ledger Chase Shaw couldn’t uncover with his thorough investigation, the ledger she was searching for to recover her own memories...

’What if it had been destroyed long ago, right after the debts were cleared?’

’What if the ledger never existed in the first place?’

’It was only natural that it couldn’t be found.’

’Because it never existed at all.’

Her cold, weary face looked up at him. "Damien Pierce, did you ever, even once, truly think of me as your sister?"

Damien Pierce staggered back a few steps.

He repeated several times, "Impossible! Impossible!"

In that instant, his face finally showed the emotions it had lacked moments ago: surprise, suspicion, disbelief, and utter shock.

A cascade of chaotic, complex emotions flashed across his face. As if unable to accept this outcome, he turned and fled in a panic.

He rushed into the interstellar hovercar and fumbled with the controls to set a destination, fleeing the scene like a fugitive.

The few people who had been waiting in the hovercar could no longer sit still.

They quickly got out of the hovercar and rushed into the villa.

When they saw Zoe Pierce sitting safely on the sofa, they all sighed in relief. There were no signs of a struggle; everything was perfectly normal.

But when they saw the figure on the sofa, the hearts of Chase Shaw and the others clenched tight.

Zoe Pierce was crying.

Silently, tears streamed down her face.

She sat there quietly on the sofa, her tear-filled eyes gazing forward, making no sound at all.

The tears traced a path down her cheeks and dripped from her chin.

She wore a pained, twisted smile as tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes.

"Zoe..." they called out, their voices choked with emotion.

They were flustered, at a complete loss for what to do.

They had never, ever seen Zoe Pierce cry.

Their hearts ached for her.

Zoe Pierce tilted her face up slightly, trying to keep the tears from falling so easily. Her tone was far calmer than they had imagined. "From now on, I really... have no family."

She was all alone again.

Stripped bare, left to face this world alone.