Selena had been adopted when she was ten years old.

Back then, Linda and Ace (same parents of Benny) had no children of their own, and the couple had practically poured all their affection onto her.

They doted on her endlessly.

Bought her new clothes, gave her the better food and always showered her with attention.

Warm praise whenever she did well.

At first, Selena had been cautious and reserved, afraid that everything before her was temporary.

But little by little, she began to enjoy the warmth of having a family.

And because she treasured it so much, she always tried her best to become the daughter they would be proud of.

Then, five years later, Linda became pregnant.

The moment Selena learned the news, fear quietly crept into her heart.

If their love for her existed because they had no child of their own...

Then now that they finally had one...

What would happen to her?

Would she slowly become unnecessary?

Would they stop loving her?

Those thoughts haunted her for months.

Fortunately, reality proved her fears completely wrong.

Linda and Ace never treated her any differently after Benny was born.

If anything, the family simply became livelier.

They still worried about her grades.

Still saved the best dishes for her during meals.

Still bragged about her achievements to relatives.

Still treated her like their precious daughter.

And slowly, Selena finally stopped feeling like an outsider because she truly felt like she belonged.

Years later, she successfully entered university.

But the tuition fees had nearly crushed the family.

Linda and Ace had sold off most of their farmland just to send her there.

That debt alone weighed heavily enough to suffocate an ordinary family.

Thankfully, Selena’s hard work eventually paid off.

After graduation, she managed to secure a position within the university itself.

Although...

The salary wasn’t particularly impressive.

4,000¥ a month.

It was barely enough to be considered decent.

Fortunately, she also taught private tuition classes on the side. That was where the real money came from.

Combined together, she could earn over 10,000¥ a month.

Honestly speaking, in a fourth-tier city, that income was already enough for a fairly comfortable life.

For an ordinary person, at least.

But Selena wasn’t supporting only herself.

There were still debts at home and her aging parents.

And now recently Benny had entered college as well.

Money disappeared almost as quickly as she earned it.

That was why she had been genuinely furious when she learned Benny had skipped classes.

Her first thought had been panic.

Was it because I sent him too much money this month?

After all, besides the usual living expenses, she had also transferred another 6,000¥ for his college necessities.

7,000¥ in total.

That amount was enormous for a student.

Enough for many young people to lose control and start spending recklessly.

She had been prepared to lecture him thoroughly.

Yet the moment Benny appeared at her doorstep...

She simply couldn’t bring herself to scold him.

Not even a little.

Growing up, the two siblings had rarely argued with each other.

Honestly, Selena found that strange sometimes.

Most of her friends constantly complained about fighting with their younger siblings.

But Benny had always been unusually obedient around her.

Perhaps because of that, she had always been sensitive about their relationship.

Is it because I’m adopted?

That foolish thought still occasionally surfaced in her heart despite knowing full well that Linda and Ace loved her no differently from Benny.

And now...

She quietly watched Benny rolling up his sleeves, clearly preparing to clean the apartment.

Selena knew him too well.

There was absolutely no way this little brat suddenly became hardworking out of nowhere.

He was obviously trying to reduce the severity of her scolding by acting useful.

The thought nearly made her laugh.

Still... she decided to let him do as he pleased.

"Alright... brother."

The moment the word left her mouth, Selena suddenly froze slightly.

Brother.

It sounded oddly distant because all these years, she had always called him Benny. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

And he had always called her Selena.

Only now did she suddenly realize something.

Ever since arriving, Benny had been calling her.

"Sister."

Not Selena but sister.

At first, she hadn’t paid attention to it.

But now that she noticed it...

Her entire face instantly turned red.

A strange warmth spread through her chest so quickly that she almost failed to suppress her expression.

Still, she forced herself to remain calm.

"Alright then," she said while trying to sound composed. "I’ll trust you on this. I’m going to get some sleep."

"Okay. Have a good rest, Sister."

There it was again.

Sister.

He actually acknowledged her as his sister.

Selena felt absurdly happy.

Was he only doing this to avoid getting scolded?

Maybe.

Did she care?

Not even slightly.

With that thought in mind, she walked toward her room feeling inexplicably cheerful.

Then the moment her head touched the pillow she instantly fell asleep.

Her body had already reached its limit from days of nonstop work.

Benny watched Selena walk toward her room before scratching his head in confusion.

"She’s being way too kind..."

From what he remembered, although Selena had always cared deeply about him, she was never the type to simply let things slide whenever he did something wrong.

Especially when it came to studies.

Back in his previous life, even after he had already turned thirty, she still hadn’t hesitated to scold him whenever necessary.

He still remembered one particular incident clearly.

At that time, he had been drowning in overtime work and ended up missing the time to visit his parents on a holiday after repeatedly delaying it due to work pressure.

Selena had called him immediately after finding out.

And she had scolded him so fiercely over the phone that even his coworkers sitting nearby had quietly lowered their heads and pretended not to hear anything.

Afterward, she even offered to help him find a better job through her connections at the university.

Yet he had stubbornly refused.

At the time, he thought he was preserving his dignity.

By not relying on others, to show that he could also do something on his own.

Looking back now... it really was foolish.

Family helping each other, what was so shameful about that?

In the end, pride had only made his life harder.

Benny let out a small sigh before looking around the apartment once more.

Then the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"Still..."

"What kind of place is this, Sister..." he muttered under his breath.