Everly came out of the study and came across the butler. He smiled at her, and she returned the smile, since she was polite to everyone in the family. In most cases, Everly would be a likable girl, but the Langstons only cared about an individual’s ability. Someone like Everly would never get their respect, for all she knew was study.
Her parents had told her to learn from Heather, who was already financially independent when she was still a high schooler. Back then, Heather was already studying abroad and handling the family business there. On the other hand, Everly was just a normal undergraduate. She still had to rely on the family for money, and she couldn’t provide any help either. To make things worse, she chose to major in pure arts, which was useless to the family. All she did was paint, so her parents had given up on her.
They didn’t blame their daughter though, since they couldn’t help their family either. Not to mention they were still living in the house because Robert was still the head of the family. Everyone was still living together on his request. “Nobody is allowed to live by themselves as long as I live. Anyone who lives by themselves will be exiled from the family.” That was what he said, and everyone was living under the same roof only because of that. They’d live separately otherwise.
Everly knew what her parents were planning. Once Robert had passed and they had gotten the share of the wealth, they’d move out. Everyone had the same plan anyway. The whole family was just together in name only, for everyone was branching out in different industries, so there was nothing in common between them.
Living together was torture for some people, since not everyone could be a success story, and they’d feel bad once they compared themselves with the better members of the family. Everly didn’t like her life in the residence, but she liked the estate. Her friends thought she was a princess and would call her such, much to her delight. But she knew there was only one princess in the household, and it wasn’t her.
Sometimes she wasn’t just envious of Heather, but was jealous of her. Everly had always thought she was a talentless woman, unlike Heather. Heather had been smarter than her peers ever since she was a child. She was a natural-born businesswoman, so the older she got, the more cutthroat she was.
There was one time where Everly got on Heather’s nerves when they were little, and the memory still haunted her until this very day. Her curiosity led her to Heather’s room, but the door was shut. She knew Heather was inside, and she wondered what Heather looked like when she was alone.
Everly hesitated for a long while, but she couldn’t bring herself to knock on the door. She couldn’t bring herself to see Heather for fear of getting looked down. She knew Heather could see through everyone, so she never looked her in the eye. After all, Heather was a fearsome figure for her.
Unbeknownst to her, the butler saw the whole thing. Under Robert’s behest, the butler started keeping an eye on her after she left the study. He noticed Everly was going the wrong way, since her room wasn’t in that direction. Her room was on the fourth floor, so no matter if she took the stairs or the elevator, she shouldn’t have reached Heather’s room.
The butler thought it was weird, but his job was to report everything to Robert. Everything else was outside his jurisdiction. He pushed every question aside and kept observing Everly. She’s been standing there for a while. Does she want to see Heather? But she’s not knocking. What is she trying to do?
In the end, Everly left, and she went upstairs. Once he heard her going upstairs, the butler stopped following her. It was getting late, so she must have retired for the night, he thought. He wouldn’t get anything else even if he continued following her.
The castle-like Langston Residence had six floors. The first floor housed the body, the gym, and the swimming pool. Robert’s quarter was on the second floor, where he and the family’s important figures lived. The third floor was where the young couples lived, while the fourth was where the less important members lived. The fifth and sixth floor was where the servants stayed.
Heather couldn’t sleep that night, for she was still mulling over Matthias’ answer. His interaction with Everly and his awkward explanation haunted her, so she wondered if she could trust him.
It wasn’t the first time he had let her down, so she wondered if he was wooing or torturing her. Is this how everyone treats their crush? No, it’s just him. She was pondering on the plan’s feasibility, wondering if she would really fall for Matthias if she accepted his confession.
Heather had no need for an unpredictable future. Matthias was the biggest surprise in her life, and he was already causing her a lot of trouble. Ever since their meeting, her life had been spiraling into chaos. She tossed and turned, but her frustration kept the sweet embrace of sleep away from her. Since she couldn’t sleep, she wanted to do something.
There was a swimming pool beside the lobby, so she wanted to swim. Moving her body would distract her from her troubles for a while. Thus, she wore her swimsuit and covered it with her pajamas before going down. Since the pool wasn’t connected to the living room, she had to enter it through the other way.
The wind was cold that night, so she tightened her clothes, looking ahead calmly. Blake was sitting on a sofa in the living room then, looking drunk. The smell of alcohol wafted across when she went past him, and she scrunched her nose up.
Blake was mumbling something, but she pretended not to hear him. Instead, she stayed far away from him, since he might puke on her if she got closer. But even though she had stayed away, he stopped her. “Hold it, you.”
She stopped, feeling annoyed, and she looked down at him. Looks like the alcohol made him even worse. Right, let’s see what he’s going to do.
“The project’s ruined because you quit all of a sudden, Heather,” he scolded, putting all the blame on her.
Heather smirked, surprised that Blake could even blame her for that. If she had her phone with her, she would have recorded everything he said. “You should know the reason for the project’s failure.” Before this, she thought Blake could still be redeemed, but now she had seen him for the scum he was.
He could do anything just to achieve his goal. For example, he dragged the company down just to get back at her. Heather prioritized the company, so she never duked it out with him, but even so, he never let her go, backing her into a corner.
If excellence was a sin, then Heather thought she would be in the depths of hell when she died. The Langstons were jealous of her brilliance, so they never got along with her, and they would talk about her behind her back.
That was how weaklings worked. A truly strong person would acknowledge the gap between them and the people ahead of them, then they would work to close the gap and surpass their competition. That was why the strong became stronger. The weak lost because of their mindset. Without a strong soul, they could never overcome the challenges in their lives.
“You think you’re so good, Heather? The whole family worships you, but all you ever did was insult us. Have you ever even seen me as your brother?” Blake was throwing a tantrum because he was drunk.
Heather gave him a sardonic smile. She didn’t care about anything Blake said, but she wondered why he cared so much. Pathetic. “Have you ever seen me as your sister, then? Everyone hates me here. You guys hate me because I’m successful, but have you ever asked how much I had to give up to be where I am today?” The Langstons didn’t care about that. All they cared about was their own comfort, even if that was at the expense of others.
“Well, it seems like you know where you stand. So why didn’t you move out, then? Seeing as everyone hates you,” Blake interrogated. As long as Heather was there, he could never rest easy.
“As long as Grandpa is here, then so am I. If you don’t like it, you can piss off right now,” she scoffed. Heather didn’t care about Blake, since the whole reason she stayed was because Robert was there.
“I hate you, Heather. Why do I even have a sister like you?” Blake gnashed his teeth. If it weren’t because of her, he would have been the most outstanding person in the family.
“Grow up, Blake. Don’t make me look down on you more.” Heather didn’t want to waste her time any longer. She was here to swim, not to fight, so she left right after that.
The butler heard the whole conversation, and he would tell Robert all about it. Once that happened, Blake would get an earful from his grandfather the next day.
Heather never wanted to compete with Blake, but he wouldn’t let her go. No longer wanting to ruminate over his ramblings, she went around the place and headed to the pool. He’s not even a worthy rival.
The air around the pool was chilly, and it cooled her off. The door to the pool was locked, so she went to see the guard, since he was the only one who’d patrol the pool at night, and he was the only one who had the key.
I shouldn’t be rash. It’s past the pool’s opening hours, so why am I doing this? I-It’s immature. Did some of Matthias rub off on me? The heating system was off at this hour, so the pool would be icy cold. She didn’t factor that in, but going back after coming all the way wasn’t her style. She would finish everything she started, for giving up was a bad habit.
When the guard came around, she called out to him. “Open the door to the pool.” Heather insisted on her night swim. An autumn swim wasn’t any trouble, since she wouldn’t freeze to death. Winter was another story altogether though.
The guard looked at her with hesitation. He didn’t want to go against her, but he didn’t want to break the family rule either. “It’s too cold for a swim, Miss Heather.” He had to remind her about that fact. If something were to happen to her, he would be in for a disaster.
