Chapter 3

I'm not sure if she was intentionally mocking me, comparing me to these gilded leaves - all shiny and pretty on the outside.

Walking further in, I saw a massive banner hanging high on the wall.

Except the name on it wasn't "Alaric" but "Zoran" instead.

Seraphina's face instantly went pale when she saw it, and she hurriedly tried to explain.

"This... this... must be a mistake by the assistant..."

Seraphina had been secretly in love with me for over a decade. You could say she knew everything about me like the back of her hand.

Yet now she could make such a basic error as getting my name wrong.

It just goes to show she didn't really put her heart into it...

I responded to her with a faint smile on my face.

"It's fine."

After all, it's not the first time something like this has happened.

My heart had long since gone numb.

Genevieve glared at Seraphina before turning to me with an awkward smile.

"I prepared all the dishes myself today. Let's go eat first, shall we?"

I followed the crowd's footsteps towards the dining room.

The spicy aroma wafting through the room made me want to cough.

I've never been fond of spicy food. The housekeepers at the estate always made Cantonese cuisine.After moving out of the Beverly Hills mansion, I ended up renting a small, dilapidated apartment on my own.

I juggled school and part-time jobs to make ends meet, often going hungry and developing stomach problems.

This made it impossible for me to eat anything spicy.

Genevieve, who grew up with me, couldn't possibly have been unaware of this.

Knowing this and still doing what she did, the only reason must have been because Zoran liked spicy food.

It was then that I realized the two women who always claimed to love me the most.

Perhaps they had already changed their hearts.

By the time I snapped back to reality, all the surrounding seats were filled.

They were quietly chuckling among themselves, completely oblivious to the fact that I hadn't taken a seat.

I had no choice but to steel myself and sit in the only empty spot in the room.

That place where I had sat countless times before.

As soon as my butt touched the chair.

The nanny beside me immediately spoke up.

"This is the young master's seat!"

Everyone's eyes turned towards me.

Zoran waved his hand with a gentle expression.

"It's alright, Brother Alaric has been sitting here for decades after all, it's normal for him to make this mistake."

With his words, everyone's gaze towards me became filled with contempt.

Mr. Carlisle slammed his hand on the table with a loud "bang".

"Have you forgotten all your manners?!"

After he said this.Around the circular table, Seraphina and Genevieve quickly offered soothing words to Zoran from across the way.

"Don't worry about it too much, Zoran. Just pretend a dog rubbed against that seat."

"Yeah, exactly! Worst case, we'll toss out this whole set of table and chairs later and get new ones!"

I had simply sat in the wrong place because there were no empty seats available.

In their eyes, it was as if I had committed an unforgivable sin!

I clenched my fists tightly and stood up.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance. I'll leave now."

Out of sight from the others, Zoran flashed me a mocking smile.

As I was about to exit, I unclenched my hands, the veins no longer bulging.

I tried to reassure myself that my life would only get better from here on out.

They were all just passing clouds in my journey.

I walked out of the brightly lit mansion.

My phone chimed with a "ding-dong", notifying me of a new pop-up news alert.

I opened it to find that someone had posted on the airline's internal network, leaking information about my alleged medical record forgery.

The accompanying image was none other than the A4 paper copy Zoran had.

In that instant, I nearly froze in place.

Although I had already withdrawn from the airline's selection process, background checks were still required to become a pilot in the United States.

What if this incident ruined my last chance of becoming a pilot!

Rage surged through my mind.