‘You’re not welcome here! Get out!”
‘As of today, I, Arthur Song, have no son!”
‘Good! We don’t have a father like you either!” Serena screamed back at me. Lara and Isaac said nothing, bu their expressions showed their silent agreement.
The guests erupted in a flurry of whispers and pointed fingers.
I held up a hand to stop Talia and Claire, and looked at this family of vipers.
If I hadn’t dropped out of school to work, the Song family would have been bankrupt. What “scholarly famil “? What “study abroad” for Hugo? If I hadn’t stood by Bianca’s side, taking drink after drink for her until I wa vomiting blood, would that first investor have taken pity on her and given her the deal that made her fortune And these three children… I poured my heart and soul into raising them, only for them to decide I was al
embarrassment.
A cold, mirthless laugh escaped me. “Fine. In that case, I am no longer your father. Or your son.”
“I’ll have the disownment papers sent over.”
“Let’s go.”
“Since my father is no longer welcome here,” Claire said, her voice dangerously calm, “I assume you have no
use for these gifts.”
“Take them away,” she ordered her assistant, who had just arrived.
“How dare you!” Serena shrieked. “Those are gifts from CEO Claire, the star Leo, and my professor, for my father to give to my grandfather! Are you trying to make enemies of them?”
“The Clarity Group is about to be Aura Corp’s main partner! Leo is my brother’s investor! And I am the star
2/9
17:02
17:02 00
Chapter 2
protégé of the great Dr. Thorne at Stanford!”
Claire and Talia exchanged a dark, unreadable look. A strange, chilling smile spread across their faces. The glanced at me for confirmation. I gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod.
“You’re saying,” Claire began, turning to Lara with a deceptively sweet smile, “that Claire is your busines:
partner?”
“That’s right,” Lara said, her tone condescending. The name “Clarity Group” usually made even the mos arrogant people treat her with respect. She had profited handsomely from that association.
Claire’s smile turned to ice. “Not anymore.” She pulled out her phone and made a brief, quiet call.
“And who are you supposed to be?” Lara demanded, unnerved by the woman’s cold confidence. This woma was probably some low-level corporate drone. Lara had met most of the major players in the city. She instir ctively dismissed Claire, just as she dismissed me.
