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.