Chapter 1

My car was involved in an accident after my brother borrowed it. The vehicle crashed into a guardrail, leaving the front bumper severely damaged.

Instead of an apology from my brother, I was met with a venomous glare from his girlfriend.

"It's just a beat-up car. Why be so petty about it? If you're really that desperate for cash, my boyfriend can just pay you back."

Brody even complained to me afterward.

"Sis, you shouldn't have made Candice mad. It was her birthday. Maybe you should just apologize to her?"

Soon after, the drama escalated right in front of our parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Callahan, it's my fault. Even though she's just a daughter and won't inherit a single cent of the family fortune, and the car isn't really hers, I shouldn't have blamed her for meddling..."

My mom looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"What kind of nonsense are you babbling about?"

I nearly burst out laughing. What a delusional pick-me. In our house, daughters reign supreme.

01

As the only daughter, my parents always believed in raising a son tough and spoiling a daughter rich.

Even though our family was extremely wealthy and my parents ran a publicly traded company, my brother Brody's allowance was no different from an ordinary kid's.

Once he entered college, he even had to cover most of his living expenses himself through part-time jobs.

I, on the other hand, lived a completely different life. Everything I had since childhood was top-tier luxury.

In preschool, I wore custom boutique dresses and had countless designer toys. Brody wore discount rack clothes and barely had a few plastic trucks.

To prevent me from ever falling for some scrub buying me a cheap iced latte, my parents gave me a monthly allowance in college that could cover Brody's expenses for an entire year.

I felt bad seeing Brody work so hard, so I frequently Venmoed him extra cash behind our parents' backs.

Brody never held a grudge against me for the unequal treatment. In fact, we were incredibly close.

As Brody always put it, "My sister is a girl. She deserves to be treated like a soft, pampered princess. I'm built tough, so roughing it out in the real world builds character."

A few days ago, my parents bought me a brand-new Mini Cooper to celebrate my acceptance into graduate school.

Brody, who never cared about luxury items, suddenly asked to borrow it.

Over the phone, he sounded hesitant and danced around the subject before finally asking, "Sis, it's Candice's birthday. I want to take her for a scenic drive. Could you lend me the car?"

I had thought something terrible happened based on how nervous he sounded.

"Of course..."

Before I could finish, a girl's snide voice sneered on the other end of the line.

"Brody, you're the son of the family! That car should rightfully belong to you in the first place. Why do you have to beg your sister to borrow it?"

"A girl needs to know her place in the family instead of trying to hoard family assets from her own brother..."

I bristled immediately. Nobody had ever dared to speak to me like that.

Just as I was about to fire back, Brody panicked and abruptly hung up.

His cowardly cover-up made my blood boil.

Right as I was about to block his number, Brody bombarded my messages with desperate apologies.

"Sis, it's my fault! I was just bragging to Candice to save face."

"Candice has never ridden in such a nice car in her life. I didn't have the capability myself, so I had to beg you."

Looking at his sincere apologies, and then glancing at the crystal necklace on my vanity that Brody had saved up for months to buy me, I couldn't bring myself to say no.