"Jacob, you're nothing!"
"What makes a delivery boy like you think he deserves to date my beautiful daughter, Jessica?"
The birthday party was in full swing at the Grandview Hotel in the heart of Westbrook State.
A woman with short, slicked-back hair stared at Jacob, her eyes filled with hatred. Her name was Susan, mother to Jacob's girlfriend.
"Bam!"
Susan snatched the beautifully wrapped gift box from the table and brought it down hard on Jacob's head.
The Devereaux crystal bracelet inside, a gift Jacob had spent a year's salary on, tumbled out and shattered across the floor.
Through it all, Jessica, his tall and beautiful girlfriend, remained silent, watching him with a cynical curl to her lip.
"Just so you know, Jessica was accepted into the state's best university. She's the only one from her entire school to make it into a master's program. You'd better give up before it's too late!"
Jacob had scored the highest among all students accepted into that same program, but his name had been removed for some unknown reason.
As Jacob bent down to pick up the broken pieces of the bracelet, a polished leather shoe stomped down hard on the fragments, grinding them into the carpet.
Swallowing his anger, Jacob looked up into the snobby face of Ethan.
"Hey, poor boy, what makes you think you deserve my cousin? You must be dreaming!"
Ethan ground his heel into Jacob's hand, again and again, before delivering a sharp kick to his side.
"Auntie, here's a teddy bear for Jessica. I wish her all the best."
Ethan casually presented his own gift, a cheap thing he'd picked up for a hundred dollars from a roadside shop.
Susan, however, accepted it with a beaming smile, cradling the stuffed animal as if it were a precious treasure.
"Ethan, you are such a wonderful man! Jessica and I are so happy with your present. If you two weren't cousins, I would have insisted you marry her!"
Ethan and Jessica were only distantly related, their blood ties thin. But his interest lay elsewhere; he was infatuated with Emily, the idol of their school.
The only reason he was tormenting Jacob was simple, petty dislike.
Ethan had once tried to corner Emily, but Jacob had happened upon the scene and stopped him.
At that moment, Jacob's shoulders shook, his hands clenched into tight fists as he fought to control his rage.
The Devereaux bracelet, the culmination of a year's hard work, was treated like trash, while a cheap roadside teddy bear was cherished.
"Ring..."
"Jacob, you're useless! You crashed a Aurum making a food delivery. You're fired! And you're paying for the damages!"
Jacob abruptly ended the call, his jaw tight.
"Jessica, I need the one hundred thousand dollars back. The money I gave you for the bracelet. I need it now!"
His voice was heavy, his breathing ragged.
Jacob had worked as a delivery man in all his spare time. He'd scrimped on every meal, saving every penny for four years of university to amass that one hundred thousand dollars, which he’d deposited directly onto Jessica's card.
He had trusted his girlfriend completely.
He had originally planned to use that money to continue his studies, but now he needed it to cover the cost of the accident.
Surely she couldn't have spent all of it in the year they'd been together, could she?
"I've spent it all," Jessica answered with a smirk.
Her words struck him like a physical blow.
"What? You spent it all? Without even asking me?"
Jacob's voice was hoarse, as if something was lodged in his throat.
"That wasn't even enough to cover my makeup. Consider it payment for the year of my youth I wasted on you. We're done."
All this time, he had been nothing more than a meal ticket to her.
Worse, now that Jessica had been admitted to a top university and would soon be leaving Westbrook State, she was clearly impatient to sever all ties with him.
What a shame it would be if her new friends found out her ex-boyfriend was just a food delivery man.
"What about everything we had? All our feelings for each other? You've changed!" Jacob shouted. His eyes reddened and his lips trembled as he fought back tears.
All the promises, the romance they had shared... had it all vanished overnight, just because she was going to a better university?
"You should have realized long ago that we're from two different worlds."
Jessica looked down on him, her face a mask of contempt. Jacob felt nothing but crushing disappointment.
"The money! Give me back my money, I need it!"
"And what if I don't want to? How pathetic. Are you really going to make a scene over such a small amount? My decision to break up with you was the right one."
"Yes, it's just one hundred thousand dollars. I seriously don't get it," Susan added, sneering.
Ethan just watched Jacob with a cocky grin. "If you do what I tell you, I'll give you the money."
"What's the condition?"
Jacob knew Ethan wouldn't be so kind without a catch. He watched as Ethan pointed to the space between his own legs.
"Here. Crawl through here and bark like a dog."
"You're despicable!"
"Why? Don't you want your money?"
"Fine! I'll do it!" Jacob shouted, his voice ringing with a strange determination.
"Jessica! Look at this street dog, your ex-boyfriend!" Ethan crowed with delight.
Jessica lifted her chin, her expression one of pure disgust. "A low-life like him deserves a pathetic life."
In that instant, Jacob moved. He lifted his foot and kicked, hard, directly into Ethan's crotch.
He might be poor, but he still had his dignity.
Ethan crumpled to the floor, writhing and rolling in agony.
Amid the commotion, Jacob grabbed his bike and fled.
Though he escaped the party, he was eventually caught. The charge was absurd: attempted rape.
That night, Jacob had been out drinking with his best friend, Michael, pouring out his heartbreak. He was nowhere near the supposed crime scene. It was a complete fabrication.
In the custody center's visitation room, Jacob’s eyes were bloodshot. The weight of it all was crushing him.
Thankfully, Michael could provide his alibi. With evidence that he wasn't at the scene, Michael could easily prove his innocence.
"Mike, I knew you'd come. Once I'm out of here, I'll treat you to an all-you-can-eat feast." Jacob's expression softened at the sight of his friend.
Even in this disaster, he still had a good friend he could count on. It was the one bright spot in his miserable world.
Michael, however, looked conflicted. He seemed tense, but there was a strange, excited gleam in his eyes.
A smirk touched his lips as he spoke. "You need to calm down, Jacob. I'm here to stand as a witness for you... and prove that you are, indeed, a rapist."
The words hit Jacob like a bucket of ice water. His face went slack with shock.
"Mike, what are you talking about? This isn't the time for jokes."
All this time, Jacob had thought of Michael as a brother.
"You can't blame me. A man has to look out for himself. This is the chance of a lifetime. As soon as I graduate, I'll have a job as a manager at the Miller family's five-star hotel! Hahahaha."
A flicker of guilt had crossed Michael's face, but it was quickly swallowed by greed as he pictured his bright future.
"Michael, you're helping Ethan! Where is your conscience?"
Jacob could no longer contain his anger. If not for the reinforced glass between them, he would have lunged at him.
"Conscience? Can a conscience feed you? I don't want to be a low-life forever. And there's something else you should know. Do you know why your name was removed from the master's degree registration?"
"Why?"
So there had been a hidden reason.
"Didn't you ever think about it? Your major only had one spot. Jessica has been flirting with the department head for some time, and Ethan is her cousin. That was more than enough to get you kicked out, but you were too dumb to realize it."
With that, Michael turned and left Jacob alone in the sterile room.
Jacob felt as if his heart had been stabbed by a thousand knives.
Two weeks later, at Crestwood University.
Jacob finally walked through the university gates again.
With no real evidence against him, the charges had been dropped and he'd been released.
But shaking the stain from his name on campus was proving to be far more difficult.
And while he had been locked away, Jessica had already begun her new life somewhere else.
When Jacob returned, people went out of their way to avoid him, as if he carried a contagious disease.
Then, another piece of bad news struck him like a bolt of lightning.
He had a long-standing agreement to begin work at the Royal Crestwood Hospital after graduation. Instead, an email arrived informing him that his offer had been rescinded.
The hospital was one of the best in Westbrook State, with an incredibly low acceptance rate.
It had been his last hope after failing to get into his chosen university program.
Was there any way forward for him now?
Was he destined to be a delivery man for the rest of his life, just to survive?
Just then, his phone rang. When he saw the caller ID, his expression hardened. He answered.
"It's been four years. Four years until you finally remember me. Do you have any idea what my life has been like?" Jacob's hoarse voice was hysterical.
"You talk about family rules? I had to pretend to be poor in Westbrook State and endure humiliation from everyone, all for the sake of 'family education'!"
"I want to come home!"
From the other end of the line, a soft female voice replied, "Sir, you should be grateful for the experience of living as a poor man. You must now be well aware of the true nature of the people around you. The first stage of your test is over. As promised, you will receive a small amount of compensation. You are also now permitted to use all the abilities you have mastered. Your second test begins now: to take over all family corporations in Westbrook State."
"Are you serious? If it weren't for food delivery, I would have starved to death! And only now you remember me? Rose, are you ready to be a housewife?"
Jacob and Rose had been betrothed before they were even born, a decision Jacob had always resisted. He wanted to experience love for himself—and he had certainly succeeded in tasting its bitterness.
"Sir, I have always received the love and kindness of the Thompson family. I shall not ask for more. As long as I can serve you, Sir, I will be here waiting for you to come home."
"Haha," Jacob laughed, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
They had grown up together, and he knew her well. Rose was a year older than him; he saw her as a sister. How could he ever bring himself to marry her?
"Sir, your uncle will be delivering your compensation shortly."
"Tell him I don't need much. I just want to eat hotpot with lots of meat, sing my heart out, and sleep in a hotel room with a huge bed. In four years of delivering food, I haven't eaten beef a single time. Have you ever felt hunger like that?"
As the successor to the most mysterious family in the United States, Jacob was required to pass a series of trials before inheriting his family's wealth. There were five stages in total.
Since he was three years old, Jacob's father had been determined to raise him to be tough.
He had hired masters of diverse arts to train Jacob in countless skills, from medicine and feng shui to ancient foresight techniques, self-defense, and identifying priceless antiquities.
Four years ago, when the first phase of the test began, Jacob was sent to the harsh city of Westbrook State without a single penny.
He was forbidden from using any of the skills he had learned, forced to train his willpower and experience the life of an ordinary man.
Jacob understood his father's intentions.
His family did all this to prepare him for any circumstance, while simultaneously grooming his cousins as potential replacements should he fail.
Just then, a few of his schoolmates passed by, whispering to each other just loud enough for him to hear.
"What scum. I used to think he was ambitious, but in reality, he's just trash."
"Jessica made the right choice."
"I can't imagine. If that incident hadn't happened, he might have gotten a proper job."
"Trash like him deserved to be dumped."
Jacob's emotions boiled over. He wheeled around and slammed his fist into the thick trunk of a nearby tree. The tree didn't shudder; not a single leaf fell.
When he pulled his hand away, a perfect, deep impression of his fist was left in the bark, as if it had been struck by a sledgehammer.
'Ting!'
A notification lit up his phone screen. It was from his bank.
"Transaction successful. Deposit of USD 999,999,999."