The night before the scores were released, Lily Bennett lifted her champagne glass, smiled at the room full of people who had spent the evening pretending I didn’t belong there, and told me I should get used to cleaning floors.
Chapter 2
By nine the next morning, the marble lobby of Bennett Group headquarters looked less like an office and more like a theater.
Executives stood beside shareholders. Family friends filled the reception area. A few financial reporters waited near the glass doors, pretending they had been invited for ordinary corporate business.
They hadn’t.
Everyone had heard about the bet.
Lily arrived in a white designer suit with our parents beside her.
I came alone.
Richard glanced at my plain gray slacks and inexpensive coat.
“You could have dressed appropriately,” he muttered.
“I dressed for an exam result.”
“You’re representing this family.”
I looked at him.
“Am I?”
He walked away.
A senior finance employee named Greg Howard had been chosen to display the official scores. Four exam sections would appear, followed by the total.
Lily had insisted we attach escalating wagers to each round.
The first was writing.
“One and a half million dollars,” she announced.
Gasps traveled through the lobby.
Richard did not stop her.
Diane merely adjusted the pearls at her throat.
Greg refreshed the official score portal.
“Lily Bennett,” he said. “One hundred twenty-seven.”
Applause broke out.
Lily crossed her arms.
“And Claire?”
Greg hesitated.
“Eighty-one.”
The whispers began immediately.
“I thought she was supposed to be gifted.”
“That’s the problem with small-town schools.”
“Poor Richard. Imagine discovering your biological daughter and getting this.”
Lily approached me.
“You can stop now.”
“No.”
“You already owe me one and a half million.”
“Keep going.”
The second section was mathematics.
Lily raised the wager to seven and a half million.
Richard finally spoke. “This is becoming ridiculous.”
Lily turned toward him with moist eyes.
“Dad, people are questioning whether I belong in this family now that Claire is here. I’m only proving myself.”
His expression softened instantly.
That told me more than a thousand speeches about parental love ever could.
Greg read Lily’s math score.
“One hundred forty-six.”
This time the applause became cheers.
Richard actually smiled.
Diane squeezed Lily’s shoulder.
Greg looked sick when he read mine.
“Forty-five.”
Someone laughed.
Then others joined in.
Lily leaned close enough for me to smell her perfume.
“Still want to continue?”
“Yes.”
“Claire, be sensible. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“No. You’re enjoying yourself.”
Her smile returned.
The third section was reading.
Lily raised the stakes again.
“Forget money,” she said. “The loser gives up any claim to Bennett Group.”
Silence fell.
Richard’s expression sharpened.
Even Diane looked surprised.
I folded my arms.
“Add the family name.”
Lily blinked.
“If either of us loses this round,” I continued, “she gives up all succession rights and all claim to the Bennett name.”
“Claire,” Richard snapped.
I ignored him.
Lily laughed.
“You’re serious?”
“Completely.”
“Done.”
Greg looked at the monitor.
“Lily Bennett. Eighty.”
For the first time that morning, Lily stopped smiling.
She had expected more.
Then Greg read mine.
“Claire Bennett. Eighty-one.”
The lobby went still.
One point.
I had won by one point.
It was not enough to erase the earlier humiliation, but it was enough to put something into Lily’s eyes I remembered well.
Fear.
I stepped closer.
“We can stop here if you want.”
She stared at me.
“I’ll even waive the earlier money. You can keep pretending you won the morning.”
Her cheeks flushed.
Lily could endure hatred. She could endure rivalry.
What she could never endure was pity.
“There’s one section left,” she said. “And the total.”
“Then name your terms.”
She lifted her chin.
“If I win, you stand in front of everyone and admit you came into this family for money. You leave New York, give up the Bennett name, and never interfere with Bennett Group again.”
“And if you lose?”
“The same.”
I opened my bag.
“Not enough.”
Richard stepped forward. “Claire, stop.”
I placed another contract on the reception desk.
“Seven hundred fifty million dollars.”
The room exploded.
Richard’s face changed.
“Absolutely not.”
“Cash,” I continued. “No promises. No future payments. No company favors.”
Lily stared at me as if I had lost my mind.
Then she laughed.
“If you lose, where are you getting seven hundred fifty million dollars?”
“I’ll find it.”
Richard grabbed my arm.
“This ends now.”
I pulled free.
“Why? Because yesterday you thought Lily would win?”
His jaw tightened.
Diane moved between us.
“Claire, whatever differences exist, we are still a family.”
I almost laughed.
Three months earlier she had made me eat breakfast in the kitchen because Lily had guests in the dining room.
Now we were family.
Lily snatched the contract.
“I’ll sign.”
“Read it first,” I said.
She smirked.
“I don’t need to.”
“That habit is going to cost you.”
She signed anyway.
Then she leaned toward my ear.
Her voice was barely audible.
“You still don’t understand. The transfer can’t fail. Everything you learn becomes mine.”
I looked at her.
“I understand perfectly.”
Greg refreshed the final section.
His face drained of color.
“Mr. Bennett…”
Richard marched toward the monitor.
“What?”
Greg swallowed.
“There’s a zero.”
Lily burst into laughter.
She turned toward me slowly, savoring it.
“A zero?”
She shook her head.
“Oh, Claire.”
Reporters pushed closer.
Lily’s smile became radiant.
“Maybe the cleaning department can teach you to count.”
I remained seated.
Greg stared at the screen.
Then I said, “Read the name.”
Lily stopped.
Greg’s mouth opened.
No sound came out.
“Read it,” Richard ordered.
Greg whispered, “Lily Bennett.”
The room froze.
He tried again.
“Comprehensive section: zero.”
Lily’s face emptied.
“No.”
Greg continued.
“Claire Bennett: two hundred ninety-four.”
Someone dropped a phone.
The crack against the marble sounded like a gunshot.
