Chapter 4

I didn't sign.

Mom snatched the division agreement out of my hand.

"You're just going to sit there and watch the company freeze your work?"

"Split the money and this all goes away."

I picked up my phone with its cracked screen.

"So these nine blind boxes were never a celebration."

"They were the price tag you put on me."

Dad opened the door.

"Don't sign, then get out."

"And don't come crawling back to beg us before the livestream starts."

I dragged my suitcase out. No one stopped me.

Amy chased me to the door and only said one thing.

"If you really leave, what happens to my eight hundred thousand?"

I looked at her.

"You should ask the people who gave you that eight hundred thousand."

"Not the person you all robbed."

Her face changed, and she slammed the door hard.

I went back to the studio.

The sample of the first character was still sitting on the desk.

A corner of its left ear was missing.

It wasn't a design choice.

When I was thirteen, I was sharpening a pencil with a utility knife and cut into the original drawing.

I couldn't bear to redraw it, so I left the notch there.

Later it became this character's most distinctive mark.

Ian really did have a copy of that same picture book when he was little.

That was the year he kept tearing up my drawings.

I had my prize-winning piece printed into a coloring book and wrote his name on the cover.

I hoped that once he had his own book, he'd stop touching mine.

But Mom took that gift and used it to name me a thief.

I opened the cabinet and took out an old magazine.

The cover was already curling at the edges.

My award certificate was tucked inside.

At nine the next morning, Ian went live right on schedule.

The nine family blind boxes were lined up in the shot.

Mom and Dad were dressed neatly.

Amy sat beside Mom, her eyes red and swollen.

The stream had barely started when Mom began to cry.

"Catherine has loved drawing since she was little."

"But that first character was drawn by her younger brother."

"We don't want to ruin our daughter."

"We only want to get justice for our son."

Ian brought out the old picture book.

He turned it page by page for the camera.

Every page had that same round-headed little man.

On the cover, Ian's name was captured clear as day.

Comments scrolled fast.

【The originals are all in the brother's hands.】

【There's no way the whole family would lie together.】

【Made the money, then kicked the brother out. Disgusting.】

Amy wiped her tears.

"I saw it with my own eyes when I was a kid."

"Little Ian drew first, and Catherine touched it up next to him."

Last night she'd said she only vaguely remembered.

Now she'd even scripted who sat where.

Dad brought out four signed statements.

"We're willing to stand behind every word."

"Catherine, do you dare face us in person?"

Ian held the three-year cooperation agreement up to the camera.

"I don't want an apology from her."

"I just want her to supply my shop."

"She takes the bigger share. I just need to eat."

On that contract, I didn't get a single cent.

Yet he told everyone he only wanted to eat.

The viewer count kept climbing.

A message came in from the company.

【We're watching. Please explain as soon as possible.】

The moment Mom saw me enter the stream, she called out.

"Catherine, Mom's giving you one last chance."

"Sign it."

"The three million is still the family's."

"Your brother will clear your name too."

I didn't say anything.

She thought I was scared.

She pushed the rest of the blind boxes up to the camera.

"As long as the family sits down together again, everything's fine."

Amy urged me too.

"Mom and Dad are giving you a way out."

"Don't throw away your job over money."

I carried the old magazine back to the door of the house.

The door wasn't shut.

They were waiting for me to bow my head.

I stepped into the frame.

Ian immediately held out a pen.

"Cat, just sign."

"I'll delete the video right away."

I didn't take it. I picked up that old picture book.

Dad pressed down on the other side.

"This is little Ian's original work."

I opened to the cover.

"When exactly did you say he drew this?"

"Seven years old."

"Who can prove it?"

Mom jumped in to answer.

"Our whole family can prove it."

"Good."

I put the picture book back on the desk and took out the old magazine.

Dad's face changed.

Mom stared at the cover and said nothing for a long time.

Amy reached out on instinct.

I opened first to page thirty-six.

The livestream camera fixed on the paper.

The same round head.

The same left ear with a corner missing.

Below it was a line of print.

【First Prize, Children's Drawing Competition】

【Title: 《The Little Man with a Missing Ear》】

【Artist: Catherine Sullivan】

The magazine's publication date was two years before Ian's picture book.

I laid the award certificate down on top of the four statements.

"When this drawing was published, Ian was five."

"That book in your hands isn't his original work."

I looked at Mom.

"It's the coloring book I had printed for him after I won the award."

"You took the gift I gave my brother and used it to prove he was the artist."

"And then you pushed me to hand him the three million I earned with it too."