I followed him around nonstop, chirping things like, "My brother is so smart," and "My brother's the best!" like a broken record.
Honestly, I embarrassed him sometimes, but he never stopped me.
On stormy nights, I would sneak into his room, hugging a pillow to my chest and looking up at him with big, pleading eyes.
"Can I sleep with you tonight? Please?"
At first, he tried to keep a straight face and play the role of responsible big brother.
But the combo of baby talk and crocodile tears was always too much.
"Fine," he'd mutter with a sigh. "Just stay on your side and behave, got it?"
And just like that, I was curled up in his bed.
He'd gently pat my back until I drifted off, and each time, something warm and solid would settle in my heart. Safe. Steady.
In the old timeline, he had a tough life. He was raised in someone else's home, never truly accepted, and always had to tread carefully.
My sister treated him poorly.
She bullied him constantly, made him an outcast at school, and even plotted to have him kidnapped—maybe even killed—once she saw him as competition.
So yeah, no wonder Lance cracked. No wonder he became cold, twisted, and dangerous.
But this time, I did things differently. I softened him instead of hardening him. I reached for him, not to control, but to care.
And somewhere along the way, I stopped pretending. I really did get attached.
We were a team now.
[My big bro is the best. I'll grow up and protect him.]
That thought came from the deepest part of me.
Lance paused, then let out a soft, rare laugh. "Silly girl. I'm the big brother. I'm supposed to protect you."
Time flew after that.
By the time I was fifteen, I was surpassing grown adults in almost everything. Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—you name it. I was mastering it. And of course, I kept my Heart-Voice Skill polished and ready, using it behind the scenes to quietly help the family.
I gave my billionaire dad a few nudges at just the right moments.
Thanks to those "little coincidences," he made some killer investments.
The Gardner fortune multiplied.
As for my sweet, clueless mom? I steered her away from a disaster that nearly shattered us in the last life.
She had a so-called best friend who once tried to drug Dad and seduce him. It almost worked. Their marriage nearly imploded.
And who was watching it all unfold, as if it were a soap opera?