Chapter 1 Nina Swanson

In an old neighborhood of Riverdale, a luxury car was parked in front of a yard.

Martin Swanson sat inside, wearing a custom-made suit, his face showing impatience. He glanced at the expensive watch on his wrist, frowned, and got out, walking into the yard.

Inside, Nina Swanson wore cheap clothes and dug through a patch of soil with a hoe, tending to some strange plants.

Martin looked annoyed. He strode over and asked in a deep voice, "What are you doing?"

Nina looked up at him. "Planting. Got a problem?"

"I've been waiting for you outside for two hours, and you're messing with this crap?" Martin frowned, his already grim expression darkened further. "You should know that you're part of the Swanson family."

Nina didn't stop working. She asked carelessly, "So?"

"So?" Martin almost laughed in anger. "So stop doing things that don't fit your status. And I gave up a project that pays tens of millions of dollars an hour to come pick you up. You'd better not waste my time."

Nina finally stopped. She stared at Martin without saying a word.

Martin continued, "Nina, remember, our house isn't the nightclub you used to stay in. Drop all the low-class stuff you learned from Scarlet. And don't get smug just because you're my sister. We're related by blood, but I don't consider you family."

His tone was stern, like he was giving orders to a subordinate. There wasn't a trace of joy at finding his long-lost sister, only a sense that this reunion was ridiculous.

Lily, who he'd lived with for years, wasn't his real sister. The girl in front of him, raised by a nightclub hostess since childhood, was.

When the Swanson family learned this, they were stunned. No one could accept that Nina had been raised by a woman working at a nightclub.

Even worse, the records they'd found showed Nina hadn't finished high school and had been expelled. The reason was unclear, but Martin was sure she had done something bad.

And the small yard, thanks to Scarlet Mayfield, the woman who had raised Nina, had a lot of men coming and going. Martin didn't know if any of those men had tried to make a move on Nina.

The thought made him increasingly agitated. He didn't want to give up a multi-million-dollar project to bring home a sister full of scandals.

"Ten minutes," he commanded. "Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Nina dropped the hoe and kicked Martin out of the gate.

"Get out!" she shouted.

Martin never imagined he'd be kicked out by the sister he despised from the bottom of his heart.

He kept a straight face and ordered the bodyguards, "Smash the door!"

The guards rushed forward, banging the iron gate loudly.

Nina frowned, a bit impatient. She flexed her hands and feet, ready to deal with them, when a voice came from behind. "Just open it. Don't disturb the girls."

Nina turned and saw Scarlet sitting on the steps in a red dress. She held a cigarette, smoke curling slowly from her lips and dispersing into the air.

Nina gave her a sideways glance but said nothing. She turned and opened the gate.

Martin stormed in. "Aren't you so tough? Kicking me out like that? I thought you were brave enough not to come back with me."

Nina looked at Martin coolly, the clothes on him making him look fancy, but his tantrum made him look childish. "I don't have to go back, but would you dare not take me?"

"You..." Martin choked on his words.

He'd come to this rundown place because his grandmother, Sarah, had forced him, literally threatening him with death, to pick up Nina. He didn't dare refuse.

Nina gave him a nonchalant glance. "Since you're here to bring me back, watch your attitude. I'm sure you already checked me out before coming. I have a bad temper, so you'd better stop lecturing me..."

She stepped forward to face him, her gaze sharp. "Cross my line, and I'll beat you up, no matter who you are. Got it?"

She sounded like a street punk, defiant and aggressive, which made Martin look even more irritated. He had only met Nina for a few minutes, yet almost everything she'd said was a threat.

Martin was about to lose his temper, but before he could speak, Nina turned and went back to fiddling with the soil.

His anger stayed trapped, neither vented nor gone, and it made him tense.

Two hours later, with Martin's patience almost gone, Nina finally stopped what she was doing. She walked slowly toward the house.

Soon, she came out carrying a suitcase. She had changed into a tight black leather outfit, her long hair flowing down her back. Her curves were perfectly outlined, beautiful and fierce at the same time.

Martin stared at her, stunned.

He remembered clearly that the outfit was the latest design by Lanelle, of which only two copies existed: one for sale, one a gift.

Lily had wanted it and asked him to grab it, but he had failed. He never expected Nina to be wearing it.

For a moment, he actually doubted it was real. But he had seen Lanelle's designs up close, and the neckline bore Lanelle's tiny signature 'L'.

The mark was small and easy to miss, but his eyes were so sharp that he spotted it immediately.

The outfit wasn't fake. But Martin couldn't understand how a girl raised by a nightclub hostess could afford Lanelle's design. Each piece sold for over three hundred thousand dollars.

Nina lifted her eyes and met Martin's shocked gaze. She withdrew her glance casually and walked slowly outside.

When she passed Scarlet, she paused. She glanced at the cigarette butts scattered on the ground, frowned, took the cigarette from Scarlet's hand, tossed it down, and crushed it with her foot. "Smoke less. It's bad for you."

Scarlet's hand froze in the air. She didn't say a word.

"Keep an eye on my herbs," Nina added. "They're pretty valuable."

Scarlet snorted. "Who cares about that junk? Go live your fancy life. Don't come back."

Nina didn't respond, only reminded her, "Don't forget to take your medicine."

Then she walked away without looking back.

Martin opened the car door, but before he could say anything, Nina pushed the suitcase forward. "It's taking your car."

Then she walked straight to a top-tier motorcycle parked across the street and put on her helmet.

Martin blew up. "Nina, what the hell are you doing? Get down! Do you even know how much that bike costs? Can you even pay for it if you break it?"

He'd seen the bike when he arrived and assumed some big shot had come to this shabby place. He never expected Nina to dare touch it.

Nina gave him a sideways glance, started the motorcycle, and sped off, leaving Martin in shock.

Martin froze. He was usually calm and unreadable, but now he was roaring inwardly. That bike was a world-class machine, the only one of its kind in the country, worth 2 million dollars.

The car he drove was only 600 thousand, yet Nina had a 2-million-dollar bike. He couldn't help but wonder, 'Wasn't she raised by a nightclub hostess? Could a hostess really be that rich?'

He stood there stunned for a long time, only driving off after Nina completely disappeared from sight.

It wasn't until both Nina's bike and Martin's car were gone that Scarlet stood up. She dusted off the dirt on her clothes, dialed a number, and said, "We leave tomorrow morning."