The Most Important Lesson I Taught Them

Lucy finally showed up.

She came in drenched in sweat, clutching a thick stack of freshly printed documents.

“Sorry! Sorry! There were way too many people at the print shop!”

I sat in the corner, glaring at my clueless little sister, my irritation rising by the second.

I had only asked her to print a few documents for me, and she had taken this long.

In that short time, I had already been turned into the villain of the story. The professor’s boy toy. A homewrecker. Public enemy number one.

The moment Lucy noticed the tension in the room, she froze.

“W... what’s going on?”

The second Eric saw her, his whole expression changed.

He frowned, strode over, and demanded, “Lucy, what took you so long?”

Startled, Lucy hurried to explain. “Eric, there were a lot of materials, and...”

Eric let out a cold laugh and pointed straight at me.

“Stop making excuses. Was it because of this guy who keeps harassing you?”

“He refused to leave, and I knew it. He clearly hasn’t given up. He wants to flirt with you right in front of everyone.”

“And Professor Jackson will be here any minute. Just having him sitting here is already making our whole group look bad.”

Lucy followed his finger and looked at me. Her face instantly went blank.

“No... Eric, I think you’ve got it wrong. He’s actually...”

She was just about to say “my brother” when I shot her a look.

Years of sibling intimidation worked instantly. She clamped her mouth shut.

I signaled with my eyes: Be quiet. Let’s watch this play out.

Lucy might be a little slow sometimes, but she knew how to read the room.

She swallowed hard, then stiffly turned back to Eric. “Um... Eric, it’s fine. He’s a guest. Adding one more chair won’t hurt.”

Eric stared at her in disbelief.

“I knew it. You’ve been completely taken in by him!”

“First you help him write his paper, and now you’re taking his side too! Don’t let him fool you. He’s ruining your future!”

“Do you even realize that if Professor Jackson finds out, you could get expelled?”

Lucy looked utterly confused. “Write his paper? Who? Me?”

She glanced down at the documents in her arms.

They were the extended analysis from the top journal paper I had just published. Every formula in it was enough to make her, as a grad student, want to kneel in worship.

Her expression turned strange. “I’m not even qualified...”

“See? You admitted it yourself!”

Eric didn’t listen at all. He took her reaction as guilt.

Then he turned and glared at me viciously. “You’re pretty good at this, I’ll give you that.

“But let me tell you something. In this field, real ability is what matters.

“When Professor Jackson gets here, I’m going to expose you for who you really are.”

“Enough!”

Lucy finally couldn’t take it anymore.

She jumped to her feet and stepped in front of me, shame written all over her face.

“Eric, he’s my brother. My actual brother!”