The Price of Obedience

"I’ll be checking your daily earnings and performance. That will be the standard for whether you’re fit to marry my daughter."

I froze.

Diane didn’t know I was the only heir to one of the most powerful families in Crestfall City.

But asking me—a finance graduate from Halcyon University, a top 50 university in the world, an analyst at Blackridge Capital, a leading brokerage—to deliver food?

This wasn’t about "experiencing life". This was humiliation.

"Mom! This is too much!" Olivia finally snapped, shooting to her feet, her face flushed.

"Too much?" Diane let out a cold laugh.

"Olivia, don’t forget. Your brother Christopher got caught in the rain once, and it left him with a chronic condition. Every time the seasons change, he coughs for weeks.

"Kids these days are fragile. I’m just giving him a head start, seeing if he has the resilience to take on the responsibility of being a man. If he can’t even handle this, how is he supposed to support a family? How is he supposed to deal with real life?"

Her twisted logic left Olivia completely speechless. She looked at me helplessly, her eyes full of apology and conflict.

Looking at the overbearing Diane, and Olivia standing there unable to speak up, a chill ran through me.

Nevertheless, four years together wasn’t something I could just walk away from. We had gone through the uncertainty of graduation together, mapped out our future side by side. We had even debated the style of our future home countless times.

Maybe Diane really was just testing me?

Maybe if I endured these three months, everything would finally open up.

"Fine." I took a deep breath, met Diane’s scrutinizing gaze, and nodded. "I agree."

A satisfied smile curled at the corner of her lips.

The next day, I took a long leave from work. As fast as I could, I registered for a delivery driver account and picked up a yellow jacket and helmet set.

Standing in front of the mirror in that outfit, I felt nothing but unfamiliarity and absurdity.

Even my parents thought it was ridiculous. "What kind of test is this supposed to be?"

I couldn’t explain it. I just kept my head down and hurried off to the rider station. My so-called "training" began just like that.

On the first day, I couldn’t even figure out basic route planning.

During the lunch rush, I completed 3 orders, 2 of which were late. Not only did I get penalized, but a customer pointed a finger at me and yelled for a full ten minutes, complaining his order had turned into a soggy mess.

By the time I got back to the apartment Olivia and I shared that night, I collapsed onto the couch, too exhausted to move a single finger.

Olivia came over, massaging my shoulders, then ordered my favorite crawfish for dinner.

I looked at my phone. My earnings for the entire day didn’t even hit $50.

I let out a bitter laugh. "This single meal would take me a full day of deliveries to earn back."

Olivia sighed. "I’m sorry you have to go through this, Kian. Once these three months are over, my mom will see your effort. She’ll accept you."

I didn’t say anything. I just kept peeling the shell off the crawfish in silence.

At first, I held onto a sliver of hope. I thought maybe Diane really was just harsh on the outside, soft on the inside.

It didn’t take long for me to realize how wrong I was. This wasn’t a test. She was trying to break me.

Every single day, without fail, she made me report my earnings, order count, on-time rate, and customer reviews. If even a single metric looked off, she’d find a reason to come after me.

"Kian, why did you only get one 5-star review today? Were you rude to customers?

"I’m telling you, as a future son-in-law of the Grants, you need to carry yourself properly. Don’t embarrass us.

"And look at this! Your on-time rate is only 92%? Back when Thomas was running his business, everything was built on one word: trust. If you can’t even deliver food on time, what can you possibly be trusted with in the future?"