He continued in a low, gravelly voice, "Nevertheless, I still hated my cousin deep down. But when I started working alongside him at the headquarters, I finally made the conscious choice to drop the grudge. It was exhausting, and frankly, it was getting me nowhere. I started forcing myself to look in the mirror, asking why the hell I was so consumed by his shadow. I finally realized that I had spent my entire life praying for his downfall instead of actually building my own character.
"During my first few weeks at the Brown Corporation," Dustin continued, a faint, self-deprecating smirk touching his lips, "I happened to cross paths with his ex-fiancée. I threw a few cheap compliments and sugar-coated lines her way. To my absolute shock, it took almost zero effort. Alice fell for it instantly. Westley discovered the truth almost immediately, and that is precisely why he looks at me like he wants to erase me from the face of the earth."
