ห้องสมุด
ค้นหา
หน้าหลัก / Always the Guest / Chapter 4

แชร์

Chapter 4

ผู้เขียน: Big River
Before the engagement banquet began, Mom pulled me aside into the hallway again.

"When Michael comes over later, I will bring up the money." She unscrewed a bottle of water for me. "There will be a lot of people here today.

"Don't make an ugly scene."

I nodded.

Only then did she smile.

"I knew you would understand the bigger picture."

Twenty minutes into the engagement banquet, Aunt picked up her wineglass and stood.

"For my first toast tonight, I absolutely have to thank my husband's older sister!"

Her face was already flushed from drinking.

"Two hundred thousand! She handed it over just like that, without even blinking!"

"Even I, her own mother, could never be as generous as she is!"

The table immediately burst into chatter.

"A sister-in-law who'd go this far for her family? You cannot ask for more than that!

"They are siblings, after all. When it really matters, family is who you can count on!

"Yvonne, you had better remember to thank your aunt properly for this!"

At first, Mom kept waving her hands, insisting that everyone was being too kind. However, after a few more drinks, she could no longer hide the smile spreading across her face.

I kept waiting. Waiting for her to tell everyone that the two hundred thousand was not a gift. It was a loan.

Michael raised his glass too. His eyes gradually reddened.

"Sis, we really owe you one this time.

"We will pay the money back once we..."

"What money?" Mom interrupted him. "The most important thing is getting the kids married."

My utensils stopped at the edge of my plate.

Dad jerked his head up. Mom seemed to remember me for the first time just then. Her eyes rested on my face for a second before quickly darting away.

I called out to her.

"Mom."

"Hmm?"

"Did you not have something to say?"

The noise around the table gradually died down. Michael looked at us in confusion.

Mom's smile stiffened.

"What do you mean?"

It felt as if something heavy were pressing against my chest.

Slowly, it sank deeper.

"The two hundred thousand dollars," I said.

Under the table, Dad gripped my wrist so tightly it hurt.

"Caleb."

I did not look at him.

"Mom. You said yesterday that you would tell Michael today.

"That the two hundred thousand was a loan."

The air went still and Michael 's face turned pale.

"A l-loan?"

Mom gripped her wineglass, her knuckles tightening around it.

I looked at her.

All she had to do was say one word.

Yes.

However, the whole table was filled with relatives who had just praised her generosity and told her what a wonderful sister she was. She stared at her glass for a long time.

Finally, she looked up.

"We will talk about this at home."

My throat tightened.

"I just want to ask one question."

"When will he pay it back?"

"Caleb." Her voice was already burning with anger. "Do you know what today is?

"Do you really have to sit here in front of all these relatives and argue about money?"

"Because it is the money I saved for my house."

"What do you mean your money?" The moment those words left her mouth, even Mom herself paused.

Dad's face turned deathly pale.

However, the words had already been spoken, and everyone at the table was looking at her.

With nowhere left to retreat, Mom only grew more forceful.

"Have you not been putting your earnings into the family account all these years?

"What is wrong with family using some of it when they need help?"

I looked at her.

"So he doesn't have to pay it back?"

Michael hurriedly put down his wineglass.

"Of course I will pay it back! Why wouldn't I?

"I didn't know this was Caleb's downpayment. If I'd known..."

However, Mom pressed a hand against his arm.

"Don't say another word."

Every relative at the table was watching her. Her face flushed a deep red.

"I gave that money to help my own niece get married.

"What is there to pay back?"

Something inside my chest, something that had been stretched taut for a very long time, suddenly snapped.

There was no sound. It did not even hurt as much as I had imagined.

I actually smiled.

"Fine."

Mom stared at me, clearly caught off guard.

I picked up my wineglass and gently clinked it against the one in front of Michael.

"Since my mom says you don't have to pay it back...

"Then you don't have to pay it back."

"Caleb..."

"Today is a happy occasion." I kept smiling. "We shouldn't let a little money come between us."

Those were the exact words Mom had just used. She opened her mouth, but in the end, nothing came out.

Before long, the table grew lively again. Someone tried to smooth things over, someone else praised me for being such a generous cousin, another relative laughed and said, "Come on, he is a guy. He shouldn't be so hung up on money!"

Mom seemed relieved, too. She turned to the others across the table and smiled.

"He just likes to act tough.

"He has always been the easiest child to raise."

I lowered my head and canceled the monthly automatic transfers of my salary to Dad. Then I left three family group chats where relatives were always asking me to help out with one thing or another.

Just then, a message from the real estate agent popped up on my phone.

[The seller of the house you viewed earlier cannot wait any longer. They have already agreed to sell it to someone else.]

Ten seconds later, another message arrived.

[There is a one-bedroom apartment near your company becoming available tonight.]

[You can move straight in.]

[Would you like to see it?]

I replied.

[Yes.]

Then, I immediately sent my location to a moving company.

[After eleven tonight.]

[Can you come to this address and pick up a few boxes?]

They replied almost at once.

[Sure.]

Not far away, Mom was waving me over.

"Caleb!

"Come take a family photo!"

I turned off my phone, lifted my head and walked toward her.

อ่านหนังสือเล่มนี้ต่อได้ฟรี
สแกนรหัสเพื่อดาวน์โหลดแอป
บทที่แล้ว บทต่อไป

บทล่าสุด

  • Always the Guest   Chapter 9

    A year later, I bought a house again.Fifty-four square meters, with two bedrooms and a living room.It was not as cheap as the first place I had fallen in love with, but sunlight reached the balcony.On the day I signed the contract, I sent Mom the address.She arrived half an hour early.From beginning to end, she did not negotiate with the real estate agent on my behalf or make a single decision for me without asking.I asked her, "Is the kitchen a little small?"Only then did she step inside to take a look. "It is big enough for one person.""What about the natural light?""As long as you like it, that is what matters."After I paid the down payment, she stood outside the bank for a long time.Finally, she said only, "It's nice."Over the past year, they really had changed.When Robert asked again whether Ronald could stay at their house, Dad told him, "It doesn't matter if you ask Caleb."That is his room."We won't agree on his behalf."When another relative asked

  • Always the Guest   Chapter 8

    A little over a month later, my parents visited my rented apartment for the first time.Before coming over, Dad asked me three times."Is three o'clock convenient?"Would you like us to come a little earlier?"If you are tired today, we can come another day."At 3:05, the doorbell rang. I opened the door, Mom stood outside. Instead of reaching for the doorknob as she always used to, she asked first."May we come in?"I stepped aside to let them enter.Dad was carrying two cardboard boxes filled with the photo albums, certificates, and old books I had left at home. Resting on top was a small wooden sign.[Caleb's Little Room.]I picked it up and could not help smiling."You still had this?"When I was ten, I had made it out of a scrap of wood. The letters were crooked, and beside them was a drawing of something that barely looked like a flower.Dad's eyes reddened."We found it at the very back of the balcony."Mom sat down on my folding chair.My thirty-six-square-meter

  • Always the Guest   Chapter 7

    Dad dug out the old ledger again.At first, he had only wanted to account for the two hundred thousand.On the first page were my earnings from the year I graduated. He had recorded every amount with great care.[April: $3,000.][May: $3,200.][June bonus: $2,000.]As the pages went on, the numbers grew larger, but his handwriting became messier. Every now and then, a few small notes appeared in the margins.[Lent Aunt Julia $15,000.][Paid Ronald's $6,000 training fee in advance.][Aunt Lily's car payment: $20,000.]At first, Dad kept tapping numbers into his calculator. Eventually, he stopped.When he turned to one particular page, his hand suddenly froze.It was from the New Year in my second year at work. My year-end bonus had been $12,000. He remembered it clearly because it was the first time I had received a bonus of more than ten thousand.I had been over the moon that day.After I transferred the money to him, he had even taken a screenshot of my bank balance and

  • Always the Guest   Chapter 6

    Mom did not truly realize something was wrong until half a month later.At eight that evening, the doorbell rang.My mother's second-oldest brother, Uncle Robert, stood outside with his son, Ronald Zeller, and two large suitcases at their feet."The training program starts early now."We will be staying here for half a month."Mom stared at them in surprise."Staying at our place?"Robert looked even more confused than she did."Wasn't that what you said?"When Ronald comes over here, we don't need to book a hotel. We can just stay with you."Mom had indeed said that.At the last family gathering, Robert had complained about how expensive hotels downtown were. Without hesitation, she had assured him that everything would be taken care of."We've room at home."Why waste money on something like that?"In the past, she had never needed to think twice before saying things like that.No matter how many relatives showed up, there was always a way to make room for them in the

  • Always the Guest   Chapter 5

    In the family photo, I stood at the very edge.Mom's face was flushed from drinking, and had one arm resting on Michael's shoulder.After the picture was taken, she tugged at me."Smile."You are a grown man. Stop looking so miserable."So, I smiled.We got home at ten thirty that night.Mom had drunk too much, so Dad and I helped her into the bedroom. Before she lay down, she grabbed my hand."Caleb. I will buy you an even better house someday." Her words were slurred. "Don't hold a grudge against me over this little bit of money."I gently tucked her hand back under the blanket."Go to sleep."At eleven twenty, the moving company arrived downstairs.I did not take the bed, the desk, or the cabinets because my parents had bought those. I packed only my clothes, books, certificates, and a few things I had paid for myself.Michael heard the commotion and came out. He looked startled."Caleb, what are you doing?""Moving out."His face changed instantly. "Is this because

  • Always the Guest   Chapter 4

    Before the engagement banquet began, Mom pulled me aside into the hallway again."When Michael comes over later, I will bring up the money." She unscrewed a bottle of water for me. "There will be a lot of people here today."Don't make an ugly scene."I nodded.Only then did she smile."I knew you would understand the bigger picture."Twenty minutes into the engagement banquet, Aunt picked up her wineglass and stood."For my first toast tonight, I absolutely have to thank my husband's older sister!"Her face was already flushed from drinking."Two hundred thousand! She handed it over just like that, without even blinking!""Even I, her own mother, could never be as generous as she is!"The table immediately burst into chatter."A sister-in-law who'd go this far for her family? You cannot ask for more than that!"They are siblings, after all. When it really matters, family is who you can count on!"Yvonne, you had better remember to thank your aunt properly for this!"At

บทอื่นๆ

บางทีคุณอาจจะชอบ

สำรวจและอ่านนวนิยายดีๆ ได้ฟรี
เข้าถึงนวนิยายดีๆ จำนวนมากได้ฟรีบนแอป GoodNovel ดาวน์โหลดหนังสือที่คุณชอบและอ่านได้ทุกที่ทุกเวลา
อ่านหนังสือฟรีบนแอป
สแกนรหัสเพื่ออ่านบนแอป
DMCA.com Protection Status