Chapter 3

Emily also sent a voice message to mock me.

I opened the social media app and, sure enough, my mother had published another post.

[My eldest daughter is capable of sponsoring her aunts and uncles on a trip to Mexico.]

Anna also kept up the pretense in a comment below.

[It's my fault for not booking the flight earlier. The first-class cabins were all sold out, so we had to trouble them to sit in economy class.]

[Fortunately, my niece thought of booking a flight for me. Unlike some people who likely haven’t even flown economy class before!]

[This is what you call capable. What's the use of having good grades if you can't even afford to buy your uncle a flight?]

The relatives praised Anna for being capable, while belittling me as incompetent.

These flight tickets were booked later on, so since I had already canceled the supplementary card, they used my mother's money.

I supposed these tickets would cost tens of thousands of dollars. It turned out my mother had money; she just never spent it on me.

However, my parents' limited savings would not be able to withstand this kind of spending for long.

As soon as I got off the plane, I rushed to the Mexico City branch.

Our company ran a hotel and catering business, and I had planned to bring my parents to stay here.

Coincidentally, I saw my mother and the rest walk in just as I arrived at the branch.

This hotel was the most luxurious in all of Mexico.

"Ms. Smith?" The branch manager looked at me.

"Take me to the surveillance room."

On the monitor, my mother swaggered in, leading our relatives along. "Let me tell you, this is a five-star hotel. It costs several thousand dollars a night; only my daughter can afford it."

My mother's relatives all looked at Anna with fawning eyes.

Anna proudly tilted her head back and said to the receptionist, "I want the best room."

My mother held her card up to pay, saying, "See? This is a supplementary card my eldest daughter gave me. All the money we're spending today is from her."

Anna quickly added, "Mom, it's only right to be filial to you."

My mother handed over her card, ready to pay.

However, the receptionist frowned. "Excuse me, Madam. This card doesn't have enough money. Please try with another one."

My mother was stunned. "How is that possible?"

My mother quickly looked at the card, her voice tinged with panic. "How did the supplementary card fail? Gosh, I paid for the plane ticket with my own money."

My mother's face crumpled instantly; it was the first time I had ever seen her so upset.

It turned out she cared about money too; she just never cared about mine.

"Anna, why did you cancel it? How much money can your mom have in her bank card?"

"Yeah, yeah, didn't you say you'd cover all our expenses for the Mexico trip? Don't ask me for money. I don't have any."

"Anna, don’t tell me you’re broke."

Anna panicked.

"Aunt Mariah, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Jordan, what are you talking about? How could I be broke? It's probably a problem with the payment system. Let me see what's going on," Anna replied frantically.

The tourists lining up behind them were getting impatient.

"Are you done yet? Hurry up!"

"If you're broke, get out of the way! We're waiting!"

My mother could not help but yell, "What's with the shouting? We'll pay right away!"

However, all the money my mother and Anna had combined was not even enough for all of them to stay one night. Besides, my mother was extremely frugal and would never spend that much money on her siblings.

My mother grabbed her phone and eagerly made a call.

My phone rang immediately.

It was my mother.