Chapter 1

The moment I reached for the coat hanger, Mom slapped my hand away. The back of my hand turned bright red.

"I'm wearing this to my best friend's wedding tomorrow," I said, staring at her.

"When did you get so selfish?" Mom stepped in front of my sister-in-law, Selena Walker. "You used to borrow my clothes whenever you wanted. Now that you're all grown up, you can't even lend your Selena one of your coats? Besides, we're family. Why does it matter whose it is?"

I pointed at the coat, which was stretched tight around Selena's waist.

"Take it off."

The coat was designed to fit at the waist, and Selena was nearly 50 pounds heavier than me. The cashmere had already been stretched to its limit.

Selena's eyes welled up with tears, and she shrank back. "Forget it. If Eleanor doesn't want me to wear it, then I won't. I shouldn't have tried on something this expensive anyway."

"You're keeping it on!" Mom said, grabbing Selena's hand.

She then glared at me. "Your brother just got married. What's wrong with her wearing something nice when she goes back to visit her parents? You make over ten thousand a month. Just buy another one."

I stared at the custom Cavell coat. Its clean, elegant lines were ruined by deep wrinkles where the fabric was stretched too tight.

"You heard me," I said. "Take it off."

Selena lowered her head. Her shoulders shook as she fought back tears, but she held tightly onto the coat.

Mom finally lost her temper. She grabbed both sides of the coat and forced them together. "I said she's wearing it, and that's final!"

She then gripped the zipper and yanked it upward. "You're wearing this to your parents' house tomorrow. Nobody's taking it off you."

The fabric stretched to its limit.

Then it tore.

The stitching along the back seam had split open, leaving a two-inch rip that exposed the white lining beneath.

For a moment, the air went still.

Selena reached behind her, felt the tear, and went pale.

Mom barely glanced at it. "What a piece of junk. Just give it a few stitches, and it'll be good as new."

I looked at the ruined seam, then entered the bathroom without a word.

A 3,000-dollar jar of facial cream sat on the vanity. Mom dipped into it every day and used it as foot cream. I picked it up and dropped it into the trash.

"Do whatever you want."

Then, I went to my bedroom, closed the door, and locked it.

Mom kept yelling through the door about how ungrateful I was. According to her, I'd only given my brother 50 thousand for his wedding and now I was acting like one coat was too much to ask.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and unlocked my phone. After Face ID verified me, I opened my bank's credit card management page.

My primary card was at the top. It had a 100-thousand-dollar credit limit. Underneath it was a supplementary card ending in 8868, registered under the name Madeline Stewart.

That was Mom's name.

She had had that card for five years. I handed it to her after I got my first paycheck out of college. The card had a 20 thousand monthly limit.

I opened the current statement.

The first charge was from the Apple Store on September 2nd—8,999 dollars for my brother's new phone.

Three days later, another 5,000 dollars had gone to a cosmetic clinic for Selena's skin treatment.

Then came September 10th, when Mom used the card to buy Selena some wedding jewelry worth 12 thousand dollars.

Almost everything had gone on that card over the years—utilities, groceries, my brother's tuition and living expenses, and even his wedding.

I opened the supplementary card settings and tapped on the "Credit Limit" button. The display showed 18.5 thousand in available credit.

I tapped "Edit".

After deleting the 20 thousand limit, I entered 0 instead. A confirmation window popped up, asking if I wanted to reduce the credit limit on the supplementary card ending in 8868 to zero dollars. I pressed "Confirm".

The screen refreshed.

"Your credit limit has been updated successfully."

I took a screenshot and saved it.

Outside my bedroom, Mom's yelling finally stopped.

I heard Selena's thrilled voice soon after. "This coat is so warm. The material feels just like the expensive ones they sell in luxury stores. I'll wear this when we visit my parents tomorrow. We can stop by the jewelry store on the way and get that gold bracelet you liked with Eleanor's card."

"Of course," Mom said with a chuckle. "Get whatever you want and put it on her card. She makes plenty of money every month, anyway. The least she can do is spend some of it on her own mother."

"But that bracelet is almost two ounces of gold. It'll cost over 30 thousand."

"So what? She can afford it." Mom scoffed. "We'll go early tomorrow so I can wear it to the wedding reception."

I leaned back against the headboard and stared at the screenshot in my photo gallery. Then, I turned off my phone and closed my eyes.