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Gold Behind Closed Hands

Gold Behind Closed Hands

Short Story · Emotional Realism
By:  Shell FlowerCompleted
Language: English
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12Chapters
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Synopsis

Bias

Winning Back the Wife

Face Slapping

Plot Twists

Tragic Love

Hypocrisy

Ruthless

My boyfriend belonged to the untouchables among the capital's elite, with a family fortune worth tens of billions. To "test" me, he spent seven years never buying me a single gift, never spending a cent on me. Even a stop at a convenience store for condoms had to be split down the middle. Then, my mother fell critically ill. I borrowed from every friend and relative I could, but I was still two thousand short to cover the surgery fees. No matter how much I pleaded, he refused to lend me the money. I arranged my mother's funeral on my own. When I went back to pack my belongings, I accidentally found a list of gifts he had bought for the young woman next door. A private luxury estate. Designer handbags. Jewelry worth hundreds of millions. There was also a voice chat with his friend. "Caleb, is it true Jessica actually humbled herself and begged you for two thousand?" Caleb Brooks let out a low, amused laugh, his tone lazy and indifferent. "Nevaeh wasn't wrong. Anyone who goes around begging over two thousand — what else is she if not a gold digger? "We've only been together seven years and she's already trying to get money out of me." So that was the truth. Seven years of so-called testing, it seemed, had been sparked by nothing more than a few manipulative words from a young woman next door. However, it no longer mattered. The moment my mother passed away, I had already decided to leave him.

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Chapter 1

Chapter 1

1

I had just tucked the gift list away when the front door burst open.

Caleb Brooks stumbled in, a little tipsy, and plopped down next to me.

"You were gone for a few days. I bet you thought you wouldn't come back.

"However, you missed me too much, didn't you? You just had to come back."

He almost said out loud that I returned just to con him out of his money.

Maybe he's always seen me as just a girl after his cash.

Without even glancing at him, I scooted away, avoiding the arm he tried to drape over me.

He looked at his hand, then at me, confused.

He figured I was just upset about the $2,000.

"I'm a little thirsty from all the drinking. Go fetch me some lemon soda," he said.

He was always like that, bossy and dismissive.

However, when he first pursued me seven years ago, he pretended to be poor.

He had me completely fooled.

"Jess, I've got nothing, and I can't promise you a future.

"However, we can work hard and make a good life together."

I believed his honest face back then and agreed.

I needed money, but I could get by on my own hard work.

I was touched by his promise to work hard together.

However, the longer we were together, the more I realized that he was not like everyone else.

He would turn his nose up at anything cheap.

He would make me do things that he could easily do himself.

It all clicked when I saw him step out of a fancy car and into a swanky club, treated like a star.

That's when I knew our relationship was built on lies.

He was always afraid that I was just after his money.

Caleb spoke up again, snapping me back to the present.

"If you need money in the future, just ask me. Don't use your mom's sickness as an excuse.

"You're not scared of getting what's coming to you, huh?"

His words seemed so silly to me now.

I looked up at him with an icy stare.

"Would you actually give me the money if I asked?"

He paused, looking unsure for a moment.

However, then, as if proving a point, he gave me a mocking glance.

"Nevaeh was right. You're only with me for my cash."

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12 Chapters
Chapter 1
1I had just tucked the gift list away when the front door burst open.Caleb Brooks stumbled in, a little tipsy, and plopped down next to me."You were gone for a few days. I bet you thought you wouldn't come back."However, you missed me too much, didn't you? You just had to come back."He almost said out loud that I returned just to con him out of his money.Maybe he's always seen me as just a girl after his cash.Without even glancing at him, I scooted away, avoiding the arm he tried to drape over me.He looked at his hand, then at me, confused.He figured I was just upset about the $2,000."I'm a little thirsty from all the drinking. Go fetch me some lemon soda," he said.He was always like that, bossy and dismissive.However, when he first pursued me seven years ago, he pretended to be poor.He had me completely fooled."Jess, I've got nothing, and I can't promise you a future."However, we can work hard and make a good life together."I believed his honest face ba
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Chapter 2
He said that and sent me a transfer of $1.88 on his phone.The note with the transfer contained two words: "Gold Digger."I had been with him for seven whole years and had not spent a dime of his money.I even gave him gifts on holidays and anniversaries.He took them like he was entitled to them, but he never got me anything in return.He would mockingly ask if I thought it was a man's duty to buy gifts for his girlfriend.That's how he looked at me, like a gold digger.After all, he was an heir with billions to his name.I thought about the gifts he had bought for Nevaeh Smith.I thought about my mom, who had suffered so much from her illness and died in pain because we could not afford her treatment.I could not stand to be near him a second longer.I got up to leave, but then there was noise at the door.Nevaeh came in, taking off her coat to reveal a sexy outfit underneath.However, when she saw me, she was startled and quickly put her coat back on. "Jess, why are you
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Chapter 3
"Caleb, you really should end the lease next month. You can't keep letting strangers mooch off you."Or maybe Jess should put it in writing. That seems fair."If it was not against the law to hit people, I would have loved to slap them both.However, if I did, they would surely try to squeeze money out of me.Rich folks lacking class loved playing nasty games.Seven years was enough. I was done with this charade."I won't put it in writing. If you want money, go ahead and sue me. Let's see if the court takes your side."I won’t be staying in the house anymore, Ms. Smith. Since you're so keen on spending the night, don't forget to pay Caleb the rent."Otherwise, you'll just be another moocher."I was about to walk away when Caleb grabbed me. His teasing look was gone, replaced by a stern warmth."Jess, do you have to be like this? Nevaeh and I were only joking."Think about it. If you leave, you'll never find a place as nice as this again."I was so wrong, so incredibly wron
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Chapter 4
I scrunched my eyebrows together, trying to make sense of it all. I was so confused.What did they mean, put it on a card?Since when did I have a bonus?However, the biggest question was… What was Mr. Brooks up to?My supervisor looked just as puzzled as I felt."Aren't you and Mr. Brooks a couple? He's the one who told the finance department to split up your pay."They give you your regular pay, but the bonus and any extra, they put on a different card. He said you wanted to save."I never would've guessed you had a boyfriend like Mr. Brooks and that you'd be so careful with money. That's pretty cool."It turned out that all these years, I was only getting the salary from when I first started.I kept asking for a raise, not knowing that my pay hadn’t increased not because I was not working hard, but because Caleb had been moving it to another card.When I finally asked for my pay records, I noticed the bonus section. It showed a big, shiny $2,000.Just a few days earlier,
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Chapter 5
Everyone glared at me like I was the bad guy, and the mean words just kept coming.I glanced at Caleb. He did not seem to care at all.It almost felt like Nevaeh was saying what he was thinking, and that made me feel even worse.I forced a weird smile onto my face.I was about to say something when Caleb grabbed me, acting all nice like he was trying to smooth things over."Forget about it. What's done is done. I'm not hurting for cash."The next time you need money, just ask me straight up. No need for stories."Caleb's words made everyone even madder. They thought I was being ungrateful."Right, Mr. Brooks is loaded. Just ask him for money. There’s no need to make up such a sad story.""Making up stuff about your own mom for cash? That's just wrong.""I can't believe Jessica would do something like this. I thought she was careful with money and I even used to share my snacks with her.""She's the kind of person Mr. Brooks should dump. She’ll find out how just tough it is i
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Chapter 6
Caleb was not just holding back my bonus and my raise, he also acted like he did not know he needed to sign for my hardship payment.He even pulled back my request for an advance on my paycheck.It was just $2000. Why couldn't he just give it to me? Why did he have to make it so hard?When I thought about all the years I had worked for Caleb, I felt so silly and sorry for myself.If I had been at a different company, I would not have been that tired and I would have had a nice pile of savings.Maybe then, my mom might still be there.I wished I had never met Caleb.Those coworkers who said I was trying to cash in on my own mom's troubles went silent when the supervisor spoke up.They all looked down, too scared to meet my gaze.Perhaps they did not expect to be proven wrong so quickly.However, nobody dared to question Caleb.It seemed like people always picked on those who could not fight back, even when the powerful ones were wrong.I had known that for a long time, but s
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Chapter 7
A glimmer of bitterness flashed in Nevaeh's eyes, but she hid it just as quickly."Caleb, without the job you gave Jess, she wouldn't even be able to stay in the capital."Even if her mom passed away, it's not the end of the world. She can't keep using that as an excuse to mooch off you."If you go to her now, you'd just be letting her throw a fit. Trust me, women know women. Jess is just playing hard to get."Caleb glanced at her and suddenly felt like he did not recognize Nevaeh.I knew how good I was, and so did he.Thanks to my hard work, the company had soared in value over the years.However, Caleb had been undermining me all along.To Nevaeh, it seemed a human life was worth next to nothing.Caleb had just been reflecting on our shared history.He had not spent a dime on me and there was no truth to the accusations of me being a gold digger.It looked like all my past outbursts and explanations had been twisted by Nevaeh's words.In his mind, the image of me as a gol
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Chapter 8
Outside the courthouse, the wind tousled my hair.Soon, I was back in my hometown.I pushed open the gate to the tiny courtyard that my mom and I had once called our whole world.The smell that was so familiar made my eyes fill with tears again.I held my mom's urn close and crouched down on the ground, crying my heart out.‘I'm sorry, Mom, for not giving you the life you deserved.’‘I'm sorry, Mom, for not having the money for your surgery when it mattered most.’‘I'm sorry, Mom, for not being able to show you my wedding.’ I felt so guilty....I had let my mom down in so many ways.When I had no more tears left, I noticed the little stool in the yard.The smile Mom had drawn on it for me was still there, even though the stool was then covered in green moss.I picked it up and took it to the creek.I scrubbed at the stains again and again, which made the smile clearer with each time.It looked just like Mom's smile.I touched the drawing softly and whispered, "Mom, I
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Chapter 9
It would be a lie to say I was not touched. He was so busy and could easily have brushed me off with any excuse.I changed my clothes and went with Yael to the fish pond."Your fish pond is huge, but you should keep the water about eight feet deep. For every section, you need to toss in 330 pounds of special lime to clean the water. However, right now, your pond isn't deep enough for raising fish."I scribbled in my notebook and nodded as I asked, "Do the fish need anything special?"Yael paused to think before he replied, "Well, for a pond as big as yours, you'd usually have about 2,000 carp, 1,500 silver carp, and maybe 20 large-headed carp. However, since you're just starting out, you should go with fish that are tougher and can survive easier."Don't worry about finding workers. I'll hook you up with some folks who know what they're doing," he added."As for that fancy fishing spot you want to set up, you've got to split the pond into different zones. You can't have newbies a
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Chapter 10
Halfway through my meal, Yael asked with a grin, "All full?"I always slowed down when I was getting full. However, it was important to finish what had been given, so even when I was stuffed, I kept eating slowly."If you're full, don't force it. Eating too much can make you feel sick," he advised.I just chuckled with my fork in hand."Yael, do you have a secret window into my heart? You understand me so well.""Ha! It's easy when your honest feelings are always showing on your face. I'd have to try not to know."Honest feelings?No one had ever said that about me before.Caleb always thought I was the type to play games and scheme.If I was as straightforward as Yael said, why had not Caleb ever looked after my feelings all those years?Noticing my troubled look, Yael quickly spoke up. "Did I say something wrong?"I smiled and shook my head, feeling like myself again.Then Yael pulled out a gift box from behind him. "Check this out. Hope you like it."I did not hold back
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