Chapter 2

My face instantly paled as I stared at Alvin in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind? How can you joke around with your own future like that?"

"Just tell me whether you're giving me the money or not!" Impatience flashed in Alvin's eyes. "You've been controlling every aspect of my life all these years.

"If you really care about me, you'll send me abroad instead of expecting me to continue struggling in this country's cutthroat academic environment. I wouldn't even have been able to hang in for so long if Dad hadn't been there to give me the guidance and support I needed."

I looked at Alvin—and the smug Jimmy standing beside him—and scoffed.

Alvin had always been in poor health. He even had several surgeries done when he was younger. Because of that, I devoted all my time and attention to taking care of him. I couldn't even sleep soundly at night for fear that I wouldn't hear him call for me.

It took years of sacrificial care and unfailing attentiveness to nurse him back to health. That was the only reason why I restricted him from doing certain things.

Yet according to him, I was just being a controlling person and somehow wasn't as good to him as Jimmy, the guy who abandoned us as children and only showed up occasionally to say a few empty words to him?

"Do you know that it was his extramarital affair that resulted in Mom's car accident?" I snapped at Alvin, feeling a mix of exasperation and frustration. How I wish I could slap some sense into him. "But now, you're taking his side and pressuring me for money. How is this fair to Mom—or me?"

In fact, I was already giving him a sugarcoated version of the truth. In reality, Jimmy's mistress had deliberately called Mom to let her hear what she and Jimmy were doing in bed. It'd been such a huge shock to Mom that she lost control of the car and got into an accident.

I'd kept the truth from Alvin all this time because I didn't want it to affect him. I never thought I'd end up spilling the truth now.

"So what?" Alvin retorted.

The anger burning inside of me seemed to solidify as I paused, struck dumb by Alvin's response. Staring at him in disbelief, I asked, "What did you just say?"

"Dad has nothing to do with Mom's death. It was just an accident." Alvin didn't look at me, possibly because my expression was too incredulous, but that didn't stop him from talking.

"All men do these things. Mom's the one who was too weak and sensitive and got into an accident because of it."

All men did these things, huh?

Stunned, I turned woodenly toward Jimmy, who was still standing beside Alvin with a gloating expression on his face. He rubbed his protruding belly and eyed me mockingly.

I turned my gaze back to Alvin, who was starting to resemble Jimmy more and more.

"Is that how you've thought about this all along?" I asked.

This whole time, I'd assumed that Alvin was unaware of the past and still harbored a childlike desire for fatherly love. Never did it occur to me that he was indeed his father's son. The apple didn't fall far from the tree, after all.

"Either way, half the payout belongs to me. I have every right to get it back from you."

Alvin didn't respond to my question outright. Instead, he brought up the money again. Nevertheless, his attitude alone was all the answer I needed, and my heart turned cold with disappointment.

"Why are you wasting your breath on her? It seems to me she just doesn't want to give you the money!" Jimmy started shouting again.

With him leading the charge, the rest of our relatives started voicing their agreement as well.

"Sandra, regardless of the situation, that money belongs to Alvin. It's not right for you to keep hiding it from him and refusing to hand it over."

"Alvin's future is in your hands now. You're his sister. You can't ruin his life."

"If your mother knew things had come to this between you two, she'd be heartbroken."

The invisible pressure surrounded me once more. It suddenly hit me that Alvin must've planned this from the start—he'd already decided to force me to hand over the money during the party.

When did he stop trusting me? When did he start plotting against me?

"Fine. You want the money, right?" I snorted as I pulled out my phone. "I'll give it to you. You'd better not regret it."

Since I'd given in and got my phone out, Alvin finally broke into a smile. "Why would I regret it?"

But just moments later, he cried out, "Five thousand dollars? Why is it only five thousand dollars?"