Chapter 3

"How's that possible?" Jimmy snatched the phone from Alvin's hand. After seeing the transferred amount on the screen, he frowned grimly before suddenly pointing at me as if he'd realized something.

"Sandra Bellamy! How can you steal your own brother's money? Have you no shame? The money comes from your mom's life insurance payout!"

"Oh, so you do know it's the life insurance payout for my mom's death, huh?"

Clutching my phone tightly, I scoffed at Jimmy. "Sure, it seems like you're speaking up for Alvin, but anyone who isn't aware of the situation might think you're trying to take the money for yourself instead."

After all, if I hadn't held a knife to my throat back then, this money would have already ended up in his hands. Now that he and his mistress had another son, it was hard not to suspect it was his own pockets he wanted to line with that money.

Jimmy's gaze flickered, but I didn't bother with him anymore. I simply looked at Alvin, still hoping to see even a trace of realization on his face.

"What the hell are you playing at?" Unexpectedly, he avoided my gaze and snapped irritably at me instead. "I've already told you I want to use this money to study abroad. Do you really want to ruin my future?

"Just what will it take for you to give me the money? Do you think Mom would want to see you being this heartless toward your own family like this for the sake of money?"

"You're calling me heartless?"

Fuming, I jabbed a finger at Jimmy. I had to hiss out the words to avoid shouting them instead. "If you cared about this family at all, you wouldn't have invited him over—and you wouldn't be taking his side to demand money from me in front of everyone!

"I'm guessing this wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing, huh? You planned this from the beginning, didn't you?"

Alvin said nothing, but the evasive look in his eyes gave him away.

Even though I'd already suspected it, seeing his reaction still made my heart sink. The brother I'd devoted a decade to caring for didn't trust me at all. He even teamed up with the father who cheated on our mother to publicly pressure me into giving him money.

What a mockery it made of everything I'd done for him!

"There's only five thousand dollars. I didn't take a single cent. I've already given everything to you."

Suppressing my anger, I picked up my bag and turned to leave. "Since you're an adult now, we'll go our separate ways from here on out."

All I got to show for ten years of undivided care and attention was a nasty ingrate. Well, I wasn't going to foolishly carry on making the same mistake.

"Hold it right there!" Jimmy shouted behind me. "How dare you say you didn't take any money when you only gave Alvin five thousand dollars? Who do you think you're fooling, Sandra? You even bought a house recently! How can you say there's only this little sum of money?"

I stopped in my tracks. My blood seemed to freeze over as I whipped around and stared at Alvin. He was the only one I told about the house.

"You just bought a house this year, Sandy. How can you say that's all the money you got?" Alvin met my gaze without a hint of guilt, his tone accusatory. "If you're going to lie, at least come up with a better one.

"I know you've sacrificed a lot all these years, but half of Mom's life insurance payout was always mine. No matter what, you should give it to me. Don't you think you're crossing the line by using that money to buy yourself a house instead?"

"I used my own money to buy the house! As for your share of the payout, five thousand dollars is truly all that's left of it. If you don't believe me, I can print out the account statements tomorrow," I replied coldly.

Seeing the uncertain flicker in Alvin's eyes, I snorted and left.

Behind me, Jimmy's furious shouts and our relatives' overlapping chatter kept going.