Chapter 4

Alvin attended a boarding school. Ever since he demanded the money at the party, he stopped coming back to the house, choosing to stay at his dorm instead. That being said, he'd called me a few times, pressuring me to give him the money each time, of course.

I didn't give him another cent.

Meanwhile, I went to work as usual, but I kept getting the feeling that my coworkers were gossiping about me behind my back.

A few days later, I finally understood why.

"Sandra, if you can't resolve this matter, you should just resign on your own." My superior threw me a resignation letter he'd prepared for me and sent me straight home.

The gossiping didn't stop. After checking my phone to see the social media post a coworker had sent me, I finally found the reason for all the contempt and malice I'd been receiving from them.

Alvin had posted about what happened at the celebration party, only he'd embellished it with more lies than I could count. Every word he wrote was an accusation. He claimed I was a heartless woman who cared more about money than family.

He even twisted the truth around, saying that I'd taken all of Mom's life insurance payout to buy myself a house.

Standing outside the office building, I trembled with anger as I stared at my phone. Just as I was about to call Alvin, a group of people suddenly rushed toward me.

"There she is! That's her! She looks like a decent person, but she stole her mother's life insurance payout from her own brother! She's a monster!"

"You heartless beast! How dare you live a life of luxury with your mom's life insurance payout and use your brother's share to buy yourself a house? You're deplorable!"

"Look at her, making herself appear all fancy and presentable. That doesn't hide the fact that she's a shameless and ungrateful bitch!"

The crowd surrounded me, and a handful of them at the front were even holding up banners, claiming that I'd kept all of Mom's life insurance payout for myself, preventing my own brother from attending college even though he'd gotten a score of 1400 on the SAT.

The bolded words, printed in red, drew the attention of the other passersby.

I even spotted my neighbors in the crowd. Many people were taking pictures with their phones, and some had already started live-streaming the scene.

"Goodness me! The brother did so well on the SAT, but his older sister ruined his chance to go to college!"

"How could she take all of her Mom's life insurance payout for herself? I guess you really can't judge a person by their appearance."

"Look at her. She's dressed like a slut. I bet she is one, too!"

Nasty insults filled the comment sections of the live streams, and some even started spreading obscene lies about me.

"I hate people like you who'll do anything for money. I'm going to teach you a lesson on behalf of your dead mother!" With a roar, a burly man charged at me, his fist raised.

"Whoa!"

"What a righteous man!"

The crowd was fired up—not to help me, but to praise the man's so-called "righteousness".

A punch landed, alright, but it wasn't the one everyone expected.

As the dust settled, Alvin suddenly pushed through the crowd, seemingly coming out of nowhere, his face full of worry. "Sandy, are you okay…"

His voice faltered, along with the feigned concern on his face.

The burly man was lying flat on the ground, groaning in pain. Everyone thought I'd be the one who got a beating, but I remained standing with an expressionless face.

"I'm fine. Thanks for your concern. You definitely showed up at just the right moment." I rolled my wrist, deliberately emphasizing the last few words.

Of all the times he could've shown up, he did at the most pivotal moment, right when I was about to get punched. What a timely arrival it was, indeed.

"You will really stoop to anything just for money," I added darkly.

If I didn't happen to know a bit of self-defense, I couldn't even imagine what I would have gone through today. I would've been besieged by the scandal and the humiliation. Thanks to his schemes, I might have even lost my job.

This was what I got in return for everything I'd done for him the last decade.

"Stop acting like you're morally superior. If you cared about family at all, you'd give Alvin his share of the life insurance payout instead of using the money to buy yourself a house!"