Chapter 4

Ben’s expression turned pitch dark instantly.

He barked at me:

“What sorta idea are you having?

“You want people coming to me asking for handouts?”

Mary chimed right in:

“Payslips have to be kept confidential nowadays.

“You never had a real job. That’s why you’re so ignorant.”

A relative of his piped up from the side:

“We believe what Ben says.

“If he says twenty grand, then twenty grand it is. He has no reason to lie to us.”

I almost laughed out loud.

And what reason would I have to lie?

Anyone with eyes could see what kind of life I’d been living these years.

I hadn’t bought a new outfit in years, and the socks on my feet had holes in them.

This crowd of people were blind as bats.

Either that or they chose what they wanted to see.

“If he won’t do it, I will.

“I have every single transfer right here on my phone.

“Take a look yourselves at how much money he actually gives me each month.”

Mary grabbed my phone, eager to take a look, but Ben snatched the phone away before she could.

He smashed it hard against the floor, where it shattered to pieces.

He turned to glare at me, then, leaning close, he lowered his voice and said:

“Come on, it’s New Year’s Eve. Do you really have to make a spectacle of us now?

“Just admit you were wrong, and apologize to Mom.

“I’ll explain to her after everyone leaves.

“You won’t have to pay back a cent.”

At that, I burst out laughing.

I couldn’t stop till tears streamed down my face.

Sure enough, nothing in the world mattered more to Ben Miller than his precious pride.

To think of the disdain and cold shoulder I had suffered from his mom all these years, all because of his fabricated ten grand a month.

But he didn’t care about any of that.

Every time he came up short on cash, he pushed the blame onto me,

claiming I was wasteful and blew it all on myself, just to protect his pathetic self-esteem.

These ten years, I had covered for his lies in front of others time and time again.

But today, I was finally done with it all.

I had pocketed none of his so-called hard-earned money. Neither did I owe the Millers any.

With Mary’s temperament, there was no telling when she’d storm over to my parents’ place with a mob to demand this nonexistent six hundred grand.

My parents had led honest lives all their days.

I couldn’t let them be smeared and disgraced in their old age.

I raised my head and fixed my eyes on Ben.

“I have everything on record.

“These are the spendings from the past few months.”

I pulled a worn-out notebook out from the kitchen cabinet.

“Ben only gives me a thousand a month. You tell me how that’s supposed to be enough to support an entire household?

“Food, utilities, gas. What doesn’t cost money?

“His dad’s blood pressure medication, his mom’s health tonics, Mason’s supplements—none of these can run out.

“I have to stretch that thousand dollars like a piece of dough.

“When I get vegetables, I always pick through the rotting leaves nobody else wants.”

Ben’s relatives exchanged awkward glances.

Chloe let out a weird, cynical laugh:

“Who knows if you just faked all of this?”

My gaze swept across the faces of the Millers one by one.

I demanded of them:

“You claim I spend money recklessly, to pamper myself, yes?

“And how many years have I been wearing this exact outfit?

“I’m thirty-two this year, but wherever I go, people say would take me to be in my forties or fifties.

“Does this look like a life of luxury to you?”

Not a single person uttered a sound.

My mom stood beside the crowd, watching me with reddened eyes.

I let out a self-deprecating scoff.

“All the receipts are kept in this notebook.

“You can cross-reference them one by one.”

Hearing that, Ben’s complexion shifted drastically, his eyes turning bloodshot.

“Sylvia, have you lost your damn mind?”

He lunged forward, trying to rip the notebook out of my hands.

Before he could reach me, my dad charged in and pinned him flat to the ground.

“You beast!”

I laid out the notebook across the tabletop.

The Millers glanced at one another, then squeezed in close.

When they saw the crystal-clear records written inside,

the way Ben’s relatives looked at him changed in an instant.