Chapter 3

I refused to hand over my retirement savings and locked myself in my room, but I'd underestimated my mother's methods.

That night, the Wi-Fi connection in the house suddenly went down. The signal on my phone was blocked too.

"Do you want internet access? Hand over the money first." She sneered outside the door.

"In this household, whoever I want offline stays offline."

I switched on my computer and tried to break through the firewall on our home network.

A line of green code appeared on the screen. It was followed by a pop-up message.

[Warning. Unauthorized intrusion detected. Honey, I'm the one who taught you your skills. Do you think you can break through my firewall? Maybe practice for another ten years.]

A second later, my computer screen went black. It had been remotely locked.

I collapsed into my chair. 'That's right. Mom taught me everything I know about computers.'

Growing up, I'd worshiped her.

I used to think my mother was the coolest woman in the world. With a few taps on a keyboard, she could control everything.

Everything was different now.

The next day, my dad Gary Jordan finally came home.

I ran out of my room and grabbed his arm.

"Dad! Mom posted all my private information online! I lost my job, and now she's trying to take my money!"

Dad looked exhausted. His eyes were barely open, and his suit was wrinkled.

He looked at me, who seemed hysterical and desperate, then at Mom, who was calmly sipping her coffee on the couch.

"Wilma, the kids are all grown up now. Don't you think maybe you've gone a little too far?" he asked cautiously.

Mom set down her cup. "Too far? Gary, you're barely ever home. I handle everything in this house by myself.

"Where were you when Esther got scammed? Where were you when Rebecca was fooling around with men outside?

"And now that I'm trying to correct their mistakes, you're suddenly playing the good guy?"

Dad shrank back after being shut down. "I-I'm busy making money to support the family."

"Making money? What can your pathetic paycheck even cover?

"Won't Esther need money for her future wedding? Won't Rebecca need money for retirement?"

Mom's voice grew louder. "I'm not only raising the kids. I'm saving this family! If you have a problem with that, then you can take over this household from now on!"

Dad immediately shut up.

He turned around and patted me on the shoulder. "Rebecca, you know what your mother is like. She's all bark and no bite.

"Her heart's in the right place. Maybe the way she went about it was a little extreme. Just swallow your pride and stop making her upset."

"Swallow my pride? Dad, I've been publicly humiliated by everyone on the internet, and you're telling me to apologize?"

"W-What else can you do? She's your mother. She'd never really hurt you, would she?"

Dad sighed. He then retrieved twenty bucks from his wallet and pressed it into my hand. "Go buy yourself something nice to eat. Stop arguing with your mother."

I stared at the money. That was when I finally understood. I had no allies in this family.

That night, Mom started her second livestream.

There was a new topic.

[Exposing my disobedient daughter's messy finances.]

She didn't just show my bank statements. She even highlighted everything I spent each month on skincare and clothes.

"Everyone, look at this. She makes six hundred bucks a month, and she spends two hundred bucks on skincare.

"Is this what a respectable woman should be spending money on? This is vanity! This is what women do when they're trying to seduce men!"

The comments all sided with her.

[Women like her are nothing but spendthrifts.]

[Thank goodness I didn't marry someone like her. I'd never be able to afford her lifestyle.]

[I think you raised her wrong.]

Esther stood beside Mom while tapping away at a calculator.

"Woah! Rebecca spends enough on her face in one year to buy me several purses.

"Mom, you already work so hard. Even then, you still have to support a parasite like her."

I hid in my room and listened to the humiliation from the other side of the door.

My nails dug into my palms. Tiny beads of blood surfaced. The pain kept me grounded.

If I didn't fight back, they would tear me apart and devour me until there was nothing left.