Chapter 3

As soon as Mabel saw the brown paper document folder, she panicked.

She suddenly did not seem so tough anymore.

She knew all too well what was inside it.

“Alright, that’s enough! We’re a family trying to enjoy a trip. Why’re you waving some ragged bag around in public? Aren’t you embarrassed?”

Mabel interrupted me. “We’ll settle the accounts when we get home. Everyone’s tired right now. Just take us to our rooms so we can rest.

“Sure, we didn’t make it to Erope. But the money I gave you should at least be enough to book a presidential suite in this rundown farm stay, right?”

Seeing her act so tough while clearly panicking, I sneered to myself.

“Fine. Let’s go see the rooms then.”

I led the group across the courtyard to a row of red brick and tile houses.

“We’re here!”

I pushed open one of the doors.

It was a standard farm stay room.

There were two single beds. The floor was bare cement to keep that natural, rustic feel.

Though simple, it was clean and tidy. It met the standard for a farm stay.

Marlene covered her nose and shrieked.

“You actually expect us to stay in a place like this?! There’s not even a carpet! My suitcase is going to get ruined!”

Karen also looked disgusted.

“Oh gosh, Mabel! So, this is your idea of a luxury trip? The stench in here is so bad. I’m afraid I’ll catch some disease! This is worse than the company dorms I lived in back in the day!”

Mabel’s face darkened when Karen made a snide remark about her.

Camden also frowned and walked inside to take a look around. When he came out, he looked displeased.

“Noelle, this really is pretty bad.

“Mom’s getting older. Her back isn’t good. How’s she supposed to sleep on a mattress this hard? And Marlene was spoiled rotten growing up. She’s never stayed anywhere like this. Go and ask if they have any upgraded suites or maybe a private cabin or something.”

After pausing for a while, he added matter-of-factly, “Mom already said the money she gave you was enough for a presidential suite. Don’t be cheap. The whole point of a trip is to have fun. Stop pinching pennies.”

“No can do.”

I leaned against the doorframe and said calmly, “This is the best room here. There are six of us, so we need three rooms. There are also transport services to consider. The budget’s already tapped out.”

“Nonsense!”

Marlene yelled, “Mom gave you several thousand dollars! How could it only cover this much? You definitely pocketed it!”

Mabel’s eyes darted around. She did not dare admit she had only given me $400. But she also did not want to stay in this rundown place.

She could only harden her resolve and guilt-trip me.

“Noelle, I know it’s not easy for you to manage the household. But I did send you the money. Did you use it to help out your own family instead?”

Marlene lost it when she heard that.

“Help out your family?! Noelle, once you married Camden, you became part of the Grath family. Your money is our money! How could you take our money and give it away? You’re robbing from your own family to help outsiders!”

I shot her a cold glare.

“You’ve been married for three years, too. So by your logic, you’re not part of this family anymore. How do you still have the nerve to come back and bleed your mom’s retirement dry? How can you still make her buy you a car and pay off your husband’s gambling debts?”

“That’s nonsense!”

Marlene’s face turned bright red from embarrassment, but her gaze wavered.

“That’s just Mom being good to me! Mom’s money is my money. I can do whatever I want with it!”

I laughed. Then, I turned to look at Mabel, who had been pretending to be clueless.

“Mabel, your monthly $800 pension fund all went to Marlene’s husband’s bar tab, didn’t it?”

I counted on my fingers.

“Two years ago, Marlene’s husband hit someone while drunk-driving. The settlement was $10,000. You paid it, didn’t you? Last year, he said he was going to bid on a construction project and scammed you out of $12,000. Then, he gambled it all away. You bailed him out again, didn’t you?”

I had never exposed these things before for the sake of keeping the family together. But since we had dropped all pretense today, I was going to make sure no one was having a good time.

Upon hearing that, Camden looked at his mother in disbelief.

“Mom, is Noelle telling the truth? You gave all your retirement money to Marlene?!”