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I Was Banned From The Reunion Dinner

I Was Banned From The Reunion Dinner

Short Story · Emotional Realism
By:  Like SeasonsCompleted
Language: English
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Synopsis

Remorse Family

Feel-Good Story

Plot Twists

Bias

Girl Power

Face Slapping

Regret

During our New Year’s Eve dinner, I told my family that my company was not giving out year-end bonuses. The table went silent. Even the TV host counting down to midnight suddenly sounded grating. My husband and daughter slammed the table in frustration. “No year-end bonus?! How are we supposed to pay the mortgage and the car loan? I didn’t marry you so you could live off me!” “Other moms either buy designer bags or send money. You’re the most useless one. You can’t even bring home a $100,000 bonus.” My in-laws sat there with dark looks on their faces and said nothing. I looked at their self-righteous faces and felt a lump in my throat. All these years, every expense in this family was paid with the money I earned from late nights, overtime, and project commissions. But all they could see was the $100,000 bonus I did not bring home. “If you can’t make any money, then get out!” My husband grabbed my arm and pushed me toward the door. My daughter was not satisfied and kicked me on the lower back. I did not turn around. I took out my phone and booked the presidential suite at a downtown five-star hotel. My bank account had just received a $1 million dividend payout. It was true that I did not get a year-end bonus. But I got promoted to management. From this day onward, I would receive $1 million in dividends every year.

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Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I put my phone away. The cold wind bit through my thin clothes.

I had been so caught up in booking the presidential suite out of spite that I forgot my ID inside.

I turned around and pounded on the door.

“Open the door, Johnson! I need to take my ID!”

There was no response. Then, my daughter, Phoebe Clark, spoke through the crack in the door. Her voice was sharp and mocking.

“You’re leaving anyway. Why do you even need your ID?”

“How can you speak to me like that? I’m your mother!”

“You think you deserve to be called a mother?”

Johnson’s voice sounded next.

“You want your ID? Fine! Transfer all the money in your account to me. Otherwise, you’re not coming back inside!”

I was shaking with anger.

All they wanted was to squeeze me dry.

I was about to bang on the door again when I heard something being dragged inside.

Then there was a loud crash. A bundle of old clothes flew out of the window and landed at my feet.

Phoebe leaned out of the window. Her eyes shone with disdain.

“Take your trash, and get lost! From now on, this family has no relation to you!”

I stared at the pile of old clothes on the ground and laughed.

All these years, I had poured my heart into supporting this family. In the end, I was not even worth a decent set of clothes.

I stopped banging on the door. I sank onto the cold steps and pulled out my phone.

They only wanted my money. I would not let them have a single cent!

I locked every supplementary card that was linked to my name and closed our shared family account.

They had spent my money for years like it was theirs. From this moment on, they would not be able to touch another dollar.

I had just finished doing that when a text message popped up.

It was from an online lending platform.

[Your personal information has been submitted for a loan. Amount: $50,000.]

It was Johnson! He had used my ID to take out loans online!

My phone kept buzzing. More notifications from different lending apps kept coming in.

That jerk was trying to drag me into a mountain of debt!

I called him right away, but he blocked me.

I went through my contacts. Everyone connected to that family had blocked me.

In a single New Year’s Eve dinner, I went from being the family’s pillar to having nowhere to turn.

The wind grew colder. I wrapped the old coat Phoebe had thrown out tighter around me and finally curled up outside a convenience store.

My phone buzzed again. It was not a call. It was a notification from a food delivery app.

New orders kept showing up on my account.

A seafood platter of $2,000, a bottle of liquor of over $800, fruits, and snacks were all being delivered to my house.

I shivered in the cold as I watched them use my account to order food worth thousands of dollars.

Looking at these orders, I was suddenly numb to the cold.

They thought that without money and ID, I would just let them do whatever they wanted.

That was not true!

I would get back everything they owed me, little by little.

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8 Chapters
Chapter 1
I put my phone away. The cold wind bit through my thin clothes.I had been so caught up in booking the presidential suite out of spite that I forgot my ID inside.I turned around and pounded on the door.“Open the door, Johnson! I need to take my ID!”There was no response. Then, my daughter, Phoebe Clark, spoke through the crack in the door. Her voice was sharp and mocking.“You’re leaving anyway. Why do you even need your ID?”“How can you speak to me like that? I’m your mother!”“You think you deserve to be called a mother?”Johnson’s voice sounded next.“You want your ID? Fine! Transfer all the money in your account to me. Otherwise, you’re not coming back inside!”I was shaking with anger.All they wanted was to squeeze me dry.I was about to bang on the door again when I heard something being dragged inside.Then there was a loud crash. A bundle of old clothes flew out of the window and landed at my feet.Phoebe leaned out of the window. Her eyes shone with disdain.
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Chapter 2
The cold wind hit me and cut through my thoughts.I looked down at the old coat I had worn for three years. The cuffs were worn through, and fuzz spilled out of the holes. It was ugly.The coat reminded me of my life. It was worn-out, broken, and far from respectable.Last month, I ran to meet a client with a high fever of 102 °F just to earn a little commission to cover my in-laws’ medical check-up.Whitney Parker, my mother-in-law, pocketed the money and looked at me with disgust.“What’s this tiny bit of money even for? Mr. Watson’s daughter-in-law got him a full high-end health check.”She took my whole paycheck and only gave me $300 a month for pocket money.Last week, I tried to buy a $30 lipstick. She glared at me and said, “Why do you need so much money? Supporting the family is your responsibility!”Later, I found out that she had used my salary to buy liquor for Johnson and the latest phone for Phoebe.A chill ran through me. Light snow began to fall.The flakes lan
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Chapter 3
After I went back to Jane’s place with her, I had just sat down on the couch when my phone buzzed.It was a voice note from Johnson.“Mindy, come home. Let’s talk. We’re family. There’s nothing we can’t sit down and sort out.”I stopped the voice message and tossed my phone aside.Jane handed me a cup of hot tea with her brows furrowed.“He still has the nerve to act like that?”“They realized they can’t get any more money out of me. Now, they’re panicking.”I took a sip of tea. The heat stung my throat, but it cleared my mind.“No year-end bonus. The supplementary cards are locked. The online loans are only a few tens of thousands. It’s nowhere near enough for them.”Over the next few days, I replaced my ID and checked into a hotel.Johnson kept sending me messages. At first, he sounded apologetic. Then, he became impatient and hostile.[Honey, where are you? Can we meet and talk?] [Mindy, don’t test me.] [Transfer the money, or I’ll make sure you won’t like what happen
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Chapter 4
The next evening, I walked up to the familiar door as promised.I took a deep breath and pushed it open. A thick, suffocating smell of alcohol hit me right away.Four people sat on the couch. The lights were off, and the only glow came from their phone screens.The pale light from below made their faces look twisted and cruel.When they saw me, Johnson jumped up and walked toward me.He held a thick rope in his hand.“Where’s the money?”He stepped closer. His eyes shone dangerously.“Don’t try anything. $50,000. Transfer it now!”I stood my ground and looked at him coldly.“Johnson, are you trying to kill me or just rob me?”“Stop talking! You forced us into this! No year-end bonus, supplementary cards locked, and not even enough from the loans! How do you expect us to survive?”“Survive?” I almost laughed. “I supported you all these years. Without me, you wouldn’t have survived at all!”“You supported us?”Phoebe suddenly stood up and snapped loudly, “Besides giving a l
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Chapter 5
“Police! Don’t move!”A few officers rushed in. In an instant, they pinned Johnson to the floor. He had been trying to push me over the balcony railing.The rope in his hand fell to the floor, and an officer stepped on it.“What are you doing? This is my house! She’s my wife!”Johnson struggled and shouted. His hands were cuffed behind his back, and his face pressed against the cold floor.Whitney screamed and lunged forward, but a female officer stopped her immediately.Benjamin froze, and his face drained of color.I leaned against the railing and gasped for air.It had been a close call. Just a little more, and he would have pushed me off.“Ms. Zimmerman, are you okay?”A man who looked like the lead officer stepped forward. His voice was steady but serious.I shook my head. I wanted to say I was fine, but my throat felt choked, and no sound came out.“It was just a family argument!” Johnson yelled.His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at me. “Officer, you’ve got it w
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Chapter 6
The light in Johnson’s eyes went out in an instant.It was as if he was seeing me for the first time. He finally understood that the woman he and his family had pushed around and exploited was gone.The police led them downstairs. The noise slowly faded away.Only I, the lawyer, and the mess were left in the house.I walked to the balcony and looked down at the flashing police lights. I watched as the four of them were escorted into the patrol cars one by one.The lawyer patted my shoulder gently. “Ms. Zimmerman, I’ll take care of the rest.”I nodded.Back at the hotel, I called the bank.“I need to freeze all linked accounts. Yes, the principal card is in my name. The supplementary card user is Johnson Clark.”Then, I called the online lending platforms.“Hello, someone used my ID to take out loans without my consent. Yes, I can provide full documentation, including the police report receipt.”Customer service verified my information and filed the cases right away.By the
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Chapter 7
When Phoebe’s homeroom teacher called, I was scanning all the evidence I had gathered of Johnson using my identity to take out loans. I was saving them as PDFs.My phone vibrated on the desk. I glanced at the screen. It was an unknown number, so I declined it.Two seconds later, it vibrated again.I clicked my tongue and answered it.I turned on the speaker and set the phone aside. My fingers kept typing on the keyboard.“Is this Phoebe’s mother? This is Ms. Walker, her homeroom teacher.”“Yes. Ms. Walker, how can I help you?”“Mrs. Clark, Phoebe’s grades have dropped quite a lot recently. She has failed several quizzes. She often doesn’t turn in her homework, and when she does, there are many mistakes. I wanted to understand what was going on at home—”I cut her off. My voice was steady.“Ms. Walker, I’m in the middle of a divorce. Phoebe’ll be living with her father. If it’s about her schoolwork, please contact him.”There was a brief pause. Her voice was hesitant.“We hav
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Chapter 8
I spread everything out across the table.There was a thick stack of bank transfer records. They showed exactly where my hard-earned money had gone all these years.There was a $2 million insurance policy report. It was proof that they had bought insurance under my name.My phone had the voice recordings of Johnson threatening me, along with the video from that night when his whole family tried to push me off the balcony.“Ms. Zimmerman, what you’ve submitted is more than enough for him to walk away with nothing. He may even have to pay you compensation.”I nodded.When I signed the divorce petition, my hand was steady.I had only one thought from the get-go.Johnson would not get a single cent of my assets.As for emotional distress and damages, I wanted him to pay every last dollar he owed.The day the court summons was delivered to the Clark house, I was sitting in my car downstairs.I watched the court staff enter the house. A few minutes later, I heard Johnson shouting
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