Chapter 2

Myra visibly relaxed when she saw me placing the bowl down.

"Alright then, you go ahead and reach out to their customer service, and I'll get the bed ready for us. Don't forget to drink the soup—taking care of your stomach is important."

Her footsteps faded away toward the bedroom.

I lifted the bowl and took a sip. My stomach abruptly clenched. It was a sharp, visceral pang that instantly brought back the relentless agony of stomach cancer from my previous life.

I picked up a spoon and slowly pushed aside the vegetable pieces floating on the surface. Beneath lay chunks of chicken, stewed under tender and soft. And beside them were thick slices of ginger, a handful of cardamom pods, and three plump, whole peppers.

My hand stilled.

Ginger was naturally spicy and could irritate an already sensitive stomach lining. Cardamom pods were intensely warming and could cause indigestion or heartburn for some people, especially with regular use. Peppers were also sharp and spicy.

While using a pinch of these in cooking was generally harmless, simmering large amounts for hours concentrated their irritating compounds into the soup. For someone with stomach issues, drinking this was the same as taking a slow-acting poison.

In my previous life, when I was diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer, the doctor had frowned and asked about my diet.

I told him Myra often made me stomach-nourishing soup.

The doctor only shook his head, saying some folk remedies might not suit the condition and could even make things worse.

At the time, I defended Myra, insisting her intentions were good.

Ha, so much for her good intentions.

It turned out even back then, this so-called soup made with love was slowly poisoning me all along.

I forced down the anger and hatred churning inside me, as it wasn't time to confront her yet.

Aside from the project bonus I'd just squandered in the game, all my salaries, bonuses, and savings from over the years were still in Myra's hands. If I forced a showdown now, I wouldn't get a single penny back.

I had to endure, to wait, and to come up with a plan.

I set the bowl down and walked to my computer. On the screen, a notice suddenly popped up.

"Announcement of Further Strengthening the Management of Minors' Game Spending."

The content was nothing more than the usual official boilerplate calling for compliance, implementing real-name verification, prohibiting underage users from making in-app purchases, and so on.

I skimmed lazily over the text, and I was just about to close it when my finger suddenly froze mid-air.

The words "minors", "irrational large-amount spending", "identity verification", and "refund appeals" caught my eye, making me raise a brow slightly. I had just found a way to get my money back.

Soon, the door opened.

"Honey, how did it go with the customer service? Are they going to refund the money?" she asked, unable to hide the urgency in her eyes at all.

I let out a heavy sigh and pulled up the page with the announcement regarding minors. Then, I turned the screen toward her and said, "I already contacted them. But they said I'm an adult and that the top-up was voluntary, so it doesn't meet the refund criteria."

"What?" Myra's face instantly paled. "How can they do this? This is a million dollars we're talking about! They can't just decide it's non-refundable!"

Her chest rose and fell sharply, and her eyes burned with anger.

"Actually," I began hesitantly, "it's not completely hopeless."

Myra immediately looked up at me. "What do you mean? Hurry up and tell me!"

I pointed to the keywords on the screen—"minors", "irrational spending", "guardians can appeal for refunds".

"You see, the rules are really strict about protecting minors these days. If the money was spent by a minor, the chances of getting a refund are very high as long as a guardian steps forward to appeal."

Myra paused for a moment, not immediately grasping what I meant.

I looked at her and continued slowly, "What if we say the one who actually made the top-up wasn't me? Isn't Dwight just starting high school and still underage?"

Myra's breath hitched.

"We can claim he used my account and payment password without us noticing and made a huge purchase. Since you're his older sister, that makes you his guardian. You can absolutely file an appeal with the game company to demand a refund."

Observing her slowly growing interest, I carefully fanned the flames a little more.

"Besides, I heard a colleague from the legal department mention once that in clear-cut cases like this, where a minor was induced into making huge in-game purchases, if you can stir things up a bit—like getting the media involved…"