Chapter 3

She began to calculate out loud, her voice so loud that she could almost blow off the roof.

"Mom gave you 20,000 points to exchange for that double-door refrigerator. And then what? You took the vouchers for yourself and bought some junk to deceive the family!

"And the massage chair! That was also 20,000 points! You took them all! You owe the family at least 500,000 dollars in total!"

Cheryl grew more excited as she spoke; it was as if she had found my weakness. "If you don't spit out the 500,000 dollars to me as my wedding gift today, forget about leaving this place!"

Our relatives were stunned. Maybe they believed each point was worth 100 dollars. After all, my mom had been bragging about it for years.

I looked at the greedy faces of my family members and laughed so hard that I almost shed tears. "Okay, 500,000 dollars, huh."

I nodded and took out my phone. "Since you all believe that those appliances were exchanged with reward vouchers and that I pocketed the extra, you believe they are worthless."

I opened an app that sold second-hand goods and showed them the phone screen. "I'll call the scrap collectors right now. The refrigerator, TV, washing machine, and massage chair will be taken away and sold as scrap. You can have whatever amount I sell them for. What about that?"

Cheryl panicked. The refrigerator was full of her daily snacks, and she lay on that massage chair every day as she doom-scrolled TikTok.

"Who are you to sell my things? Those are ours!"

I stared icily at her. "Weren't they redeemed using reward vouchers? The vouchers belonged to Mom, and the items were mine to dispose of. Isn't it right to sell them for cash to give back to Mom? Didn't you just accuse me of pocketing the vouchers? Now I'm turning the goods into cash to return to you. What's the matter? Too scared to take it?"

Cheryl was so flustered by my retort that her face and neck turned bright red.

Seeing her precious youngest daughter humiliated, my mom trembled with rage and raised her hand to strike me. "You ungrateful brat! Are you trying to drive us mad?"

Before her slap could land, I grabbed her wrist. I gripped it so hard she cried out in pain.

"Mom, cut the act." I flung her hand aside and swept my gaze over everyone present. "If we're settling scores today, let's do it properly."

Just then, Lana Higgins, my cousin-in-law who had remained silent until now, suddenly held her phone up higher.

She was a micro-influencer who loved chasing clout.

I glanced at her screen; thousands of people were watching her livestream.

The headline read: [Breaking News! Ungrateful Daughter Drives Elderly Mother Mad at Christmas Dinner for Embezzling Her Pension!]

The comments were scrolling past rapidly, filled with scolding and curses directed at me.

[A daughter like this deserves to just drop dead.]

[She's a total leech; she even scammed her own mother of her retirement savings.]

Noticing my gaze, Lana did not look away; instead, she smugly read the comments aloud to my mom. "Aunt Sophia, the netizens are all on your side. They're saying they'll call the police to arrest her right now."

Hearing she had backup, my mom instantly started acting. Clutching her chest, she slumped back into her chair and began wailing theatrically. "Oh, my heart... my life's savings... that money was meant for Cheryl's wedding gift... and that ingrate scammed it all..."

Cheryl immediately wiped away tears for the camera; her acting was so good it was a crime she had not won an Oscar. "Everyone, be the judge here. My sister lives in the city, driving luxury cars and living in a mansion, yet she still scams her mom out of her meager retirement fund and tries to sell off our fridge and TV. Who does something like that?"

Public opinion turned against me completely.

The relatives present pointed fingers at me, while viewers in the livestream condemned me.

I instantly became the villain everyone hated.