Chapter 3

I read Chloe's messages without feeling much of anything.

The next day, Mom texted me.

"You're sure you want the exact same car as your sister, right?

"I'm only double-checking because once I put down the deposit, the dealership won't refund it."

And, of course, she added, "By the way, don't forget to turn Chloe's card back on."

I replied, "I'm sure. That's the car I want.

"I'll turn her card back on right away."

The exact same conversation repeated itself for days.

On the seventh day, Mom finally lost patience.

"Claire! What is going on with you?

"It's been a whole week. How hard can it be to fix one little card?"

Compared with her anger, my voice was almost gentle.

"Mom, it's been a week. Why hasn't the car deposit gone through yet?

"When am I supposed to pick up my car?"

Whenever the question got inconvenient, Mom suddenly had nothing to say.

That afternoon, just as I was leaving work, Grandma called me.

"Claire, what are you doing? You've been working for years. Why are you still asking your mother to buy you a car?

"I know Diane isn't always fair to you and Chloe. But she's getting older, and her health isn't good. You should try to be considerate."

My stomach dropped.

"Grandma, did Mom complain about me to you?"

"You haven't checked the family group chat?

"She's been talking about you in there all afternoon. She's still going."

Our extended-family chat had several hundred people in it, so I'd muted it ages ago.

When I opened it, there were hundreds of unread messages.

At the top of the mess was one of Mom's voice notes.

"What did I do to deserve this? I can't live like this anymore!"

Relatives immediately started asking what had happened.

Once Mom had everyone's attention, she posted a huge message telling her version of the story.

According to her, she was old, sick, and barely scraping by.

She supposedly went without decent food and clothes just to save money.

Then, because poor Chloe was working so hard at practicing her driving, Mom had sacrificed everything to buy her a car.

And the moment I found out, I had become jealous and started throwing a fit, demanding a car of my own.

Mom claimed she wanted to treat both daughters equally, but she simply couldn't afford another car right away.

From there, the group chat turned into a public trial of me.

Mom cried about how miserable she was to have such a cold, selfish daughter.

Apparently, it wasn't enough that I'd worked for years without being grateful enough to her.

Now I was supposedly trying to drive my own mother into an early grave because I wouldn't be satisfied until she was dead.

Her final line was the most dramatic of all.

"The doctor said if I get upset again, I might not even have six months left!"

The family chat exploded.

"All that education and Claire still grew up with no conscience. What a waste."

"Exactly. Some children are just ungrateful no matter how much you give them. I feel terrible for you, Diane."

Aunt Rhonda was the loudest.

"Don't let her get to you, Diane. She's not worth making yourself sick over.

"If she's going to bully you, stop protecting her reputation. Put everything she's done online.

"Better yet, print flyers and put them all over the entrance to her office. Let's see how she likes facing her coworkers after that."

A flood of relatives agreed.

I read every insult and accusation without defending myself.

Then I posted a single screenshot in the group chat.

The conversation that had been moving too fast to follow went completely silent.

Mom called immediately.

I declined it.

Then she started texting.

"Claire Walker! Are you insane?

"Delete that right now!

"Are you determined to humiliate this entire family in front of everyone?"

I ignored every message.

Five minutes later, Mom sent me a screenshot of a paid-in-full receipt for the car.

"Fine! You win!

"I paid for the whole thing!

"Go to the dealership at ten tomorrow morning and pick it up!"