LOGINIt contained evidence of all of Miriam's IOUs and the bribes she'd taken.Having grown up poor, she'd become desperate to succeed. Believing I couldn't help her get ahead, she'd set her sights on Kevin, the mayor's nephew.After winning Kevin over, she'd traded on her status as the mayor's relative to start taking bribes. She accepted money from people seeking favors, promising to put in a good word for them with the mayor, and she went along with their improper demands to keep the money coming.Before long, the people she was dealing with lured her into a rigged gambling ring, leaving her drowning in high-interest debt.As her debts piled up and she could no longer repay them, the people who'd set her up convinced her that they'd wipe out everything she owed if she could get the mayor to sign a contract they'd prepared.That was why she'd kept urging Uncle Richard to invite my family to Christmas Eve dinner. She'd even intended to buy a whole case of expensive liquor, hoping to g
After leaving the police station, I bought Christmas gifts all over again before heading to Uncle Richard's house.Despite everything that had happened, they'd prepared a huge spread for dinner. They managed to talk Mom out of giving me a piece of her mind and persuaded everyone to sit down and eat first.Even with the table overflowing with food, nobody had much of an appetite. The only sound was the holiday special playing on TV. Even the kids were too afraid to speak loudly.Kevin had dropped his usual cocky attitude and kept his head down, hoping to avoid drawing attention to himself.In the end, Dad arrived in a hurry, breaking the awkward silence.Seeing the anger on his face, I quickly stood up and lowered my head. "Dad, I'm sorry. I embarrassed you today."Mom reached over, grabbed my ear, and scolded me. "You think that's why your dad is angry? Why didn't you tell us you were dating her? We raised you better than this! I can't believe you have such terrible taste in wome
While the two of them were scuffling, Miriam accidentally ripped off the gold watch she'd given Kevin. When it hit the floor, the watchband broke apart, and its magnetic links snapped back together on their own.The crowd burst into laughter. No one had ever seen a gold watch like that before.Kevin had been showing off the watch everywhere he went for the past two days. Now everyone could see that it was nothing more than a cheap, gold-plated watch held together by magnets.Humiliated beyond words, Kevin raised his hand to slap Miriam, but the officers stepped in and stopped him.Fuming, he turned and stormed off.Miriam immediately dropped to her knees in front of me and wrapped her arms around my legs, begging me to forgive her. "Finn, I was wrong. Please, give me one more chance. You're the only man I've ever loved."I quickly backed away to avoid her touch.Tears streamed down her face. "Kevin forced me to be with him. I never wanted to break up with you. He used your dad's
The crowd erupted. The older woman beside me sucked in a sharp breath and stared at me. "So all this time, she had no idea who you really were?"Miriam shoved Kevin aside and walked up to me, looking utterly disbelieving. "Finn, is this true? Didn't you tell me your dad was just a low-level government clerk? If he's the mayor, why didn't you tell me?"I shot back, "When did I ever say my dad was some low-level clerk? And as for why I didn't tell you, you never asked!"Miriam still couldn't accept it. She shook her head and muttered, "No, this can't be true."She marched over to Ray and said, "Officer, I want to report a crime! He's pretending to be the mayor's son. There's no way he could be—"Ray looked at her and asked, "Miss, do you even know the mayor's last name?"Miriam opened her mouth to answer, then stopped and looked back at me.Before she could argue again, Kevin grabbed her. "Haven't you already embarrassed yourself enough? He's my cousin, and his dad is the mayor! N
"Listen, you need to leave now," the head of security said. "If you don't, we'll have to remove you by force."Two security guards moved in to grab me.The older woman tried to reassure me. "Don't be afraid. This is a country governed by the rule of law. They can't just do whatever they want."But the head of security shoved her aside and pinned me to the floor. "Just throw him out."I was still struggling against them when someone suddenly shouted, "The police are here!"I let out a huge sigh of relief.But the moment I saw who had arrived, I wanted the ground to swallow me up. Mortified, I kept my face down on the floor, too ashamed to look up."What happened here? It's Christmas Eve. You should be home getting ready for the holidays instead of causing a scene here."After getting a quick rundown of the situation from the bystanders, Ray Bennett, my old neighbor, turned his attention to Miriam and me. I was still pinned to the floor."Alright, you two. Tell me what's going o
I folded my arms and waited to hear what she had to say."You're only here to win me back," she announced. "I know you can't get over me, but I'm already married. You staged this encounter and tried to turn the crowd against me because you want us to get back together, didn't you? Well, forget it. That's never going to happen."Before I could fire back, the older woman next to me cut in. "Just because he's got a cart full of gifts doesn't mean he's here to win you back. Maybe he's buying gifts for his relatives!"I couldn't help nodding in agreement. "Exactly. You do your shopping, and I'll do mine. We can pretend we don't know each other. What's wrong with that?"Miriam stared at me. "That's not going to work. I spent plenty of money on you when we were together. The least you can do is pay for my stuff this time, and then we'll be even."As soon as she finished speaking, someone in the crowd snickered."So that's what this is about. She has no money! Just ask your husband to pa







