Chapter 2

He claimed I had bought too much. Then, he said things were too expensive these days.

He started to lecture me.

“You only get $150 a month as pocket money. You spent $50 on snacks! How will $100 cover groceries?

“You need to budget. Buy one lollipop this month, then a pack of gummy candies next month. That way, you don’t blow too much cash, and you still get to try everything.

“I’ll let it slide this time. But don’t ever do that again.”

I initially thought I had heard him wrong. Then I saw his grim expression and realized he was serious.

I was just about to retort when my younger sister, Bella White, called me.

She requested to borrow $50,000 to buy a car. She said she could pay it back by the end of the year when she received her year-end bonus.

The amount Bella wanted to borrow was exactly what we had in our savings.

After hanging up, before I could even explain, Trevor said, “No way! Even if Bella says she’ll pay you back by the end of the year, can she really do that? Is her year-end bonus even $50,000?”

Bella’s workplace had good employee benefits. For someone like her who had just completed two years of work, the year-end bonus could indeed amount to $50,000.

Her monthly salary was $10,000. Her husband’s salary was also very high. The two had just gotten married and did not have any savings yet.

That was why she needed to borrow money urgently from me.

Trevor fell silent.

Seeing him silent, I said, “She’ll definitely pay it back by the end of the year. Just send her $50,000.”

When he saw how resolute I was, he said, “Our money’s locked in a fixed deposit. If we cash it out early, we’ll lose $6,000 in interest.”

“But Bella is in trouble right now! You can earn interest anytime. Emergencies don’t wait around.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re not lending her that money.”

Looking at his cold and heartless face, I felt utterly disappointed.

“Fine! You don’t need to. Give me back the money I give you every month.”

I thought he would feel something when I put it like that.

Trevor became agitated.

“We’re a family! Why are you keeping score like that? It’s not like I don’t want to lend her that money! I just can’t withdraw it right now! You can’t just take money out of a fixed deposit.”

Did he really think I was a fool?

Bella called again. I looked at Trevor.

He slammed the door and left.

When I answered Bella’s call, I steadied my breath and lied that I had not yet talked to Trevor. I told her we would discuss it in the evening.

Bella cautiously asked, “Trevor doesn’t want to lend me the money, does he?”

I quickly said, “No, that’s not it! He’s swamped with work today. I haven’t told him yet. Just give me some time. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

After that, Bella happily hung up.

That night, Trevor and I had a fierce argument.

It even got to the point where we were about to come to blows.

I smashed everything in the house. He cursed at me as he handed me $25,000.

“I’ll only lend you half!”

At that moment, instead of feeling happy about getting the money, I sat on the floor and wailed bitterly because of how hard it was to even ask for my own money from him.

It was my money. Why did I have to beg for it like it was his?

I borrowed another $25,000 from a coworker. I finally had $50,000 in total to give to Bella.

Bella happily thanked me. She even said she wanted to call Trevor herself to thank him for being kind enough to lend her the money.

I did not have the heart to stop her. I told her that sending him a thank-you text would suffice.