Chapter 3

Linda clutched the bank statement so tightly her knuckles turned white.

“Claire, what exactly are you trying to say?”

I pulled my phone back and kept my voice calm.

“It’s simple. Tomorrow, we go to the bank and transfer the thirty thousand dollars into my account.”

Dad slammed his hand down on the table.

“Your mother already showed you the account. What more do you want?”

I looked at him.

“If I can see the money, then it can be transferred.”

Linda immediately seized on that.

“This money is in a CD. I can’t just transfer it whenever you tell me to.

“And this is Thanksgiving. Are you really going to drag us to the bank tomorrow and embarrass the family even more?”

One of my aunts immediately jumped in.

“Claire, your mother has already shown you proof that she has the money. You’re going too far.”

Another aunt looked at me differently now.

“So this is what college does to you? You start keeping score with your own parents?”

I picked up the fake bills from the table and set them beside the bank statement.

“As far as I’m concerned, these two things are the same right now.”

Linda’s face went pale.

“Listen to the way she talks to me.”

Dad pointed at me.

“If your mother gets sick because of you, you’ll answer to me.”

Linda wiped away her tears.

Something darker crept into her expression.

“Claire, since you’ve pushed things this far, I’m not going to cover for you anymore.”

She pulled up several pictures on her phone and held them out for everyone to see.

“She’s not broke at all. She’s been living it up at college.”

The photos were from my social media.

One showed the bubble tea my roommate had bought me after orientation week.

Another was from a club dinner that had cost six dollars per person.

The last showed me standing outside one of the campus buildings in a new-looking coat.

I had bought that coat in high school.

Linda handed the phone to Grandma.

“Mom, look. She keeps saying she has no money, but she’s been eating out, having fun, buying things.

“Now she’s demanding thirty thousand dollars from us. What if she just wants it so she can show off?”

One of my aunts immediately zoomed in on the photo.

“That coat doesn’t look cheap.”

I swallowed my anger.

“I bought it in high school. I’ve been wearing it for three years.”

One of my uncles laughed.

“And we’re just supposed to take your word for that? Girls your age can spend money faster than anyone.”

Another aunt’s voice turned sharper.

“Do you have a boyfriend or something? Is that why you need so much money? Are you spending it all on him?”

Several people at the table laughed.

I looked at Linda.

She didn’t stop them.

She just kept her head down and cried.

My chest ached from holding everything in.

She had done exactly the same thing in my previous life.

First, she told everyone I wasted money.

Then she started spreading rumors about my character.

Eventually, everyone believed I was an ungrateful daughter trying to scam my own family.

I opened my banking app and pulled up my transaction history.

“Look carefully.”

I turned the screen toward them.

“Since the semester started, I haven’t received a single large transfer from my family.

“My tuition is covered by student loans.

“I paid my own dorm fees with money I earned working over the summer.

“The club dinner was six dollars, and my roommate bought me the bubble tea.”

Linda started crying even harder.

“You came prepared with all of this.

“So you were planning to corner me today from the beginning, weren’t you?”

Dad immediately moved to her side.

“Claire, what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?”

I ignored him.

Instead, I called the bank’s customer service line and put the call on speaker.

“Hi. I have a question. If someone has money in a fixed-term savings account, can the account holder go to a branch and withdraw or transfer the funds in person?”

The representative’s voice came through the phone.

“Yes. The account holder can handle that at a branch.”

I ended the call and looked at Linda.

“Tomorrow morning.

“We’re going to the bank.”

The relatives around the table grew quieter.

Linda gripped the statement without saying anything for a long time.

Dad frowned.

“Tomorrow’s a holiday weekend. The bank might not even be open.”

I immediately opened the map on my phone.

“The branch nearby is open tomorrow.”

I turned the screen toward him.

“Nine a.m.”

A little more color drained from Linda’s face.

Grandma stared at her.

“Linda, if the money is really there, then just go with her.”

Linda forced the corners of her mouth upward.

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“Fine.

“We’ll go.”