Chapter 4

After receiving the money, my parents were over the moon.

For several days in a row, Dad wined and dined his friends and relished every moment of showing off before them.

Mom, on the other hand, went shopping at the mall with her best friend. She bought whatever caught her eye. In fact, she was practically ready to buy up the entire mall.

Even Chad took Gale out for some high-end fun—dinner in the sky, a 500-dollar-per-person massage, and a stay in a hot spring resort. In one day, they blew through tens of thousands of dollars.

They brought back the bills and had the whole family split them. Everyone agreed except me.

"Everyone agreed to split the cost, so why do you have to be the exception?" Mom asked coldly. "The minority must yield to the majority. This is a family activity—if you don't have the money, you need to take out a loan to come up with it!"

In the end, I transferred their private savings and then sent them the money.

Every time they asked me for money, I'd transfer the balance from the system and give it to them. Since they thought it was my money, they spent it very happily.

Not only that, but after getting a taste of wealth and luxury, they became increasingly greedy.

Mom received an invitation from the mall to an auction and took the whole family along.

At the auction, Dad took a liking to an antique painting, Gale fell in love with a medieval necklace, and Mom set her sights on a sapphire ring.

The antique painting and the medieval necklace cost five million dollars.

The sapphire ring was the final item to be auctioned.

"And now for our final piece—this sapphire ring. It's truly one in a million. In the last hundred years, only one flawless sapphire ring like this has ever been produced. Bidding starts at three million dollars, with minimum raises of 500 thousand dollars."

Mom's eyes lit up at this.

As soon as the auctioneer finished speaking, Mom eagerly raised her paddle.

"3.5 million dollars!"

A wealthy woman immediately raised her paddle. "Four million dollars!"

"4.5 million dollars!" Mom shouted, refusing to back down.

"Five million dollars!"

Hearing this price, Mom hesitated. After all, bidding further would mean spending more on this ring than on everything else we'd bought that day.

As if noticing Mom's hesitation, the wealthy woman gave us a side-eye.

Then, she looked contemptuously at Mom's outfit and sneered. "You broke losers shouldn't even bother bidding on the grand finale. I doubt you could afford it even if you sold everything you have.

"You could work your whole life and still never afford this sapphire ring. Don't ruin your future just to try to prove something."

When Mom heard that, her face went red. "What did you just say to me? Just you wait!"

The next moment, Mom raised her paddle and said, "I'll bid whatever it takes. No one is outbidding me on this."

The whole audience erupted in shock.

However, I noticed a glint of triumph in the wealthy woman's eyes and immediately realized that this was all a setup by the mall. They had deliberately bid against Mom.

Seeing me just standing there watching, Mom kicked me in the ribs and questioned angrily, "What are you looking at? Hurry up and transfer me the money!"

Under her gaze, I once again transferred their private savings. After receiving the money, Mom finally broke into a smile.

At the same time, an auction staff member walked toward her with a smile.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid we require proof of funds for that kind of bid."

Mom scoffed and said, "Be my guest! I own an apartment, and my daughter just transferred me 300 thousand dollars."

The staff member had already guessed as much. After all, invitations to this auction were only given to those who had spent a certain amount at the mall.

However, when he checked Mom's account and the property deed she handed over, his expression froze.

"Ma'am, your account balance is zero, and the name on the property deed isn't yours either."

"What?" Mom quickly snatched the property deed back and took a look at it.