All Chapters of One Digit Short: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

An awkward silence hung over the room. The people at the dinner table simply stared at the food spread with a mix of emotions. I urged, “Don’t just sit there. Dig in.” My mother, Susan Bridget, pulled a grimace, holding back an outburst only because others were present.Swallowing her rage, Susan asked, “Is this all of it? Push the waiting staff to hurry up and serve the rest.” “This is everything,” I replied indifferently before turning to the rest of the family. “Eat up before the food gets cold.” “Thud!” Susan slammed her utensil down, her chest heaving. “We are a table of twelve, and this is what you get us?” One family member uttered, “Macie, surely, this is a mistake. This isn’t quite the New Year’s Eve spread we usually have.In previous years, the family would have a feast with plenty of the finest seafood.This year, the table looked barren, set with only a small buffet. The only thing remotely close to a shellfish blowout was a measly shrimp cocktail.Of cours

Chapter 2

It was true that Susan called me to give me the budget for the New Year’s Eve party. However, when the money came, it was only four hundred dollars. It was Susan’s go-to MO. She’d play dumb so long as I kept quiet. The moment I spoke up, she’d blame her eyesight for being off by a digit. Then came the guilt trip. “So I fell short on the funds? Do you need to go out of your way to point that out? After all the years I’ve cared for you, must you get upset over a bit of money? “You’re nothing like your sister. You are a thankless brat.” Sitting next to me, Tania glanced at my phone before looking up and uttering, “Oh, it is just four hundred dollars, Susan.” Susan let out a strained chuckle in embarrassment. “My eyesight isn’t what it used to be. I must have missed a zero.” She glared at me. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Susan reluctantly transferred me the rest of the funds, her voice stiff when she said, “There you go. You have the money. Now, get us a dec

Chapter 3

Susan squeezed a smile. “Don’t encourage Summer. You all know me. I’ve always been fair to my children. “I’ll tell catering to get us more food.” Susan rose to her feet to leave the room. Summer stopped her, her arms spread apart. “Are you trying to run away? Why are you scared?” Susan chuckled awkwardly. “I swapped my phone recently and lost all my phone data. I don’t have the chat logs anymore. There’s no way to check the transactions even if I wanted to.“Tell you what. I’ll send you twenty grand—” Summer cut Susan off with a smirk. “Don’t try to shut me up with just twenty grand. I bet you funneled much more than that into Macie’s pockets.“Besides, it’s not about the money. I just want justice.” With her words striking hard, Sam’s wife, Kendra, led the applause. “Attagirl! “Speak up about all the hurt. We got your back.” Looking thrilled, Kendra held her phone up to capture the spectacle. She was an influencer with around twenty thousand followers on a re

Chapter 4

Having said her piece, Susan turned to Summer for her two cents. After much internal deliberation, Summer gave in with a nod. “Fine, I guess.” As it turned out, Summer held out on the twenty-grand proposal because the payout wasn’t to her expectations. Susan shifted her gaze to me, gesturing for me to wire Summer the funds. With her reputation on the line, Susan made me take responsibility for something that never happened and demanded that I transfer money to Summer. I smirked in rage. Rolling her eyes, Summer urged, “Well, don’t just stand there. Send the money already.” I locked eyes with Susan. “You claimed that I’ve pocketed over two hundred thousand dollars in supposed commissions from running errands for you. Show me the proof.” Susan looked away. “Like I told you, the chat logs are long gone. How am I supposed to show you?” She murmured in my ear, “Just transfer Summer the money. Don’t start a family drama over the holidays, or the family is going to have a fi

Chapter 5

Susan threw herself at me, desperate to grab the papers out of my hand. Nevertheless, I was ready for her this time. Stepping aside, I dodged her. With a grimace, Susan hissed through clenched teeth, “Give those to me now!” Due to the commotion, the family grew curious about what those pages contained to make Susan lose her cool. Even Summer asked in confusion, “What is this all about, Mom?” Noticing her slip-up, Susan let out a dry chuckle. “It’s nothing. Macie is just waving these papers around, making the whole thing more complicated than it is.” Summer furrowed her brows. “Didn’t she say that she has all the transaction records? Why did you break her phone? “Are you stopping us from looking at the bills because there’s something more? I bet you’ve given her more than two hundred grand.” Susan’s attempt to hide the paperwork raised a lot of eyebrows. Nevertheless, they accepted the narrative that I had taken significantly more than Susan admitted.Hence, Susan’s

Chapter 6

All at once, all eyes were on the papers in my hand. The viewers in the livestream were eager to uncover the truth behind the bills as well. In line with the viewers’ interest, Kendra rose to her feet. “Macie, let me see the records.” Susan attempted to intervene, only for Kendra to push her to the ground. Kendra flipped through the pages for a look. The knot between her brows tightened. “What’s up with these transactions?” Growing curious about the situation, the other family members gathered around Kendra. By the time Susan got up to grab the bills, she couldn’t push her way through the crowd. The crowd studied the papers, their experience grim just like Kendra’s. Stuck behind the crowd, Summer was dying to see what everybody else was staring at. “What’s wrong with the transactions? Let me see. “Is it a lot more than what Mom said? I need to know! She must’ve kept the real number from me!” Summer squeezed her way through, her face discolored, when she saw

Chapter 7

Susan shot me a look of malice. “Macie, you’re a thankless brat! “After all I have done to raise you, and this is how you repay me? I can’t believe you have the nerve to put me down in front of family.” I met her gaze with composure and replied indifferently, “Are these screenshots fake? I’m sure you know the answer better than anyone.” Rattled by the look in my eyes, Susan shifted her eyes away. Nevertheless, she remained unrelenting, “I’m sure that you’re making the whole thing up.” Without a word, I pulled out a spare phone. “Since you won’t believe the printouts, we can take a look at the chat logs.” Due to my work commitment, I carried two phones around, and their data synced. I always kept backups, never deleting my messages. Susan was convinced that I would have nothing against her once she destroyed my phone and denied the printouts. It never occurred to her that I owned another phone. Her face switched to panic. “You can question the validity of the records

Chapter 8

That shut Summer up real fast. Her talk of justice—and, subsequently, a huge payout—was built on nothing more than the assumption that Susan had been slipping me money.Instead of getting a payday, she was faced with my demand that she contribute too. Summer shrieked, “You chose to cover the costs of your free will. I wasn’t part of the deal. Why should I match your spending?” The other family members believed Summer had a point. “That’s true. This is between you and your mother. Summer isn’t even aware of what was going on. Don’t drag her into this.” I chuckled and asked, “Oh, really now?” Summer was taken aback. “What’s that supposed to mean?” “Funny how the things I bought for Mom always turned up at your place a few days later.” Over the years, anything I purchased for Susan would be featured in Summer’s social media posts.Eventually, I realized that Susan would tell me to pick up the stuff Summer had asked for. It was everything from furniture and electronic a

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