All Chapters of The Gift That Wasn't: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. Kevin's voice turned slightly unnatural. “Of course, I got it directly from the original factory. All right, I’ve got to go. My boss is calling. I’m hanging up.”I stared at the bottle of water that cost only a couple of dollars and suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of irony. To earn my year-end bonus and prepare proper New Year's gifts for both sides of the family, I had not slept before 2:00 am for two straight months.Just last week, I was even rushed to the hospital for acute gastric bleeding. Yet Kevin bought fake goods for my parents and lied to me about working overtime.The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I opened Kevin’s Instagram account. There was nothing but a blank feed. If it were before, I would have thought he was just too busy to post. Now, I suspected he was hiding things from me on purpose.On impulse, I remembered the alternate account I had used back in college to see Kevin's posts. I logged

As I left that cursed neighborhood that was my in-laws’ place, I checked into a cheap, low-profile express hotel. I did not rush to make a scene, and I did not rush to find a lawyer either.I worked in construction management. If I wanted a building to collapse completely, I needed to first identify the load-bearing walls, then take them out with precision. For Kevin and Alina, what they cared about most was their fake respectable image.I logged into all my online banking accounts and pulled three years of transaction records. Each line of transfers felt like a thousand cuts to my heart.Kevin transferred the 10,000 dollars to another account like clockwork every year. The recipient was Alina’s younger brother, who ran a nail salon.Then, I checked my savings account. I rarely paid attention to it, so I had always assumed it was steadily growing.However, to my shock, there was a withdrawal of 20,000 dollars six months ago! The reference note listed that it was for a vehicle's do

I pulled out the already-opened whisky bottle, which was really just plain water, and slammed it onto the table.“You’ve all been drinking this every year, huh? Does it taste good?”My father-in-law froze for a second, swallowing nervously. “What do you mean? Didn’t Kevin send this to us?”“Send it to you?”I did not answer. I grabbed empty glasses from the table, twisted the cap of the whisky bottle open, and poured a glass for every relative there.“Go ahead, everyone. Have a taste. This is the premium liquor Kevin sent to my parents. Over 3,000 dollars a bottle. Not something you usually get to drink.”The relatives exchanged confused looks. A few of the older ones who liked their liquor could not resist and picked up their glasses.Uncle Raymond took a sip first.The next second, he spat it out, spraying it all over the person sitting across from him. “What the hell is this?!”He wiped his mouth, eyes wide. “This isn’t liquor. It's just plain water! No taste at all!”The

The chaos had ended, but I gave them no chance to breathe. I called the police immediately, and they soon arrived. With the solid evidence I provided, Kevin and Alina had no room to argue and were taken away in handcuffs.As I watched Kevin’s terrified, helpless eyes as he was arrested, I felt nothing but satisfaction. When he spent my hard-earned money on other women, he should have known this day would come.In the subsequent divorce proceedings, I hired one of the best lawyers in the field of asset disputes. The verdict came down, and it was deeply satisfying. The court found Kevin at clear fault. Not only was the marriage dissolved, but he was also stripped of everything.Aside from a few worn-out clothes, he got nothing—no house, no car, no savings, and not a single cent.There was more. The court supported my recovery claim. Every cent he had transferred to Alina over the past three years was ruled an invalid gift. He had to pay it all back!When he heard the judgment, Kevin