I Quit Bankrolling My Family의 모든 챕터: 챕터 1 - 챕터 10

Today, I watched my younger brother Derek hold up the closing folder for his new condo, tilting its glossy cover until sunlight flashed in my eyes.Mom stood beside him, beaming at him with a doting smile.I froze.When I was little, I never understood why Mom always said she loved us equally when her attention only ever landed on Derek.Even as adults, I was barely scraping by, but all she could hear was Derek complaining he "couldn't network without a decent place." Without blinking, she set him up in a luxury condo.It wasn't until this moment that everything finally clicked.I didn't want to force myself to accept it anymore.I dug out every transfer receipt from the past few years and slapped them down on the coffee table, one by one."Mom, the money for this condo came from what I was paying into the 'family fund,' didn't it?""You promised you'd treat us fairly. What is this?"Mom glanced at the receipts, her brow furrowing in displeasure."What are you trying to say? I raised y

The peace lasted less than a week.One morning, while I was out walking Lucky, Derek suddenly called. His voice was surprisingly gentle."Sis, Mom's birthday is coming up. Even if you're throwing a tantrum, you can't skip something like this.""She still cares about you. She was just saying she wanted to buy you some clothes. Come on over."I was a little surprised.But then I thought, she was still my mother, at least in her own mind. Maybe she really did want to make up but was too proud to say it first.Fine. I'd give her one more chance.I settled Lucky at home, grabbed my jacket, and headed to the mall.When I pushed through the doors, I saw Mom clinging to Derek's arm outside a jewelry store, chatting about something.When she spotted me, she squeezed out a smile and grabbed my arm."Vivian, honestly, I said a couple of things and you blew it all out of proportion."She held out a designer shopping bag."Look at this. I picked it out just for you. You know it's my birthday, and I

I gathered all the evidence and sent it to Attorney Lewis.But the next day, I'd barely sat down at my desk when the office's glass door burst open.Three men barged in wearing garish shirts with thick gold chains around their necks, reeking of cigarette smoke and walking like they owned the place.The one in front, head shaved to the scalp, kicked over the reception desk's flowerpot and jabbed a finger in my face."Vivian Harper, right? Pay up!"The entire office went dead silent. Every coworker turned to stare.I took a deep breath, closed my laptop, and looked up at them."So you're the loan sharks my mother borrowed from. Let me be clear. Margaret Harper took out that loan. She forged my signature. It has nothing to do with me.""Bullshit!"Buzz-Cut slapped a crumpled piece of paper against my face. The signature on it looked exactly like my handwriting."Open your damn eyes and look! Whose signature is that? With compound interest, the balance is already one point six million doll

My pen stopped. I walked to the balcony and looked down.Mom was sitting on the edge of the apartment complex's pool, megaphone in hand, as if she was about to throw herself into the water.Derek stood next to her, wiping his tears, and grabbed her just in time.A crowd of elderly neighbors swarmed over, pulling Mom back."Don't! If you jump, you'll be giving your daughter exactly what she wants!""Young people these days, no sense of family at all. So cold!""Exactly. She probably thinks her own family's a burden. So selfish!"Someone had gone live. A phone camera was trained on Mom's tear-streaked face.Comments flew across the screen. Within minutes, someone had doxxed me."Wait, that name sounds familiar. Isn't she from that company? I heard she just quit... threw away her whole career just to ditch her own mother. That's cold."The hate flooded in. Some even threatened to track me down.I watched the spectacle below with cold eyes, listening to accusations from people who didn't k

"Responsibility?" My attorney let out a cold laugh and presented several pieces of evidence to the court. "Your Honor, the medical records show that the plaintiff has been gluten intolerant since childhood. The defendant knew this, yet spent years making only Derek's favorite food, sandwiches, leaving the plaintiff to skip meal after meal and become chronically malnourished.""Furthermore, these financial records show that since the plaintiff began working, the defendant extracted most of her salary under various pretenses. Whatever debt she claims Vivian owed her for being raised has already been repaid many times over."Mom's pitiful expression went rigid.But she quickly recovered, dabbing at her tears, her voice hoarse."Everything I did was for this family! My daughter has always been independent and capable, but Derek is different. He's more sensitive, more fragile. He was just starting his career. The pressure on him was enormous, and he had a family to support.""She's his olde