Home / Reborn at Thanksgiving, I Exposed My Mother’s $30,000 Lie / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Reborn at Thanksgiving, I Exposed My Mother’s $30,000 Lie: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

I took the fake bills out of the box and spread them across the dining table.The entire room went silent.Mom, Linda Bennett, still had one hand frozen in midair.Dad, David Bennett, was the first to react.“Claire, what are you doing?”I picked up a stack of the fake bills.“Mom, this is the thirty thousand dollars you were talking about?”Linda immediately grabbed my hand, softening her voice.“Claire, didn’t I just explain this to you?“Thirty thousand dollars is a lot of money. It wouldn’t be safe to bring that much cash here.”She turned to our relatives.“I’m only doing this for her own good.“She just started college. Handing her that much cash all at once wouldn’t be responsible.”My aunt frowned.“Claire, your mom announced in front of the whole family that she’s giving you thirty thousand dollars. You really think she’d go back on her word?“You’re making too big a deal out of this.”Dad patted me on the back.“Claire, it’s Thanksgiving. Don’t embarrass your

Chapter 2

Dad reached for the fake bills in my hand.I took a step back.“Don’t touch them.”His face darkened instantly.“You’re actually dodging me now?”Linda suddenly dug through her purse, pulled out a small slip of paper, and slapped it onto the table.“Claire, if you insist on pushing me this far, then I guess I have no choice but to show everyone.”The relatives immediately crowded around.Linda pointed at the slip, crying so hard she could barely catch her breath.“This is from the bank yesterday.“I was going to withdraw the full thirty thousand dollars for her, but the bank said cash withdrawals that large have to be arranged in advance.“I didn’t want her to be disappointed, so I prepared the fake bills just for the presentation.”She looked at me as fresh tears spilled down her face.“I just wanted everyone to see that your father and I have never treated you unfairly.”My aunt picked up the slip and examined it before passing it around.“She really did go to the bank

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

Chapter 4

At eight-thirty the next morning, I was waiting outside the bank when Linda and Dad arrived.Two of my aunts and one of my uncles had come along too.The moment Linda saw me, she sighed.“Claire, are you seriously dragging this all the way to the bank over thirty thousand dollars?”I looked at the bag in her hand.“Your ID and the account statement.”Her expression stiffened.“I think I forgot my ID.”I pulled out my phone and opened the message I had sent her the night before.“I reminded you to bring it.“You replied, ‘Okay.’”Linda stared at the message, her face turning ugly.Dad urged her quietly,“Linda, if you brought it, just take it out. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go home.”Linda was silent for several seconds.Then she reached into an inner pocket of her purse and pulled out her ID.I held out my hand.“The passbook.”She didn’t give it to me.“I’ll hold on to it myself.”“Fine.”The bank opened at nine.We took a number and sat in th

Chapter 5

After the manager read out the name, no one in the bank lobby said a word.Linda’s hand was still pressed against the counter phone.“Claire, come home with me first. This isn’t the place to discuss family matters.”I didn’t let go.“The manager hasn’t finished telling us who transferred the money, when it was transferred, and where it went.”The manager glanced at Linda before continuing.“The transaction was made three days ago at 10:17 a.m. The amount was thirty thousand dollars.”“The receiving account belongs to Ethan Bennett and is registered overseas.”Dad stared at Linda.His lips moved several times.“How do you explain this?”Linda’s face went pale.“I only transferred it to him temporarily.”“Ethan suddenly needed money for tuition. I thought once things settled down for him, I’d replace the money for Claire.”I picked up the transaction record from the counter.“You didn’t transfer part of it.”“You transferred all of it.”Linda’s fingers began to shake.“

Chapter 6

Linda chased after me as soon as I walked out of the bank.She stopped talking about the thirty thousand dollars and started crying about everything she had sacrificed over the years.“I carried you for nine months. I pinched every penny to raise you, and now you’re humiliating me at a bank over thirty thousand dollars.”Her voice was loud enough that everyone waiting for a ride outside turned to look.Dad followed behind us.For once, he didn’t back her up.I stopped walking.“Raising me doesn’t mean you get to use it as an excuse every time you owe me something.”Linda clutched her chest.“Listen to yourself. Is that any way for a daughter to talk to her mother?”One of my aunts hurried over to her.“Claire, your mother isn’t unreasonable. You just pushed her too far.”I turned around.“She told everyone I’d already received the thirty thousand dollars. You all heard her.”My aunt’s expression stiffened.“She shouldn’t have said that, but she still raised you all these

Chapter 7

That evening, Ethan sent me a long string of messages.The first one said,“Are you insane?”Then came another.“Mom’s been crying all afternoon because of you. Happy now?”I didn’t reply.The messages kept coming.“She raised you your whole life, and you humiliated her at a bank over thirty thousand dollars.”“You need to apologize to her right now.”“Don’t think you’re right just because Dad took your side. He only believes you because you manipulated him.”The last message said,“If you don’t apologize, then I don’t have a sister anymore.”I set my phone down and saved screenshots of the entire conversation.A few minutes later, Ethan called.I answered but didn’t speak first.“Claire, what the hell are you trying to do?”His voice was full of anger.He wasn’t really asking.“I want my money back.”“It’s Mom’s money. She can give it to whoever she wants.”“She said it was my living expenses for the year.”“She decides what happens to her money. What right do you

Chapter 8

The next morning, there were more than a dozen new messages in the family group chat.One of my aunts sent a voice message first.Her voice was much quieter than usual.“Claire, I said some things to you outside the bank yesterday before I understood what was really going on. I’m sorry.”Then one of my cousins sent a message too.“My mom told me you forced Aunt Linda to kneel over thirty thousand dollars, so I joined in and criticized you.”“Now that I’ve seen the records, I know I was wrong.”Another aunt didn’t apologize.She only wrote,'We’re all family. There was no need to take things this far.'I didn’t reply to her.Linda immediately latched onto it.'At least your aunt understands me.'I reposted the transaction record from the night before.'Things got this far because someone gave me fake money, lied to me, and transferred away the money meant for my living expenses.'The first aunt sent another message.'Linda, you were wrong about this. Claire is only askin

Chapter 9

Three days later, Dad moved into an apartment near his office.He took only his clothes, documents, and a few daily necessities.He didn’t touch any of their joint savings.Before he left, he sent me a repayment agreement.It stated that Linda owed me thirty thousand dollars and would begin paying it back in installments starting the following month.I signed it.Linda signed it too.Afterward, she kept staring at the agreement.“Your father won’t even take money out of our savings to pay you.”“Because this was my money to begin with.”She threw the pen onto the table.“I already said I’d pay you back. Why did you have to force me to sign an agreement?”“You said you’d give me the money before too.”She had nothing else to say.That same night, after Dad moved out, he cut off Ethan’s allowance.He sent Ethan a message.'Starting this month, you’ll be responsible for your own tuition and living expenses.''The thirty thousand dollars your mother transferred to you was

Chapter 10

Linda finished paying back the thirty thousand dollars on the last day of summer break the following year.She transferred the final payment and sent me just one message.'.'I checked the deposit and confirmed the amount was correct before replying,'Paid in full.'She called almost immediately.I didn’t answer.A little while later, Dad messaged me.'She says she wants to see you.'I replied,'When I’m ready.'A few minutes later, he sent another message.'Okay.'In the past, he always told me to come home.To try to understand Mom.To give in to my brother just this once.Now all he said was okay.I put my phone aside and went back to organizing everything I needed for the new semester.After returning to school, I applied for an on-campus job and joined a student organization related to my major.Before, I had always been afraid to say no.I worried people would think I was difficult.Now, if someone tried to dump their work on me at the last minute, I simply s

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