Chapter 4

Mom immediately turned to ask Joshua what he thought.

Joshua gave a grudging nod. "Over the years, Lucinda's definitely cost more than three hundred grand more than me... but let's just leave it for now. I don't want to keep quibbling about it."

Laurel lit up on the spot. "That's wonderful, sweetheart! Then I'll get the full set of gold jewelry, my wedding dress will be a Vera Wang, and we'll book the honeymoon in Hartley City..."

Joshua said dotingly, "Buy, buy, buy! I'll buy it all for you—it's like throwing a feast for the kid I used to be."

"I had it rough growing up, but that's okay, as long as you're happy!"

Then Joshua turned back to me and said in a charitable tone, "Fine, you can stay in that guest room, but don't put too much stuff in there."

"And if we have company over, you clear out right away!"

Watching the whole family basking in their cozy little moment, I don't know why, but my chest went bitter, and I almost wanted to laugh.

All these years, Joshua never held down a real job. Most of the time he just sat at home, a freeloader living off the family.

And in the end, I have to get his permission to spend three hundred grand on a house at my own parents' place?

Seeing how dark my face had gone, Mom's eyes darted, and she said with a smile, "Lucy, get the bride price back first, and I'll buy you extra bedding for your dowry."

"Besides, if you're good to your brother, why would your family ever forget about you after you're married? If Stanley treats you badly, your brother will stand up for you!"

I gave a cold laugh. What exactly would my family think about me?

They wanted my paycheck; they wanted me to keep bleeding myself dry for my brother, right?

Aunt Diane started trying to smooth things over. "This is good, really. Both the son and the daughter are settled now."

I cut Aunt Diane off flat. "You spoke too soon. I never agreed!"

I held out my hand and said, "When did I ever cost three hundred grand more than my brother? Show me the proof!"

The second Joshua saw me take it back, he panicked. "What proof do you need? Everything I suffered growing up is the proof!"

Mom joined in. "Lucy, everything you ate and everything you wore growing up, I bought it all for you. Don't I know?"

Uncle Gerald let out a cold snort. "It's the man's family paying, not you. You're not even married and you're already taking your husband's family's side. Your mother might as well have raised a dog instead of you. Even a dog knows to love its home!"

I was about to fire back when my phone suddenly rang. I picked up, and it was a coworker. "Lucy, did somebody put you up online? The boss saw it!"

"He just stood in front of the whole office and said you're spoiled, selfish, and not fit for anything serious."

"When you come in tomorrow, be really careful. Don't give the boss anything to use against you, or you could get fired."

"He's still watching, I've got to go. Take care of yourself!"

I glared at Laurel, who was gripping her phone, a smug look all over her face.

Just now she'd pulled off a whole routine, deliberately filming only the clips that favored her.

Add in her narration, and one livestream later, she'd flipped black and white completely.

At this point, there was no way I could just smooth things over and let it go.

If I backed down, what waited for me was a career built over years destroyed in an instant; selling myself for a bride price; following a divorced old man and being a blood bag passed back and forth between my parents' family and my in-laws; one step into the fire pit, with no day of freedom ever again!

And I finally saw the truth behind the so-called devoted daughter's mom act.

It was raising your daughter at the least possible cost, "pampering" her into adulthood, and then devouring her whole, skin and flesh and all!

I looked coldly at every one of them and said, one word at a time, "I won't give a single cent!"

Smack!

A slap landed across my face, stinging hot.

Mom had swung so hard her palm was flushed red too.

She couldn't keep up the act any longer. She jabbed her finger at me and cursed:

"I must have been blind, playing favorites for an ungrateful traitor like you!"

"My poor brother of yours, all those years of suffering for nothing!"

Mom dropped down onto the floor and started wailing to the heavens, sobbing, and all of it became fresh material for Laurel's livestream.

Joshua propped Mom up, and facing Laurel's camera, he roared with his eyes full of pain, "Lucinda, if you don't pay back the money today, don't even think about walking out that door!"

And I tossed out an old ledger, every word landing hard:

"Today, let's add it all up—exactly how much I owe you!"