Chapter 4

Early the next morning, my phone was bombarded with messages.

The family group chat had exploded.

Martha had posted a thousand-word essay in the group, tearfully accusing us.

She denounced our family for being heartless after making money, refusing to acknowledge poor relatives.

She said I beat my own aunt and cousin black and blue and threw them out the door, ruining my cousin's marriage prospects.

Several distant relatives who usually liked to freeload and didn't know the truth immediately jumped out to take sides.

George, a distant relative: "So what if you're rich? You've lost all humanity!"

Helen, another relative: "Lily has been heartless since she was little. She won't even help relatives. When the hotel goes bankrupt, let's see who goes to eat there!"

Some even threatened to unite the whole family to boycott our hotel.

Shannon also put on quite a show on social media.

She posted: "Maybe I don't deserve a perfect wedding. I've prepared everything, just missing a stage."

The accompanying image was an obviously filtered and blurred photo of her wrist with red marks, a fake suicide attempt photo.

My father sat on the sofa, looking at the screen full of curses. His blood pressure nearly spiked as his hands trembled.

"What... what is all this! We've offended all our relatives!"

He anxiously typed on the screen, wanting to apologize and clarify in the group.

He even planned to pay out of his own pocket to book a few tables for them at another hotel.

I sneered and walked over, pressing down on my father's hand and taking away his phone.

"Dad, showing kindness to these bloodsuckers will only make them bite harder."

I took out my own phone, opened the financial software, and directly exported a statement.

This was a receipt three meters long. I threw it directly into the family group chat.

The statement clearly recorded every detail of Martha's family's consumption at our hotel over the past five years.

Including but not limited to: eating for free, taking things for free, forcibly taking gifts.

Down to the plate of peanuts she took last Thanksgiving, all with surveillance footage to match.

The last line was marked in large red letters with the total amount: one hundred twenty-five thousand four hundred dollars.

I directly @ Martha in the group.

"Since Aunt Martha keeps saying we want to cut ties, then settle this account first."

"We're family after all, so I'll round down. One hundred twenty thousand, not a cent less."

"As long as you settle this one hundred twenty thousand, I'll immediately pay out of my own pocket to host a wedding for you at the highest standard."

The distant relatives like George and Helen, who had just been wildly attacking, all played dead.

These relatives had all freeloaded food and drinks at our place to some extent.

They were afraid the fire would spread to them.

After a minute, Martha sent a furious voice message in the group.

"Lily, you're full of shit. You forged the statement. You're crazy for money and extorting your elders."

I had anticipated she would deny the debt. Calmly, I opened my photo album.

I posted a surveillance video screenshot to the group.

In the footage was last month when she brought people to dine and dash.

After eating, not only did she not pay, but she also sneaked into the bar.

When the cashier went to the bathroom, she directly shoved a box of cigars into her pants and took them.

The video was extremely clear, even capturing the greedy expression on her face.

I sent a voice message:

"Martha, theft of property worth over five thousand dollars is prosecutable."

"Do you want me to call the police to arrest you, or will you pay back the money immediately?"

Public opinion instantly reversed.

Although the relatives didn't dare speak up, soon several younger family members posted screens full of mocking emojis below.

Shannon also quietly deleted that wrist-cutting post from social media.

The mother-daughter duo became the laughingstock of the entire family.

I knew that ever since I overheard Shannon's phone call and learned that secret, given her viciousness, she would never let this go.