Chapter 4

I slowly got to my feet and wiped the blood from my forehead. Then I opened the screenshots Kelsey had posted in the family group chat.

"Kelsey, that's a pretty convincing Photoshop job. Next time, at least line up the pixels."

She'd always been like this. As a child, she'd lied to get extra food. As a teenager, she'd conned people out of cosmetics. Then she started lying to her boyfriends.

I could accept that she'd taken my trip. What I wouldn't accept was her trying to make me reimburse her for expenses she'd never incurred.

Whether the trip was canceled or not, she'd already decided to bleed me dry.

I wiped the blood from my forehead, ignored everyone in the room, and headed upstairs.

The moment I stepped into my bedroom, my phone chimed. It was a text alert from my bank.

[Your account ending in 8845: $50,000 transferred at 10:15 p.m.]

I stared at the number on the screen. That was my payroll account.

It was money I'd scraped together for my father's surgery fund by working three jobs a day, skipping medicine whenever I got sick, and never allowing myself more than the cheapest meals.

I spun around and ran downstairs.

Aunt Janice and Kelsey were already gone.

My father sat on the couch, leisurely sipping his tea. Hearing my footsteps, he lazily lifted his eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Everything I do is for your own good. Janice says any random man in Europe is part of the upper class.

"Once Kelsey gets to know a few people over there, I'll have her introduce you to a rich boyfriend. Then you'll get your chance to go abroad too."

He blew across the surface of his tea.

"You need to think about the bigger picture."

It turns out that when a person reaches the absolute limit of despair, they laugh.

I burst into laughter. I laughed until tears mixed with the blood running down my face.

The sound unsettled my father. He awkwardly rubbed his nose.

"What are you laughing at? A young woman shouldn't act like a lunatic."

He kept lecturing me, but I couldn't hear another word.

I shoved him aside and grabbed my backup phone. I'd been ready to let everything go because he was still my father.

But he'd actually conspired with outsiders to steal my money.

If I didn't send every last one of them to jail, I'd be doing his life lessons a disservice.

Half an hour later, the police moved quickly. They intercepted Kelsey in the VIP departure lounge at the airport just before her flight to Paris.

Even in the mediation room at the police station, dressed head to toe in designer labels, she sat there rolling her eyes in contempt.

"Elise, are you really that desperate? It's only a little money. Did you seriously have to call the police? Go explain everything to the officers so I don't miss my flight tomorrow morning."

Her husband, Travis, had also been brought to the station. He looked completely bewildered. "Kelsey told us her cousin gave us the trip as a wedding gift. Our whole family was incredibly grateful. There has to be some misunderstanding, Officer."

A few moments later, my father came rushing in, drenched in sweat. "My daughter's just throwing a tantrum."

He hurriedly pulled out a pack of cigarettes and tried to offer one to the officer, but the officer pushed his hand away.

"So what exactly happened? You're the complainant's father, correct?"

I calmly recounted everything from beginning to end.

The officer frowned and turned to my father. "Is what your daughter said true?"

My father immediately waved his hands. "Officer, don't listen to her nonsense. She didn't even want the prize! And the $50,000 was money she agreed to lend us."

"This is a family matter. She's only doing this to make life difficult for me. She's trying to drive me to an early grave."

Watching the pained expression on his face, even the officer frowned and looked back at me.

"Your father says you agreed to it. Do you have any evidence that anything was stolen?"

I pointed to the wound on my forehead, still bleeding, but before I could speak, Aunt Janice gave a dismissive snort.

"What evidence could there possibly be? Officer, you don't know this girl.

"Elise has always been coldhearted with a terrible temper. If you ask me, she's got serious anger issues. Just like her mother. Poor all her life, and with that personality, no man will ever put up with her."

She rolled her eyes before turning to me with a fake smile. "Be a good girl and listen to your aunt. When Kelsey gets back, I'll have her introduce you to a handsome foreign boyfriend."

My phone chimed.

[Payment Received: $200.]

"I've sent you another $200. Go buy yourself something nice."

I looked at the pathetic $200 transfer. Then I looked up at the smug grin spread across Aunt Janice's face.

In that instant, I understood.

When my mother had been driven to her death, Aunt Janice hadn't just stood by and watched. She'd been one of the people who pushed her over the edge.

I'd been saving that money for my father's surgery.

But if he believed his own life was worth so little, then I wasn't about to sacrifice mine trying to save his.

I let out a cold laugh.

"$200? You'd better save it. You'll need it to buy toiletries in jail."