All Chapters of I Had To Pay The Balance: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

Above the iron gate hung a few, crooked, handwritten words.[Little Baris Ecological Farm]My mother-in-law, Mabel Grath, and the others looked displeased.My sister-in-law, Marlene Grath, pointed at the chicken droppings all over the ground and shrieked, “Where’s my Aiffel Tower?! Where’s my Camps-Elysees?!”I pointed at a pointed tower-like object welded from scrap steel bars in the middle of the yard.“See that? That’s the tower.”As for the avenue, I pointed at the muddy path. “This is the eco-avenue.”Mabel’s expression darkened. But she held back from looking bad in front of everyone else.She forced out a dry laugh and looked at me sharply. She said, “Noelle Frost, did you forget to explain things to the driver? We were supposed to be going to the airport to fly to Erope. How did we end up here?”My husband’s aunt, Karen Grath, who had been silent, chimed in, “Exactly! Weren’t we supposed to go to Erope? How did we end up in the middle of nowhere?”I glanced at Karen a

As soon as Mabel saw the brown paper document folder, she panicked.She suddenly did not seem so tough anymore.She knew all too well what was inside it.“Alright, that’s enough! We’re a family trying to enjoy a trip. Why’re you waving some ragged bag around in public? Aren’t you embarrassed?”Mabel interrupted me. “We’ll settle the accounts when we get home. Everyone’s tired right now. Just take us to our rooms so we can rest.“Sure, we didn’t make it to Erope. But the money I gave you should at least be enough to book a presidential suite in this rundown farm stay, right?”Seeing her act so tough while clearly panicking, I sneered to myself.“Fine. Let’s go see the rooms then.”I led the group across the courtyard to a row of red brick and tile houses.“We’re here!”I pushed open one of the doors.It was a standard farm stay room.There were two single beds. The floor was bare cement to keep that natural, rustic feel.Though simple, it was clean and tidy. It met the stan

“Not counting the $400 deposit, I personally took out the remaining $10,600 in cash and handed it to you in a black plastic bag last Friday. Are you really trying to deny it right now?”Mabel had perfected the art of making something out of nothing.She had indeed withdrawn the cash. But that money was for Marlene. She was trying to pin it on me.She was hoping that a cash transaction would leave no evidence. She was also betting on the fact that I might be too embarrassed to start a drama in front of everyone. Maybe she thought I was too scared to talk back to her.Karen watched from the side and clicked her tongue. Her gaze was full of contempt.“Noelle, you took the money and didn’t do the job. Then, you brought us to this rundown place. That’s fraud! But then again…”Her tone shifted before she continued, “Since you took $11,000, at least the food might be good, right?“We’ve been riding in the car forever. Then, we’ve been arguing here for half the day. We’re starving! We c

“Noelle, I’m sorry. I didn’t know—” Camden said. “You didn’t know?” I scoffed. “Did you really not know, or were you just pretending?“Every time you came back from a trip, you enjoyed the praise of being such a devoted son. Did you ever once ask if I had enough money? No, you didn’t! You just sat back and enjoyed the pride I bought for you for granted.”Camden was at a loss for words, and guilt consumed him.Karen, who was watching from the side, was stunned.She had initially thought this was just a minor conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. She never expected such a large sum of money to be involved.She could not help but click her tongue and said, “That’s enough to put a down payment on a house around here. You really are wealthy, Noelle.”Although she was complimenting how wealthy I was, it sounded like mockery to both Mabel and Camden.Just then, Mason suddenly stormed out.“Wow, quite the gathering here, isn’t it? What’s this about $11,000?”He glared