Chapter 1 Chapter 1

It was almost the end of the month. A day before I received my monthly pay, my aunt, Eliza Turner, told me that my uncle, Patrick Ford, had to undergo an emergency surgery and she needed to borrow 50 thousand dollars from me. Aunt Eliza had always been very kind to me. So, I agreed to her request right away. I had some money in my PayPal account. It was around 70 thousand dollars. Yet, when I accessed my account to transfer the money, I found that only one dollar and 20 cents were left in that account. I had not used any of that money all this time. Panic rose within me. I thought that my phone had malfunctioned. However, when I brought my phone to the bank and inquired about the issue, the staff member told me a transaction had been made a week before. I recalled at that moment how my husband, Gregory Chance, had suddenly asked to borrow my phone about a week ago. He had used it for about half an hour. My heartbeat quickened. My voice was shaking when Gregory picked up the phone. "You used the money in my PayPal account." Gregory was completely engrossed in the game he was playing. He paid no mind to what I was saying. "Jess wants to eat chicken tonight. Remember to buy some. Also, you need to clean up the trash by the front door when you get back later. It smells awful!""Did you or did you not use my money?" Gregory was probably surprised when I raised my voice all of a sudden. He grumbled about how he had just lost the game and yelled at me impatiently. "What's the big deal with me using some of your money? Jess needs to redo the concrete in her yard. So, I lent her the money for the time being!" My breathing grew ragged in exasperation. Gregory was my first love. We dated for nine years and had been married for two years now. Our son just turned two years old. Gregory came from a single-parent family. They weren't well off, to begin with. His family also didn't approve of me, who had a master's degree, as Gregory's partner. However, I was too deeply in love with Gregory back then. I ignored my parents' advice, thinking that I could convince the Chance family to acknowledge me as one of them by showing them how much I cared about them. The Chance family gave me 66 thousand dollars, whereas my family gave them 150 thousand dollars for the wedding gift. On the day we got married, Gregory took the money for both wedding gifts and gave it to his mother, Clara Mckinsen. Soon afterward, Clara used the money to buy a car for Gregory's older sister, Jessica Chance. When we visited Clara's place on New Year's Day, Jessica even mocked me. "Sasha, why are you still driving a shabby secondhand car when you earn so much every month?" I thought Clara was showing favoritism to Jessica since Gregory had a bitter look on his face at the time. I even gave Gregory around ten thousand dollars, which I had saved up for personal use. Yet, that money eventually ended up in Jessica's pocket too. For the last two years, Jessica kept saying she was borrowing money from me. However, she hadn't returned a single cent so far. Worst of all, she would sometimes cause a ruckus at my workplace to ask me for money. There was one time where she had harassed one of our clients. My superior gave me a hard time for the subsequent two months because of that incident. In the end, I decided to use the money in my fixed deposit and transferred 60 thousand dollars to Eliza. Eliza said in a choked voice, "Thank you, Sasha! I promise that I'll return the money to you!" The ten thousand dollars I had saved up for personal use was actually from Eliza. I told her it was no big deal. Just then, I received a message from Gregory. "We're all gonna starve to death if you don't come home soon. Harry's diaper is almost full. Hurry home so you can take care of it!" I headed back to my office and applied for two month's leave from my department head.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

I worked for a multinational corporation and earned more than ten thousand dollars a month. I could earn up to 20 thousand dollars if I worked overtime. Working overtime was taxing and laborious. One had to continuously go on business trips. For the sake of earning overtime pay, I almost ended up becoming our company's model employee. This was the first time I had applied for such a long leave from work. My department head looked at me approvingly. "You're finally getting some long overdue rest." As soon as I arrived outside my house, I could hear the sound of people talking and laughing coming from inside. "Greg, your wife is getting her salary tomorrow, right?""I think so.""Give me eight thousand dollars, then. I want to get some clothes from the suppliers and sell them." Gregory was excited. "Jess, you mustn't forget about me when you hit the jackpot someday!" These people never cared about me. Yet, they had already planned out how to use the salary I was going to receive tomorrow. When I entered through the door, Gregory and Jessica looked toward me at the same time. "Harry, Mommy's home!" I saw that my two-year-old son, Harry Chance, was left on the balcony almost instantly. He was holding and munching on a leftover rib bone from last night. His diaper visibly sagged. "Mommy… Mommy… hehehe…" Harry stumbled toward me. Gregory and Jessica placed all the food they had ordered through delivery on the table in the living room. Yet, Harry was only given a leftover bone. I went over and picked Harry up from the floor. The urine from his diaper leaked and dripped onto my hand. Meanwhile, Jessica stared at my empty hands and asked, "Where are the trotters?" I ignored her and headed into my room. Jessica's grumpy voice rang through the house. "Greg, how could your wife ignore me like that? I practically raised you, Greg. You can't let your wife treat me like this!""Hold on, Jess. I'm going to talk some sense into her now!" Gregory pushed the door open and kicked an empty liquor bottle on the floor into the room. Scared, Harry burst into tears. "What the hell are you doing? Jess is still around too!" I took Harry into the bathroom to give him a shower. Gregory finally noticed that I was in a bad mood. He scratched his nose and treaded over slowly. I announced just then, "I got fired. I plan to stay at home and take care of Harry for the time being." Gregory was momentarily stunned. "Has your boss gone mad? Aren't you a team leader in your department? Is it possible for you to lose your job just like that?" I chuckled dryly. "That's how things are these days. I can't do anything about it, either." Gregory frowned. He probably thought this was absurd. After all, he knew how my company saw me as a valued employee. I even received news last month that I would definitely be promoted by the end of the year. Then again, Gregory figured the only reason I would lose such a wonderful job was because I had gotten fired. There was no way I would decide to quit myself. He told me before leaving the room. "You should go and look for a new job tomorrow, then. Start working the day after tomorrow." I could hear him and Jessica making all kinds of scornful remarks about me in the living room. Yet, none of them tried to enter my room after that.

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

It had been such a long time since the last time I got to sleep for as long as I wanted. Ever since I started dating Gregory and up till we got married, I had to wake up early every day. This situation only worsened as time passed. I needed to look after Harry during the weekends. On weekdays, I had to prepare everything, such as food and clothes for Harry, Gregory, and Jessica, before leaving for work. After work, I also had to clean the house. I even had to wash Jessica's undergarments for her. Gregory came out of the den and noticed I was watching the TV. He seemed flabbergasted. "You're having your day off today?" I replied flatly, "Have you forgotten? I got fired yesterday." Gregory gave a slight nod. "You should go and look for a new job, then. Otherwise, how are we going to pay for our family's living expenses?" Jessica asked me during breakfast, "Sasha, will you be able to find a new job that also pays you more than 20 thousand dollars a month?" I was feeding Harry his food. I responded nonchalantly, "We'll see how it goes. I just want to rest for now." Jessica and Gregory, who just came into the dining room, stared at each other with rounded eyes. Gregory seriously doubted my words. After all, I was a workaholic. Moreover, I needed the money to raise Harry. For an entire week, I watched TV during the day and did some shopping on Amazon at night. Whenever I received a parcel the next day, I would dress Harry up in his new outfits as though I was picking an outfit for a video game avatar. Gregory's and Jessica's undergarments which they had left in the bathroom were starting to stink. I had tossed their undergarments in a corner of their beds. Yet, the siblings were so lazy that they didn't even realize their undergarments were there. These carefree, peaceful moments lasted for a few days. One night, Gregory came home and almost got tripped over by one of my parcels. He stormed into the room, snatched my phone away, and tossed it aside. "Sasha Turner, you idiot! Get up! You need to go and look for a job now!" I grabbed my other phone and continued scrolling through the Amazon website. "I don't plan on working anymore. I'll stay at home to keep you and Jess company. Our family will always be together." Then, I took the bill we received today from the property management company that was left on the table and passed it to Gregory. "You need to pay for this year's management fees. I don't have any money since I was just laid off." Gregory froze on the spot. The next instant, his face flushed red. He shouted at me so loudly that even the people staying in the building opposite ours turned their lights on to listen to our argument. He did all the counting for me. "I usually spend a thousand for my drinks and cigarettes. Jess needs three thousand for her daily expenses. We need to pay eight thousand dollars for our housing loan! "Even the management fees cost 3,800 dollars! All of that requires money! If you don't work, how are we even going to feed ourselves? Also, you're the one who takes care of the management fees every year. Why are you asking me to pay for it now?" His spittle splattered on my face. I put down my phone and chuckled. "Greg, I thought you were bad with numbers. Turns out you're really good at it. "You've asked me how we're going to feed ourselves if I don't work. What about you and Jess, then? Why won't you two get a job? "Jess stays at my new house and spends my money! You even secretly transferred my money to her account! Have you taken those into account too?"

Chapter 4 Chapter 4

I pulled out a calculator and pressed a few numbers. "Oh, my! The money I've spent on your sister during the last few years has far exceeded the 70 thousand dollars I had in my PayPal account!" Gregory finally realized why I was making these mocking remarks. He snapped, "Jess is renovating her yard! Once it's done, it'll make things more comfortable for us when we visit her place. "We just used some of your money. Why are you being so fussy about it? Jess is like a mother to me too. In the past, she—" I had no interest in listening to what Gregory had to say. I cut him off and said scornfully, "So, she's like a mother to you… "When I needed to undergo surgery for appendicitis, I asked you to transfer 20 thousand dollars to my account immediately. Yet, you gave the money to Jess so that she could buy a bag that cost 25 thousand dollars. I almost died because of a gastrointestinal rupture! "I wanted to spend two thousand dollars so that Harry could get a health checkup. Yet, you spent five thousand dollars on a health checkup for Holly instead. Fortunately, Harry went for a checkup. Otherwise, he might have died because of the flu! "This time, my Uncle Patrick needed to borrow money from me for an emergency. You knew how his family had always been kind to us. Yet, you gave all that money to Jess without my knowledge! "Gregory, you and your sister share a close relationship. She's been staying at our place for months without paying a single penny for food or rent. Did she ever bother getting some groceries for us in return? "She used my money for her entertainment. I even had to wash her dirty underwear. Am I your fucking nanny?" Gregory's eyes were bloodshot. He seemed a little stunned after being shouted at by me. Then, he flung the diaper I had taken off Harry not too long ago at me. Harry wailed in fear. "Sasha, our society has always stressed the importance of family duty! Are you trying to make me a bad brother by making me ignore my own sister? Besides, Jess didn't even spend that much of your money for you to be making such a big fuss about it!" I was making a big fuss about it? I nodded and snickered, "Yeah, she hasn't spent that much money… She's simply used up all the money I saved for my family's use!" Even the money I had put aside for emergencies, like when Harry fell sick, was used by Gregory to buy clothes for his niece, Holly Jarvis. "Fine. If you care about Jess so much and want to be a good brother so badly, you can look for a job yourself! You should hold onto those values of family duty! Or we can just get a divorce. I'm useless now since I've lost my job." The muscles on Gregory's face twitched since he was exasperated. This was the first time I had expressed such strong emotions. "Why you! Sasha Turner, how dare you ask for a divorce? Just wait and see!" Gregory and Jessica stormed off, slamming the front door behind them. Eventually, I managed to calm Harry down. After I packed our things, I took Harry to a five-star hotel, where we enjoyed the full VIP guest treatment.

Chapter 5 Chapter 5

In truth, the Chance family members despised Harry. Harry was born so thin and frail that we almost lost him. He had to stay in an incubator for a month. The Chance family felt that a child like Harry brought ominous energy and would not survive until he reached adulthood. They even planned to abandon Harry while keeping me in the dark. It had not even been a month after I gave birth to Harry, but Gregory tried to force himself on me to get me pregnant again. I suffered massive blood loss due to him being so rough. After that, Gregory tried various ways for us to get a second child. In the end, I prepared a fake diagnosis report and gave it to him. "You'll be infected if you try to get intimate with me again." Gregory said that I was filthy for catching this type of disease. He finally gave up trying. Jessica had a daughter named Holly, and Gregory adored her. He wouldn't smoke around Holly since he was afraid of how the smoke might be harmful to her. At home, Gregory was always smoking. Harry had once gotten admitted to the hospital because of that. Gregory knew all of Holly's likes and dislikes. Yet, he was completely unaware that Harry was allergic to honey. Who said that a young child wouldn't know much? Harry would lower his head and stay silent when he saw Gregory. Yet, when he was with me, Harry was usually bright and cheerful. A new five-star hotel opened near our place, and they claimed to have the best recreation room for families to try various games. They promoted it with a slogan. "Give your child a happy childhood." I suggested bringing Harry to the place with Gregory, but Gregory said it would be a waste of money. Soon enough, he took Holly to the place instead. That day, Jessica updated her social media page with a collage of nine photos. Holly was smiling brightly and innocently in each of them. The caption read, "Give your child a happy childhood." That night, Harry came down with a high fever. I took him to the emergency room of a pediatric hospital. The doctor said that Harry might have ended up with cerebral palsy if I had sent him to the hospital any later than that. Gregory scoffed back then. "He might not even be mine. Why does he keep falling sick? He should have just died before you could give birth to him back then." I couldn't fathom how Gregory, the father of the child, could say something like that. The treatment we received at the five-star hotel was superb. Harry was having so much fun. "Mommy, this is fun! I like it!" he shrieked excitedly. I stayed beside Harry, and the two of us enjoyed a wonderful time playing. When I looked to the side, I felt a bit sad since I could see families of three around us enjoying quality time together. Harry and I looked radiant the next day. Just as I entered the house, I received a call from Clara. "Sasha, I've always thought that you're thoughtful and understanding. So, how could you say something like that and hurt your family's feelings? "Jess is your sister-in-law. She's facing difficulties, and you have money. What's wrong with helping her a little? "That's all I have to say. If you don't come and apologize to Greg and Jess, don't even think about stepping into the Chance residence again!""That's exactly what I want. Do these people really think they're some sort of royalty?" I wondered. Clara hung up right after she was done talking. I was delighted to have another moment of peace. After that, Harry and I took a nap together.

Chapter 6 Chapter 6

I was awakened by the slam of the door. Harry was crying. Frowning, I soothed him. I looked up and realized we had guests. Clara, Jessica, and Gregory were all here. Pointing a finger at me, Clara scolded me as though I'd committed a terrible crime. "Sasha! You made a fuss when Jessica used a few tens of thousands of your money, but you spent ten thousand dollars last night in the hotel! Have you gone nuts?" Oh, right. Gregory had secretly linked his number to my bank account before this. He would know whenever I spent money. Clara grabbed my hair and dragged me toward her. Hugging Harry tightly, I shoved her aside. "You!" The Chance family stared at me. They looked like they were going to beat me up. With my head held high, I returned their gazes with a warning glare. Calming down, Clara then signaled to Gregory before she left the room. Gregory glared at me dangerously. "Come out! We need to talk." I calmed Harry down and gave him an expensive chocolate bar. When we were going out, Jessica stared intently at the chocolate Harry held. "That chocolate bar costs more than 100 dollars. Holly can't even bring herself to have some, yet you're giving it to your son!" I retorted calmly, "Is there a problem with me spending my hard-earned money on chocolates for my son?" Jessica snorted. Suddenly, Clara hit my leg with a feather duster, and it immediately became swollen. "Sasha, you know the family rules! Being loyal and respectful is the most important one of them all! You're being very disloyal. Hurry up and apologize to Jessica and Gregory!" I thought she had gone crazy. Gregory took money from my account without my permission. Why was I the one who should apologize? "Are you sure you're in your right mind?" I asked. Clara didn't expect me to challenge her right after she lectured me about being respectful. Through gritted teeth, she hissed, "I dare you to repeat that!""Are you too old to understand me now?" Gregory snatched the feather duster from her, preparing to hit me. Right then, a voice came from the door. "Enough!" Just wonderful. Even Jessica's husband, Frank Jarvis, was here. He brought Holly with him. "Sweetie, you're here!" Gregory exclaimed the moment he saw Holly. He even spoke in a honeyed tone. However, when Harry bawled his eyes out just now, he didn't even cast Harry a single glance. The Chance family and Frank sat across from me. Right then, I felt like I was being interrogated. Frank said, "Sasha, we're family. It's only tens of thousands of dollars. It's not like we can't pay you back." I almost forgot. Frank was unemployed too. Gregory undercounted the sum Frank used. I paid for Frank's lifestyle needs, even the 500 dollars he spent on prostitutes. I nodded. "When will you pay me back then?""Anytime," he replied confidently. I instantly recited the amount he owed me. "You owe me 66 thousand dollars this time, 5200 dollars for Holly's tuition fees she requested on Thanksgiving, and 30 thousand dollars from when Jessica said she was sick on Labor Day. "During the New Year, you and Jessica wanted to buy a house near Holly's school and asked Greg to give you 150 thousand dollars…" The Chances were stunned, as though they had only found out about his debt now. "Also, there's the time you solicited a prostitute—"