I clenched my fists and asked Rebecca firmly, “So, what do you want this time?”
She immediately stopped crying. “Give us 300,000…”
Before she could finish, Henry turned to me and interjected, “No, 500,000. Let’s call it compensation for Jasmine. We’ll forget all about how you’ve treated her. We’re still family, after all, right?”
I used to give in every time. After all, they had raised me. They weren’t kind, but they did take me in after my parents died. So, I genuinely felt that I owed them.
That wasn’t going to happen this time. I merely scoffed and retorted, “500,000? How shameless can you be? Jasmine went to jail for stealing Grandma’s surgery money and failing to frame me for it. How is any of that my fault?
“And as for raising me, you don’t even have the right to say that!”
“The house and the car were mine. You even took the 2 million compensation when my parents died. Yet, you made me wear Rebecca’s old clothes. I was made to eat nothing but leftovers. You even forced me to apply for financial aid in high school. In college, I had to work part–time just to survive. And you dare claim you raised me?”
These were things I hadn’t known until I died in my last life. My grandmother had been keeping everything hidden from Henry and Rebecca.
The crowd around us erupted.
“They’re shameless!”
“That’s not raising a child. They’re stealing from her!”
“They’ve been living off her inheritance!”
“And have the nerve to ask her for money? Unbelievable!”
Henry and Rebecca hadn’t expected me to know about any of this. Now that their secret
was out and the crowd was turning on them, their faces flushed red with embarrassment.
They tried to slip away, but a group of people blocked their path.
Amid the commotion, Lucas‘ angry voice suddenly boomed down the hallway.
“If
anyone lays a finger on Kaelyn, I’ll sue you all!”
Half an hour later, Lucas was sitting in my living room.
“What made you rush out like that?” I asked, handing him a cup of hot tea.
He huffed. “I was worried about you! I saw the crowd gathered at your door on the security feed. They looked so riled up that I nearly had a heart attack!”
2/3
Chapter 6 They Hate Me So Much
+25 BONUS
He had been so concerned about me getting hurt that he even installed a security camera at my front door. He had the cloud account and password set up, too.
I sipped my tea, feeling a bit curious. “What if the crowd had actually attacked me? Would you still have rushed in, knowing you might get hurt?”
He shot me a disgruntled look. “What kind of man would I be if I stood by and allowed the woman I care about get beaten up?”
