Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English | NEW
Synopsis
I got a hundred-thousand-dollar year-end bonus. Thrilled, I shared the news with my parents and asked what New Year gifts they wanted.
The very next second, my mom posted in the family group on SnapChat.
[Chloe just got a hundred-thousand-dollar bonus! She’s taking everyone out for dinner at a luxury five-star hotel!]
The chat instantly blew up. Everyone showered me with praise, calling me the most generous, dutiful daughter ever.
Staring at the screen, I was completely stunned. I looked up at my mom, utterly incredulous.
A smug smile played across her lips. "Didn't you love showing off? Go on, keep bragging!"
Messages kept flooding the SnapChat group. Relatives who hadn't spoken in years started tagging me left and right.
Cousin Sarah: [Chloe, you're amazing! That's so much money! Does that mean we can order whatever we want?]
Mom: [Of course! King crab, caviar—order whatever your heart desires!]
Cousin Mike: [Chloe, that bonus is more than my salary for the past three years combined!]
Uncle David: [A luxury hotel! That’s easily hundreds of dollars per person! Never thought I’d eat there in my lifetime!]
[We’re so lucky to have Chloe!]
Uncle Robert: [I’ve never tasted vintage Château Lafite. Can I get a bottle?]
Mom: [Order whatever you want to drink! Chloe has a hundred grand now, she’s loaded!]
[We have to make sure every penny of that bonus is spent!]
My fingers trembled as I stared at the screen, tears pricking my eyes.
My mom knew perfectly well that I had been planning to buy a car.
My plan had been simple: buy a few nice holiday gifts for my family, and combine the rest with my savings from the past few years to get a reliable little car. That way, driving to see clients or coming home for the holidays would be so much easier.
I never imagined she would turn around and announce to the entire extended family that I was throwing an extravagant feast.
At a Michelin-level luxury hotel, no less.
With over twenty or thirty relatives demanding king crab, caviar, and vintage French wine, a hundred grand wouldn’t even cover the bill.
Fury surged through me. I looked up, meeting my mom’s mocking glare.
"What's with that face? Your sister only got a thousand-dollar bonus, yet she bought us luxury fruit baskets," she sneered.
"You made so much money. What, asking you to treat the family hurts your feelings?"
"Weren't you gloating just a minute ago? Now that it's time to actually open your wallet, you're backing out?"
"Or did you only bring it up to rub it in your sister's face? To show off how capable you are and make her look completely worthless?!"
Her voice escalated until she was standing over me, shouting.
"You've been sneaky and manipulative since you were a kid!"
"Now that you've worked in the big city for a few years, you're even worse!"
"You knew she only got a grand, so you deliberately announced your hundred grand right in front of her!"
"Did you want us to praise you while calling your sister a failure?!"
"Why do you have to be so calculating?!""Mom, that's not what I meant at all!"
"I was just happy about my hard work paying off. I wanted to share that joy with you guys!"
Mom scoffed. "Happy? What's there for me to be happy about? That money is yours, not mine! It's not like you're giving it all to me!"
"You just wanted to show off!"
"You did it on purpose to make your sister feel bad!"
"You wanted us to say how great you are and how useless she is!"
"You’ve always been like this, competing with her your whole life. You love flaunting everything, terrified someone won't notice you!"
My sister, Amber, kept her head buried in her phone the entire time, not sparing us a single glance.
Amber hadn't even uttered a word, yet Mom was already furiously fighting battles on her behalf.
It had always been like this. Back in school, whenever I brought home an A and Amber got a C, Mom would scream at me. She claimed I deliberately showed off my report card just to make my sister miserable. She called me selfish for not tutoring her instead of focusing on my own grades.
After that, I stopped bringing my test papers home. Whenever a parent's signature was required, I forged it myself, terrified of upsetting Mom again.
Later, when teachers recommended me for academic competitions, Mom refused to let me go if there was an entry fee.
"Outshining your sister in class isn't enough? You have to go win trophies too? Terrified the neighbors won't know you're smarter than her?"
"Why is your heart so dark?!"
Shaking myself out of the memories, I looked at Mom's flushed, angry face. I couldn't comprehend why my achievements could never be a source of pride for her.
I hadn't tried to show off. I just wanted to share good news, but in her eyes, it was an evil, premeditated attack on Amber.
My dad, who had been sitting quietly on the couch, finally looked up. "Chloe, apologize to your mother right now!"
"It's the holidays! Do you have to ruin everyone's mood to be happy?!"
I bit my lower lip so hard it bled. "Mom, I really didn't mean it that way..."
Mom cut me off with a wave of her hand. "Enough, I don't want to hear it. Go book the restaurant. I already told everyone on SnapChat, and I won't lose face. You're paying."
With that, she stormed into her bedroom.Lying in bed that night, I tossed and turned.
Amber and I are twins, but Mom had favored her from the day we were born.
Because I was the healthier twin in the womb, Amber was born premature and sickly. Mom convinced herself that I had stolen Amber's nutrients, deciding I owed my sister a lifelong debt.
Whenever I didn't yield to Amber's whims, Mom would berate me.
The best food, the treats, the extra snacks—everything went straight to Amber. I was only allowed her leftovers.
Eventually, Amber hit a growth spurt and ended up half a head taller than me. Yet Mom went around telling relatives that I stayed short because I was a picky eater who starved myself trying to diet.
Later, I got into a top university, while Amber barely finished a local vocational program. The moment I graduated, Mom demanded I send monthly allowances home.
She claimed she had raised me for years, and now it was my turn to pay them back.
When I asked if Amber had to contribute, Mom snapped self-righteously, "Your sister didn't go to university! You did, so you have to give more! You're the older twin!"
The truth was, I paid for college through student loans and part-time jobs. Mom had told me bluntly that she had no obligation to support an adult child.
After graduation, I stayed in the metropolitan city to build my career, while Amber lived comfortably at home with our parents.
Whenever my career came up, Mom would sneer, "What good is being smart? Moving so far away... when your father and I get sick, you won't be around anyway!"
"If I had known, I never would've let you go to college!"
Thinking about all the money I had wired home over the years, and the farce tonight, my chest tightened painfully.
I knew she favored Amber, but I never realized she despised seeing me succeed this much.
Unable to sleep, I got up to use the restroom, only to notice the light slipping under Amber's door.The door was slightly ajar, and hushed voices drifted out.
Amber: "Mom, are you crazy? Why did you tell Chloe to invite all those relatives? That bonus was supposed to buy my new car! Now she's spending it on a fancy dinner, where am I going to get car money?"
Mom rushed to soothe her. "Sweetheart, I was just so furious! She was rubbing her success in our faces! I couldn't stomach it!"
Amber: "So what about my car? The dinner is in two days! If her entire bonus goes toward food, are you buying my car?!"
Mom hurriedly coddled her golden child. "Yes, yes, I'll buy it for you!"
Mom handed over a debit card. "This has all the monthly money your sister sent me over the years. I saved every dime, added some of our own savings, and rounded it up to thirty thousand dollars."
"Are you happy now?"
"As for your sister, we're going to bleed her dry at that dinner. Let's see her gloat after that!"
"Look up the menu online. Pick the most expensive items. Max out her credit cards!"
"Just thinking about her smug face makes me sick!"
"You both came from my womb, how did she turn out so calculating?!"
Amber beamed. "Can I invite my coworkers too?"
"Of course! Invite them all! Your sister is paying anyway!"
Their voices lowered, followed by bursts of quiet, vindictive laughter.
I had always known Mom secretly used the money I sent home to spoil Amber. But I never imagined she harbored such venom toward me, scheming to max out my cards just to tear me down.
Fine. If they insisted on calling me a show-off, I would show them what real ruthlessness looked like.On New Year's Eve eve, our extended family gathered at the luxury hotel.
Amber had dragged along a huge pack of her coworkers too. In total, they filled ten massive banquet tables.
Looking around, there were dozens of distant relatives I had never met in my life.
Mom had certainly gone out of her way to make sure I took a financial hit.
The moment I walked in, all eyes landed on me.
Uncle David spoke first. "Chloe really made it big! Treating the entire family to a five-star hotel!"
Aunt Linda chimed in, "She always had the best grades as a kid. Now look at her—a top-tier professional!"
Uncle Robert said, "Margaret, you raised such a wonderful daughter! She gets a big bonus and immediately thinks of her family!"
Mom waved her hands with a modest laugh. "Oh, stop it! It was all Chloe's idea! She insisted on treating everyone!"
She glanced at me, her smile tight. "Right, Chloe?"
The tone sounded pleasant, but the warning glare beneath it was unmistakable.
I smiled brightly. "Of course. Mom told me family comes first, and now that I'm earning well, I could never forget my roots!"
Envious glances shifted toward Mom. She let out a slightly strained chuckle.
"Alright, everyone sit down!"
Surrounded by relatives, I was ushered to the head table right next to Mom.
Mom leaned in, whispering harshly in my ear, "Don't try any funny tricks. I've got my eyes on you."
She wasn't stupid; she had noticed my demeanor was different today. I wasn't the meek, apologetic girl she usually bullied.
Course after course arrived at the tables.
Bluefin tuna, Australian rock lobsters, Alaskan king crabs.
When some uncles asked for drinks, Mom waved grandly to the staff, ordering multiple bottles of vintage Château Lafite.
"Chloe is paying today! Eat and drink your fill! Nobody leaves until every cent of her bonus is gone!"
Watching the older folks chug premier cru wine like cheap water, someone asked if they could take leftovers home.
Mom nodded enthusiastically. "Take it! Box it all up! If you want more, go tell the kitchen to prepare it! Take whatever you want!"
"Tomorrow is New Year's Eve anyway! Box up some luxury dishes for your holiday dinners tomorrow!"
Hearing that, strangers I barely recognized swarmed toward the kitchen.
They packed up king crabs and giant lobsters like free samples at a grocery store.
Some even demanded two unopened bottles of expensive wine to "gift to their bosses."
I sat in silence, watching the circus unfold.
Excusing myself to the restroom, I checked the digital bill on my phone. It had already hit twenty-five thousand dollars, and they were still ordering.
Chapters (5)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Watch & Promotions
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