Chapter 1

My mom's phone was lagging and she couldn't pay the utility bills no matter what she tried, so she called me back to the pack house with one phone call.

I took her phone and helped her clear the memory and download the latest banking app.

After paying the utility bills, I was about to exit when she said, "Jade, help me check if your sister received the money I transferred to her last month."

I opened the transfer records. Row after row of transfers to Susan, amounts ranging from five thousand to ten thousand yuan.

The latest one was from yesterday, with the note: "Our Susan's graduation trip fund."

When I graduated from Northern Academy, my mom said the pack was struggling financially and told me to work part-time to support myself.

I handed the phone back to my mom.

She took it without even glancing at me and just said, "We didn't save you any dinner. There's a venison shop downstairs, go eat there yourself. Oh, and I converted your room into a walk-in closet for your sister. You'll have to stay at a hotel tonight."

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I stood in the entryway, looking at my mom's well-maintained face, unable to react for a moment.

The motion sensor light in the entryway went out, shrouding me in darkness.

Light from the living room cast over, clearly outlining the impatience in her eyes.

I was standing here getting in her way. She stepped around me and walked toward the kitchen.

"Clang!" The refrigerator door slammed shut.

She came out carrying a box of imported strawberries, didn't even look at me, and walked straight to the living room sofa.

Some boring family drama was playing on TV.

I took a deep breath, pushing down the emotions churning in my chest.

Those pink fuzzy slippers she was wearing - I had bought them for her last month.

I walked in front of her, blocking the TV.

"Mom, what did you say you converted my room into?"

She finally looked up, her eyes filled with the irritation of being disturbed.

"A walk-in closet. Your sister has too many things, her room can't fit them all. You hardly ever come back to the pack house anyway, so it was just going to waste."

Her tone was matter-of-fact.

A chill ran from my feet straight to the top of my head.

"Then where am I supposed to stay when I come back?"

"Didn't I just tell you? Stay at a hotel."

She picked up a bright red strawberry and put it in her mouth.

"You're making money now with your healing gem designs, aren't you? Can't you afford a hotel room?"

Every word was like a needle, stabbing into my heart.

After graduation, I had been giving half my salary to the family every month.

She said Dad's health wasn't good, my sister was still in school, and the pack expenses were high.

I believed her.

I looked at that beautifully packaged box of strawberries on the coffee table - over a hundred yuan for a box that was just enough for her alone.

I couldn't hold back anymore, my voice trembling slightly.

"The money you transferred to Susan - was that also for high pack expenses?"

My mom stopped chewing.

She stared at me, her eyes instantly becoming sharp.

"You went through my phone?"

"You asked me to look," I replied word by word.

The composure and impatience on her face vanished instantly, replaced by the anger of being exposed.

"That's pocket money for your sister! She's never suffered since she was little, not like you - you're tough."

"Tough?"

I almost laughed out loud.

"The money for my graduation trip came from waiting tables at a restaurant for two months. For her graduation trip fund, you transfer ten thousand yuan just like that."

"What are you comparing yourself to her for!" My mom's voice suddenly rose. "How can she be the same as you? She studies healing arts and gem design - that's an expensive major! She's going to be a master in the future! And you? That lousy job of yours as a healing gem designer, how much can you make in a month?"

Her words were a poisoned knife, stabbing precisely into my most painful spot.

My mom had always looked down on my job.

She thought I was ruining my future by not listening to her advice to take the civil service exam within the pack administration.

But she didn't know that this "lousy job" of mine brought in monthly income beyond her imagination.

I had never told her because I was afraid she and Susan would swarm over me like leeches.

Now it seemed that even without telling them, they were still sucking my blood.

"However much I make, that's my money," my voice turned cold. "Starting next month, I won't give the family another penny."

My mom acted like she'd heard the joke of the century.

"Jade, you think you're all grown up now, huh? Have you forgotten who paid for your dad's surgery two years ago?"

Of course I remembered.

That year my dad had a sudden heart attack and the surgery cost two hundred thousand yuan.

My mom called me crying, and without a second thought, I took out all the savings from my two years of work.

Only later did I find out that my dad's illness was mostly covered by pack insurance.

The remaining money all went into Susan's pocket.