Chapter 5
801words
"She invested?" he asked. "How much did she put in?"
I pursed my lips. "I'm not sure. I didn't ask for details, but I know my boyfriend has invested quite a sum. At least tens of millions. I figured you wouldn't mind. After all, you do have the money."
Then, I looked up at him and said earnestly, "Sometimes, I really envy Erin. She will always be loved, no matter what she does. It's the same even after her divorce. Honestly, I feel like an ugly duckling next to a swan like her."
"I think she feels inferior to you," Eric replied solemnly. "That's why she's afraid that you'll have something she doesn't. It's why she's always taking your stuff. It's actually rather childish. She's basically like a kid trying to snatch another kid's toy."
Tears rolled down my cheeks as a bitter, self-deprecating laugh escaped my lips. "So, her constantly stealing my boyfriend is just mere childish behavior to you? You think that's just her acting like a kid?"
Eric fell silent. He realized he'd just put his foot in his mouth.
I mustered all my strength and stomped on his foot, hard. "I hate people like you."
I kept going, ignoring the stunned look on his face, "Why do good-looking people from rich families get to do whatever they want? Why is it okay for people to play around with other people's feelings?"
He squeezed a smile on his face. "Actually, there are plenty of things the rich couldn't do. They also have people they can't love. You just… don't know that yet."
After a while, he said, "I'm sorry. I'll apologize on Erin's behalf. What do you want? Let me buy you something as an apology."
When I didn't answer, he tentatively suggested, "How about a bag? Erin's anger always dissipates after I get her one."
"I don't want a bag," I said flatly. "Also, Erin screwed me over. I'll only be satisfied if she's punished for what she's done.
"Why don't you stop giving her allowance for another month? Don't tell her when you'll resume. You should let her stew in fear for a bit."
After all, all I needed was one more month. Just one month to back Erin into a corner.
Eric smiled and said, "Am I that stupid in your eyes? I won't be giving her a dime even if you didn't bring it up. I'm no saint. It's one thing for her to use my money to fool around with other men. It's quite another for her to drain me dry so she can live happily ever after with another man."
He continued, "That request doesn't count. You should think of another one."
…
Eric sent me a picture after that conversation. It was of Dean and Erin kissing that day. He also sent me several pictures of them fooling around at the hotel.
According to him, the pictures were just a giveaway to the actual gift. His real thank-you gift would come after I figured out what I wanted.
He'd taken my reminder to heart. After looking into Erin's accounts, he discovered that she'd been secretly cashing out his credit cards. She'd siphoned off around fifty million in cash.
That amount far exceeded the alimony they'd agreed on during the divorce.
Thus, Erin had officially lost her biggest financial backer. Unfortunately for her, things were far from over.
Her misfortune would truly begin once she decided to rely on the next sugar daddy she could find. She just didn't know it yet.
Right now, she was panicking. Eric had cut her off and was demanding repayment of part of the losses.
Aunt Abigail's family was fairly well-off, but they were upper-middle class at most.
The problem lay in the fact that Erin had spoiled them for years with gifts and cash. It caused their greed to grow exponentially.
By the festival, she had run out of money.
In the past, she would shower everyone with gifts around this time of year. She was so enthusiastic about it too. It was as if this was the only way for her to be able to outshine everyone else our age.
This year, the family saw a distinct lack of gifts even as night fell. Sure enough, people started texting snide remarks in the group chat.
It wasn't until midnight that Erin replied, "I'm currently out of town. I'll send you your gifts in a couple of days."
I had no idea whether she really was out of town, but I did know that Dean was standing at my doorstep.
When he came in, he immediately launched into a litany of apologies for neglecting me due to work. Then, he asked why I hadn't been replying to his texts.
