Chapter 1

My family drained my last penny, claiming it was for my brother's house, while my partner, whom I thought would be my lifelong companion, deceived me with infidelity. I abandoned everything.

Carrying only the burden of my sorrow, I found myself in Asheville, a place that offered nothing but the chance for a fresh start.

This marked the beginning of my new life, and I made a vow to myself: I wouldn't merely endure. I would thrive.

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I never thought I'd find myself in such a predicament.

My parents occupied the primary chairs in the living area, with my younger sibling seated on the nearby couch, head bowed and quiet.

I stood by myself before them, feeling isolated and powerless.

"How could you..." I struggled to comprehend that these words were coming from the parents who had cared for me for 23 years.

"Don't ask questions," my mother replied curtly. "Your brother's getting married, and we're lacking funds for the house." She exhaled, clearly annoyed. "It's only $20,000. Why are you behaving as if we're asking for something impossible?"

"But Mom, that $20,000 is all I have. I've been saving it for my wedding with Lucas," I explained, my voice trembling.

"You only have $20,000 because you're not earning enough. We're being generous by not asking for $50,000. After all we've done for you, you can't even give us this $20,000?" she retorted.

"But Mom, you know Lucas and I are tying the knot next month. And my brother needs more than $20,000 for a down payment. He needs $20,000 for the entire house!" I felt my heart shattering as I spoke.

"Why can't he just apply for a loan?"

My mother's tone was harsh, and I felt my world collapsing.

I had always believed my parents truly cared for me. Even when they left me in the rural area with my grandmother until I was five, only bringing me to the city when my brother was ready for kindergarten, I had convinced myself they were just too busy to look after me.

When my friends discussed their families favoring sons, I would insist my family wasn't like that. My brother was just an unplanned addition, not something my parents had deliberately orchestrated.

I had been living this illusion for over two decades.

I stared at my parents in shock.

My brother was getting married in a year, and my parents were already using all their savings to buy him a house in the city's prime location. They didn't even want him to take out a mortgage.

Yet I was getting married next month, and they hadn't contributed anything—now they wanted to take all my savings.

How could this be happening?

"Then you can just get a loan," my father chimed in.

"That's absurd. The woman shouldn't pay for the house. Look at your brother. His fiancée isn't contributing anything. You should talk to Lucas and tell him we're not pitching in," he added dismissively.

It felt like my heart had been crushed by an indescribable weight. I couldn't speak, couldn't even draw breath.

"I'll consider it," I mumbled, needing time to process these blows.

"No need to consider. I've already withdrawn the money. I was just testing you. Didn't expect you to be such an ungrateful child," my mother said coldly.

"What?" I was dumbfounded.

"What do you mean, 'what'? I found your card at home, so I just took it out. The PIN has always been the same, hasn't it?" my mother said dismissively.

I felt like everything was crumbling around me. I dashed into the room, grabbed my bank card, and fled the house, barely remembering to put on a coat. I headed straight for the bank.

When I saw the zero balance, I leaned against the ATM, slowly sinking to the floor.

$20,000. To withdraw it all without raising suspicion at the bank would take at least four months.

They had been planning this for a long time.

Growing up, they always told me that we were a family, and in a family, there should be no secrets. That's why everyone's PINs were known to all.

I never imagined they had been setting this trap all along.

I had always naively believed that all loving families were like that. I had never desired their privacy or their money, so I never tried to use their PINs.

But I never expected that one day, they would take everything I had.

In a daze, I picked up my phone and shakily opened my Messenger app, typing in my father's account number.

Times had changed rapidly, and they no longer used that app, so I assumed the password hadn't been updated.

A moment later, I saw the "incorrect password" error message and forced out a bitter smile.

I tried my mother's and brother's accounts as well.

None of them worked.

It turned out that all these years, the only one whose password was public was me.