Chapter 10: Golddigger?

Back at home, Olivia was sitting on the couch, munching on an apple. Aurora approached her with a bright smile and held out one of the lip glosses.

"Here you go! A brand-new one, just like I promised."

Olivia looked at her suspiciously. "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"

Aurora grinned.

"Well, I heard from a friend that this store was having a sale—buy one, get one free! So I thought, why not? You get a free one, and I keep one for myself."

Olivia's eyes narrowed, but then she rolled them and sighed.

"Fine. Thanks, I guess." She grabbed the lip gloss and went back to her apple.

Aurora couldn't help but giggle softly as she watched Olivia leave. She totally bought it!

Aurora rushed to her room, pulled out her laptop, and logged into the rebate system's website. 

She filled out the answer to the question "What did you buy? And for whom?" 

After entering the item cost, and clicking on the submit, she waited.

"Transaction verified. 200% rebate credited: $40. Your new balance is $77."

Later that evening, Aurora found Adriana in the kitchen, chopping vegetables for dinner.

"Hey, Adriana," Aurora said, pulling out the second lip gloss. "This is for you!"

Adriana turned to her, surprised. "For me? Why?"

Aurora shrugged.

"I bought one, and there was a sale—buy one, get one free. So I figured you'd like it."

"Is this the Star Icon's new lip gloss?"

"Yes."

Adriana stared at the lip gloss, her expression softening. She put down the knife and took it carefully.

"Thank you, Aurora," she said, her voice a little wobbly. "This means a lot."

Aurora blinked, confused. "It's just a lip gloss…"

Adriana smiled, tears glistening in her eyes. "It's not about the lip gloss."

She patted Aurora's head and walked to her room, holding the lip gloss like it was a treasure.

Aurora scratched her head, baffled. "Adults are so weird," she muttered.

She quickly turned back to her laptop, filling in the expense for the second lip gloss on the rebate site.

As she hit submit, she felt a rush of excitement.

"Transaction verified. 200% rebate credited: $40. Your new balance is $117."

Another successful entry!

In a good mood, Aurora stood up and walked toward the kitchen. She was going to reward herself with the secret chocolate cake slice, her father had brought for her.

As she was passing by, she heard a low sobbing voice from Adriana's room.

There were only two rooms and a living room in the apartment. One room belonged to their parents, while the other was shared by Adriana, Olivia, and Aurora.

As for Theodore and Lucas? They sleep in the living room.

During the day though, the room becomes public to all of the siblings.

Sometimes, Theodore used it to practice his acting, while other times Lucas used it to complete his project in peace.

Currently, Adriana is using it.

There was an unspoken rule among the siblings. As long as one of them is inside, no other will enter the room.

It was the rule made after many fights and MMA battles between them.

However, Adriana's sobbing voice forced Aurora to halt.

"Why? Why can you have money to buy drinks for your buddy, but not $20 to buy lipgloss for me? You claim you love me, but your love only ignites when it's my payday.

I am not overthinking Jacob. Till now, the only thing you gifted me was flowers. Even that was picked from the roadside!"

Aurora's eyes narrowed, hearing her sister's conversation.

"Golddigger? I am behaving like a golddigger? Heh! What type of gold do you even own? You are dirt poor. If I was a golddigger, I would have never been with you!" Adriana's choked voice sounded.

There was no sound on the other side for a few minutes.

Just when Aurora thought the call was over, she heard her sister's choking voice,

"Just because I wasn't able to hand you $500 the previous year, you are holding a grudge against me? I know Jacob! I know it was your mother's surgery! But even my family was dealing with some issues at that time!"

Aurora stood by the side of the door, her eyes staring at the ceiling.

A strange emptiness appeared in her eyes.

Previous Year...$500...wasn't it because of her surgery?