Chapter 3
Eddie stood frozen, the dial tone echoing in his ear.
Eddie was stunned.
He couldn't believe Rosie dared to hang up on him.
And she even sent him a bill.
A wave of humiliation and fury as if he'd never felt before, washed over him.
He opened the text message.
The message was long.
It was so detailed that it was almost shocking.
[Mr. Eddie Fisher, since we're no longer connected in any way, I am sending you a breakdown of all household expenses and the cost of my work and effort over the past ten years. Please settle the amount within three days.]
What followed was a mind-numbing list of expenses, each one more detailed than the last.
[Monthly household bills, including electricity, water, gas, and maintenance fees: 1,000 dollars per month for 120 months, totaling 120 thousand dollars.
[Groceries and food budget: 1,300 dollars per month for 120 months, totaling about 160 thousand dollars.
[Mr. Eddie Fisher's personal spending, like booze, smokes, clothes, and going out, averaged 1.6 thousand a month for 120 months, totaling around 200 thousand dollars.
[Ms. Tessa Fisher's personal spending, including clothes, makeup, and supplements, averaged 1,000 dollars a month for 120 months, totaling 120 thousand dollars.
[Mr. Devon Fisher's education and living expenses, college tuition, living costs, pocket money, three iPhones, and a gaming PC: totaling about 80 thousand dollars.
[Mr. Devon Fisher's two years at home after graduation, with a monthly allowance of 1.6 thousand dollars for 24 months, totaling about 40 thousand dollars.
[Three major family vacations: totaling 50 thousand dollars.
[Family gifts and social expenses over ten years: roughly 70 thousand dollars.
[All household chores I handled over the past ten years, calculated at the market rate for housekeeping, 1.6 thousand dollars a month for 120 months, totaling 200 thousand dollars.]
The list was long and detailed.
Every single charge was meticulously recorded.
Eddie's eyes widened in disbelief, his breath quickening.
Then he saw the final total.
Rosie: [Total: 1.04 million dollars.
[FYI: My four years of college loans and living expenses were handled by working part-time and supporting myself, so they're not included.
[The 78.6 thousand dollars I transferred from your account will be considered the first payment.
[You still owe me 962 thousand dollars.
[For simplicity, I've rounded it down to an even 960 thousand dollars.
[Please pay within three days. If you don't, I'll be handing this over to my lawyer.
[Best regards. Your former daughter, Rosie Fisher.]
The last word of the message hit Eddie like a sledgehammer to the skull.
His hand went limp, and the phone slipped from his grasp, crashing to the floor.
The screen shattered into pieces.
Tessa and Devon crowded around to take a look.
When they saw that long string of numbers, both of them gasped.
"960 thousand dollars?" Devon's voice cracked with disbelief. "Is she out of her mind?"
"Where does she get off asking for that kind of money?"
Tessa, panicked, grabbed the phone from the floor, but the screen was already dead.
She cried out, "She's trying to destroy us.
"Eddie, what are we supposed to do now?"
Eddie's face went from flushed to pale, then to ghostly white.
It wasn't the number that stunned him.
It was Rosie's attitude.
It was the same daughter who, from childhood, never dared to make a sound in front of him.
It was the same daughter who'd quietly cry whenever he scolded her.
It was the same daughter who'd hand over her paycheck without a word the moment he gave her that look.
Eddie didn't understand how Rosie ended up like this.
She was calm, collected, and even a bit ruthless.
Everything he'd taken from her all these years, under the guise of "family," had been turned into cold, hard numbers.
And now she was coming after her own father for money.
Eddie shouted, his voice shaking with rage. "She's rebelling.
"She's turned the world upside down."
Eddie was shaking with fury, pacing back and forth in the living room.
"She's trying to shake me down. This is extortion," Eddie shouted. "I'm going to sue her, that ungrateful brat!"
Devon jumped in, fanning the flames. "Yeah, Dad, sue her.
"Make her cough up the money and throw her in jail.
"Let's see if she dares to act so cocky after that."
A bad feeling started to gnaw at Tessa.
She murmured, "But what she wrote here... it all looks real.
"All these years, Rosie was the one making all the money for us."
Eddie spun around and shot her a furious glare. "You don't know a damn thing.
"She's my daughter. Her money belongs to the family.
"It's only right!"
Right then, the doorbell rang.
Devon, annoyed, stomped over to open the door.
Two property management staff stood at the door in their uniforms.
"Is this Mr. Eddie Fisher's place?" one of them asked.
"You haven't paid your property fees or utilities for this quarter yet. We're here to collect," the other said.
Eddie froze.
So far as he knew, Rosie always handled this stuff.