Chapter 2
That was when I remembered. I'd somehow ended up with this thing called the "Truth Barrage System."
Turns out, everything that just happened was real.
Guess my life was about to get a whole lot more interesting.
When I got home, my mom was lounging on the couch with a face mask on, eyeing me up and down.
"So, how'd it go? James is a good catch, right?" my mom pressed.
I slipped off my shoes, my expression flat as a pancake. "Not impressed. It's over."
"Over?" My mom practically launched herself off the couch, face mask flapping. "Why? Your aunt said he's got a government job, looks decent, and his family's loaded. What could you possibly be unhappy about?"
I couldn't be bothered to explain.
Trying to tell them what a mama's boy was, or what violent tendencies were, would make them think I was being picky.
"Just not feeling it," I said flatly, heading straight for my room.
My mom's complaints echoed behind me. "Thirty already, huh? All this talk about 'feelings.' If you keep being so picky, all the good ones will be gone."
I shut the door behind her, shutting out all the noise.
This was what my family was like.
Always nagging me to get married, always thinking a woman's only value was marrying well.
I flopped onto her bed and opened up the so-called "system space."
A semi-transparent blue panel popped up in front of me.
Inside the beginner's gift pack, there was just one thing.
[Danger Warning Upgrade Card: Lets you turn boring text alerts into vivid, realistic simulations.]
It looked pretty useless.
I sighed and closed the system.
The next few days were rough.
My aunt went wild in the family group chat, exaggerated everything, and tore me apart. She said I was stuck-up and didn't appreciate a good thing, and chased off a perfect guy.
Her parents got roasted so hard that they couldn't even show their faces, and when they got home, they took it all out on me.
At dinner, my dad sat there with a sour look on his face.
"Isabella, what do you want from us? You've embarrassed us in front of everyone," he snapped.
My mom was sitting there, wiping away tears.
"Are you really going to wait until you're forty and end up with some divorced guy who already has kids?" she sniffled.
I just kept eating her food in silence.
The classic family guilt trip. Was their reputation really more important than my happiness?
What if I actually married that abusive guy and got beaten to death? Would they still tell me to just put up with it for the sake of saving face?
Seeing me stay silent, my dad got even more pissed and slammed his fork down.
He said, "I'm telling you. Next Sunday, you're meeting another one. Hailey introduced him, her son's coworker. He's got a PhD, works as a top exec at a big company, and pulls in a million dollars a year."
I looked up and smirked.
"Sure," I said.
Let's see what kind of freak show they got lined up for me this time.
My parents were caught off guard by how quickly I agreed, just staring at me for a moment.
On Sunday, we met up at a fancy-looking café.
I showed up ten minutes early.
Not long after, a guy in a plaid shirt and black-rimmed glasses walked over. He looked all bookish and polite.
"Hi, are you Miss Jenkins? I'm Benjamin Martinez," he said.
I nodded.
As soon as he sat down, the pop-up stats in front of my eyes refreshed themselves.
[Name: Benjamin Martinez]
[Education: PhD (distance learning, not full-time)]
[Job: Team lead at a tech company (not management)]
[Actual annual salary: 100,000 dollars (but has to give 80,000 dollars to his parents)]
[Tag: Gold Digger (top-tier)]
[Family ATM index: 120% (off the charts)]
Another blood-red warning flashed in front of my eyes.
[Warning! Top-tier family leech detected. Marry him and your money will be sucked dry, guaranteed! Isabella, you'll be footing the bill for his whole family. Run, Isabella, run!]
I picked up her coffee and took a slow sip.
This guy was way tougher than that mama's boy from last time.
Benjamin kicked off his act.
He dove right into a heartfelt tale about how he struggled all the way from some remote mountain village to get where he was now.
"My parents are just farmers, barely educated. Raising me and my brother was tough," he said. "So I made a promise. One day, I'll make sure they live the good life."
His eyes were red, his voice shaky. He was the picture-perfect filial son.
[Translation: My parents are farmers, so it's only natural they drain every cent from me.]
[And I've got a brother who's an endless money sink. I'll be stuck supporting him forever.]
[If you marry me, you'll be slaving away right alongside me, bankrolling my entire family.]
I listened quietly, my face fixed in a "touched" smile.
When he finished, I handed him a tissue right on cue.
"Mr. Martinez, you're truly so filial and responsible," I said.
Benjamin took the tissue, wiped at his nonexistent tears, and sighed.
"What can I do? I'm the eldest in the family," he said.
"By the way," Benjamin suddenly switched gears. "Miss Jenkins, Hailey said your family's doing pretty well. Your parents are retired and getting pensions, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, just a regular family."
A calculating gleam flashed in his eyes.
[Score. An only child from the city, parents with steady pensions, and probably a house too. She's basically the perfect cash cow for my family.]
[Once we're married, I'll have her sell her parents' house so my brother can get a place in the city. And my parents' pension? They'll be set for life.]
I glanced at the cringe-worthy pop-up messages floating above his head and nearly cracked up.
Once the conversation had run its course, Benjamin checked his watch.
"Shoot, it's getting late. I've got a meeting tonight," he said.
He waved the waiter over.
"Check, please," he said.