Chapter 2

The next morning, the doorbell rang.

I peeked through the peephole. Yep, it was Linda, with her little princess Sophie Shelton tagging along.

Linda was clutching a box of supermarket pastries, slightly crushed at the corners, her politeness carefully measured.

I opened the door but didn't let them in. I just stood there, blocking the doorway and giving them a cold stare.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice icy.

Linda clearly hadn't expected me to be so cold. Her smile froze for a second.

She cleared her throat, acting all superior, and shoved the box into my hands.

"Emily, about yesterday, I was wrong. I'm here to apologize," Linda said, her voice flat, like she was reading from a script.

Her words were all about apologizing, but her eyes were full of judgment and condescension, not a hint of real regret.

"But honestly, it's just as well you gave the money back. Now you won't have money weighing on your mind all the time," Linda said, her tone thick with condescension.

"Now we're square. You can marry into our family with a clear conscience, and the wedding will go ahead as planned," Linda declared, sounding like she was laying down the law.

Sophie jumped in right away, trying to hook her arm through mine like we were besties, but I just sidestepped her.

"Yeah, Emily, my mom just wanted to test you. She just wanna see if you really love Ryan, not just the money," Sophie chimed in, her voice sugary sweet and totally fake.

"And you passed the test. We're family now, so let's not dwell on it anymore," she added, still trying to play the friendly card.

I almost burst out laughing at how these two could twist things so shamelessly. It was infuriating and ridiculous.

A test?

Seriously? They called the cops and accused me of fraud a test?

I pulled out my phone, tapped the screen, and hit record.

Then I looked Linda straight in the eye, enunciating every word.

"So you're admitting that you deliberately went to the police yesterday and filed a false report against me?"

Linda's face went pale in a flash.

She clearly hadn't expected me to call her out like that. Her lips, smeared with cheap lipstick, started to tremble.

"How dare you talk to me like that?" Linda snapped, her voice rising. "False report? What are you even talking about?"

"That was just... me being careful. How was I supposed to know you wouldn't just take the money and disappear?" she shot back, her tone defensive and shrill.

When she realized reasoning was pointless, Linda went off the rails, her voice shooting up several notches.

"My son has plenty of options," Linda snapped. "You should be grateful he chose you at all. And now you're making a fuss over money?"

"I only asked you to give it back," she went on, her voice sharp. "It's not as if I asked for anything unreasonable. You're the one blowing this out of proportion."

Her screeching was so loud that the neighbors across the hall couldn't help but peek out again.

With more people watching, Linda got even more fired up, yelling louder and even started laying into my parents standing behind me.

"I've always believed you don't just marry a person, you marry their family," Linda said coldly. "And look at yours."

"Every one of you is calculating in your own way," she went on. "Always watching what you can take. Always thinking about money. Don't pretend this was ever about anything else."

"Dad," I snapped, my voice sharp and commanding.

My dad was shaking with rage. He snatched up a broom, ready to charge over and chase them out of our home.

I stepped in and stopped him.

Violence would have solved nothing.

It would only have dragged us down to their level.