The Fund

1 My million-dollar investment fund was supposed to be the key to my future. Instead, it became the dowry for my fiancée’s adopted brother. Seraphina’s family had one rule: any man who wanted to marry her had to build a three-million-dollar investment fund. I scrimped and saved, working myself to the bone, ruining my health, until I finally hit the two-million mark. But then, everything went wrong. The stock market crashed. A major project at work fell through. That last million felt impossibly far away. Seraphina, seeing how much I was struggling, promised she would help me save. Then my mother fell gravely ill. She needed an expensive, life-saving surgery. I tried to access the fund, but after three failed password attempts, the account was locked. I couldn’t get a single penny out. I raced to the bank, half-panicked. The teller delivered the news with cold indifference. “Sir, you are not the authorized user of this fund.” How was that possible? I had deposited every single dollar myself! The teller, annoyed, spun his monitor towards me. The name of the fund was displayed in stark black letters: The Leo Matheson Marriage Endowment. ... I felt like I’d been struck by lightning. Just then, the bank manager’s voice, hushed and nervous, drifted from a nearby office. “Ms. Matheson, that was a close one. Mr. Ethan Grey was just in here trying to withdraw thirty thousand. I managed to stop him just in time.” “Good.” The tip of Seraphina’s cigarette glowed in the dim light. “Leo has always been sheltered. I don’t want people to think he’s incapable when he gets married. Every dollar in that fund was earned through Ethan’s hard work. It will give Leo’s future in-laws a reason to respect him.” The manager chuckled obsequiously. “But Ms. Matheson… Mr. Grey has been struggling to reach that final million. It’s not like him…” Seraphina casually stubbed out her cigarette. “That was my doing. Leo isn’t done enjoying the single life yet. I can’t get married until he does. We’re not in a rush.” Her words hit me like a physical blow. The money I had traded my health for was nothing more than a status symbol for her brother? A dull ache spread through my chest. Before I could even process the betrayal, my phone buzzed with another urgent message from the hospital. “Mr. Grey, if you can’t pay the surgical fees soon, there’s nothing more we can do.” Sweating, panicked, I ran, losing a shoe in my haste to catch up to Seraphina as she left the bank. I cornered her outside her office, swallowing every last scrap of my pride. “I need thirty thousand. Please. I’ll pay you back…” She froze, her expression hardening into a mask of corporate disapproval. “My parents made you save that money as a test, not so you could find loopholes. Instead of begging for money, you should be developing new projects. Your performance this quarter is already lagging.” She looked me up and down with disdain. “And thirty thousand, just like that? Do you think I’m made of money?” I was speechless. As I tried to follow her, her assistant blocked my path. “Sir, please.” Just then, her brother, Leo, dressed head-to-toe in designer clothes, shouldered past me and bounced into her office, showing off his latest shopping haul. A single watch on his wrist was worth more than my mother’s surgery. And every cent of it was my money. My five years of relentless, back-breaking work. What was that worth in Seraphina’s eyes? As I turned to leave, my phone rang. My mother was gone. Through the blinds of her office window, I could see them laughing together. I pulled out my phone and called a number I hadn’t dialed in five years. “You said you’d always have a position for me. Does that offer still stand?” The funeral lasted three days. It was long enough for me to cry myself empty. The whole world knew my mother had died. The only person who didn’t was Seraphina. She knew I would skip meals, sacrifice sleep, do anything to hit that three-million-dollar mark. She had seen me work until I was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer, and she had sat by my bedside, her voice soft with concern. “Ethan, you don’t have to push yourself so hard. I’m here for you, you know.” I thought it was love. I never imagined that she was the one using my blood and bones to pave a golden road for her brother. In my grief, a small, foolish part of me hoped she would notice my absence, that she would call, that she would ask what was wrong. But the tabloids were full of her. She was making headlines for outbidding everyone at auctions, making a spectacle of her generosity as she built a trousseau for Leo. MATHESON HEIRESS D'OTES ON ADOPTED BROTHER, SPENDING MORE ON HIS FUTURE THAN HER OWN WEDDING! Even the paparazzi could see it. I remembered handing her our wedding plans, a thick binder filled with dreams. She hadn't even looked up from her work. "It's still a long way off. You handle it." Now, I was tired. So incredibly tired. When I finally went back to our apartment, she greeted me with a warm hug. “You must be exhausted, honey.” She sighed, her voice laced with practiced regret. “I’m sorry I was so harsh before. I was just thinking about our future. This is the only thing my parents have ever asked of you. As soon as you hit that target, we can get married.” Is that so? The wedding I had waited five years for was entirely dependent on whether or not her brother felt like settling down? I pulled away from her embrace, my smile feeling brittle. "The wedding can wait." My cool response seemed to extinguish the last of her patience. “Ethan, is this because I didn’t lend you that thirty thousand?” she snapped. “I’m just as anxious to get married as you are, but I can’t help you cheat!” I looked at her, my voice trembling despite my efforts to keep it steady. “I’m done. I don’t want to save anymore. I’m just… tired.” Her anger vanished, replaced by a flicker of panic. “What are you talking about? Don’t joke like that. If you’re tired, I can help you behind the scenes from now on.” I stared into her eyes, wondering how she could say that with a straight face. A few weeks ago, a project I had spent six months designing was suddenly accused of regulatory violations at a major bidding conference. The "evidence" was damning. I was crucified by the industry, branded a fraud. Seraphina had been my fierce defender, smashing a bottle over the accuser's head and comforting me all night. I never would have guessed that she was the one who orchestrated the whole thing. The stock market dips, the supply chain failures… it was all her. A heavy pain settled in my chest. I couldn't even clench my fists. Later that night, I heard her on the phone in her study, her voice a hushed whisper. “Yes, lay off him for now. Let him land a few small projects. It won’t be enough to finish the fund quickly.” I stood on the other side of the thick door and laughed without making a sound. There was no point. I was done playing her game. Leaning against the doorframe, I heard her switch to a video call with Leo, her voice softening as she used his pet name, patiently coaching him on how to pitch my project at the conference the next day. I remembered when I was starting out, how ruthless she had been, her standards impossibly high. I didn't listen anymore. I went to the bedroom, packed my bags, and booked a flight for the following night. The five-hundred-page project proposal burned brightly in the fireplace. "What are you doing?" Seraphina demanded, rushing in and snatching the charred remains from the flames. A bitter taste filled my mouth. "Nothing. It just fell in." She didn't question it. She simply reprinted a fresh copy and handed it to me. "Be on time for the conference tomorrow." The next day, the conference hall was packed with the city's business elite. But the center of attention wasn't me. It was Leo, dressed in a flamboyant tuxedo, his arm wrapped possessively around Seraphina's waist as he chatted animatedly with investors. He was the star of the show. Until my proposal flashed onto the main screen. A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd. "Isn't that Mr. Matheson's idea? How shameless, stealing someone else's work!" "It's blatant plagiarism! He's really willing to do anything to marry into that family." "Good thing Leo mentioned his concept to us earlier. Otherwise, Grey might have tried to blame him!" I instinctively looked at Seraphina. Her face was a mask of disappointment and shame. "You don't believe me either?" She looked away, disgusted. "You know what you did." She turned her back on me completely, pulling Leo into a comforting embrace. He buried his face in her shoulder, his body shaking with crocodile tears. "I know Ethan doesn't like me," he sobbed. "But I worked so hard on this proposal. How could you say it's yours?" Seraphina's face hardened. She pointed a finger at me, her voice ringing through the silent hall. "I trusted you! And you repay me by bringing shame to this family? If this is how you intend to earn your money, you will never marry me!" My heart shattered. I remembered when her parents first gave me the ultimatum. She had been so indignant, so ready to fight for me. She said she would rather give up her inheritance than see me crushed under such pressure. Now, I wondered. How much of that was real? My voice was thick with emotion. "You reprinted the proposal yourself last night. You know—" "Shut up!" she roared. "Who knows when you cornered Leo, what despicable means you used to steal his idea!" She didn't care about my side. She only cared about the tears on her brother's face. The whispers and jeers of the crowd felt like physical blows. Leo, his eyes red and puffy, gave a deep, theatrical bow to the audience. "I apologize for the trouble we've caused. I'll personally compensate everyone for their time. Please, forgive my brother-in-law." Seraphina's heart seemed to melt. "It's not your fault. You have nothing to apologize for." She then turned her steely gaze on me. "Ethan, you will pay for the company's losses." I started to laugh, a wild, unhinged sound. "Seraphina, can I even access the money in the fund?" She flinched, a flicker of guilt in her eyes. But her next words were a death blow. "Doesn't your mother have an ancestral home? Auction it off." For a moment, I couldn't breathe. That house was the only thing my mother had left, a final gift from my father before he died. Even when she was on her deathbed, I couldn't bring myself to sell it. "No!" My firm refusal only prompted more theatrics from Leo. "It's my fault. Ethan must hate me for embarrassing him. I'll give you the proposal, just please, auction the house. Don't let Seraphina lose face because of this." I felt the blood rush to my head. "It was my proposal to begin with!" "Enough!" Seraphina slapped me, the sound echoing through the hall. "What is wrong with you? We can rent your mother another apartment. Is that really more important than Leo's feelings?" The sting on my cheek was nothing compared to the agony in my heart. The prestigious bidding conference turned into an auction for my mother's legacy. The crowd whispered and watched, but no one made a bid. "I bid… one dollar!" Leo's cheerful voice cut through the silence. The room erupted in laughter. Seraphina just sighed, a look of fond exasperation on her face. She knew what that house meant to me. With Leo leading the charge, the bids became a cruel joke. "Two dollars and fifty cents!" "Five dollars, over here!" Their contemptuous gazes were suffocating. From the back of the room, Leo shot me a triumphant smirk. The gavel came down. My mother's home was sold for the humiliating sum of fifty dollars. My eyes burned. Seraphina signed the transfer papers and gave me a dismissive glance. “The point was to show everyone you were sorry. The price doesn't matter.” I stared at her, each word a monumental effort. "The house doesn't matter. My mother's life doesn't matter. And from now on, Seraphina, neither do you."

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