My mom loves asking me to buy things for her. But she has "bad eyesight," so when she transfers me the money, she always misses a zero. I never really cared and just quietly made up the difference myself every time. Until my sister started acting passive-aggressive in front of me: "Every time Mom buys something, she transfers you the money to buy it for her." "I've never seen you post the actual receipts. Who knows how much you're pocketing off the top." My mom just smiled and didn't explain, seemingly agreeing with my sister. My heart instantly went cold. Over the years, she's asked me to buy all sorts of things, big and small, and every time, she underpaid me. And she'd always brush it off with: "My eyesight is bad, I hit the wrong button." Adding it all up, I've subsidized her at least thirty to forty thousand dollars, only to be branded a thief. So, when my mom once again transferred me money to book a four-thousand-dollar New Year's Eve dinner, I accepted the transfer, turned around, and booked a four-hundred-dollar dinner instead. ... No one at the dining table touched their silverware, their faces showing various expressions as they looked at the food in front of them. I urged them, "Don't just sit there, eat up." My mom's face was so dark it looked like it was dripping water. She was only holding back her temper because of the other people present. Suppressing her anger, she asked, "Are the rest of the dishes still coming? Go find a waiter and hurry them up." "That's everything," I replied flatly, then urged the relatives again, "Hurry and eat, or the food will get cold." Smack. My mom slammed her chopsticks down, her chest heaving heavily. "We have a huge table of over a dozen people, and you only ordered these few dishes?" A relative next to her chimed in, "Chloe, is there a mistake? It wasn't like this in previous years." In previous years, the table was piled high with king crab, lobster, and endless seafood. This year, there were a total of six dishes, making the table look empty. The only thing even remotely related to seafood was a plate of salt and pepper shrimp. I couldn't blame them for finding it weird. "No mistake," I shook my head. My mom's eyes turned red with anger, and she demanded, "I gave you money to handle the New Year's Eve dinner, and this is what you feed everyone?" I glanced at the food on the table and sighed. "I had no choice. Funds were limited, so this is all we could get." My sister, Mia, slammed the table and stood up, pointing at me. "Don't think I don't know! Mom sent you four thousand dollars to organize this dinner." "This whole table put together isn't even worth five hundred bucks! Did you pocket the rest of the money?" "I know you always use the excuse of buying things for Mom so she transfers you money, just so you can skim off the top. But you've gone too far this time!" Hearing my sister's words, the relatives' looks toward me instantly changed. My mom added from the side, "Chloe, I usually don't say much when you do this." "But right now, the whole family is gathered for New Year's Eve dinner. Is it appropriate for you to pull a stunt like this?" My uncle's son started whining, "Dad, I want king crab! Didn't you say there'd be king crab today?" My aunt scolded me, "Chloe, I always thought you were a good kid. How could you do something like this?" The others present also chimed in, criticizing me. My mom spoke up right on cue, "Alright, go find a waiter and add more dishes right now. We'll let this slide for today." The relatives also tried to smooth things over, telling me to quickly go find a waiter and order more food according to the usual standard. But I remained unmoved and said coldly, "I can't." "Why can't you?" My mom couldn't help but raise her voice. I turned to look at her. "Mom, did you forget?" "You only transferred me four hundred dollars. Ordering these dishes already spent all the money." "I even put in a few bucks of my own." A hint of panic flashed across my mom's face. She clearly hadn't expected me to just say it out loud. But she quickly covered it up. My mom fake-coughed a few times, constantly gesturing with her eyes. "What nonsense are you spouting? I clearly sent you four thousand." My sister mocked me even more, "Still trying to deny it? I heard Mom on the phone with you. She said she transferred four thousand!" "Four thousand turning into four hundred. Even if you wanted to skim, you shouldn't be so greedy." With my sister as a witness, the relatives looked at me with even more disdain. My uncle said angrily, "Chloe, profiting off your own mother—do you have a conscience?" Seeing that they didn't believe me, I had no choice but to pull up the transfer record from my mom. "Look, my mom only sent me four hundred dollars at the time." My mom did call and say she was sending four thousand for the dinner. But when the money came through, it was only four hundred. This was her usual trick. If I didn't bring it up, she'd act like she didn't know. If I did bring it up, she'd use the excuse of bad eyesight and missing a digit. Then she'd criticize me: "So I sent you a little less, do you have to come specifically to remind me? I raised you, and you're not even willing to spend a little money on me?" "You're really nothing like your sister. What an ungrateful wretch!" My aunt, sitting next to me, took a look and looked up. "Sis, you really only sent four hundred." My mom couldn't hold her face anymore. She gave a dry laugh. "I'm getting older and my eyesight is bad. I probably missed a zero by accident." With that, she glared at me again. "If I sent the wrong amount, why didn't you say something earlier?" Reluctantly, she sent me the money again, her tone a bit stiff: "Alright, the money is sent. Go order according to the previous standard. Don't delay everyone's dinner." I was just about to speak when Mia beat me to it. "Mom, why are you giving her money?" She gave me a cold smile, then raised her voice. "Over the years, you've probably made tens of thousands off Mom!" "It's just one time she accidentally underpaid you. Can't you make up the difference yourself?" "Because you didn't get to pocket the change this time, you deliberately made Mom lose face in front of the relatives, didn't you?" My mom gave her a reproachful look. "You child, how can you talk nonsense in front of the relatives." She seemed to be scolding her, but in reality, she was tacitly agreeing with Mia's accusation that I was skimming off the top. My hand paused, then I clicked 'Return' and said flatly, "In that case, I'm returning the money. You can order the food yourself, so you won't say I'm skimming again." My mom's expression froze. She knew clearly that according to the previous standard, a table would cost at least a thousand bucks. My mom is very competitive in front of relatives. Her marriage wasn't happy, so she planned to make up for it elsewhere. Every year, she used the excuse of hosting the New Year's Eve dinner to prove to the relatives that she was doing well. Before, I silently subsidized it to give my mom face in front of the relatives, but now I didn't want to. Mia rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Why are you acting all high and mighty now?" "Weren't you going to return the money? Don't just return this one time! If you're going to return it, return all the money you've made off Mom!" "Since all the relatives are here today, let's settle the accounts clearly and see exactly how much you skimmed!" Hearing this, my mom's face changed. She pulled Mia's hand. "What accounts are we settling on New Year's? If there's an issue, we'll talk about it when we get back." "No! I want to talk about it now!" Mia forcefully shook off my mom's hand. With red eyes, she said sharply, "Don't think I don't know. You just use the excuse of having my sister buy things for you so you can legitimately send her money and subsidize her!" "We're both your children, why are you so biased?" "Today we must settle this clearly in front of the relatives. You must transfer me every penny you've subsidized her over the years, without missing a cent!" Seeing my sister's resentful expression, I understood. She wasn't making this scene to stick up for Mom. It was just that she felt Mom was secretly subsidizing me, and she felt it was unfair. So she wanted to cause a big scene to get her share of "compensation." My uncle spoke up for Mia. "Sis, didn't you always claim to treat both daughters equally? How can you be biased towards Chloe?" "Mia, Uncle supports you. You have to bravely fight for your rights!" The other relatives also sided with Mia. It wasn't that they genuinely wanted to help Mia; they were just taking the opportunity to watch our family drama. My mom's face gradually grew paler. She forced a smile: "You adults shouldn't follow a child in making a fuss. Who among you doesn't know I treat both daughters the same." "I'll go find a waiter to order..." Saying that, she got up to leave. Mia blocked her path with outstretched arms. "Mom, are you feeling guilty and trying to run away?" My mom gave a forced laugh. "My phone broke a few days ago, and I just got a new one. All the chat history is gone. Even if I wanted to check the accounts, there's no way." "How about this, I'll send you two thousand..." My sister interrupted her with a cold smile: "You think two thousand is enough to brush me off? The money you've subsidized Chloe over the years is definitely more than two thousand!" "Besides, what I care about isn't the money, it's fairness!" Her words rang loud and clear, and my aunt led the applause. "Well done, Mia." "If you've suffered a grievance, speak up. We'll all back you up." My aunt looked excited and raised her phone, pointing it at us. She was a minor influencer with a few tens of thousands of followers on a short-video app. I instantly understood what she was trying to do. Sure enough, using my burner account, I checked my aunt's profile and saw she was live streaming. However, there were only a handful of people watching. Dissatisfied with the viewer count, my aunt added a few more provocative comments, hyping up the relatives. Seeing the relatives on her side, Mia puffed out her chest, feeling even more confident. She said loudly, "You always say you treat us both equally, but behind my back, you favor Chloe. Did you think I couldn't feel it?" "Today, I must demand fairness for myself!" My mom looked at me with pleading eyes, wanting me to step in and say something. I sighed inwardly. Although I was disheartened by my mom's actions, this was ultimately our family business. It was one thing to talk about it in front of relatives, but now that my aunt had started a livestream, the nature of it changed. Because of my aunt's instigation and the relatives' agreement, more people were pouring into the livestream to watch the drama. I didn't want our family business to be used as my aunt's tool to gain traffic, nor did I want a bunch of ignorant strangers discussing it. So I interrupted Mia. "Whatever it is, we'll talk about it when we go back. Let's just eat properly for now." I gave her a look, but Mia obviously didn't get it. She scoffed. "What right does a beneficiary like you have to speak here?" "I'm the one who's being treated unfairly. Is it wrong for me to demand an explanation now?" "If we go back, you and Mom definitely won't admit to the favoritism, so we must clear it up now!" Mia was relentless, and my mom's face grew uglier by the second. Suddenly, whatever she thought of, her expression calmed down. She looked up at me. "Chloe, the fact that I secretly subsidized you under the guise of buying things was indeed unfair to Mia." I froze. Just as I was about to ask her when she had ever subsidized me, I heard my mom continue: "The chat history is gone, and besides, it's hard to calculate all the scattered bills over so many years." "But I estimate it adds up to around twenty thousand." "How about this, you give your sister ten thousand, and we'll let this matter rest." After finishing, she ignored my reaction and turned to ask Mia for her opinion. Mia wrestled with it for a moment, then nodded reluctantly. "Fine, whatever." So the reason she didn't agree to the two thousand compensation my mom offered earlier was because she thought it was too little. My mom looked at me again, signaling me to hurry up and send the money. To save her own reputation, she was forcing me to admit to something that never happened, and she wanted me to give Mia money. I was absolutely infuriated and laughed. Mia rolled her eyes at me and urged, "What are you staring at? Hurry up and send me the money." I stared intently into my mom's eyes. "You're saying that over the years, using the excuse of buying things for you, I've pocketed over twenty thousand. Then show me the proof." My mom looked away. "I already told you the chat history is gone. Where am I supposed to get proof?" Then she whispered in my ear, "Just send the money to Mia first. Making a huge scene during the New Year will just make us a laughingstock to the relatives." "When we get home, I'll explain it clearly to Mia and have her give the money back." She thought that just like when she sent the wrong amount before, a casual "I hit the wrong button" would make me compromise. But this time I was unusually firm. I wasn't going to accept this just because of a few words from my mom. Otherwise, both the relatives and the netizens watching the stream would believe I had been skimming money off my mom all these years. When that time comes, no matter how I explained, they wouldn't believe it, and I'd lose ten thousand dollars for nothing. I raised an eyebrow. "Without proof, on what grounds are you saying I skimmed money?" At first, the netizens didn't understand what was happening, but my aunt typed out an explanation in the chat. Hearing the whole story, the netizens all thought I had skimmed money using the excuse of buying things for my mom. I lowered my eyes and saw that the livestream chat was now full of people cursing me. Mia slammed the table and said shrilly, "Mom already admitted it, and you're still stubbornly denying it!" "You just see that Mom said the chat history is gone, so you're refusing to admit it, right?" The other relatives also chimed in, urging me to fork over the money. "Chloe, you guys are blood sisters after all. Don't make things too ugly over a little money." I said coldly, "If there isn't any, there isn't any. I will not send her money." My sister's eyes instantly reddened. The next second, a slap landed on my face. My mom slapped my cheek so hard it went numb. My mom pointed at me, filled with righteous indignation. "You are truly too selfish! Your sister didn't even haggle over the exact amount, and was willing to just take ten thousand and let this go." "But you value money more than family ties!" My heart completely turned cold. "Fine, didn't Mia say I used buying things for you as an excuse to skim money?" "Then let's calculate it clearly. If I really did profit, I will return every single cent." Mia scoffed disdainfully. "Sounds nice, but the chat history is gone. Where are you going to check the accounts?" I waved my phone. "It's fine. Mom's records are gone, but I still have mine." Hearing this, my mom's face turned a bit pale. But before I could even open the chat screen with her, my mom suddenly snatched my phone while my guard was down and smashed it hard on the floor. "I didn't want to show the transfer records because I didn't want to see you sisters fighting endlessly over a little money." "I didn't expect you to completely fail to realize my good intentions." "You clearly got more benefits than your sister, yet you stubbornly refuse to take out a little money to share with her. You really disappoint me!" Looking at her expression and tone, if I hadn't known the truth, I really would have been fooled by her. I picked up my phone. The screen was shattered, and it wouldn't turn on at all. My mom let out a barely noticeable sigh of relief. She seemed to think that with my phone broken, there was no way to check the accounts. Unfazed, I pulled out a stack of paper from my bag. Seeing the contents, my mom's face changed drastically. She lunged forward to snatch the papers away. But this time I was prepared and dodged to the side. My mom's face was dark, and she gritted her teeth. "Give that to me!" Seeing the commotion, the relatives were curious about what was on the paper that made my mom react so strongly. Even my sister asked in confusion, "Mom, is there something on those papers?" My mom realized she was overreacting and gave a few dry laughs. "It's nothing, she's just holding a few pieces of paper and trying to be mysterious." My sister furrowed her brows. "Didn't she just say she has the bills there? Then why did you smash her phone?" "You don't dare let us see the bills because there's something fishy about them, right? The amount you subsidized her is definitely more than twenty thousand!" My mom's refusal to let others see the bills caused suspicion. But they all thought it was because the money she subsidized me was more than the twenty thousand she claimed. That's why she didn't dare let anyone see the bills. My aunt was fanning the flames, loving the drama, and casually driving traffic to her livestream: "Yeah, first you said your phone chat history was gone and you couldn't produce the bills." "Then Chloe said she had the bills, and you smashed her phone. Isn't it obvious you don't dare let us see the bills?" Hearing this, my sister said angrily, "You really are biased towards my sister!" "You tried so hard to keep me from seeing the bills, just because you were afraid I'd ask for more money, right?" My mom opened her mouth, completely unsure of what to say. She indeed didn't dare let anyone see the bills. But not because of how much she had secretly subsidized me over the years, but because every time she transferred money, it was short one digit. She cared about her face in front of the relatives. She always said she had money on hand and didn't need her children to spend money on her, and instead subsidized us from time to time. I don't know if she secretly subsidized my sister in private, but I hadn't received any for all these years. Not only had I not received any, I had actually paid out twenty to thirty thousand dollars out of pocket. And as a result, I was accused by her of using this to skim money. If they saw the transfer records now, her lies in front of the relatives all these years would be exposed. She tried to explain, "I didn't let you see the bills because I didn't want to see you sisters calculating back and forth over a little money, and ending up hurting your relationship." My sister sneered. "Then when you secretly subsidized my sister, why didn't you think it would hurt our relationship?" "You're just making excuses for your favoritism!" I waved the papers in my hand. "It's fine, even though the phone is broken and we can't look at the bills, I've already printed out the bills from all these years in advance." "Didn't you say I used buying things for Mom to skim money? Let's calculate exactly how much I skimmed now."
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