Called Biased for Splitting Payout Evenly, Now They Panic

After we received the multimillion-dollar property buyout money, my husband and I immediately split it equally between our children.

But when my husband fell gravely ill and needed money and care, the two of them put me on their blocked list.

Exhausted, I went to my son first, and he slammed the door of his mansion in my face.

"Everyone says you raise children so they'll care for you in old age, but back then you only gave me half the buyout money, just to spite me."

"Splitting it equally looks fair on the surface, but why should she, a married-off daughter, get so much? You just favor your daughter, the one who took your surname."

I couldn't get anyone to open the door, so I had to go find my daughter in another province.

My daughter did let me into her big open-floor apartment, but she didn't even give me a glass of water.

"My brother is richer than me. Even though splitting the buyout money equally makes it look like we got the same amount, he's actually still richer than me."

"So you should go find your favorite son, not come to me, the worthless burden nobody wants, unloved by father and mother."

I had nowhere to turn.

I could only watch helplessly as my husband died from his illness.

After my husband died, my children felt no grief and no regret at all.

Instead, at the funeral, they cursed us biased old wretches, saying this was exactly the end we deserved...

Then my eyes opened again.

I had gone back to the day the buyout money landed in the account.

This time, I decided to treat them "exactly the same," to show them what "no favoritism" really means!

One:

"Mom, Dad, I saw online that the buyout money for our old hometown factory building has already come through. How are you two planning to divide it?"

My son, Jason Norris, sat there with his legs crossed and shot a pointed look at his sister beside him.

"Mom, my surname is Norris. I'm the real foundation of the Norris family. You can't play favorites with a married-off daughter who took your surname."

My daughter, Myra Fletcher, changed her expression in an instant.

"Mom, it wasn't my choice that my surname isn't Norris."

"You were the one who insisted I take the Fletcher name. Dad does whatever you say, so you had better divide this money without any favoritism."

Jason and Myra started arguing again.

I didn't try to break up the fight the way I used to, because I realized I'd been rebornand reborn right on the day the buyout money arrived.

In my past life, Keith and I had originally planned to give Jason and Myra three million dollars each, and keep the remaining four million for our retirement. After all, once we were gone, the money would be theirs anyway.

But they both complained it wasn't enough and kept saying we were selfish.

We got so worn down that we decided this ten-million-dollar buyout money was nothing but trouble, so on impulse we split it equally between the two of them and kept not a single cent for ourselves.

But we never expected it.

Neither of them was satisfied with the equal split.

One kept insisting his surname was Norris, that he carried on the Norris family name, so by rights he deserved more moneyand cursed me for playing favorites!

The other angrily claimed she was worse off and deserved more money, so that there'd be no gap between brother and sisterso she decided Keith valued sons over daughters and favored the male heir!

So our equal split got twisted into favoritism by the two of them. To punish us for that favoritism, they cut off all contact the moment they got the money. The only two times they ever came to our door, it was for our pension cards...

Thinking of all this.

I stepped in front of Keith, blocked the equal split he was about to propose, and spoke first.

"The buyout money hasn't come in yet."

Jason and Myra exchanged a glance, their similar faces filled with disbelief.

"It hasn't come through?"

"Everyone else got theirs. How could you two not have gotten yours?"

"You're not lying to me, are youwaiting for me to leave so you can give a bigger share to this son who carries the Norris name?"

Jason immediately got worked up.

"What's that supposed to mean? My name is Norris, I'm a son. Isn't it only right that I get a bigger share?"

"You're a married-out daughter. Giving you a few dollars is already more than generous."

Before I could explain anything more, Jason and Myra both reached out to grab my phone to check whether the money had been deposited.

I sighed.

"It really hasn't come through."

"When I registered my bank card last time, I accidentally wrote down one digit wrong, so I went back yesterday to register it again. The property buyout money will probably take about a week to arrive."

As I spoke, I handed over the beat-up old phone that had died last year.

"Look at the phone all you want, but the screen's black and it won't turn on."

"Since you're both here anyway, why don't you buy me a new phone?"

The two of them stared at the phone for a long while, and once they saw the screen really was black, they finally believed me.

"Buy a phone? Where would I get money to buy a phone? You've got your own pensions, don't you?"

"I told you back then to transfer the property buyout money straight into my account, and you wouldn't. Now look what's happened. I'm waiting on that money to pay off the bridge loan on the house. If I wait another week, the interest is going to pile up a lot more!"

"What are you two even good for?"

"So aggravating. You're not worried, but I sure am."

Jason and Myra were furious, muttering a whole string of complaints.

Once they were sure they wouldn't be getting the money today, the two of them each said they were busy and left in a huffand on the way out they didn't even forget to take back every one of the gifts they'd brought us.

Three:

After the two of them left, Keith finally spoke up, puzzled.

"Why didn't you tell the kids the truth?"

"Is it because the kids have been asking for money so often lately? Are you upset?"

"Don't blame the kids either. It's because we're the useless ones who never made any real money that they end up needing it."

"Anyway, we've got our pension and our health coverage, so why not just split this money evenly between them? That way they'll stop saying we play favorites."

I knew that if I told Keith about being reborn, about everything from my past life, he'd probably find it hard to believeand it would break his heart to learn his own children had abandoned him and gotten him killed.

So I smiled.

"It's not that I'm angry at the kids today. It's mainly that money is the root of all evil."

"I was scrolling through short videos yesterday, and there was a family in almost the same situation as us. They handed all their money over, but their kids turned into ungrateful leeches instead."

"I don't care about the money, but I don't want to lose the kids, so I think splitting it evenly might not be the right thing to do."

Keith nodded, but he didn't believe me.

"We've been so good to the kids, treated them all the same their whole lives. How could they ever turn ungrateful?"

"If we go doubting them like this, upsetting them, driving them away from us, then that money really would turn into a disaster."

I sighed.

Keith had always been like thissimply good to the kids, which was why he'd foolishly give up everything.

After the property buyout money was split evenly, neither Jason nor Myra was satisfied, so to placate them, Keith handed over our pension cards too.

I got replacement cards later, but the money in them was long gone. That was exactly why Keith couldn't even come up with the hundred-odd thousand for surgery, and was dragged along until it killed him.

I didn't give in, but I didn't argue with Keith either.

"I know you believe in the kids."

"So I'll call them home one at a time, and we'll ask them face to face what they're thinking. Once we've asked them all, we'll decide. What do you say?"

Keith Norris had always done exactly as I said.

So the next day he called Jason and told him to come home.

Jason showed up in less than half an hour with his wife, Frieda. The two of them came empty-handed, and when they saw only a few plain home-cooked dishes on the table, they both frowned.

"You called us over just to eat plain vegetables?"

"If we'd known, we might as well have had lunch before coming back!"

I cut off Keith before he could explain and pointed at his lower back.

"Your dad twisted his back yesterday, so he can't stand at the stove for long. There are groceries in the fridge, and it's still a while before dinner, so we asked you to come home and help cook a meal!"

Frieda rolled her eyes.

"I just got my nails done. I can't cook."

Jason didn't bother with an excuse. He just turned nasty.

"Are you kidding me? I'm this busy, and you specially called me back here to cook a meal? What's wrong with just grabbing something to eat?"

Keith frowned, but in the end he said nothing, only waving the two of them over to sit down and eat.

They'd barely eaten a few bites.

Keith spoke up on his own.

"Actually, the main reason I called you back today wasn't to cook. You're the eldest son, so I wanted to ask what you think about how the property buyout money should be split."

That was exactly the line Jason had been waiting for.

He threw down his chopsticks, grabbed Keith's hand, and his eyes lit up.

"I've already got it all worked out. Ten million dollars in buyout moneyyou give me eight million and give that married-off girl two million. She doesn't even carry the Norris name anymore. Once the money leaves this house, it all goes straight to my brother-in-law's family. You can't be that stupid!"

Keith looked a little regretful. He lowered his head and took a bite of greens, but he couldn't get it down.

I spoke up for him.

"And what about your dad and me?"

Frieda smiled.

"Mom, Jason and I are both dutiful kids. Once you give me the money, we'll rent you a one-bedroom near our place, and when you can't take care of yourselves anymore, we'll send you to the best nursing home!"

I smiled.

"That's good. Now we know where we stand."

Jason and Frieda left satisfied, and on their way out they made sure to take every bit of Keith's and my good tea with them.

Five:

Before I could finish talking things over with Keith, Myra came storming into the house with her husband, Blake. When she saw the four sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table, Myra's face fell at once.

"I knew I was rightyou two play favorites with Jason!"

Blake tugged at Myra's sleeve.

"No, Mom and Dad know how things are with us. There's no way they'd favor your older brother."

"Mom, Myra told me your phone broke and you hadn't had time to get a new one, so I went out of my way to find you a good one. Use this for now, and once the buyout money comes in I'll get you the newest model!"

I took the phone and had a look.

It really was funny. This was my phonethe one I bought new last year, before Myra took it. Now the screen was smashed to bits, and here it was, back in my hands.

Seeing that I'd taken the phone, Myra hurried to keep going.

"Mom, Dad, I take everything you say to heart."

"They all say a daughter is her parents' warm little coat. You two aren't the kind to favor sons over daughters, so you can't just look at whether it's a boy or a girl and ignore how much someone cares."

"On top of that, I'm even planning to have a second child who'll take your surname, so the money won't be going into an outsider's pocket!"

I nodded.

"Then it's good you're home. How do you think the buyout money should be divided?"

Myra had her answer ready long ago.

"I'll take nine million, and give Jason one million."

"It's not that I want a lot of money, but my child will carry your surname down the line, so he'll definitely need a share. Besides, Jason's better off than I am, so it's only right he gets less. If he gets more than that, then you're playing favorites!"

I nodded, and Keith couldn't hold it in.

"And what about your mom and me?"

Myra looked at him, a little puzzled.

"Don't you two have your pensions? That's plenty for your retirement."

Blake put in a word.

"If you'd like to come live with us, you're more than welcome. We'll hold on to your pension cards for you, and we'll be sure to take good care of you."

Keith let out a cold snort and gave a twist of his mouth.

"You're right."

"Don't you worry. I promise I'll never play favorites with my son Jason."

After Jason and Myra left, Keith fell silent for a long time.

I didn't comfort him, because I knew he needed time to think things through on his own. That was exactly why I had gone to all this trouble after being reborn.

If I'd simply insisted on not giving them any money, Keith wouldn't have objected.

But he'd have been tormented by it, feeling he hadn't given the children a good life, and he'd have found every way to make it up to themmaybe even grown distant from me.

So I had to let him see these two ingrates clearly for himself, and let him decide to live for his own sake.

Still, seeing him like this hurt me.

The precious son and precious daughter he'd doted on for so many years turned out to be such ingrates.

One wanted money but wouldn't take responsibility for our old age; the other not only wanted money but also wanted to take away the pension. Even trying to pick the tallest among the short, you couldn't choose between them.

Especially since, at my request, he'd pretended to have wrenched his back.

The two of them could plainly see he couldn't walk, yet neither of them cared. They didn't suggest going to the hospital, they didn't offer to help with the houseworkinstead they ordered him around like always, having him pour tea and fetch water, watching him shuffle along one step at a time.

Now, when they wanted something from us, they were this indifferent.

Once the money was in their hands, how could they ever look after us? How could they possibly do what they claimedcare for us in old age, tend to us when we were sick?

He waited all the way until the middle of the night.

Only then did Keith speak, his voice hoarse.

"Wife, you're right. They're ingrates."

"If we give them the money, we won't just lose the moneywe'll gain two enemies too."

"But the property buyout money doesn't have to go to them. We can keep it ourselves, and use it for our own old age!"

I patted him on the shoulder.

I turned on the light, pulled out a tissue, and wiped away his tears.

"That's not enough!"

"I've thought it all through. We..."

Seven:

Over the next few days, Jason and Myra didn't come home, but the calls and texts never stopped. On the day the property buyout money "came through," all four of them came home early.

"Did the money come in?"

"Have you two figured out how to split it?"

Keith and I nodded.

"We have."

"You're both our own flesh and blood, so I've decided to give you each the same amount!"

Jason and Myra glanced at each other, and for once they were in perfect sync, saying in unison:

"Split the buyout money equally? I don't agree!"

Keith and I weren't surprised. We pretended to be puzzled.

"Why won't you agree?"

"You're twins. We've treated you the same your whole lives, yet you always said we played favorites. So isn't giving you equal amounts the fairest thing of all?"

"If we gave one of you more and the other less, wouldn't you accuse us of favoritism even more?"

Even though what Keith and I said was true, the two of them simply wouldn't agree. Each of them felt they'd been in touch with us more lately, been better to us, and each felt they deserved a bigger shareso they quickly started arguing.

The four of them traded barbs right in front of us, nearly coming to blows, but Keith and I just watched it like a show.

In the end.

The four of them talked it over and reached a conclusion.

"Fine, we'll split the buyout money equallybut you have to hand over your pension and savings too!"

"Once we get the money, we'll cut ties. We won't lift a finger for you two biased old wretches!"

I'd finally gotten the words I'd been waiting for.

So I wasn't angry at all. Instead, I nodded thoughtfully.

"We really did mean to split the buyout money equally between you. But now that I look at it, that really isn't quite right!"

"It's fine, though. We have a Plan B."

With that, Keith and I each took out a document envelope and handed one to Jason and one to Myra.

"Open them and take a look. I think you'll be pleased."

Jason and Myra both looked delighted, thinking they'd successfully threatened us.

But after they opened them and looked inside...

The two of them panicked.

"What is this supposed to mean?"