After Joking About Bankruptcy, I Saw Her Family's True Face

My girlfriend wanted to buy a handbag, so I joked, My family's gone bankrupt.

She froze for a few seconds, then flew into a rage. This is so annoying! Why go bankrupt now, of all times? I told everyone I'd bring it to the class reunion tomorrow and give them all an eyeful.

She turned and went into the bedroom.

I was stunned. I never expected her to react like this, and I wanted to talk it over with her.

But then I overheard her on the phone in the bedroom, venting to her best friend. "I put on this act for so long just to marry into money, and now Zane Gilbert goes and goes bankrupt."

"I'm already thinking about breaking up with him."

I shook my head and gave a self-mocking laugh.

So it turns out the woman I love only loves my money.

...

I had no interest in hearing anything more Eva had to say, so I turned around, sat back down on the sofa, and called my dad.

"Dad."

"Tell Mom the wedding's off. There's no need to send invitations to the relatives and friends."

Dad was taken aback.

"Why?"

"I don't think Eva loves me."

Not long after I hung up, Eva came out of the bedroom, shot me a cold glance, and said, "Let's go. It's my dad's birthday."

Looking at the heavy disdain in her eyes, I felt conflicted.

Back when I was in a car accident, it was Eva who pulled me out of the car and got me to the hospital.

So I'd always remembered that kindness.

After we got together, I gave in to her almost every whim. Whatever designer bag or jewelry she wanted, I bought it for her.

I paid off millions in gambling debts for her father.

She went from cold water and plain bread rolls to living in a villa and driving a luxury car, and through it all she never stopped being gentle.

She always said she'd love me no matter what.

Only today was her attitude different.

As if this was the real her.

I'd just reached the restaurant entrance when Eva's younger brother, Terence Henson, came rushing over to greet me with a grin.

"Brother-in-law."

"Everyone's waiting for you. Let me tell you, somebody tried to court my sister before, and I chewed him out until he ran off."

"In my heart, rich or poor, you're the only brother-in-law I'll ever claim!"

Hearing that, I figured I hadn't doted on my future brother-in-law for nothing.

Then Terence slung an arm around my shoulder and went on, "Brother-in-law, I want to get a new computer."

"Forget it, he's already broke."

Eva said it with a touch of disdain.

"What?"

Terence went blank for a second, then whipped around to stare hard at me, wanting confirmation. "Is that true?"

"Yeah."

I nodded.

"You can't even afford a computer now?"

Terence looked at me again, his brows knitting.

I nodded again.

At that, Terence's face went dark, and he actually shoved me away, muttering in disappointment, "I should've had you buy it for me last month."

A chill went through me.

Over the past few years, Terence had gone through countless gadgets and pairs of luxury sneakers, and plenty of sports cars.

I paid for all of it.

He called me "brother-in-law" at every turn, but the moment he heard I was broke, he didn't spare a shred of feeling.

He didn't even ask why. Instead, he shoved me aside, caring about nothing but his new computer.

Just as I thought.

Hard times reveal a person's true heart.

Buzz, buzz!

Right then, Eva's phone vibrated. It was a call from her father.

"Has my dear son-in-law arrived yet?"

"Just got here."

"Come on up, everyone's waiting for him. Nobody dares pick up their chopsticks until he shows."

The call ended.

Eva pursed her lips and said to me, "You can explain the situation to my dad yourself."

She tossed her head and, without waiting for me, walked into the restaurant with Terence.

I followed them upstairs.

The entire sixth-floor hall was set with nearly twenty tables, every one of them full.

They were all Henson relatives, and every one of them had asked me for favors and had things done for them.

"Oh, Mr. Gilbert is here."

"Thanks to Mr. Gilbert's investment, my family's pig farm was able to keep running."

"Without Mr. Gilbert paying the medical bills, my mother would have died long ago."

They beamed at me.

Some were even moved to tears.

"Zane, come, sit."

Eustace stood up and waved me over, his face creasing into a smile. "Eva tells me you prepared a Tang Bohu painting as a birthday gift for me. Hurry, take it out and let everyone have a look."

Every time I gave him a gift, he pulled a stunt like this.

Last time he said he liked a certain watch.

I agreed to buy it for him, and he immediately treated all his relatives and friends to dinner, showing it off every which way.

Before I could even speak, Terence let out a cold snort. "A Tang Bohu painting? He'd have a hard time giving you a single sheet of paper."

"What do you mean?"

Eustace was taken aback.

"He's gone bankrupt."

Terence answered in a deeply contemptuous tone.

In an instant, the whole room fell silent.

Everyone turned in unison to stare at me.

"Mm."

I nodded. "The painting went to pay off a debt."

"Zane Gilbert, don't you think that's a pretty shabby thing to do?"

Eva frowned, her lovely eyes shooting me a vicious glare, and went on, "Even if you're broke, you can't take my dad's birthday present and use it to pay off a debt!"

"Where does that leave my dad's face?"

"A perfectly good birthday dinner, and you've ruined the mood."

It was obvious.

In her eyes.

Face mattered more than I did.

I didn't answer her. I just stared at Eustace.

Waiting for him to take a stance.

Instead, he hurriedly waved his hands. "Zane, even if you've gone bankrupt, you can't take back all those antiques and paintings you gave me before."

I almost laughed.

Since I started dating Eva, the antiques and paintings I'd given him were enough to open a small exhibition hall.

But I never expected that today he wouldn't say a single word for me.

All he cared about was holding on to the paintings.

As the saying goes.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Every one of them put profit ahead of me.

Eva stressed it again. "Zane Gilbert, do you have any shame at all? Do you really have to make a scene at my dad's birthday dinner?"

But what scene had I made?

Wasn't every word here coming from the Hensons themselves?

Then again, it made sense. These days Eva found everything about me irritating.

So she flew off the handle whenever she liked.

"All right, everyone sit down."

Eustace smoothed things over, and the moment I sat, he said, "Zane, if you want to marry my daughter, the bride price is at least one million, and the gold jewelry and the rest are separate."

"Didn't you say back then you didn't want a bride price?"

I shot back.

Ever since we started dating, Eustace had always said it was Eva's good fortune to have met me.

No bride price needed.

Not even a wedding, if it came to that.

And now he'd changed his tune.

"I never said any such thing."

Having denied it, Eustace looked around at the relatives and friends. "Everyone, tell me, this bride price I'm asking isn't too much, is it?"

"After all, you've gone bankrupt, so the bride price is a guarantee for my daughter's future."

The relatives and friends glanced at me, a flicker of guilt in their eyes, but then they immediately backed Eustace up.

"That's right, Zane. Eva is such an outstanding girl with so many suitors. A bride price of one million is on the low side, if anything."

"Exactly, exactly. If you ask me, it should be at least two million! Plus another million for gold."

"If you can't come up with the bride price, there's no point getting married."

I had thought.

They'd all received my favors.

Surely one or two of them would speak up for me.

But no one did.

I took a deep breath, my gaze sweeping over them one by one before finally settling on Eva. "You're forcing me to break up with you, aren't you?"

"Don't put it so ugly."

Eva rolled her eyes. "And don't act like you're such a victim. After all, I'm the one who pulled you out of that car back then. Otherwise you'd probably have been reincarnated as a pig ages ago."

I fell silent for a moment.

It was precisely because of that reason that I'd held off on breaking with them for so long.

Terence swatted the water glass in front of me over and sneered along, "It's your own fault you couldn't come up with the bride price. How is that on us?"

Eustace was smiling too, a deep, knowing smile.

Just as I'd thought.

They wanted every last benefit, but they didn't want to play the villains.

They were counting on pushing me to back out on my own.

If that was how it was.

Then I'd give them exactly what they wanted.

"Fine."

"The wedding's off."

I stood up to leave.

But Eva grabbed hold of me.

I looked at her face.

I actually thought she wanted me to stay.

Instead, the next second she flung a signed statement at me.

It read: I, Zane Gilbert, promise that from this day forward I will no longer pester Eva Henson.

So she'd already prepared everything.

My heart sank all the way to the bottom, as dead as it could possibly be.

No hesitation.

No wavering.

I took the pen from Eva's hand, signed my name, pressed my thumbprint, and then left.

Behind me, Eustace smiled at the relatives and friends and said, "Everyone, eat and drink, don't hold back."

Terence chimed in, "Everybody raise a glasslet's celebrate my sister's happy breakup!"

At once, laughter broke out all around.

It carried into my ears, unbearably grating.

But I didn't look back. My gaze went slightly cold as I pushed the door open and walked out.

I was curious.

Just how long they'd be able to keep laughing.

The moment I got home, I saw a girl standing at the door.

It was Eva's cousin: Norma.

"What is it?"

Having seen that family's true faces, I gave Norma nothing warm.

I figured she either didn't know I was bankrupt and wanted something from me.

Or she knew I was bankrupt and had come to kick me while I was down.

"The medical bills you covered for me before, and the money you gave me for rent."

Norma took out an envelope stuffed with cash.

I couldn't help freezing.

In all my time with Eva, this was the first time I'd ever seen money I'd handed out come back.

"I was going to give it all to you at the end of the year, but I heard you went bankrupt. I figured you'd need the money, so I scraped some together from friends."

Norma left it at that, then turned to go.

"Wait."

I caught her by the wrist. "The money I gave you didn't add up to this much."

"I don't have much myself, but you helped me. When someone's in trouble, I help if I can."

Norma said it with a smile.

In the sunlight, she looked almost like an angel, completely out of place with Eva and the rest of them.

Warmth spread through my chestand then I suddenly caught sight of the long scar on Norma's wrist.

"That scarwhen did you get it?"

Right before I lost consciousness in the car accident, I'd caught the faintest glimpse of a hand pulling at me.

And there had been a scar just like that on the wrist.

But Eva's wrist had no such scar.

I'd always assumed my memory was wrong.

"I've had it since I was little."

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going."

Norma didn't dare look at me. Once she'd pulled free of my hand, she hurriedly tugged her sleeve and rushed off.

I picked up my phone and called the butler. "Find every eyewitness from the scene of that car accident of mine six years ago."

"Ask them who exactly it was that saved me."

A little over an hour later, the butler called back.

"Mr. Gilbert."

"It's all been checked out."

"Someone told me it wasn't Eva Henson who pulled you out of the car that day. He even has it on videoI'll send it to you now."

The call ended.

I received the video from the butler.

The person who pulled me out of the car was Norma Summers!

But she had never once mentioned it.

Instead, Eva had swooped in like a cuckoo taking another bird's nest, falsely claiming that debt of gratitude, then dressing herself up as gracious and well-bred.

And she kept taking one benefit after another from me.

In the end, the moment she heard I was bankrupt, she kicked me aside without a second thought.

She really had been playing a big game.

Thinking about it, I clenched my fist and sent the butler a message: Take back everything given to Eva Henson's family.

Find out what help Norma Summers needs, and do everything you can to assist her.

The message had just gone out.

Footsteps approached.

Eva walked in on her sky-high heels.

"Don't get too full of yourself."

"I'm not here to get back together with you. I just need a few documents."

She lifted her chin at me.

Putting on lofty airs.

I said nothing, just watched her go upstairs and then come back down dragging a suitcase.

"Since we've broken up, give me back my card."

Back then, to make it easy for her to shop.

I'd gone out of my way to get her a card and deposited a fixed amount into it every month.

"Hmph! How stingy."

Eva turned her head and shot me a disdainful glance, then pulled a card out of her bag and tossed it at my feet.

"There's still over two hundred thousand in there."

"Consider it a handout for you, you beggar."

With that.

She gave a light laugh, turned, and walked out of the mansion, got into her car, and drove off.

I took out my phone.

Eva had put up a new social media post.

Single again, come flirt away!

Low-quality men need not apply! You're not worthy of the noble me!

The attached picture was a photo of herself.

Clearly I'd spoiled her far too much over the years, until she truly saw herself as some rich heiress.

Completely gone to her head!

Below, her little clique of friends piled on with comments.

Good breakup. A bankrupt loser like Zane Gilbert never deserved you.

Such happy newsaren't you going to treat us girls to a get-together?

Exactly, exactly. Eva, you have to treat us!

Eva played it big and replied: No problem. The Thompson Club tonightI've got the VIP platinum card, let's drink till dawn.

Seeing that.

I couldn't help but smile, and murmured to myself, "Eva, you're about to have nothing left."

"Not only that, I'm going to hold you responsible for fraud, too."

In the past, I'd held on to that debt of gratitude for saving my life.

Now that I knew the truth, there was no reason to show Eva's family the slightest bit of mercy.

Nine o'clock that night.

Eva and a few of her girlfriends swaggered into the Thompson Club.

I'd been here with her many times.

She knew the place well and, just like before, strode straight in.

But this time, she was stopped by security.

"This club is not open to outsiders."

"Do you have a reservation?"

"Do you have a VIP card?"

Hearing this, Eva scoffed. "Those dog eyes of yours ought to be gouged out. I'm a regular here!"

She arrogantly pulled out the VIP platinum card and held it out.

"Oh, Eva's got such style."

Her girlfriends all fawned over her at once.

Which only made Eva even more smug.

If she'd had a tail, there's no telling how high it would've been sticking up.

However, the security guard said, "Sorry, this VIP platinum card is no longer valid."