I Bought the Car, They Took the Credit

The very next second, my phone rang.

It was an unfamiliar number.

"Is this Francis Shephard?"

A young woman's voice came through the line.

"I'm Lily Hansen, William's fiancee."

Her tone was nothing like William's usual politeness.

"I heard you refused to lend the car?"

I replied calmly, "That car belongs to the company. I don't have the authority to lend it out."

She let out a cold laugh.

"Don't give me that excuse. I'm not as easy to fool as William. The child in my belly carries the Shephard family blood.

"If you won't even provide a wedding car and ruin my marriage, then I won't keep this baby either. When that happens, can you bear the blame of driving your own family to death?"

Her voice dripped with threat.

I responded, "Are you using an unborn child to blackmail me? That's your child, not a bargaining chip. Whether you give birth or not has nothing to do with me."

I did not give her another chance to speak. I hung up and immediately blocked the number.

To avoid further trouble, I blocked the entire family as well.

I thought that would be the end of it.

However, the next day, a weekend, I had plans to go fishing in the suburbs with a friend.

Carrying my fishing gear, I walked into the underground garage.

When I reached my parking spot, I froze.

Three people were standing by my car.

It was Hank, Sharon, and a young woman I did not recognize.

My heart sank. I tightened my grip on my phone and hurried over.

Only when I got closer did I see clearly.

The woman was leaning against the hood of my car, striking poses and taking selfies.

Hank was holding a thin metal wire, struggling to poke it into the crack of the car door.

They had not noticed me yet and were chatting among themselves.

"Dad, can you do this or not? You've been poking at it forever."

"Don't rush me. These luxury car locks are tricky. I should've brought a hammer."

Rage surged through me.

I stormed forward and shouted, "What are you doing?! Stop right now!"

The woman frowned when she heard my voice.

"Who are you, yelling at us like that? Do you have no manners?"

I was so angry I almost laughed.

"Step away from my car immediately. You're attempting theft. I'm calling the police right now!"

Sharon rolled her eyes at me.

"You child, how can you talk like that? We're family. This is Lily, William's future wife. We're just checking out the wedding car. What theft are you talking about?"

I did not want to waste another word on those unreasonable people. I pointed straight at the security camera on the garage ceiling.

"Get out. Now. Once the police arrive, none of you are leaving."

Sharon was about to start making a scene when Lily raised a hand and stopped her.

She sneered, "Call them. Go ahead. I'd love to see whether the police care about family matters."

Hearing that, I did not hesitate. I unlocked my phone and started dialing.

"Hello, officer? This is Santos Residential Area, B2 section, parking spot G-07. Someone is trying to break into my car. They may be carrying tools that could be used as weapons. Please…"

Before I could finish, a hand came from the side and slapped my phone to the ground.

"You fool! You actually called the cops?!"

I turned my head and saw that the one who knocked my phone away was Hank.

The fury boiling in my chest was beyond control.

Before I could even bend down to pick up my phone, William appeared out of nowhere.

He shoved me hard against the car.

"Did you really call the police? Are you looking for death?!"

My back slammed painfully into the car door, and the watch on my wrist struck the metal with a sharp knock.