One Digit Short

Having said her piece, Susan turned to Summer for her two cents.

After much internal deliberation, Summer gave in with a nod. “Fine, I guess.”

As it turned out, Summer held out on the twenty-grand proposal because the payout wasn’t to her expectations.

Susan shifted her gaze to me, gesturing for me to wire Summer the funds.

With her reputation on the line, Susan made me take responsibility for something that never happened and demanded that I transfer money to Summer.

I smirked in rage.

Rolling her eyes, Summer urged, “Well, don’t just stand there. Send the money already.”

I locked eyes with Susan. “You claimed that I’ve pocketed over two hundred thousand dollars in supposed commissions from running errands for you. Show me the proof.”

Susan looked away. “Like I told you, the chat logs are long gone. How am I supposed to show you?”

She murmured in my ear, “Just transfer Summer the money. Don’t start a family drama over the holidays, or the family is going to have a field day.

“I’ll clear the air with Summer back home later. She’ll return the money then.”

Susan expected me to cave in like I did before when she allegedly paid me the wrong amount by mistake.

However, I stood firm on my ground for once, not taking the fall because she told me so.

If I were to let this slide, the family, as well as the viewers on the livestream, would assume that I had been skimming money off my own mother.

By then, my explanation would fall on deaf ears. Plus, I’d be out of a hundred thousand dollars for nothing.

I raised a brow. “How can you claim that I profited the difference then?”

Since the viewers had no idea what was going on, Kendra typed away to keep them in the loop.

After getting the context, the viewers were convinced that I had been scamming my own mother by overblowing the price tag when purchasing things.

I glanced down at Kendra’s phone, her screen was a blur of insults directed at me by the viewers.

Summer slammed the table and shrieked, “Mom owned up to it. Why are you still stubborn?

“Are you denying the whole thing because Mom said that her phone data is lost?”

The other family members persuaded me to cough the money up.

“Macie, blood is thicker than water. Don’t let a bit of money come between you and your sister.”

I uttered curtly, “It never happened. There’s no way I’m sending her money.”

Summer’s eyes welled up.

Then came a slap across my face.

Susan struck me, leaving my cheek numb.

She tore into me, her finger up my nose, “You’re so selfish! Summer is trying to be nice by putting the whole fiasco to rest for just a hundred grand.

“But you care more about money than family.”

My heart sank.

“Alright then. Didn’t Summer assert that I pocketed the difference when shopping for things on your behalf?

“We can go through the numbers. If I really did profit, I’ll return the amount in full.”

Summer scoffed in disdain. “Wow, aren’t you a saint? The chat logs are lost. How are we supposed to check the transactions?”

I waved my phone. “That’s fine. Mom doesn’t have the data records, but I do.”

Susan went white in the face.

Before I could pull up our chat history, Susan snatched the phone out of my hands amid my distraction and smashed it onto the floor.

“I’d rather keep the transactions private because this argument over money between sisters is getting out of hand.

“Macie, you have no appreciation for what I’m trying to do here.

“You’ve gained a lot more than Summer. Yet you’re clutching to your purse, refusing to share even a dime with her. I’m so disappointed in you.”

Given Susan’s expression and tone, I would’ve been taken in if I hadn’t known the truth.

I retrieved the phone with the cracked screen from the ground. It wouldn’t turn on at all.

Susan silently let out a sigh of relief.

She seemed to think that I couldn’t verify the numbers on my damaged phone.

Calm and collected, I pulled out a stack of papers from my bag.

Susan’s face turned to one of terror when her eyes fell on the documents.