Chapter 5

Just as I was wondering why, Chloe's thoughts chimed in: "Danny did say his mom was snobbish, but I never expected her to demand a two-hundred-thousand-dollar dowry from my family, saying anything less wouldn't even let me through their door."

"Where am I supposed to get that much money? Is this a marriage or a business deal?"

"Every time I meet Auntie, she seems quite nice, but I never thought she'd do such despicable things behind my back."

My heart sank abruptly.

I had never mentioned anything about a dowry. Clearly, this was Daniel's doing.

Taking two hundred thousand from me, and then another two hundred thousand from Chloe.

What exactly was Daniel trying to do?

Connecting Daniel's and Chloe's contradictory stories.

My mind reeled.

Could it be that in my previous life, the one who held onto the two hundred thousand wasn't Chloe at all, but my own son?

No wonder he was so afraid of me questioning Chloe.

But I had raised him since he was small; why would he do something like this? Why wouldn't he even save me?

I suppressed the discomfort in my heart, motioned for Chloe to sit down, and then sent Daniel to the kitchen to serve the food.

Once he was in the kitchen, I pulled out my phone and, right in front of Chloe, transferred ten thousand dollars to Daniel.

Then I sent him a voice message: "Son, take this money and buy Chloe some clothes. Girls these days love to dress up, especially a pretty girl like Chloe. Tell her not to be shy about spending it."

Chloe watched my actions, a flash of mockery in her eyes, as if she thought I was just putting on a show.

Without time to explain, I quickly left, pretending to go to the bathroom.

When I returned, I saw Chloe's expression had changed.

She was staring intently at Daniel, and her thoughts spoke again: "Why did Danny say Auntie thinks my clothes are shabby and that I should wear something different next time? Auntie clearly didn't mean that just now."

"And Auntie also gave ten thousand dollars; why didn't he mention it at all? What exactly is he up to?"

I broke her train of thought: "Chloe, I invited you here today because I want to talk about the dowry."

Chloe seemed to finally realize something was wrong and snapped her head up to meet my gaze.

In Chloe’s eyes, I saw shock, suspicion, and disbelief.

She must have just started to doubt Daniel.