Chapter 4

She mumbled, "Yes, once I get the money from Maya's marriage, I'll get repairs! This time I'll definitely look beautiful! Jake will definitely come back!"

There was no way I would sacrifice my own happiness for Chloe.

Eleanor saw my indifference and instantly blew up.

She slapped me hard across the face. "Your sister is about to jump off the roof, and you'd just leave her to die? Do you have a heart of stone? Maya, I truly regret giving birth to such a cold, selfish, ungrateful daughter!"

I turned my head away, a handprint quickly appearing on my cheek.

The people around gasped and murmured.

Seeing this, Eleanor slapped her leg and started crying and wailing loudly. "Oh, the injustice! My older daughter is driving my younger daughter to suicide, what am I supposed to do? I have never done anything wrong in my life, how did I raise such a cold-blooded, heartless creature! My younger daughter is standing on the edge of the rooftop, one step and she's dead! But my older daughter? She won't even bat an eye!"

She cried, peeking at the gathering neighbors from the corner of her eye.

Seeing more and more people gather, her wails grew louder, and she even beat her chest, as if she was on the verge of collapsing: "Why is my life so miserable! I gave birth to two daughters, the younger one is sweet and obedient, but the older one is a cold, unfeeling rock! If my younger daughter jumps, I don't want to live either, I'll just jump with her!"

The neighbors, unaware of the full story, listened.

They all started blaming me. "Ugh! Ungrateful wretch! A disgrace to society! It'd be better if such a child hadn't been born! She's ultimately a heartless monster!"

Probing, scornful gazes assailed me, making me feel utterly suffocated.

They were clearly just trying to crucify me.

Cold sweat seeped down my back.

I prepared to agree for now, then escape this toxic family later.

Just then, several men in suits appeared.

They held documents and walked up to Chloe, saying sternly: "Are you Ms. Chloe? We are from the loan company. You took out a loan of $70,000 from us, and with interest, it totals $140,000. The repayment date is today, when will you be able to pay it back?"

Chloe frowned slightly.

She seemed confused.

Then, she scoffed, as if she'd heard the most ridiculous joke. "$140,000? You must be mistaken, right? How could I possibly take out a loan? If you want to scam people, go somewhere else, I'm not stupid!"

The leading man sighed.

He handed the document to her, pointing to the signature. "Ms. Chloe, please look carefully! This is the loan contract you personally signed, amounting to $140,000, and the repayment date is today. If you cannot repay it today, we will, according to the contract, seize all your assets and pursue legal action."

The girl's smile froze on her face.

She still couldn't quite believe it, grabbing the document.

She ran her finger over the signature repeatedly. After confirming it was indeed her handwriting, she was stunned.

The color slowly drained from Chloe's face...

She suddenly looked up at me, urgently asking, "Maya, what is this? The contract you gave me wasn't a $70,000 gift deed, was it? Is this all your doing!? Maya, you tricked me, didn't you?! This isn't a gift deed at all, it's a trap you set for me!"

I stood by, tilting my head and smirking mockingly. "Oh, I don't understand, Chloe... Chloe, I only knew you wanted money, so I gave you a loan contract. Is there a problem with that?"

Chloe's face instantly went white. "It really was you! You bitch! How dare you trick me!"

She screamed hysterically, lunging at me, trying to hit me. "You evil witch! You're absolutely twisted! I'm going to kill you!"

The leading man stopped her, saying coldly, "Ms. Chloe, please calm down. This is not the time to throw a tantrum. Either pay back the $140,000 today, or we proceed with legal action."

Chloe's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground, tears instantly gushing out. "$140,000? Where would I get that much money? You might as well just kill me..."

Eleanor, standing nearby, also looked stunned.

Her eyes hollow, she said, "It's over, it's all over now!"