Whitney replied: [Cordelia, just wait. Your mom is here cooking for Grandpa and Grandma, and Grandpa has already criticized your mom for not raising you well! If you don't apologize to me today, just wait to see your mom get scolded!]

I replied: [I can't believe how malicious you are. If my mom gets scolded, will that make your family rich? You're really ridiculous!]

Whitney stopped responding.

Just as I was enjoying my outburst,

my mother's message in the group felt like a bucket of cold water poured over me.

She said: [Whitney, Cordelia is just playing around with you! Don't take her too seriously.]

[She hasn't had anyone to discipline her for years while I've been away, so she doesn't know how to behave. You're right.]

[Don't worry, if Cordelia doesn't give you money for the trip, I will! I keep my promises!]

I stared blankly at my mother's message.

I instinctively wanted to ask where my mother was getting the money from.

Every month, I deposited an extra twenty thousand dollars into Rosalind's account on top of her living expenses, asking her to keep it safe for me.

Because I trusted Rosalind, I had never asked how much she had saved.

A month ago, when I bought the house, Rosalind transferred seventy thousand dollars to me.

At that time, she even expressed her guilt, saying she felt useless and that with the money I sent her, that was all she had.

She said she felt sorry that she couldn't help me more while I was struggling in the big city.

But before I could say anything, I saw a system message.

[You have been removed from the group chat.]

Seeing that message, my anger flared up instantly.

I wanted to ask Rosalind what she was thinking.

The first call didn't go through.

The second call still didn't connect.

By the third call, no one picked up.

I felt my heart sink.

I had bought Rosalind her phone.

I knew she had blocked me.

But now, I had to go to work.

I could only suppress my anger and focus on my job.

When I was in school, I wanted to study painting.

But because we were poor and the costs were too high, I couldn't afford it.

Instead, I noticed the development trend in e-commerce.

So I switched to studying that.

As soon as I graduated from college, I entered the live-streaming industry.

I looked good, was outgoing, and had a knack for conversation.

Before long, I achieved some success in live streaming.

After saving a bit of money, I started my own business.