"I'm warning you—don't push us too far. Worst case, we all go down together!"
I ignored their cursing.
When I went to find Rachel, I'd already expected this outcome.
I was only worried about Dad.
I glanced at him on the hospital bed. He was staring blankly at his phone, lost in thought.
Before I could speak, he noticed my gaze and forced a smile.
"It's okay, Carrie. I was prepared for this."
Relieved, I lowered my head and replied to their messages in the group chat.
"I tried to handle this properly. You refused. So don't blame me now."
"Cut the nonsense. Either pay up, or I'm taking this to court."
Their responses came instantly—voice messages, each over thirty seconds long.
"Fine, fine, fine, Caroline Gilbert. You really want to do this?"
"Then sue! Go ahead! Your dad transferred that money to us himself. No IOU. No proof it was ever a loan!"
"You won't see a single cent of that money!"
A bunch of legal illiterates.
I snorted, stopped replying, and left the group chat.
I thought that would be the end of it—the rest could go through legal channels.
But that afternoon, Uncle Charles showed up at the hospital with Aunt Anna and Aunt Hailey in tow.
I was in the washroom scrubbing Dad's dirty clothes when I heard a commotion from his room.
I rushed back to find Uncle Charles jabbing a finger at Dad's face, shouting.
"Big brother, we've been real brothers for decades, and you're just gonna let your daughter bully your own siblings like this?"
"What did Mom and Dad tell you? As the oldest, is this how you look after us?"
"When you die, how will you face them?"
I wanted to explode, but Dad spoke first.
"I've been in the hospital all this time, and not once did you come see me. Now you show up just to curse at me and your sister-in-law."
"Think about everything that's happened. Hand on your heart—haven't I been a good enough older brother?"
"You're the ones who won't be able to face Mom and Dad. Even if I die today, I can tell them my conscience is clear. Can you?"
Uncle Charles's chest heaved with rage.
Aunt Anna stepped forward to back him up.
"Alright, big brother. Here's three thousand dollars. The three of us pooled it together. Take it, and stop saying we wronged you."
"We're done talking. The money's right here. Have Carrie drop the lawsuit. Don't make this uglier than it has to be."
"If we all go down together, you won't come out clean either."
I pushed past them to Dad's bedside, picked up the stack of bills, and weighed it in my hand.
"Aunt Anna's family: one hundred thousand. Uncle Charles's family: fifty thousand. Aunt Hailey's family: two hundred thousand. I won't even bother with the smaller amounts. Just what I can count comes to three hundred fifty thousand."
"And you want to settle with three thousand? Do I look like an idiot to you?"
Aunt Hailey thrust a red-manicured finger in my face.
"Stop spouting nonsense! You say three hundred fifty thousand—where's the proof? Where's the IOU?"
"We're only giving you this three thousand because we're family. Push us any further, and you won't see a single cent!"
