"It's all so sudden. I don’t even have a total of one million left. What am I supposed to do in the future?"
I sneered inwardly but kept my tone calm. "If you still have one million, we could—"
Brooke cut me off again. "Dream on! That money is for me, my father, and my brother. Why would you get a share? If you weren’t so useless and had planned ahead, I wouldn’t be stuck with a pauper like you!"
"Someone like you should’ve never adopted me. If you hadn’t, maybe a real rich family would’ve taken me in, and I’d be living a perfect life. You ruined everything for me. Do you even realize that?"
"Useless. Women are useless! My dad was right all along!"
I never expected that a simple joke would make Brooke blurt out her true feelings.
She must’ve lived in comfort for so long that she’d forgotten how she once collapsed from hunger after being beaten bloody by her biological father—for daring to eat a steamed bun.
I still remember how she knelt in front of me, sobbing, her forehead pressed to the cold ground as she begged me to save her.
I’ve never been fond of children, but there was something in her desperate, hollow eyes that pierced through me. So, I helped her. I didn’t just save her—I adopted her.
If it weren’t for my kindness back then, there would probably be weeds growing taller than her grave by now.
Yet, all the love and care I gave her only nurtured ingratitude.
The memories of the past ten years played out in my mind like scenes from an old film. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even react to Brooke’s rant. Noticing my silence, she suddenly stopped talking.
She shoved me impatiently. "I forgot to ask—people say even a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. So, tell me the truth—how much money do you really have left?"
"I remember you own several houses. What’s your plan for those?"
Seeing the greedy glint in her eyes, I knew exactly what she wanted—to squeeze out whatever value she could still get from me.
My voice was hoarse. "Why do you want to know that?"
Deep down, even though I’d already told myself she was ungrateful, I still hoped—hoped she’d suddenly take it back, say she didn’t mean it, that she was just upset, and she really did care.
But Brooke rolled her eyes. "Why bother asking? You already know."
"You adopted me and promised to give me a good life. But that ‘good life’ only lasted a little over ten years. What about the decades ahead?"
"Besides, it’s easy to get used to luxury, but going back to living frugally? That’s torture. I’ll need money to adjust, obviously. So, give it to me."
"Think about it—giving me the money makes the most sense. You’ve already lost your fortune once, so what’s the point of holding onto the rest? You’ll just waste it. But me? I might not get rich, but I’ll never go bankrupt."
I kept my face expressionless. "And what about me? What do you expect me to do?"
"What do you do? What’s that got to do with me?" Brooke blurted out, then quickly backpedaled. "No, wait—I mean, you’re still young. You can get a job, you don’t need money to survive. You’ll manage. I’m the one who really needs support."
Although I wasn’t actually bankrupt, I couldn’t hold back a cold laugh.
"Too bad for you—I’m not just bankrupt. Every house and car under my name has been mortgaged, including the one under your name."
Her face froze.
"And since you’re legally my daughter, the court will repossess that car too. They’ll probably come for it next week. So don’t even think about buying a new one—you won’t even be able to keep the old one."
