3: 3
3
I'd finally seen just how shameless this whole family was.
I couldn't be bothered to keep arguing with them.
"I'm not agreeing to any of it. Now get out!"
My sister's face went cold.
"Bess, what's that supposed to mean? I'm your sister. You'd treat me like this?"
In the past, every time she said those words, I couldn't bring myself to refuse her again.
Back then I still believed family came before everything.
But I'd been reborn. I would never be that stupid again.
I looked her dead in the eyes, colder than she was.
"You want to come along in my motorhome? Fine."
"But first, you pay back every cent you've owed me all these years."
"Second, if your family wants to use my motorhome, it's two thousand a day. Not a penny less."
Rita exploded.
"You've turned into a money-grubbing miser! We're leaving!"
She stormed off, dragging the whole family with her.
"Hold it right there!"
I called after them.
Rita sneered.
"I knew it, you'd—"
"You're at it again!"
I scooped up her younger son and pulled the phone he'd stolen out of his pocket.
"Now you can go!"
"Waaah—" The second the phone left his hands, the little boy burst into tears. "Aunt Bess is mean, Aunt Bess is a bad guy, I'm never talking to Aunt Bess again!"
The moment he started bawling, the whole family melted with pity.
Every one of them stared at me like I was some kind of villain.
I said coldly, "The kid's been sneaking and stealing since he could walk, and he's got the nerve to cry?"
I couldn't be bothered to waste another word on them, so I just shut the door.
From outside came a stream of cursing.
"That sister of yours, Bess, gets more out of line every day. What does a little kid know? So he took her phone. How can you call a child a thief?"
"Exactly. Young as she is and already this bitter and mean. No wonder she's still single. She deserves to stay alone her whole life!"
Listening to it, I couldn't stop myself from opening the door again.
"So stealing a phone is nothing, is it? How about I call the police and let the cops sort out who's right?"
That shut them up. They rolled their eyes and finally left, dragging their feet the whole way.
I knew perfectly well they wouldn't drop it.
So I ordered some surveillance and listening devices online and spent the whole next day installing them.
The following evening, Rita and her husband Joseph showed up again. This time they weren't empty-handed. They'd even brought some fruit.
Rita was unusually pleasant, smiling.
"Bess, we were in the wrong last time. We bought some fruit specially to apologize."
Joseph smiled along with her.
"That's right, Bess. We thought it over, and we'll pay that money back as soon as we can."
I knew exactly what this was. A weasel wishing the chickens a happy new year. There was nothing good behind it.
Still, I invited them in and let them sit.
As we talked, Rita suddenly turned all secretive and said she needed to speak to me about something, just the two of us, outside.
I didn't think much of it and followed her out.
When we came back, Joseph was lounging comfortably against the sofa.
"All done chatting?"
"You two sisters, honestly. What secret's so important you had to take it outside?"
Rita smiled.
"Nothing to do with you. Come on, we're going home for dinner."
After they left, I checked the apartment right away.
Just as I'd expected, the motorhome keys were gone.
But I'd bugged the place long before.
I opened the app on my phone.
The recording played back.
"That damn Bess, she gets more clueless by the day."
"Old Lambert upstairs has been wanting to find himself a wife for ages, hasn't he? I say we push this through fast and marry her off to old Lambert. He'll even put up three hundred eighty thousand in bride price. When that comes, we collect it on her behalf. Once it's in our pockets, it's ours!"
"Yeah, we should get on it quick. But leave it until after the trip."
"She'll never guess we swiped the car keys, ha. By the time she figures it out tomorrow, we'll be long gone with the car."
I finished listening and saved the recording.
But I didn't call the police right away.
After all, they hadn't actually driven off yet. It didn't fully add up to grand theft of something worth hundreds of thousands.
Tomorrow, when they made off with my car, that was the moment they'd have no one but themselves to blame.
