His abrupt rejection made me stumble and fall to the ground. My waist collided with the edge of the table, and pain shot through me, but I kept that forced smile on my face.
This was the last shred of dignity I could cling to.
I needed those 3 million dollars.
The crowd laughed louder, their voices dripping with mockery and admiration for Jim.
“Classic Jim! I remember Evelyn from college – she thought she was better than everyone else, too good to accept anyone’s help. Didn’t she always say something like, ‘Poverty doesn’t mean you lack ambition’? Ha! Guess we just didn’t offer enough money!”
“Right? Evelyn, I remember you used to act all high and mighty back then!”
“That’s why Jim is the best! Come on, let’s toast to him!”
My family, the Joneses, were once well-regarded. But after my mom passed, my father brought his longtime mistress and her daughter into the house.
From then on, I was an outsider in my own home.
My half-sister, Emma, became the cherished princess of the Jones family, while I was nothing but a shadow, an insect lurking in the corners.
Even creatures in the darkness dream of the light.
I studied hard and pushed myself to succeed.