Bill's mother's hesitant demeanor made Honey feel an inexplicable sense of unease.
Could that woman be planning to cling to Bill? Honey touched her chin in thought.
Bill was definitely a top-tier bachelor in the city! Honey had done her research—Bill was incredibly wealthy, the richest man in the entire city! Just thinking about money gave Honey a headache. She desperately needed money... so much money to cover her enormous expenses... But she wasn't good at studying; she was just a middle school graduate, so naturally, her salary was low.
Her mind was entirely focused on money, so much so that she didn't even hear what Bill's mother was saying. She fiddled with her phone, and as the screen lit up, she noticed that today was March 14th. Honey couldn't hide her joy. "Bill is just overcomplicating things between you two..." "Sorry, Auntie, my client is calling. I need to handle this first," she said excitedly, as she clicked on a man's profile picture and sweetly said, "Baby, today is White Day. Happy holiday! We'll be together forever." "But I'm going out to eat with friends later, and I don't have enough money on me."
The man replied with a picture of him driving, the BMW logo on the steering wheel gleaming. "I'll pick you up, my sweetie. I'll transfer 10,000 euros to your account soon." "No need to pick me up; the place is close, baby." After sending the message, Honey copied it and frantically scrolled through her phone, sending it to every man in her contacts one by one. Watching the money flow into her bank account, Honey sighed and smiled sweetly.
She returned to the living room, suddenly furrowing her brows as if she remembered something. She cautiously asked, "Auntie, can I have lunch here today?"
"Of course, we can chat about Bill while we eat."
Her tightly knit brows relaxed.
...
Juliet returned home after a busy day at the police station.
This used to be her home, but it wasn't anymore.
Her and her brother's home had long been taken over by their uncle and aunt.
When Juliet was young, her aunt tricked her into depositing the compensation money with her, promising to give it to her when needed.
But when Juliet needed money to send her brother abroad for treatment, her aunt denied the existence of the money and even accused her of being obsessed with it.
That was the first time Juliet realized how cold family ties could become in the face of money.
Her second uncle also tricked Juliet and her brother into giving up their inheritance rights to the house, transferring the property to him.
In the end, all Juliet had was the funeral subsidy from the government, amounting to 10,000 euros, which her aunt almost scammed away as well.
A college girl with a 12-year-old brother suffering from a rare disease, and only 10,000 euros to their name—the difficulty was unimaginable.
Juliet's initial choice wasn't the police academy; she wanted to study archaeology.
She loved uncovering ancient civilizations but never imagined she would one day become a police officer.
But the art school tuition was expensive—she couldn't even afford the paints, so writing could only be a side job.
Graduating from the police academy guaranteed a job, and most importantly, the tuition was cheap, leaving some money to treat her brother.
Juliet and her brother were now living at her eldest aunt's house.
They had been staying there for four years because her brother's condition was特殊, and she couldn't leave him alone. Juliet couldn't care for him while attending school, and renting a place for him wasn't feasible either.
Her aunt had proactively suggested that Juliet pay 3,000 euros a month for room and board for both of them.
In fact, Juliet only returned home on weekends, and during the week, her brother stayed there.
Her aunt was extremely stingy, always targeting Juliet's brother, though she didn't hesitate to provide for her own son.
Since Juliet's brother had a small appetite, her aunt used this as an excuse to skimp on his meals. For example, in the same two bowls of noodles, her brother's bowl would only have a couple of leaves, while her cousin's bowl would have two fried eggs at the bottom. Her cousin would eat his noodles while hiding the eggs so that Juliet's brother wouldn't see them.
Juliet had long wanted to move out, but she had just graduated and didn't have any money.
Juliet opened the door, changed her shoes, and walked through the living room towards her and her brother's bedroom. Suddenly, she noticed a shadow moving in the room.
Without thinking, Juliet grabbed a baseball bat from the living room and approached cautiously.