Chapter 2

After hanging up, my dad walked over to me with a red envelope in hand. "Sarah, something urgent came up at the company. I've gotta go."

Mom quickly added, "It's fine, I'll go with him."

I nodded, slipped the envelope into my pocket, and got ready to head to Grandpa's house with Mom.

When we arrived, Grandpa spotted me right away and pulled me inside. "Sarah's here! Come in, come in, it's freezing out there!"

His hands were soft, smooth, nothing like the calloused, worn hands of a factory worker.

The building we were in supposedly belonged to the steel mill, Grandpa was supposed to be a retired worker from there. But looking at him, he didn't look the part at all.

Grandma greeted me with a red envelope, which I took with a smile. "Thank you, Grandma."

Instead of giving it to Mom right away, like I normally did, I just slipped it into my pocket. Mom raised an eyebrow, surprised. Normally, I'd hand it over instantly.

She used to say, "Sarah's so sensible."

But today, I smiled and didn't say anything. Grandma grinned, "Well, look at Sarah! Now she knows how to save her Christmas money!"

I raised an eyebrow and grinned. "I'm not hiding it. Mom said this year should be about new changes, so I'm keeping some pocket money for myself."

"That's right. Sarah's grown up, earning her own tuition and living expenses!" Mom chimed in, proud as ever.

I knew Grandma probably gave me no more than $50. A nice gesture, but that wouldn't even cover a fraction of my tuition.

It hit me, they're rich. Yet they still made me feel like I was walking on eggshells with every penny I had. It didn't make sense. Why keep up this act of being poor? What was all this "tough love" really about?

Grandma didn't comment. She just bustled into the kitchen to start preparing the meal. I took a few bites, but I lost my appetite fast.

The food was exactly like what we had at that five-star restaurant the night before.

And that's when it hit me. Everyone in this family is loaded, my parents, my grandparents, the whole lot of them. And they'd been pretending the whole time.

After the meal, Mom got a phone call and rushed off, claiming it was work-related.

Grandpa and Grandma started yawning, looking like they were ready to sleep, so I figured it was time to leave. But instead of going home, I stayed hidden around the corner, just watching.

Not even 20 minutes later, a stretched Lincoln limo pulled up. Grandpa and Grandma climbed in, surrounded by a group of people, and they all took off without so much as a glance back.

I took a deep breath, pulled on my mask, and walked up to the building. A few cleaning ladies were tidying up.

One of them sighed. "I don't get what this family's deal is, showing up here once a year, cooking one meal, and then leaving."

"At least they pay well," another one replied.

"You have no idea. They've been doing this for over 20 years. They have a villa in the south of the city. This is just them 'roughing it.'"

Hearing that made my blood run cold.

The Johnsons were the wealthiest family in the south, with a villa in Hillside Garden. I knew about it, everyone in town did. So I decided to go check it out.

When I saw the villa perched on the hillside, with bodyguards standing outside, I was stunned. I couldn't even imagine living in a place like that.

As I got closer, a bodyguard noticed me and snapped, "Who are you? Get out of here!"

I was about to turn around and leave when suddenly, I heard the unmistakable roar of a motorcycle.

I knew that bike, the one worth $300,000. And sure enough, it was Jack, speeding past like he owned the world.