Kicked Out For My Sister’s Baby I Returned Rich Chapter 17
The instant the livestream opened, Regina came into view on the couch, her eyes red and puffy.
The rental was cramped and dim. Marlene stood behind her. Gordon sat off in a corner. Trent was only half in the frame, until Regina hauled him fully into view.
“Tell them,” she said, gripping his arm. “You were the one who gave me that money back then, right? Willingly.”
Trent looked grim.
“Turn off the livestream first.”
“Why should I?” Regina’s voice broke into a sob. “Thea says I stole her money, and now everyone is attacking me. You’re the father of my child. You have to speak up for me!”
The comments streamed past too fast to read.
People were asking who had actually deposited the sixty-four thousand, three hundred dollars.
They were asking why Trent had been planning to buy a house with me while using the money to clear Regina’s credit cards.
Regina shoved the phone nearly into his face.
“Say something!”
Finally Trent snapped, knocking her hand aside.
“The bank records are real. I made the transfers!”
The livestream held its breath for a beat, then the comments erupted.
Regina went pale and scrambled to recover.
“But you said you could use whatever was in the joint account.”
“When did I ever say all of that money was mine?” Trent fired back. “Thea deposited money into it every single month. You knew that better than anyone. You were the one crying every day that the collection agency was going to sue you, begging me to do something!”
“So you wanted to be the hero. What does that have to do with me?”
“Weren’t you the one who picked out the stroller yourself?”
The two of them started talking over each other, faster and faster, no longer even mindful of the camera.
Marlene rushed over to kill the livestream, but one glimpse of the flood of accusations on-screen turned her fury on Trent instead.
Marlene rushed over to kill the livestream, but one glimpse of the flood of accusations on-screen turned her fury on Trent instead.
“So now you’re dumping all the blame on Regina? Weren’t you the one who said you’d take care of her and the baby? What was so wrong with using that money to pay off her credit card? Thea had a good job. She could always earn more!”
That one sentence tore through the last of Regina’s denial.
Gordon shot to his feet.
“All of you, shut up!”
He reached for the phone, but Regina clutched it desperately.
“Dad, you say something. Didn’t Thea deliberately make us lose the house?”
Gordon’s chest heaved as he glared at her.
“I told you a long ago to handle the tax bills exactly as the handoff list said. You were the one who kept saying Thea would definitely come back and pay them! And when the final warning came, you said selling the house was fine because it meant we could get a new one!”
Marlene wheeled around and glared at him.
“Why are you blaming our daughter? Weren’t you the one who shoved that thirty-day notice at Thea and kicked her out?”
“You’re the one who said the downstairs unit had to go to your grandchild!”
“And you agreed!”
All four of them were now accusing each other in front of a live audience.
Each one strained to prove they weren’t the worst person in the room, and in doing so, they were reassembling exactly what had happened that day.
No one had forced them to confess.
No one had scripted a single line.
They were only doing what they had always done—shoving the blame onto whoever stood nearest.
The one difference was that this time, everyone was watching.
My partner had the livestream projected onto the big screen in the conference room and asked if I wanted it recorded.
I shook my head.
“No need.”
My partner had the livestream projected onto the big screen in the conference room and asked if I wanted it recorded.
I shook my head.
“No need.”
The livestream was running from Regina’s own account. The platform would keep a record, and tens of thousands of viewers had already heard it all.
More than that, I didn’t need what they were saying now to prove what had happened then.
The evidence had been saved three years ago.
On the screen, Trent suddenly turned toward the camera.
“Thea, if you’re watching, I’m willing to pay you back.”
Regina slapped him across the face.
The phone crashed to the floor. The image flipped, leaving only a shaky view of the ceiling.
Then the livestream cut off.
Half a minute later, a new email dropped into my inbox.
Sender: Trent.
The body held only one line.
I mean it.