My dad choked up, glancing toward my mom.

"Brynlee, how much money do we have left?"

My mom, already in tears, blurted out without thinking, "Thir..."

Seeing that she was about to say 30,000, I quickly interrupted her, "Mom, we don't have any money left."

"Last night, I went to an underground casino hoping to try my luck, and I lost our last 30,000."

Afraid they wouldn't believe me, I pinched my thigh hard, bringing tears to my eyes from the pain.

"Not only that, but I owe them another 30,000. They're demanding I repay it within a week..."

With a shaky voice and tears at the corners of my eyes, I looked as believable as I could. Even my parents were fooled.

"Lost, lost it all?"

"And owe another 30,000?"

"Oh my God, no wonder you didn't come home last night! They didn't do anything to you, did they?"

My mom, forgetting about my dad being threatened, rushed to check me over, full of worry.

I felt a bit guilty but kept up my apologetic and helpless expression.

"Mom, I'm fine, but if I don't pay back the money within a week, I'm afraid..."

I recalled the overwhelming pain of watching my parents get stabbed in my past life, letting that emotion fuel my tears. I cried even harder than Emma had just moments ago.

My mom hugged me, crying uncontrollably, and my dad also forgot to resist.

The three of them were stunned by the scene.

Jason loosened his grip on my dad's hand a bit, glaring at me with hatred. "You, a girl, going to that kind of place to gamble? Why didn't you just gamble yourself away?" he snarled.

Nora, full of resentment, glared at me as well. "Instead of learning anything good, you only pick up the worst habits. Your parents are cursed for having you!"

"Big brother, when she was born, I told you to get rid of her and have another child. You didn't believe me. Now do you regret it?" she added.

Emma had stopped crying by now, and there was even a hint of schadenfreude in her eyes. "Gambling is one of those things where once you start, you can't stop. Cousin, you look like a good girl, but I guess you're not so innocent after all."

Her barefaced expression seemed to say, "You're in trouble now."

I laughed coldly inside, suppressing my emotions and sniffled as I explained, "It's not like that. I went for a health check-up last week and was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis."

"But we don't have enough money for treatment, so I thought I'd try my luck gambling."

The three of them were shocked when they heard this, and even my parents looked at me in disbelief.

"Pancreatitis? Something that serious, and you didn't tell us?"

My parents, who were unaware of the truth, were genuinely heartbroken, and the whole living room echoed with the sounds of our family's wailing.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the three of them standing awkwardly, looking embarrassed. They wanted to leave but were hesitant.

Ha, still not giving up, huh? I guess it was time to turn up the heat.

I gently pushed my mom away and, with sincerity and helplessness, looked at Nora and her family, full of hope.

"Aunt, you were planning to buy pearls for Emma's whitening treatment, so you must have saved up some money, right?"

"I'm your only niece, the last descendant of the Gates family. You wouldn't just let me die and let the family line end, would you?"

Nora stared at me blankly, her lips moving but eventually avoiding my gaze, not daring to meet my hopeful eyes.

"I don't have any money."

Jason quickly chimed in, full of wariness.

"We're already drowning in debt ourselves. Don't you dare come after us."

As he spoke, he even pulled Nora a step back, as if I were some kind of dangerous monster.

I wiped my tears, pretending to be heartbroken, and choked out, "Aunt, are you really going to let me die?"

"Emma can whiten her skin anytime, but I can't wait for treatment."

"If you're unwilling to lend more money, at least return the 20,000 dollars my dad lent you before."

This heavy blow made their faces turn extremely ugly.

They had come to ask for money, but now they found themselves being asked to pay it back instead.

However, I had underestimated their shamelessness, and Emma's obsession with whitening.

"Isabella! What kind of dream are you living in? Why should my whitening plan be put aside for your treatment?"

"If you don't have money, don't treat it! Who knows if your illness can even be cured? What if the money's wasted and you don't get better? Wouldn't that be a waste?"

"It's better to give the money to me for whitening. Once I'm beautiful and marry a rich man, I can take care of your parents in their old age."

Her absurd words left my parents utterly speechless.

Nora and Jason exchanged a glance, and I saw a gleam in their eyes as they both nodded in agreement.

"Emma's right. Treating illness costs so much, and you're going to die anyway, sooner or later. The treatment would just make you suffer. Why not save the money for Emma's whitening?"

"Isabella, let your cousin achieve her dreams. It's for your parents' sake, after all…"

Nora kept talking, completely oblivious to the fact that my dad's face had darkened considerably.

Finally, unable to take it any longer, my dad slapped her hard.

"Shut up! Nora, I've treated you like my own sister, tolerated you time and time again, and helped you over and over. But now you say this?"

"Isabella is your own niece. Is your heart made of stone? Is it so hard?"

Perhaps my dad had hit her harder than expected, but Nora staggered, falling to the floor.

She looked at my dad in disbelief, her eyes instantly turning red as she burst into tears.

"Big brother, you hit me?"

"You never even hit me when we were kids, but now, you're hitting me for this little bitch?"

"Did you forget what mom and dad said before they passed away? They told you to take care of me and protect me, didn't they? And you've forgotten all of that?"

At the mention of my grandparents, my dad clenched his fists even tighter.

My mom stepped forward, holding his hand, glaring coldly at Nora.

"Jason has spoiled you for decades, but ask yourself, have you really deserved his protection?"

Nora wasn't listening to any of this. She turned her head toward Jason, screaming hysterically.

"Are you just going to stand there watching? I've been slapped to the ground, and you're just standing there?"

Jason, stunned, finally snapped out of it and helped Nora up.

But at this moment, my dad's eyes were bloodshot, his arms bulging with veins. He looked anything but easy to mess with.

Jason hesitated, not daring to come forward, even hiding behind Nora.

"Nora is your real sister, Jason. We're family. How could you hit her?"

His arrogance has diminished a lot at this moment.

Bullying the weak and fearing the strong, it is indeed his usual style.

My dad looked at him coldly and sneered, "Family? Just now, when you grabbed my collar and hit me with an ashtray, and pushed my wife, did you think we were family?"

My cousin choked, and my cousin-in-law was frustrated, "What are you afraid of? My brother is just a show-off."

As she spoke, she pulled my cousin-in-law out from behind and pushed him towards my dad.

Encouraged, my cousin-in-law became fierce again and swung his fist towards my dad's forehead.

"Bullying my daughter and hitting my wife, I'll kill you!"

My dad's eyes narrowed, preparing to take this punch head-on. At the critical moment, the front door of our house was pushed open.

Several police officers rushed in, witnessing the scene of my cousin-in-law aggressively rushing towards my dad.

"Help, police uncle! They broke into the house and beat people!"

I took the initiative and the police arrived quickly and immediately subdued my cousin.

After clarifying the situation, both families went to the police station to make a record.

In the end, my cousin was detained for a day.

After leaving the police station, my cousin and my cousin's cousin looked at our family with hatred.

"Jason, you are really a good brother to me. You made such a fuss and brought it to the police station. Are you satisfied now?"

My dad didn't say anything. I walked up with a look of grievance and choked up.

"Nora, it was clearly you who bullied us. Why are you turning the tables?"

She looked at me angrily and gritted her teeth, "You little brat, today's incident is all because of you!"

"Why didn't you die when you were sick? Was it you who called the police? At such a young age, you are so scheming!"

Emma stood silently behind, with a look of watching the show, letting her mother argue with us.

Before I could say anything, my father stood in front of me.

"Nora, my daughter is fine, it's not your place to comment. The 20,000 dollars I lent you, return it to us as soon as possible, otherwise, I don't mind suing you."

My father has never said anything harsh to this sister.

Today, his attitude was much worse than before.

My younger aunt couldn't stand it and cried out angrily,

"Jason, you have the guts! It is only natural for an elder brother to help his younger sister. Why should I repay you?"

"I won't repay it, from now on, I will pretend that I don't have a brother like you!"

"Emma, let's go!"

After saying that, she dragged Emma and left quickly.

Those panicked footsteps seemed as if there was a ghost chasing after them.

I watched their backs and clenched my fists.

Do you really think you can escape by throwing a tantrum?

Nora, Emma, this time, you bloodsuckers, didn't think you could take advantage of my family!

After they left, my parents insisted on taking me to the hospital for a comprehensive check-up, but I stopped them.

"Mom, Dad, I'm not sick. I just lied to them."

It's not easy to talk about this place. They followed me home with suspicion.

I analyzed the pros and cons of borrowing money from them, combined with the ugly face of that family, and my parents also started to care.

"Ah, over the years, it's because I spoiled your aunt too much that led to today's situation."

This kind of thinking was not right, it had nothing to do with him.

I quickly added fuel to the fire, "Dad, it's just time to cut the losses. It's not too late now. If you keep spoiling her, who knows what disaster will happen."