Debt of Trust

Zara was livid; her eyebrows shot up as she stomped and ranted.

"You've bled my son dry! And now you want him to rack up debt instead of coughing it up? Over my dead body!"

Her relentless nagging wore me out. I stormed back to the bedroom and dug out Josh's card.

"If you really think I'm the one who spent it all, here, take the card back."

Under Zara's doubtful gaze, I shoved the card back into Josh's hands with force.

"You know better than anyone if I've touched the money in there. I won't take the fall for this."

Josh froze, then awkwardly looked away, pushing the card back to me. "Honey, I trust you with the money more than anyone."

Then, he turned to Paul and Zara, trying to calm the waters with a peacemaker's tone.

"Mom, Dad, we're family. Why are we splitting hairs over money like we're strangers? I believe in Chloe. She's not the type to blow cash without thinking.

"Let's head home. Chloe and I will figure out the treatment costs."

Josh's voice had a hint of alliance with me.

Zara was beside herself, slapping her thigh and crying out. "How can you be so cold-hearted? Are you just going to ignore Jasmine's sickness? She looks up to you as a brother. She must be cursed to have you.

"If I'd known you'd choose that temptress over your own family, I never would've let her through the door!"

Paul's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "After everything we've done for her, she actually has the gall to turn around and threaten us!

"I'm telling you now: we need to get to the bottom of this and set things straight! Otherwise, she'll walk all over you for the rest of your life!"

Josh gave me a troubled look.

"Dad, Chloe's got to rush to work. Can we talk about this later?"

The old folks glared at me, stone-faced and unmoving. "Where do you work? I'm going to have a word with your supervisor about how they could hire someone as morally bankrupt as you!"

Things had gotten that bad, and Jasmine, who had seemed so empathetic before, then stayed quiet, letting Zara shield her like a mother hen.

I kept my cool, slipped on my shoes, and headed out.

As I was leaving, Josh seemed to have whispered something to Zara, but I was too upset to give it another thought.

Slowly, I started to notice colleagues clearing out from the lunch table as soon as I walked up.

The looks I got from them and from my supervisor were becoming more and more judgmental.

I could not figure out why. I tried reaching out to a teammate I was usually on good terms with, but after a couple of days, I still had not heard back.

The work itself was still the same, but the vibe around the office had definitely changed.

After being snubbed from yet another team outing, I had had enough. I cornered my supervisor and asked, "Has the team taken some issue with me lately?"

My supervisor gave me a look that was hard to read and said, "You're well aware of what you've done. Keeping you on the job is us being more than forgiving."

I was lost and getting worked up. "Just spell it out for me. What did I supposedly do?"

With an icy snort, my supervisor replied, "I tried to spare you the embarrassment, but since you're pushing it... You've been holding back your sister-in-law's medical funds, not paying for her treatment. It's common knowledge around here!"

A teammate chimed in with a sneer, saying, "Using someone's life-saving cash to splurge on a handbag? That's just heartless. Don't you have any siblings yourself?"

I was taken aback at first, then my shock turned to bitter amusement.

'So, they're all in on this little game,' I thought.

I convinced my supervisor to let me join the team event and cleared up the mess.

I thought that would calm the storm, but the next day, I got a 'voluntary' resignation letter.

As I was trying to figure out how I had tarnished the company's image or its business, I started getting vile calls from unknown numbers.

They were spewing insults I could not stomach.

My inbox was flooded with warped messages, my face crudely edited into humiliating and gruesome images, with accompanying captions.

[Stealing your sister-in-law's emergency fund? You're asking for it.]

[Watch your back. Payback has a way of finding you.]

Even my parents were getting cursed.

I shook with rage, clueless about how they got my family's details.

It was not until I logged onto my social media and saw the top post.

[Is a daughter-in-law who's secretly moving assets cheating?]

I clicked on it, and there it was, my face plastered all over the post.