I Helped Him Climb Up, He Watched Me Fall

Lena glanced at him, stepped forward, and opened her phone to check the withdrawal records.

"You claim the money was transferred to Calvin—is that supposed to be proof? I could just as easily say you took the money and spent it yourself."

"Exactly. I didn’t receive a single cent from you. We don’t understand anything about stocks. Even if you forged something, we wouldn’t know the difference. Besides..."

Calvin let out a cold snort and looked me up and down.

"You’re just a poor fresh graduate, yet you're dressed head-to-toe in designer brands. Isn’t that all thanks to my money?"

"You spend money like water. How could you possibly save anything? Don't expect me to starve myself while you live in luxury."

"If my wife were like you, I would’ve divorced her already."

His eyes swept over me with disgust, making my whole body cold.

When I first joined the company, Calvin had taken it upon himself to look after me. He helped with everything, always saying, “It’s tough for young women like you entering the workforce. It’s my duty to help.”

So when he later asked me to help him with stock investments, I didn’t turn him down, but I did clearly explain the risks.

Back then, he’d just laughed heartily and said he understood that high returns come with high risks.

He started sending money gradually, in small amounts. I figured he just wanted to be cautious.

I never imagined it would all come back to bite me like this.

The murmurs and complaints from my colleagues grew louder. Someone eventually called the boss.

"Everyone’s getting agitated. Why don’t you take a few days off while things settle down?"

The boss wanted to keep peace and resolve things by quietly asking me to leave for a while.

As I turned to go, I caught a glimpse of the unwillingness in Calvin’s eyes and knew—this wasn’t over.

The very next day, after I returned home, Calvin’s wife showed up at my doorstep.

She pounded so hard on the door that neighbors came out to see what was going on.

"Open up! Open the door, you thief! You stole my husband’s hard-earned money and my mother-in-law’s life-saving funds. You’re heartless!"

I couldn’t take it anymore and yanked the door open.

"I already told you—Calvin withdrew the money long ago. There’s nothing left! Nothing! Don’t you understand plain language?"

Diane Granger stood there, one hand on her hip, ready to explode. But I cut her off mid-rant, silencing her with my outburst.

She blinked in surprise, then her fury grew even more intense.

"You’re just a kid, yet you live in such a fancy place. As if you could afford this on your own. Obviously, you bought it with our money!"

Her eyes darted around, scanning the living room, and her expression twisted further.

"I’ve never even lived in a place this nice, and now you’re telling me my family’s money didn’t buy it? This house must have cost a fortune. You clearly scammed us!"

She was throwing baseless accusations, and I couldn’t hold back any longer.

"What nonsense! This place was bought by my parents—it has absolutely nothing to do with you!"

But Diane wasn’t backing down. She sneered at me.

"Yeah, right. Like your parents would spend that kind of money on you. You’re nothing but a spoiled little parasite."

Her words got more outrageous by the second, and I could feel the neighbors’ stares boring into me.

"I’ve noticed it for a while now—this Rowe girl spends like there’s no tomorrow. No wonder—turns out she never cared because it wasn’t her own money."

"Yeah, all those designer bags and different outfits every day. I thought she had a rich sugar daddy. Turns out she was just stealing from others."

"She lent me 50,000 dollars once when I was in a tight spot. I thought she was generous. That money must’ve been filthy."

...

The surrounding whispers only fanned the flames of Diane’s confidence.

She shoved me aside and stormed straight into my home.