Raise the Fake, Reward the Real

It was Holly Nottings.

She greeted Frank and Nadia before convincing them to let me stay, saying that she needed someone to tend to her needs.

I scoffed silently in my heart.

Ethan and Holly were already together, even though I had just transferred the money to Ethan the day before. It seemed that their goal wasn't marriage but to swindle me out of the rest of my money.

I spent the rest of the night following Ethan and Holly around while balancing a tray of drinks, watching them kiss each other intimately.

Halfway through the party, they asked me to follow them to the restroom and wait for them outside the door.

My gaze gradually darkened as I listened to the muffled moans coming from within.

I remained silent during the entire party and only spoke when it was about to wrap up.

"Mom, Dad, I have some good news to share."

Frank scoffed and asked, "What good news could you possibly have?"

I pulled out an application form and explained, "This university is really prestigious, but you only have to pay an additional five million dollars on top of the base price to secure a spot. It's the perfect place for Ethan. He can just use the money that I transferred to him earlier to pay the fees."

"Oh my god! Isn't this the third-best university in the entire world? You'll get to mingle with the elites if you're a student there."

"I spent about 30 or 40 million dollars in the past, but I still wasn't able to secure a spot."

"Both your sons are so capable, Mr. Moreno. That's amazing!"

Both Frank and Nadia were floating on cloud nine as the guests showered them with praises and began urging Ethan to pay the school fees.

Meanwhile, Ethan shot a fierce glare at me before saying, "I don't like this place."

He quickly lost his temper when Frank and Nadia tried to convince him to change his mind. "I already said that I don't like this place! Don't you understand what I'm saying?"

Ethan smashed his glass on the ground before grabbing Holly and dragging her away.

I knew why Ethan wasn't willing to enroll in that particular university. It was famous for being a strict institution, which meant that Ethan wouldn't be able to gamble anymore once he was a student there.

…

The door was slammed open around midnight, right after I sent the last guest on their way.

Holly looked terribly frightened as she stumbled through the door while supporting Ethan. "Ethan was just bitten by a snake, Mrs. Moreno!"

Frank and Nadia immediately began to panic upon hearing her words, shouting for someone to contact a doctor.

However, Ethan grabbed both of them with reddened eyes and exclaimed, "Mom, Dad, the snake slithered out from Matt's room. I asked my friend, and he told me that it's a pet snake. Why were you planning to hurt me, Matt?"

I immediately defended myself. "It wasn't me! I already gave you 15 million dollars to further your studies. Why would I keep a pet snake around just so it could bite you?"

Holly threw the snake food that she found in my room and said, "I bet you weren't actually willing to give Ethan so much money. That's why you wanted to use this party as a cover-up to poison him to death. You'll also get to reclaim your position as the heir of the Moreno family this way."

I frowned lightly and said, "The snake food doesn't prove anything."

"What about this then?" Holly asked as she showed a message on her phone.

"Please wait for me, Holly. We can be together again once I get rid of Ethan."

Tears streamed down Holly's face. "I decided to drop by after receiving this message from Matt. I was worried that he would actually hurt Ethan."

Ethan's and Holly's accusations successfully painted me as the criminal.

It had also been like this in the past. They would believe Ethan's words no matter what he said. Meanwhile, every word that came out of my mouth was born out of jealousy and envy.

It didn't take long for their dislike of me to grow, and this time was no exception.

Frank and Nadia didn't even give me a chance to defend myself before they strung me up. They then used whips that had been soaked in salt water to whip my back.

I gritted my teeth, refusing to make a sound.

Frank finally spoke after I had been whipped 20 times. "You made Ethan upset. Transfer another one million dollars from the shared bank account to him right now. We won't let you off the hook if you refuse to comply."

I knew that the money had been Ethan's true objective since the very beginning.

Although the Morenos were extremely wealthy, they were still obsessed with the money that I had earned through my own blood, sweat, and tears.

The money that they promised to use for my school fees turned into Ethan's allowance after he returned.

I was also the only one who still transferred money into the shared bank account.

"Why don't I just transfer everything to him? Sounds good?"

Frank and Nadia exchanged glances with each other before turning around and leaving the room.

I pushed myself back up on my feet, leaning against the wall for support. I then dialed a number, saying, "Give me their contact information."