The Thousands-Dollar Bride Money That Vanished

My face turned pale and I subconsciously looked at my mother in the audience, afraid that she would have a stroke because of these rumors, just like in her previous life.

Although I already knew what kind of person Fredric was. But, because of our relationship over the years, I still habitually pulled on the corner of Fredric's clothes, wanting to ask him for help.

Fredric took a step back, leaving my hands hanging helplessly.

He was no longer as gentle as usual and his eyes were as cold as ice.

“Leta, be sensible and hand over the money first. My dad is really sick. I will give you back the money later.

“I know you want to use the betrothal money to prove your position in my heart, but 40,000 dollars is really too much. How about you deduct 12,000 dollars from it as your betrothal money?”

He said this as if it was me who forced him to give me so much dowry.

As expected, many guests were led astray by him and blamed me.

“Leta, 12,000 dollars is already a lot of money. This is the standard for marrying off daughters in our village. There is really no need for you to ask the Noble Family for so much money.”

“Yeah, who would ask someone for 40,000 dollars just for no reason? Are you trying to drain all of their savings?”

“Oh, you don't know this yet, but now there is a kind of people called "gold diggers” who cheat the bride price under the name of marriage and then run away.”

“That's enough! What nonsense are you talking about?!” My mother was so angry that she stood up, pushed my mother-in-law away and stood in front of me.

“At the beginning, my daughter only wanted a betrothal gift of 1,500 dollars. Didn't your family raise the betrothal gift to 40,000 dollars? Even if it is a sky-high betrothal gift, it was your family who proposed it. 

“Besides, if you go around the streets and ask around, who would ask for the betrothal gift back on the wedding day?!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the noises around suddenly became quieter. After all, what the mother-in-law did was indeed not fair.

Seeing that public opinion was not in their favor, Fredric fell to her knees in front of my mother.

“Mother-in-law, I know that our family has let Leta down, but my father is lying in the hospital bed right now. I can do anything you ask me to do, but I just ask you to ask Leta to return the money to me first.”

My mother was so angry that she covered her chest and gasped for breath.

I quickly patted her on the back to help her calm down.

“Fredric, stop talking.”

Fredric seemed to be encouraged by my mother's painful expression and said to me, “Leta, you have your own little thoughts when you are in love, I will tolerate you, but marriage is a matter of two families, you can't ignore my father's life and death.

“I know you grew up in a single-parent family and have never experienced fatherly love, but I promise that as long as you are willing to take out the money to save my dad, my dad will definitely treat you as his own daughter in the future.

“Leta, consider this as a plea from me.”

Fredric became more and more excited as he spoke. He was sure that I did not want to see my mother suffer and wanted to force me to give him money in this way.

However, just as he took a step forward and was about to say something else, a shrill siren suddenly sounded outside the door.

Fredric's face changed. He asked in panic, “You, why did you call the police?”

I supported my mother and looked at him coldly.

“Shouldn't we call the police if we lose such a large sum of money? Or, Fredric, what are you afraid of?”

“How dare you talk like that? My son has nothing to be afraid of. You are a gold digger and you dare to call the police. I think you will not cry until you see the coffin. 

“Police officer, I have evidence to prove that she was the one who stole my family's money.”

My mother-in-law was furious and handed the phone to the police before I did and she deliberately looked at us with a mocking look.