My brother purchased a reasonably priced three-bedroom foreclosure home to serve as his future marital residence. To our utter disbelief, on the very first day after the ownership transfer when our entire family went to visit the house, the ceiling collapsed, revealing a staggering five million dollars in cash. We were all dumbstruck. After a moment, I suggested we should report it to the authorities, but my brother and parents wanted to keep the money for themselves. My brother exclaimed with excitement, “The house is mine, so the money should belong to me too.” My parents nodded in agreement. I shook my head, saying, “You know how foreclosure homes come about. Keeping this money would be illegal.” “Moreover, we don’t know anything about the previous owner’s background. There could be dangerous implications.” But my brother refused to listen. His eyes were wide and fixated on the cash pile, as if envisioning a bright future. “Sis, you’re just scared! This house is mine now, and everything in it should be mine. This money is like a wedding gift from heaven. Why should I give it away?” He crouched down, frantically gathering the scattered cash into his arms with a sense of urgency and madness, as if fearing it might disappear at any moment. My parents stood by, watching without intervening, their faces reflecting the same greed as my brother’s. Dad frowned, full of internal struggle and reluctance, and spoke slowly, “Sweetheart, we’ve considered your point, but this five million could transform our lives.” “Your brother is about to get married. With this money, he can have a splendid wedding, and we won’t have to worry about the future.” Mom chimed in, her eyes never leaving the money, “Yes, such a sum is rare. We could keep it quietly; who would know?” I watched this scene unfold with a sense of helplessness and sadness. I tried to reason with them again, “Think about it. If this money was legitimate, why would the owner hide it in the ceiling?” “There must be a secret behind this. If we’re discovered, our whole family could be ruined.” But my words seemed to drift away like the wind, leaving no impact. By now, my brother had piled the cash into a heap, pressing it down as if protecting his most valuable treasure. He glared at me, saying, “Sis, stay out of this! I’m keeping this money. If you call the police, don’t blame me for cutting ties.” My parents remained silent, but their expressions showed they sided with my brother. I knew convincing them would be an uphill battle. But I couldn’t just watch them walk into danger. Back at our current home, I searched online for the consequences of not reporting found money in a foreclosure house. I decided to call 911, “Hello, I’d like to report that I found…” Before I could finish, my brother kicked me from behind. I cried out in pain as my phone flew several meters away. My brother quickly picked it up and saw the call was still connected. “Hello? Is there an issue?” “Sorry, sorry, my sister has a mental illness. She called by mistake, sorry for the trouble.” He hung up quickly and turned to me, his eyes blazing with anger. “Are you trying to ruin me? If we lose this money, I’ll jump off a building!” My parents, who always favored my brother, ignored me on the floor after being kicked. Mom quickly took my brother’s hand, gently patting it, “Oh dear, what are you saying? This money is yours, no one’s taking it!” She frowned at me, “Nora, didn’t we agree not to call the police? Can’t you see your brother happy?” The side of my face that was kicked burned with pain as I stood up, still trying to reason with my brother. “I looked it up. This money isn’t ours, and if caught, we’ll face legal consequences.” My brother shrugged impatiently, “It’s just us in the house. As long as we don’t say anything, who would know?” Seeing my continued disapproval, he rolled his eyes, “Mom, Dad, she’s trying to cut off our family’s financial path. I barely have any savings. Now that I finally have money, I can afford Lila’s dowry, but she’s trying to stop me!” My brother was lazy, working sporadically for years without saving anything. He finally got a girlfriend, but her family demanded a dowry of $28,800, plus a house and car, making him hesitant to marry. My parents had to pool all their savings to help my brother with a down payment on a new 100-square-meter house. Unexpectedly, he thought it was too small and fancied a 500-square-meter foreclosure house. So, they didn’t consult me and directly bid for this house. “Lila’s family said if we don’t prepare the dowry in three months, they’ll break us up! Mom, Dad, don’t let her stop me from getting married! Don’t you want grandchildren?” My parents thought he had a point. My brother put my phone in his pocket, “Sis, why don’t you rest at home? After I give the dowry to Lila’s family, you can come out.” He spoke while pushing me into a room. I realized he wanted to lock me up and tried to escape. “Logan, what are you doing? Are you trying to lock me up?” But I was no match for my brother, who was only a year younger than me. Dad hesitated for a moment, but then stepped forward to help my brother push me into the room, ignoring my banging and locking the door without hesitation. “Sis, you’re tired from work, right? Just rest at home for a few days!” He spat, “Don’t think about blocking my money!” I sat in the room, which was a storage room with a makeshift folding bed amidst the clutter. I’ve never had a room of my own, even growing up. I only set this up when I heard my brother bought a foreclosure house and came back to help him check it out. I didn’t have my phone, and my face still throbbed with pain. During the struggle, my wrist and elbow joint were twisted by my brother. I shouted loudly, but no one responded. Until nightfall, the smell of someone cooking wafted into the room, making me dizzy with hunger. Peeking through the crack, the living room was empty. I didn’t want to get involved in Logan’s foreclosure house issue anymore. But the amount of cash was too large, and if discovered, the consequences would be too much for our small family to bear. My parents may be uneducated, but they raised me to this point and sent me to college. I couldn’t bear to see them regret it later. I sighed softly and looked around. Fortunately, it was a storage room where unused items were stuffed. I found a simple ladder and looked out the window, which was conveniently on the second floor. Following my hazy memory, I found Logan’s girlfriend’s house. Luckily, my parents often bragged in our family group chat about Logan finding a pretty girlfriend and even shared her basic information. When I found Lila, she was friendly upon hearing I was Logan’s sister. She politely invited me to sit and made a pot of hot tea. She seemed reasonable; finally, someone who could handle Logan. “Lila, right? I’m Logan’s sister. He’s in big trouble, and I hope you can talk to him.” As his sister, my words were useless, but maybe his beloved girlfriend could persuade him. I explained the whole situation to Lila, hoping she could convince him. But to my surprise, the mention of five million dollars brought the same greed to Lila’s eyes. When I suggested she persuade Logan to report it, she looked at me with disdain. She pushed me away, “Report it?! No way! This is five million! Are you out of your mind?” No wonder she was Logan’s girlfriend; their words matched perfectly. While I tried to persuade her, Lila’s parents curiously gathered around, their eyes shining with interest. After thinking it over, Lila called Logan to confirm the story. After hanging up, she turned and slapped me, abandoning her earlier politeness. “Logan said you can’t stand to see him happy!” I was parched from speaking, and no one appreciated it. Instead, she yelled at me, “Who do you think you are? Used to being the maid, now you want to meddle in Logan’s affairs? It’s none of your business now!” Lila’s parents initially looked down on my family for being poor. But upon hearing about the money falling from the sky, they eagerly called us in-laws. “Logan’s sister, we’re practically in-laws now. What you’re doing isn’t right!” Hearing I wanted to call the police, they forgot all about hospitality, shouting and pointing at me. I spoke until I was hoarse, but it was all in vain. She shouted at me, “Do you think you’re worthy? You’ve been a maid your whole life, and now you want to interfere in Logan’s affairs? This is none of your business!” Lila’s parents initially looked down on my family for not being wealthy enough, but when they heard about money coming our way, they were quick to call me, “Logan’s sister, we’re practically family now, and what you’re doing isn’t right!” When they heard I wanted to involve the police, they abandoned all decorum, banging on the table and pointing at me. Lila grabbed a steaming teacup from the table and hurled it at me. The hot water quickly turned my skin red, and the searing pain made me scream. “Get out of here! Our family’s money is not for you to meddle with!” The three of them kicked me out of Lila’s house. I never imagined that after financially supporting Logan all these years, I would hear such words from them. “I’m doing this for your own good, but if you don’t appreciate it, fine. I won’t interfere anymore!” The injuries and disdain I’ve endured over these past few days far outweigh the struggles I’ve faced in years of working hard. I don’t want to be involved in this mess anymore. I turned and left, returning to the apartment I rented. 4 My busy work schedule quickly made me forget about the foreclosure home. I heard that a few days after I left, my brother moved into the new place. As soon as he moved in, Logan happily threw a housewarming party. He then rushed to propose and get engaged to Lila. The money issue that had delayed them for so long was finally resolved, and they got together. I didn’t attend the engagement party, but I could imagine their greedy faces. Maybe because of the recent influx of people, there was nothing unusual about the house. However, a few weeks later, Logan started hearing strange noises outside his door in the middle of the night. The next morning, before Logan even woke up, there was a commotion outside. “What’s all this noise?” He opened the door and saw several large red letters on the white wall next to the door. The paint had dried, but the drips of red left on the wall and floor looked like blood, creating an eerie atmosphere. “An eye for an eye, what a sin…” “Who would dare buy this house?” “Yeah, my old man said he felt a chill just walking past here.” A few neighbors were gathered in front of Logan’s door, talking amongst themselves. As soon as they saw Logan’s annoyed face, they fell silent. “Who did this?!” They looked at each other, not daring to speak. “Don’t make me check the surveillance. If I catch you, you’re in for it!” Logan knew it couldn’t have been these middle-aged women, but he was still irritated. He slammed the door shut. He thought it was just someone jealous of him for snagging such a great house at half the market price. After leaving some harsh words in the homeowner group chat, he didn’t bother with it anymore. But a few days later, more red paint appeared on the not-yet-clean wall. “Die.” Logan wasn’t too concerned about the word “die.” He thought it was just someone’s prank out of jealousy. A few days later, it appeared again. “Give me back my things!” This time he was a bit worried. He picked up his phone to dial 911 but stopped abruptly. “No, if I call the police, my money will be exposed.” He muttered to himself, then called me. “Someone knows about the money. You should call the police early and have them handle it so they won’t bother you.” I advised him, knowing his stubborn nature wouldn’t listen. He just wanted someone to share his anxiety with. As expected, Logan hung up on me, cursing. “If someone knows about the money and hasn’t come to claim it, it’s not clean money. As long as we hide it and deny everything, what can they do?” Lila and Logan pondered. “Yeah, they’re sneaky and wouldn’t dare call the police, or they’d expose themselves.” The two of them couldn’t wait any longer and took the money to their hometown overnight.
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