Just because I refused to pay the $300,000 wedding expenses for my sister Marta’s son Thomas, Marta actually took me to court. At the hearing, she wept bitterly: “To put you through college, I worked everywhere, enduring nothing but disdain, and it ruined my health.” “Now you’re making a six-figure salary but won’t help me! Do you have any humanity left?!” Seeing me sitting unmoved in the defendant’s seat, she trembled as she revealed the horrifying scars on her leg, then pulled out a disability certificate: “I even became permanently disabled because of you—a heavy object fell from a construction site and crushed my thigh. Now I’m asking you to repay your tuition. Isn’t that reasonable?!” My mother also nodded in confirmation, denouncing my ingratitude. Everyone present condemned me in chorus: “She’s so heartless!” “$300,000 is getting off too easy! Judge, you must make her pay double!” Looking at everyone’s righteous indignation, I found it all absurdly ironic. She said she put me through four years of college. But I never even attended community college!
“Alice, I’ve given you everything my whole life, and this is how you repay me?” Marta roared in the courtroom: “I sacrificed everything for you. Now I’m only asking you to contribute a small portion of your income to help Thomas prepare for his wedding, and you can’t even do that! Are you even human?!” She was so agitated that her body kept trembling, tears and snot streaming down her face. The people present saw her worn-out clothes and deeply wrinkled face and felt tremendous sympathy. The looks they gave me were sharp with condemnation. Looking at the haggard Marta, I sighed helplessly: “Marta, I’ve told you many times—I never went to college, and I never received a cent of tuition money from you.” In my senior year of high school, my grades were actually pretty good, but my mother Ruth said the family was in debt. With no other choice, I had to give up on college and went north to find work. I could only come home once a year during the holidays, but when she saw me, she either wouldn’t speak at all, or when she did, it was nothing but cold sarcasm and mockery. She didn’t even invite me to her wedding later, or even to her son’s birthday party. Twenty-plus years passed, and then she suddenly came looking for me, insisting I repay her for college tuition to help fund Thomas’s wedding—but I never went to college at all. Seeing me refuse to admit it, she furiously took me to court. “You’re lying! Without my support, how could you possibly have gotten a six-figure salary at a foreign company with a high degree?!” “Pay me back right now—that’s my blood and sweat! Have you completely lost your conscience? Why are you ruining Thomas’s happiness?!” She grabbed my collar, relentless: “I suffered so much, only to raise an ungrateful wolf like you!” Though Thomas wasn’t as agitated as Marta, he was clearly upset too: “My mom put you through school and didn’t even care about me, her own son. I’ve been working part-time jobs to pay my own tuition all these years. If it weren’t for the wedding and us being completely broke, she wouldn’t be forcing you to pay her back.” Looking at Marta’s emotional breakdown, I felt deeply uncomfortable: “Marta, it’s not that I won’t pay you back—you’ve got the wrong person. Look, here’s the evidence!” As Marta spoke, she threw out printed bank transfer receipts she’d prepared in advance. “Judge, all the transfer records from these years are right here.” “During her four years of college, I sent her a total of $360,000. I’m only asking for $300,000 back and she won’t even agree! She’s inhuman!” “$360,000?!” I was shocked. “How is that possible?” Seeing how righteously confident I was, she shoved the receipts roughly in my face: “Alice, you dare lie to my face—isn’t this your account? Isn’t the recipient you?” “It is my account, but—” Before I could finish, Marta immediately turned around: “Judge, she’s already admitted it. Please render your verdict!”
Looking at such exaggerated, frequent transfer records, everyone was stunned: “Couldn’t she work part-time herself? Doesn’t the school have financial aid? She’s absolutely shameless.” “She’s treating her own sister like a blood bank.” Amidst the chorus of condemnation, Marta held up her phone: “Even with all this, Alice was constantly dissatisfied. She’d ask me for money basically every other day, and when I really didn’t have any, she’d curse at me over the phone, saying I was useless.” Then she played a recording with my harsh, bitter voice coming through: “Marta, you work every day—how can you not have money? Don’t you dare pretend to be broke, or I’ll come make a scene at your workplace and tell everyone you don’t care about your own sister. I’ll ruin your reputation.” “Did you spend the money on some boy toy? No wonder your ex-husband divorced you, saying you were promiscuous. He was right!” These words stabbed into Marta’s heart like knives. Her face went pale and she could barely stand: “Alice, I put you through school, and you’re not even a little bit grateful!” She took a deep breath and slowly rolled up her sleeve, revealing horrifying scars of varying depths that left everyone present dumbstruck. “This scar is from boiling oil burns. This is from slipping and falling while delivering food in winter. This is a knife wound from working in a kitchen…” Then she pulled out a disability certificate: “This is from when I was hauling bricks at a construction site and got hit by falling debris. I barely survived, but one leg is permanently disabled.” “What more do you want from me? Do I have to give you my life to be a good enough sister?” Years of grievance and hardship made her sob uncontrollably, unable to complete another full sentence. Seeing the shocking scars and her grotesquely deformed thighbone, people were completely enraged: “Judge, what are you waiting for? This woman needs to not only pay compensation, but kneel down and apologize!” “This Alice is a demon straight from hell!” “So vicious! This kind of scum doesn’t deserve such a wonderful sister.” As waves of condemnation washed over me, the judge said sternly: “Marta, besides this evidence, do you have any witnesses?” Before he’d even finished speaking, Ruth immediately stood up from the gallery: “Judge, we can testify that everything Marta said is true.” “My husband died early, and my son was too young. I put most of my energy into her, so Marta acted like half a mother in the house.” “It broke my heart to watch. I told her many times to take care of her health, but she was so sensible and obedient. She said Alice was brilliant at her studies, and we should support her education even if it meant selling everything we had.” “Judge, you don’t know this, but over those four years, Marta earned over $30,000 from selling her blood, and she sent it all to Alice.” When everyone heard that Marta had even sold her blood to put me through school, they couldn’t take it anymore. They all stood up suggesting the judge sentence me to death. “How is this any different from drinking someone’s blood? She doesn’t deserve to be human!” “She’s completely beyond redemption.” Seeing everyone on their side, Ruth’s lips curved into a slight smile: “Alice is cold-hearted. She’s brought shame to her family and corrupted our society. I also support severe punishment!”
Ruth’s words received nods of agreement from everyone present. The judge looked at me sternly: “Alice, do you have anything to say?” Seeing me remain silent, my brother Chris immediately jumped up with accusations: “Guilty conscience, right? The evidence is overwhelming—you’ve got nothing to say!” “Nothing to say? Chris, who actually took Marta’s money? You know better than anyone!” I shot back. A flicker of fear crossed Chris’s eyes, but he stubbornly insisted: “Stop spouting nonsense! Marta lost her health and her money putting you through college. Now she’s just seeking justice for herself!” I laughed coldly: “Fine. Since you also believe I went to college, please tell everyone—which college did I attend? What was my major?” Chris hadn’t expected me to suddenly ask this. After a moment’s hesitation, he just made something up: “You resent Ruth for favoring me, so we’re not close. How would I know which college you attended?” “All I know is that without impressive credentials, that multinational corporation you work for would never have hired you, let alone given you an important position!” Before he’d finished, Ruth quickly added: “Chris is the youngest, so it’s normal for me to look after him a bit more. You’re just too jealous and petty—you can’t stand him at all. That’s why I asked Marta to take care of you more.” “As for the college name? I know that. It was A University, majoring in New Media.” I snorted coldly. They’d really done their homework. The chairman of the company I work for graduated from A University. To show his gratitude to his alma mater, he goes back every year to recruit on campus. Hearing her name the university, people began whispering among themselves, looking at me with undisguised contempt. I calmly pulled out my phone and logged into the 2018 New Media graduating class photo from A University: “Everyone, look—if I graduated from here, why am I not in the group photo?” Marta looked at Ruth in confusion. Ruth’s face showed a flash of panic, but she quickly steadied herself: “Who’s fault is that? Your own! You went out drinking with people to celebrate graduation, drank until you had a bleeding ulcer, and were hospitalized for five days.” To add credibility, she threw out a hospital admission certificate, her tone full of disappointment: “I told you to appreciate Marta and not waste her money, but you just wouldn’t listen. That one night, you spent ten thousand dollars on alcohol alone.” Everyone gasped: “Ten thousand! Marta worked herself to death for her, and she’s shameless enough to do this.” “That’s more than many people make in a month, and she blew it all in one night. Outrageous.” “What?!” Marta’s eyes went wide with fury. “You asked me for so much money—I would have accepted it if you’d spent it on something proper. I never imagined you’d use it for partying and drinking!” “Did you think my money fell from the sky? What did I do in my past life to deserve a sister like you?!” Marta was so angry her chest heaved up and down. Her face turned iron-gray as she glared at me, looking ready to tear me apart: “Alice, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want $300,000. I want you to return every cent I sent you over the years!” “Plus damages for emotional distress—$600,000 total. Not a penny less!”
Seeing Marta increase the compensation demand, Chris gloated: “That’s right! This kind of ungrateful wolf deserves a good lesson. Can’t let her off too easy!” Ruth also nodded solemnly: “Marta, you’re doing the right thing. Otherwise, who knows what worse things she’ll do in the future.” Marta looked heartbroken and extremely agitated: “Alice, you squandered my hard-earned money like this—you might as well have taken a knife and stabbed me. You always complained about wanting to cut ties with this family, right? Fine, I’m cutting ties with you!” No matter how I explained, she wouldn’t believe me. I felt helpless: “I’ll say it one more time—I really never went to college, and I never said I wanted to cut ties with you.” Chris looked at me with utter disdain and mocked: “Of course not! Marta’s like a human ATM—how could you bear to cut ties with her?” Ruth saw me still denying that I’d gone to college and angrily rebuked: “Debts must be repaid—it’s only right. Alice, have some conscience! Stop provoking Marta. She’s sacrificed so much for you in this lifetime.” Looking at Ruth’s hypocritical face, I didn’t want to waste any more time. I took out my ID and handed it to the judge: “Please log into the student records system and check. I believe everything will become clear.” “No!” Ruth suddenly shouted to stop him. “Judge, who doesn’t make mistakes when they’re young? As her mother, I’ve also failed in my duties. As long as she’s willing to admit she lied, I can mediate between the sisters.” “But once you check and prove she’s lying, she’ll be branded a liar for life. Not only will she lose her job, but her reputation will be ruined forever.” Marta seemed shocked: “You really want to do this?” “Yes. I love both my children equally. I don’t want to see you in court against each other, and I don’t want to see Alice being selfish and going down the wrong path.” Her words immediately resonated with many people present, who sighed sympathetically: “Sigh, the old lady’s heart is still soft at the critical moment. A mother’s love is truly boundless.” “Exactly. And Alice keeps saying her mother plays favorites. I think she’s the selfish one.” The judge also empathized and gently advised me: “Alice, don’t let down your mother’s good intentions. Hurry up and apologize to Marta. You’re still young with a bright future ahead. Don’t ruin yourself over one moment of foolishness.” “No,” I answered decisively. “Check. You must check!” My words caused an uproar: “I’ve never seen someone so ungrateful and unknowing of kindness.” “Where does she get the nerve? Hmph, then let her get what she’s asking for!” At this point, a staff member had already logged into the student records system. However, when she saw what came up, her brow furrowed tightly. Her eyes unconsciously drew closer to the screen to confirm again. A few seconds later, her voice wasn’t loud but rang clearly through the courtroom: “Judge, there’s no information about Alice in the university records—no major, degree, student status, thesis, nothing.” “Moreover, I also discovered she never even took the SAT exam.”
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