Chapter 2

I picked up the notebook, flipped back a few pages, found Uncle Frank's name, and kept reading aloud.

"When Kathy was five, she came down with a high fever. But you, Uncle Frank, were out on the street racing a motorcycle with somebody, and you smashed into a railing and earned yourself seven days in lockup."

The moment I said it, the whole room of relatives broke into an uproar.

Uncle Frank was so shocked his mouth fell open, and he started to stammer.

"You... you're talking nonsense!"

I waved the notebook in my hand, raised an eyebrow, and spoke.

"This notebook clearly records the time, the place, and the people involved in each incident. I'm not making anything up."

Kathy finally couldn't hold back and stepped up to defend her father.

"Crissy, everyone's only saying these things because they care about you. Just because you don't want to hear it doesn't mean you can air everyone's dirty laundry in public."

So they did know that what they were doing was airing dirty laundry.

As the saying goes, when you strike someone, you don't strike the face.

On a day when the whole family gathers to celebrate together, they all insist on ganging up on me alone. So it's perfectly reasonable for me to fight back a little, isn't it?

I looked at Kathy and let out a cold laugh.

"Don't be in such a hurry. Now it's your turn."

Then I said loudly, "On the day I graduated from college, Kathy came to hang out with me, but she used the chance to get my crush drunk and took him off to a hotel, where he vanished for three days and three nights."

Aunt Betty was stunned for a moment, her face full of astonishment.

"So... it was actually Kathy who stole Crystal's boyfriend? That's not very decent..."

Kathy turned bright red with rage. She dropped the sweet, innocent act entirely and screamed at me at the top of her lungs.

"Shut up!"

"You shut your mouth!"

Uncle Frank, unable to take it any longer, pointed at me and spoke to my parents in a trembling voice.

"Crystal is acting like this and you two aren't going to do anything about it?"

Startled, Mom and Dad took a step back, waving their hands over and over.

"Don't start."

"That notebook in her hand records every embarrassing thing about each one of us—over six thousand entries."

"We don't dare provoke her."

The moment they finished, a sharp gasp came from somewhere in the living room.

Maybe my parents' words carried too much weight, because for the rest of the meal everyone was unbelievably quiet.

Even when reaching for food, they deliberately steered clear of me, terrified of somehow crossing me and having their own embarrassing stories exposed.

But Kathy still looked defiant, forever thinking of some way to win a round back from me.

So, during the meal, she deliberately showed off the Cartier bracelet on her wrist, and it instantly drew everyone's eyes.

Aunt Diane heaped on the praise: "Oh my, is that a Cartier bracelet? The diamonds are so sparkly—that must have cost a fortune, right?"

Kathy smiled smugly: "It's not that expensive. Only a little over forty thousand."

Aunt Diane's eyes practically went red with envy: "Your fiancé is so good to you, handing over things worth tens of thousands without a second thought. Why isn't my daughter that lucky?"

Kathy waved a hand: "Oh, this is nothing. After all, he's got a billionaire fortune. He's always giving me Hermès handbags and Chanel suits. It's honestly too much."