There was no money in the card from Sylvia Dalton, my future mother-in-law as a dowry for me.
During the engagement banquet, I discovered that Sylvia actually had plans to take advantage of me.
Even the card she had just given me had no money.
After being exposed, Sylvia became furious.
"So what if there is no money? Are you going to back out of the engagement?
"You're nothing but a filthy woman now. Who else would want you besides my son?"
But when they saw my dowry worth millions of dollars, they were filled with regret.
***
At the engagement banquet, I was so busy and my face was practically stuck in a forced smile as I greeted all the guests.
Suddenly, my Mom Kendra Warner, looking serious, pulled me out of the crowd and into a room where no one else was.
"We can't go through with this engagement today! I cannot just stand by and watch you being schemed."
What was happening? All the guests were already here, and now we were calling off the engagement.
"Mom! What's going on? Did Marco do something to upset you? Yesterday you couldn't stop talking about how much you liked him, and now, all of a sudden, you've changed your mind. Why?"
My mom frowned, handed me her phone, yanked off her corsage, and said angrily.
"Listen for yourself. If, after listening, you still insist on going through with this, then I'll consider myself no longer your mother!"
What could have possibly happened to make my usually calm and composed mother this furious? I wondered.
I hit play on the recording curiously. The sharp, grating voice of Sylvia immediately blared from the phone, scaring me into quickly turning down the volume.
Disgusting remarks filtered through in fragmented sentences.
"She acts so high and mighty. Look at her, acting like she's a queen.
"If it weren't for her wealthy family, who would ever bow and scrape before her?
"Just wait. This is only temporary. Once her parents are dead, won't all the inheritance go to my son?
"When her family's gone, she'll be at our mercy. I'll make her kneel every day to serve me."
I didn't even finish the recording before my blood was boiling.
How could this old woman be so vile and shameless?
She had always presented herself as gentle and kind, but it turned out she was plotting to rob me of everything. And worse, she was cursing my parents to die.
No wonder she had been so resistant to giving a dowry earlier, only to suddenly change her mind.
She must have learned about my family's wealth and was trying to get more than she bargained for.
She was indeed cunning, but if she wasn't careful, she'd be the one to end up with nothing.
My mom handed me the card Sylvia had given me that morning.
"I was suspicious, so I asked your cousin to check it out. There isn't a single penny in this card!
"They're trying to cheat us and make fools of us!"
My mom was shaking with anger. I quickly went over to soothe her, patting her back to calm her down.
I was having trouble accepting it myself, but I still clung to a sliver of hope.
Maybe this was just Sylvia's doing? Maybe Marco Galvan wasn't involved?
Fighting back my rage, I called Marco and his mom into a lounge, intending to get to the bottom of things as soon as possible.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Marco asked with a smile, looking like the perfect doting boyfriend.
"Whitney, what's going on? It's a big day, and we already gave you the dowry, didn't we? There are so many relatives and friends outside waiting. Why did you call us in here?"
As if a sudden thought struck her, Sylvia widened her eyes and pointed accusingly at me.
"Let me tell you something! All those guests outside are watching! Don't even think about raising the price at this point, or I'll call everyone in here to settle this!"
Hearing the contempt in her voice, I saw no reason to hold back anymore. I hurled the bank card at Marco.
"Why is there no money in this card? Where's the money? Didn't you say you'd already transferred it?
"What? You can't even afford 80 thousand dollars as dowry these days? You thought you could cheat us?"
Marco froze for a second, and then quickly tried to comfort me.
"It must be a misunderstanding, sweetheart. We transferred the money long ago. Maybe it just hasn't gone through yet. Let's not argue over this today, okay? Let's get engaged first, and I'm sure the money will show up by tonight."
As he spoke, Marco glanced at his mom and tried to pull me out of the room.
I yanked my hand away. "Fine, then. I'll call the bank and find out why the transfer hasn't gone through. If it's their mistake, I'll file a complaint."
Marco's eyes began to dart around nervously, and my heart sank.
Hearing that, Sylvia suddenly became agitated.
