At the New Year's Eve dinner, my mom suddenly assigns some rules to me and my siblings. She claims that those who don't fit the criteria aren't allowed to eat at the table.

Rule number one: One must have spent at least 50% of their time keeping Mom company at home last year.

Rule number two: One must have gone shopping with Mom all the time.

Rule number three: One must keep giving Mom allowance.

But it appears that I, the oldest sibling, am the only one who doesn't meet the requirements.

My little sister, Chelsea Cage, begins acting coquettish immediately.

"All Cassidy cares about is her business, unlike me, Mom! I care about you!"

Meanwhile, my younger brother, Cameron Cage, lectures me with a frown, "What's the point of you being able to earn more money than average people? No matter how good a breadwinner you are, the fact that you don't care about Mom completely nullifies it!"

My mom tells my siblings to sit around her happily. Then, she criticizes me in a sarcastic tone.

"As parents, when we become old, what we need is our children's company, not cold hard cash."

I'm pissed off, to say the least.

I'm the breadwinner of this family, and yet these freeloaders get to put on airs in front of me.

The reason why I don't go shopping with my mom is that she's never satisfied with whatever gifts I've picked out for her during the times I did go out with her. That's why I gave her money straight away.

I didn't give my mom any allowance at all because all the money is regularly deposited into the supplementary card, which she has.

Since my long-term efforts are worth nothing compared to my siblings' sweet talk, I suppose I can quit being the ATM of this family.

After Mom finished laying down those three rules, she wrapped her arms around my younger brother and little sister.

"Mom…" my sister, Chelsea Cage, cooed, dragging out the word and resting her head on Mom's shoulder. Her eyes, though, flicked toward me for just a moment.

"Don't get yourself too worked up. Cass is a busy woman—she's making millions every hour! Unlike Cam and me, who are free enough to stick around and take care of you every day. She only sees business. Of course, she doesn't think about you."

Chelsea's words sounded like she was defending me, but really, she just labeled me an ungrateful child.

My younger brother, Cameron Cage, put down his cutlery, puffed up his chest like the man of the house, and scolded me with a frown.

"Cass, I'm just saying, what good is it if a woman makes more money than a man? All the money in the world won't mean a thing if you can't take care of your mom!"

I sneered inside. None of the watches he wore or the bags Chelsea carried came from their own pockets. They were all my money.

Mom listened to them and wore a look that was partly touched, partly hurt.

"Well, it's not about what I want from you guys. I'm just old and like a little company. Just the other day, I went to the garden to exercise and heard Mrs. Simpson's daughter had married a rich husband.

"First thing she did was buy her brother a luxury car, unlike Mr. Lowe's daughter, who went to a top university and vanished afterward. She got ambitious and didn't even come home once."

Hearing that, I suddenly understood.

All this talk about spending time together, going shopping, and handing out allowances was just a roundabout way to condemn me.

She made these rules to punish me for not giving Cameron money for a house yesterday. She wanted me to hand over three million dollars for him and his girlfriend to buy their wedding home, but I hadn't agreed.

It wasn't that I didn't want to. Mom had just had heart bypass surgery recently and was still weak. I had already spent the money to buy her a retirement home with a garden in a convalescent area so she could recover in peace.

As for Cameron, he was only 24. His job wasn't even stable, and he had only just started dating his girlfriend. Marriage wasn't even on the horizon yet.

So, I figured there was no rush. We could wait until Mom was stronger. Apparently, though, that didn't sit well with her.

I slowly stood. "I'm not home much, so I don't have time for shopping. And yes, I don't give out allowances as often as I should. Since I'm not worthy to sit at the table, I'm leaving."

I dropped my cutlery, grabbed my bag, and turned to leave.

Cameron shouted in a panic, "What's with your attitude, Cassidy? Mom's still here, and you're throwing a fit in her face?"

Mom's sharp voice pierced through my ears. "Let her go! She makes a little money and thinks she can act all haughty in front of her mother!"

I didn't slow down. If anything, I walked faster.

Outside the house, the winter wind cut like knives. I slid into the car, pulled out my phone, and dialed the bank.

"Hello, Ms. Cage. Happy New Year. How can I help you today?" the clerk asked.

"I want to cancel all the supplementary cards under my name," I said.

Since they wanted to accuse me of being a heartless daughter who only cared about money, I would have no choice but to shut down their cash flow.

A few days later, I saw Chelsea's post. It was a collage of our family photos, except I wasn't in them. The caption dripped with a sarcastic tone.

"A family should stick together. If you don't appreciate it, don't come back."

I scrolled away without a word.

When the holidays ended, Cameron suddenly called.

"Cass, I need you to do me a favor. My girlfriend's a senior this year. Can you get her an internship position? Nothing too fancy, just a placeholder job. Pay her whatever—maybe ten or 20 thousand—it doesn't matter."

He said it as if it were perfectly reasonable. I frowned so hard it hurt, and refused without thinking.

"No way. The company has its standard hiring procedures. We don't employ people to do nothing," I said. "Besides, paying up to 20 thousand for an intern who won't do a thing? Do you think my money grows on trees?"

"Geez. You're so—"

I hung up before he could say more.

I thought that would be the end of it, but that afternoon, someone showed up at the company building. I couldn't tell security to throw them out, as it would look terrible if things escalated.

And so, Cameron's girlfriend, Lexie Houston, bowed the moment she saw me. She looked shy.

"Nice to meet you, Cassidy. Cam told me to see you…" she said softly. "I hope I'm not causing any trouble."

Seeing her so polite and well-mannered, I felt half of my anger subsiding. I figured, maybe Cameron had been talking nonsense, and his girlfriend actually seemed sincere.

"Well, since you came all this way, I can't just send you home empty-handed, can I?" I said, looking over her resume. "But there are no special privileges here. You'll do the same work as every other intern and get the same pay. Can you accept that?"

Lexie's eyes lit up. "Yes, of course! Thank you for the opportunity, Cassidy! I promise to work hard!"

So, I let her join. She was assigned to the administration department, doing basic tasks alongside the other interns.

Three days later, Cameron called again, furious.

"Cassidy, did you put Lexie through hell over the last three days? She came home crying, saying you're picking on her and making things difficult! Are you trying to embarrass me? Move her to an easier position and pay her at least 30 thousand—now!"

I laughed in disbelief and hung up. I hadn't expected that the sweet, timid Lexie was talking behind my back, twisting the truth.

That afternoon, I decided to talk to her face-to-face. However, in the break room, I overheard her chatting with other colleagues.

"Hey, Lexie. Is Ms. Cage really your boyfriend's sister?"

"Yeah…" Lexie answered. "But I'm telling you, she's in her 30s and still unmarried because her personal life is a mess. I heard she used to offer… special services. I bet she has plenty of sugar daddies out there. Otherwise, how could a woman possibly be so successful?"

"Oh my gosh, really? She seems pretty proper to me."

"Probably just a front. I mean, you never really know how some people are…"

I pushed the door open, and the break room went completely silent. Lexie froze, panic written all over her face as she looked at me. "M-Ms. Cage…"

I pointed coldly toward the door. "I heard everything you just said, Lexie. Pack your stuff and leave right now. My company can't afford a freeloader like you."

Her eyes instantly welled up. She bit her lip, looking like the world had just done her a huge injustice. There was a hard edge in her gaze as she left.

No sooner had Lexie left than Cameron's angry calls started blowing up my phone. I didn't answer a single one.

The next morning, the receptionist came rushing to my office, knocking frantically. "Ms. Cage, your mother just barged in with your brother. We couldn't stop them!"

Before she even finished, the office door was pushed open. Mom strode in like a storm, with Cameron and Lexie trailing behind.

Lexie's eyes were red and puffy, an obvious sign that she had been crying. She kept her head low, hiding behind Cameron, too afraid to meet my gaze.

"Cassidy, how could you drive out a woman as kind as Lexie after just three days of interning?" Mom snapped instantly. "Who are you trying to humiliate here? We're all family—how could you do this?"

I let out a cold laugh and swiveled my computer screen to show the surveillance footage.

"See for yourself, Mom. Everyone else is working seriously, finishing their tasks on time, but she's either playing games or gossiping with others during work hours. I told you from the start that I don't employ slackers for my company."

Mom glanced at the footage but didn't seem to care. "So what? She's family now. Does she really need to work like an outsider? How can you, as the eldest daughter, act so petty?"

I was speechless. I pulled up the recording from the break room yesterday.

I stared at Lexie. "And what about this? She spread vicious lies about me, ruining my reputation. Is that something the family should do, Mom?'

Cameron's face darkened, but he still proceeded to defend her. "She's just young and naive! What's the big deal if she said a few things? Did you really have to take it this far?"

I stood up, tired of arguing. "I've saved a copy of the footage. Your girlfriend is now legally responsible for defaming me. If you don't leave, I'll call the cops right now."

At that, the pitiful act Lexie had been putting on fell apart. She panicked, afraid that a tarnished reputation would hurt her graduation.

She tugged on Cameron's sleeve and whispered, "Cam, maybe we should just forget it… I don't want to blow things out of proportion… I didn't mean it anyway…"

Mom, seeing she couldn't get her way—and not wanting the police to intervene—glared at me hard. "That's what you want to do, Cassidy? To send your own family to the cops? You know what? Don't come to us for anything from now on!"

With that, they muttered and cursed as they stormed out.

Not long after, my assistant, Bonnie Racey, called. "Ms. Cage, your mother's premium medical insurance is up for renewal this afternoon. Should we continue to deduct the payment from your card as usual?"

That was when I remembered I had been covering such a huge expense all this time.

I said coldly into the phone, "No. Cancel all of it—the insurance, as well as all VIP services under my supplementary cards. From now on, do not renew anything."