I'm afflicted with a severe phobia related to socializing. Christmas is the one holiday that I fear the most.

In order to escape from my relatives' incessant questions, I've spent one year digging up dirty laundry related to every single person in my family.

Before going home for the holidays, I've made a secret vow that as long as my relatives don't disturb me, I will definitely keep those skeletons of theirs sealed tightly in their closets.

But at the Christmas Eve dinner, these relatives insist on making me their personal doormat.

My oldest uncle, Adam Burton, is the first one to start a topic in a passive-aggressive manner.

"Hannah, you're not getting any younger, you know. It's one thing to not be able to nail down a job, but what's with your inability to find yourself a boyfriend, hmm?

"Look at Quinn. The moment she'd graduated from college, she'd already married a rich scion."

I can only smile bashfully before I lower my head and start eating from my plate in an attempt to skip the topic.

But my second aunt, Zoe Brown, refuses to let it slide. She begins putting on airs as a senior member of this family while lecturing me.

"Stop being so stubborn, Hannah. Adam is doing this for your own good. We're a family at the end of the day; we will never hurt you. You have to listen to our advice. Otherwise, you'll become an old and lonely woman that no one wants as a partner when the time comes."

Pfft! "We're a family", she says! I think these relatives of mine just don't want me to live a nice, comfortable life as a single woman!

Unable to endure it anymore, I put down my fork and lift my head. Then, I flash everyone an awkward smile.

"In that case, Aunt Zoe, why don't you tell me who's more impressive in bed? Was it Uncle Caleb… or Uncle Adam?

"Since we're a family, we should be honest with each other, right?"

"You little bitch, what nonsense are you spouting? I'll rip your mouth apart today!"

My second aunt, Zoe Brown, froze for a second, then immediately went into a rage. She rushed toward me, ready to scratch my face.

"Enough!" My second uncle, Caleb Burton, barked. He grabbed Aunt Zoe by the arm, but his fury aimed at me only seemed to intensify.

"Hannah Burton! It's Christmas! What has gotten into you? Is this how you talk to your elders? I swear, your brain must've rotted with all those books you read! Get on your knees and apologize to Zoe!"

Relatives around us started chiming in.

"Yeah, Hannah. How can you make such a joke?"

"You're so disrespectful! Apologize now!"

I flinched under the shout. I instinctively tucked my head in, and my eyes welled up with tears in an instant.

"Uncle Caleb, I-I'm not spouting nonsense. I didn't mean to upset Aunt Zoe. I just… I just think you're too kind."

Not following my logic, Uncle Caleb stood there, completely stumped.

I sniffled, raised my head, and gazed up at him with admiration. "Really, Uncle Caleb. I think you're amazing. In today's world, there's barely any man who would raise his brother's son for over 20 years."

The moment I said that, all the relatives who had been berating me fell silent. Their eyes shifted nervously between Aunt Zoe, Uncle Caleb, and my eldest uncle, Adam Burton.

Uncle Caleb froze. His grip on Aunt Zoe's hand slipped.

"What did you say?"

Uncle Adam couldn't sit still anymore. He slammed his cutlery down and snapped at me, "Hannah Burton! Are you out of your mind? How dare you say something like that?"

Aunt Zoe screamed like a lunatic, "Hannah! I'll rip your mouth apart! Honey, don't believe her. This brat is just jealous because our family is doing well!"

Their panic erased my fear, replacing it with an odd sense of excitement.

But I still felt nervous. While digging through my bag, I said in a shaky voice, "Uncle Caleb, don't be mad. I-I have proof."

I pulled out a neatly folded A4 paper with trembling hands.

Uncle Caleb's breathing grew heavy. He shoved Aunt Zoe aside, lunged toward me, and snatched the paper right out of my hand.

"T-This is Ollie's physical exam report from last month." I shrank back.

"Uncle Caleb, I remember your blood type is O. And Aunt Zoe's is O, too. My middle school biology teacher said that two type O parents can't have a type B child."

Uncle Caleb's hands shook violently as he stared at the report. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

My cousin, Ollie Burton, who had been sitting in the corner playing with his phone, looked up in confusion. "What? What did you say? What's wrong with being type B?"

I nervously glanced at Uncle Adam, who was already drenched in sweat at the head of the table, and added the final blow. "But Uncle Adam… has type B blood. When he was hospitalized, I was the one who donated blood, so I remember it clearly."

Uncle Adam leaped to his feet, pointing at me and cursing, "Hannah, you're such a jinx! You're just trying to tear this family apart with these lies! This is pure slander! Do you want me to call the cops on you right now?"

In the tense silence, Uncle Caleb suddenly let out a low laugh. "Honey, explain this to me. Where did our son's type B blood come from?"

The color drained completely from Aunt Zoe's face, and her legs went weak. "H-Honey, let me explain. H-Hannah must have forged this report!"

"Forged?" Uncle Caleb sneered, then threw the paper into Aunt Zoe's face.

"It has the stamp of a top-tier hospital on it! Do you think I'm blind?"

"Caleb! Calm down!" Uncle Adam hastily tried to intervene, his cold sweat streaming down his face.

"This has to be a misunderstanding. We're family—"

"Family?" Uncle Caleb turned to face Uncle Adam. His gaze was full of fury, as if he wanted to kill him on the spot.

"Adam, did you just say family? Did you know about this already? Huh?"

Uncle Adam fumbled for words, his eyes darting all over the place. "Caleb, I… I…"

Uncle Caleb finally snapped. He kicked the table over, stormed up to Uncle Adam, grabbed him by the collar, and punched him in the face. "You're my brother! How could you sleep with my wife? And you even had me raise your son? I'll fucking kill you!"

"Hannah, you bitch!"

My cousin, Quinn Burton, finally snapped out of her shock. She stormed up to me while glaring at me.

"What the hell did we ever do to you? Why are you ruining us like this? If anything happens to my parents, I swear I'm going to make you pay!"

As she said that, she raised her hand, ready to slap me.

I instinctively dodged, and her hand missed by inches.

Seeing me avoid her slap only made Quinn more enraged. She grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall.

"How dare you dodge? You're just an orphan! If my parents hadn't been kind enough to take you in, you would've starved to death on the streets long ago!"

The sudden pain made real tears spill from my eyes. "Let go of me!"

"Let go of you? I'll beat you to a pulp today!"

Quinn suddenly sneered. "Hannah, you're just jealous because I have everything and married a great husband, while you're nothing but worthless trash!"

She flaunted her diamond watch and casually tossed her Porsche car keys in the air.

"See this? This is power! Lucian is the CEO of a major company. With just a snap of his fingers, he could make sure you never set foot in Avendale again!

"Now, get on your knees and apologize to my parents right now. Otherwise, I'll make sure you're out of Avendale by tomorrow, begging for change under the bridge!"

Her words made the relatives who had been trying to break up the fight freeze. They all turned their attention toward me.

I pressed my hand against my throbbing forehead and looked at her timidly. "Quinn, I'm not jealous. I'm just worried about you."

Quinn stared at me for a second, then burst into laughter. "Worried about me? You're a loser who can't even take care of yourself, and you're worried about me? Are you out of your mind?"

I lowered my head and replied softly, "No, Quinn. I think Lucian's company… might be in trouble."

"What do you even know?" Quinn sneered, sizing me up with disdain.

"You probably don't even understand stock charts. Lucian's company is about to go public. When it does, I'll be a billionaire's wife! And you? You'll always be nothing but trash!"

"But…" I raised my head, blinking innocently.

"I saw on the news yesterday that there's something called a Ponzi scheme, and it targets people like you… who want to be rich wives."

I tapped my phone a couple of times and showed her the screen.

A financial news clip was playing. The anchor was delivering a report. "Zentara Group is under investigation for illegal fundraising. The police have intervened…"

Quinn's smile immediately froze.

"Hannah! Are you trying to ruin our family's Christmas?" she screamed, lunging to grab my phone.

"Give me that! How dare you fake this garbage to make up lies? I'll call the cops and have you arrested today!"

I dodged her again. Just as I was about to speak, her phone suddenly rang.

When Quinn saw who was calling, her face lit up with newfound confidence. "Hmph! Lucian is calling me! You said he's a fraud, right? Just watch!"

With that, she answered the phone and put it on speaker. "Honey, you need to hear this. My cousin said you're a frau—"

"Honey! Help me!"

Before she could finish her sentence, her husband Lucian Lowery's frantic voice cut her off.

"I've been arrested! The police are here! All our money has been frozen! Help me!"

In the background, a stern voice commanded, "Don't move! Hand over your phone!"

A series of mechanical beeps followed.

The call was abruptly cut off.

Clutching the phone, Quinn stood there in shock.

I watched as the color drained from her face and walked over to pat her lightly on the shoulder. "Quinn, don't be too upset. I looked it up. That car you're driving is rented. Daily rental is 2,000 dollars, and the deposit is 50 thousand dollars."

I picked up the Porsche key from the floor and handed it back to her. "You'd better return it now, or the penalty fees for late return will be on you."

The entire Christmas Eve dinner had turned into chaos, and I figured it was time for the main event.

Sure enough, with a loud thud, my 80-year-old grandma, Eleanor Hull, made her grand entrance. "This is ridiculous!"

Leaning on her cane, Grandma hobbled out and began lashing out at me without asking anything. "You jinx! You troublemaker! You've turned this whole family upside down!

"You will get on your knees right now! Apologize to Adam, Caleb, and Quinn, or I'll announce in the newspaper that I'm disowning you!"

As I looked at the biased old woman, all the last remnants of any warmth in my heart evaporated.

I took a step back, pretending to be scared. My voice trembled as I cried out, "Grandma, why? Uncle Adam and Uncle Caleb were the ones fighting, and Quinn even hit me! Why should I be the one to kneel?"

"Why?" Grandma sneered.

"Because you're an ungrateful wretch! Quinn married a great husband. She's the pride of this family. And you? What are you? Who do you think you are, comparing yourself to them?"

As she spoke, she raised her cane as if to strike me.

I cried out in fear. "Don't hit me! Grandma, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have aired the family's dirty laundry. I shouldn't have mentioned money. Please don't be mad!"

At the mention of money, Grandma's expression turned even darker. "How dare you bring up money? You ungrateful brat! I raised you from nothing, and now you want to settle the accounts with me?"

Tears clouded my eyes, but I nodded vigorously. "Yes, Grandma. You're right, I shouldn't have thought about settling the accounts."

I wiped my tears and quietly said, "But I've never understood. When my dad's insurance payout came after the accident, you said it was only 100 thousand dollars, and you used it all for my tuition. But when I went to the insurance company, the claim was actually two million dollars…"

I took out a copy of the insurance report from my bag. "And back then, you took 200 thousand dollars from my dad's payout and gave it to Uncle Adam, saying it was for my dad's treatment."

I paused and carefully glanced at Uncle Adam, whose face had turned ashen. "Why, then, did that money end up in a casino transaction in Montara?"

I blinked and looked at Grandma with an expression of pure innocence. "Did you ask him to go there? Could that casino cure my dad?"

Grandma's face was drained of color. Her eyes went wide with disbelief as she looked at Uncle Adam.

But he slowly turned around, completely unshaken. "Hannah, looks like you really are losing it."

Uncle Adam sighed and walked toward me, his presence imposing. "Everyone, Hannah's been mentally unstable ever since she lost her parents. She's shown me this fake document before."

He stopped in front of me and looked down his nose. With a low, threatening voice, he said, "Hannah, I know you've been struggling. If you need money, just ask, and I'll give it to you. But using a fake document to slander us and even attempting to extort us? That's a crime."

"Whether it's a forgery or not, one simple check will prove it!" I spat through gritted teeth while clutching the paper in a death grip.

"It has your signature on it, and the transaction records!"

Uncle Adam suddenly laughed, his laughter dripping with contempt.

He lunged forward and snatched the paper from my hands before tearing it to shreds. "Now, there's nothing left to check."

He leaned in close and whispered maliciously, "Yeah, I took the money to gamble and lost it all. So what? That short-lived father of yours was a lost cause. Leaving money to him would've been a waste anyway. In this house, I'm the law. What are you going to do about it?"

After that, he took a step back and shouted to the relatives around us, "You all saw that! This crazy brat not only forged evidence, but she also stole the gold watch I had on the table during the chaos! That's a Rolex worth over 100 thousand dollars!"

"What? She stole something?"

The relatives, who had been quietly observing, erupted at once.

Between rich, powerful Uncle Adam and an introverted, broke niece, they didn't hesitate to side with the former.

"I knew she was up to something!"

"Call the cops! She needs to be arrested!"

Aunt Zoe, ignoring the swelling on her face, lunged forward and pointed a finger at me, screaming, "No wonder she was lurking in the corner earlier. Turns out she was stealing!"

Trembling with rage, Grandma pounded her cane on the floor. "What a disgrace to this family! An absolute disgrace! Adam, lock her up! Don't let her get away!"

"Security!"

At Uncle Adam's command, two men rushed in from outside. "Grab this thief and lock her up! No one lets her leave without my say-so!"

As Uncle Adam looked at me, cornered against the wall, he slowly straightened his cuffs with a sinister grin. "Hannah, you just had to choose the hard way. Today, I'll teach you some real respect on behalf of your dead parents."

The two bodyguards advanced on me, one on each side.

My relatives watched coldly, some even smirking.

My back was pressed against the wall, and I had nowhere left to retreat.

"Uncle Adam."

I raised my head, meeting his arrogant gaze. The corner of my mouth lifted in a small, defiant smile.

"Do you really think tearing up that paper means you've won?"