Rona Langdon imdiately started shouting, "You little spendthrift! Do you just spend every penny you get your hands on? Where did you buy this dress and these shoes? There’s no way they’re worth a hundred yuan! Take them all back! And another thing, from now on, any money you have, you give it all to ! Looking as foolish as you do, you’re bound to get scamd if you hold onto any cash!"
Zachary Preston couldn’t stand it anymore. "Vera’s a grown woman now. What’s wrong with her having a little spending money? Mrs. Xavier gave it to her, it’s not like she spent any of yours!"
He looked at Vera and said, "You keep that dress and those shoes on. Dad will back you up, you don’t have to return them! You’re a young lady, eighteen years old already. It’s ti you started dressing up a bit."
The father and daughter exchanged a look, a silent understanding passing between them.
’Thank goodness Vera said the money ca from Mrs. Xavier,’ Zachary thought, secretly relieved. ’If she’d said it was from , Rona would have clawed it out of her today no matter what.’
Vera was also relieved. ’It’s a good thing I only brought this little bit ho,’ she thought. ’Otherwise, it would have been impossible to explain.’
Rona Langdon didn’t dare to openly defy Zachary, but the thought of Vera wearing the new dress and shoes still infuriated her. She shot Vera a vicious glare and cursed, "Useless spendthrift! Now get your ass to school, or do you want to be late?"
Vera ignored her. With tears welling in her eyes, she gave Rona one last look, then shouldered her schoolbag and walked out.
Cara Preston glanced at the ti—it was already 7:30. The noodles she’d been boiling in the pot were burnt and completely inedible. She quickly grabbed her schoolbag and hurried out the door as well.
As she was leaving, she heard Rona shouting from inside, "Which idiot burned the noodles!"
She didn’t dare make a sound. She rubbed her empty stomach, feeling intensely bitter that Vera had used Mrs. Xavier’s money to buy a new dress and shoes.
She conveniently forgot that when the Preston Family had taken in Vera, the Xavier Family had wanted her to return to them. But she had despised the poor living conditions in the countryside and had adamantly refused to go back, much less acknowledge Mrs. Xavier as her mother.
There was a breakfast shop at the entrance to the compound. Cara Preston took out the pocket money she had secretly saved up from the New Year, hidden from Rona, and glanced at it before ordering a bowl of congee. As she was drinking her congee, she turned her head and saw Vera joyfully digging into a bowl of beef noodle soup.
Cara’s teeth itched with envy. She sat down next to Vera. "Big Sis, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know Mrs. Xavier gave you money. Why didn’t you tell before? If you had, we could have avoided this whole misunderstanding."
’If I’d told her, she would have imdiately run to Rona, who would have then shaken down for every last cent,’ Vera scoffed inwardly.
Outwardly, she sighed and said lightly, "I just didn’t get a chance to tell you!"
Cara blinked and pressed on, "Did you lie to Mom today? You actually still have money, don’t you?"
Vera knew what she was up to. Putting on a "this-is-for-your-own-good" expression, she said, "Cara, I know you’re very kind, but you know what Mom is like. If we don’t save a little money on the side, we’ll end up like today—no breakfast, just an empty stomach."
She had finished her noodles and stood up to leave. Cara quickly grabbed her arm. "Sis, I want beef noodle soup, too! Sisters should share their good fortune. How about you lend five yuan?"
Vera put on an apologetic look. "I really spent all my money. This bowl of noodles was the last of it. I was hoping to buy a reference book... Hey, didn’t you save up twenty yuan of New Year’s money? Could you lend ten?"
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