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484words
I’d chosen my destination.
A place with spring-like weather year-round,breathtaking scenery.
I planned to heal my body there and start a fresh new life.
That’s what I planned,and that’s what I did.
As my life became more peaceful, the seven people I left behind fell into disarray.
Fiona,a disloyal,heartless wretch—I didn’t let her off easy.
I had successfully gotten the divorce.
As for the payments I’d promised to release?I held them.
“Delay as long as possible,drag her to death!”
As expected,Fiona’s cash flow dried up.
The half of the assets she got,she sold or mortgaged.
Barely in her hands,it was gone.
It wasn’t enough—she owed more.
A debt so large that she would spend the rest of her life paying it off.
Daniel’s family didn’t fare better.
Fiona fired Daniel’s son and his cousin.
There were no more salaries,no compensation,just delays.
They had car loans and mortgage payments to make.
They’d hoped to win me over,thinking I’d restart and solve their problems.
But I saw through their fake“family”and crocodile tears.
I kept the rift between us wide open.
With no money coming from Fiona and no way to get through to me, they were crushed by their loans.
Crushed by loans,they cursed and started job hunting.
But the economy stayed bad.
Always bad.
Jobs they found paid$3,000 or$5,000.
Not enough for loan payments.
The car loan was somewhat manageable. They bit the bullet and sold the car secondhand at a loss, just to plug the immediate financial hole.
Life turned tight,scraping by.
But the house was worse.
Property prices kept dropping.
Selling was impossible.
Keep paying,pouring money into a bottomless pit.
Or default,get blacklisted.
Daniel’s son wanted neither.
Amid the struggle,his girlfriend dumped him.
Conflict erupted.
Daniel’s son attacked Daniel.
He hit hard.
“Damn it,if you hadn’t picked the wrong side,I wouldn’t be here!”
“You raised him—how could you not know his ability?”
“You didn’t trust him,believed an outsider,some‘rich heiress’!”
“You ruined me,you damn disaster!”
Daniel’s wife tried to intervene.
But a furious young man in his twenties was unstoppable.
She got hit too.
Both ended up in the hospital.
There,Daniel borrowed a doctor’s phone,bypassing my block,and called,sobbing.
“…Your brother’s heartless,hitting and cursing his own dad!”
“Come back,you got money from the split,help us out…”
“Dad knows Mom wronged you,Dad’s begging you!”
This wasn’t remorse—just knowing I was useful.
I hung up the phone.
I later heard about what happened next.
Daniel reluctantly sold their old house.
It fetched little,but plugged some gaps.
The family moved to an unfinished new place,working to keep up with the endless loan.
Tensions didn’t fade.
They grew,fueled by relentless work and debt.
Hospital visits piled up.
But it didn’t concern me.
My health improved little by little, and the pain of the past gradually faded.
My life kept getting better!
