Chapter 209 Karen was in a Difficult Situation.

As Matthew and Lawrence were busy collecting cash gifts, a familiar voice suddenly came from not far away. "Make way. Make way. Don't delay us from entering Platan Height Villa."
Matthew looked up and saw that Ernest and his wife had hurriedly arrived.
They rushed over to the cash-gift area.
Matthew looked them up and down.
Every one of them was out of breath, especially Karen, who was sweating profusely. Her makeup had smeared.
Matthew couldn't help but sneer when he saw them. "Ernest, Karen, I’m just your younger brother, and I’m not being nosy. But is it necessary to act like this just to attend a banquet? If I were you, I wouldn't even have come."
Lawrence crossed his arms in front of his chest and sarcastically said, "Have you paid for the repair costs for the Rolls-Royce from the wedding company? You came in such a hurry. You're not being chased by debt collectors, are you? Let me say this right now: it was your fault for rear-ending us, and the compensation money has nothing to do with us."
It would have been better if he hadn't said that.
Once he did, Karen immediately felt a tightness in her chest.
The wedding company had demanded one hundred thousand dollars from her.
She had turned to Sarah for help but had been rejected. Not even the threat of disowning her had worked.
That had made Karen so angry that smoke seemed to come out of her ears.
She had no choice but to negotiate with the wedding company to extend the deadline. They promised to pay the compensation within three days.
After some back and forth, the wedding company reluctantly agreed.
They hailed a taxi by the road and rushed over in a hurry.
Since the taxi couldn't go up the mountain and only stopped at the bottom, they had to run all the way up since they were afraid of being late.
Facing the mockery of Matthew and the others, Karen retorted in annoyance, "Our compensation has nothing to do with you. It would be better to accept more gifts instead of gossiping."
After saying that, Karen tried to enter the Platan Height villa community.
But Matthew stopped her, saying, "Karen. What are you doing?"
"Nonsense. I’m going in to attend the banquet, of course. What's wrong? Won't you let us in?" Karen replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
Matthew shrugged and said, "I didn't mean that. I just wanted to remind you that you can attend the banquet, but according to the rules, you should write the gift money first."
"What? Are you asking me for gift money?" Karen widened her eyes incredulously. "Matthew. Listen to what you just said. I’m the eldest daughter-in-law of the Johnson family. I’m a member of the Johnson family. Why should I, a family member, give gift money when attending my own family's housewarming banquet? Where did this rule come from?"
Matthew replied earnestly, "Mom set that rule. You make a valid point. The Johnson family members don't need to give gift money. But the real Johnson family members have already gone in. You guys are the guests of the Johnson family, so of course you need to give them gift money. If you don't want to do that, you can turn around, go back down the mountain, and head home."
Karen was infuriated.
"Fine. Fine. It's just gift money, right? How much do you want? I'll give it to you."
Matthew sneered and said, "It’s $50,000 per person. There are five of you, so $250,000 in total. Of course, as you said, we're all relatives, so I'll give you a discount. $200,000 will do."
"$200,000?" Karen gasped.
She knew that Matthew was deliberately messing with her.
She suspected that the brothers might have planned this. If she actually handed over $200,000, they would surely secretly divide it among themselves.
She absolutely couldn't let those two brothers take advantage of her.
Karen put her hands on her waist and angrily said to Matthew and Lawrence, "200,000 dollars is too much. Are you trying to embezzle the money?"
Matthew became furious and said, "Karen. If you don't have the money, just say it. You're getting up there in age, it's not good to talk nonsense like this."
While speaking, he picked up the gift account book from the table and showed it to Karen, saying, "Open your eyes and see just how much other people have given us."
Karen looked.
She felt a bit dizzy.
The gift money from more than 20 people had been recorded on one page of the gift account book.
The smallest amount they had received was $30,000, and the largest amount was $280,000, while the majority had given around $50,000 or $60,000.
Matthew coldly said, "See? We didn’t ask you for much money at all. You've been acting paranoid with delusions of persecution every day."
Karen was speechless.
But she was extremely envious of the amount of gift money.
She even fantasized about it.
When Kyle bought a villa for her in Platan Height, she would also have a banquet like this and collect a large sum of gift money.
Just the thought of it was exhilarating.
At this time, the guests waiting in line behind them got impatient and complained to Karen's family.
"Hey. Are you guys giving the gift money or not? If not, then go do something else, and don't waste our time."
"You all dressed fancy, but in reality, you're just empty shells. Don't pretend to be something you're not."
"The difference within the Johnson family members is too big. It takes talent to be able to get to this level."
Despite Karen’s thick-skinned nature she felt her face turning red as she was criticized by so many people.
For the sake of her dignity, she retorted, "It's just 200,000; it's not a big deal. It's just that I left home in a rush today and didn't bring any cash. I only have cards, so I’ll pay next time if there's a chance."
Before she finished speaking, Matthew took out a card machine from under the table and said coldly, "If you don’t have any cash, you can use a card, and if that doesn't work, bank transfers are also acceptable."
Karen was speechless.
One minute later, Karen had painfully completed the card payment of 200,000 dollars.
She took the number tag.
Karen felt her blood pressure rise when she saw Matthew and Lawrence's proud expressions,.
Ernest couldn't help but sigh in exasperation.
He noticed that since agreeing to let his nephew Dominic and his family attend the housewarming banquet, there had been numerous incidents and countless losses.
It felt like a bottomless pit.
He had a strong sense of anxiety that something even more unexpected might happen next.
Someone might regret it for the rest of their lives.
But he couldn't do anything about it right now, let alone make any decisions.
He could only watch as Karen continued to make a scene.
Overnight Riches
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