Chapter 501 She Won't Let You Off
Maria sat listlessly on the couch, surrounded by several people, all around her age, both men and women. They were her relatives. Maria's family had always favored sons over daughters, and before she met Thalassa's father, she never really had any good days.
After her second marriage to Justin, in the eyes of others, she became quite the affluent housewife. The relatives who had previously shown little to no contact suddenly became attentive. Maria was someone who cared about appearances; although her relatives had treated her poorly in the past, she enjoyed the feeling of being adored by them. As a result, she occasionally helped out her family.
Over the years, the Shaw family's business had flourished. Green with envy, her relatives clamored for a piece of the action and started handling some affairs, making a couple hundred thousand dollars a year.
Last month was supposed to be the biannual settlement day. The families together, including expenses, had about four to five million dollars to settle. Historically, the Shaw family was prompt with payments, settling transactions within two or three days after the financial checks.
However, this time, a month had passed without any movement. It was only two days ago when they pressed the financial department that they discovered the accountant had quit. Moreover, they learned from the grapevine that the Shaw family's company was going under.
The Shaw relatives were taken aback. They immediately dropped everything and came to Bay City.
"Maria, why aren't you saying anything? We've got all our money tied up here!" Brad Shaw slammed his hand on the table. "Your husband's not showing his face now and says we should go ask Thalassa for the money. That ungrateful brat doesn't even answer our calls! What are we supposed to do?"
"Yeah, we trusted you, and that's why we partnered with your husband. You need to have a conscience, Maria. I've seen you spend money generously. You said Thalassa gives you loads of money every month, tens and hundreds of thousands. Look, why don't you just lend us the money for now, and then you and your husband can settle the accounts later?"
"Right, Maria, you give it to us first, we're family after all. It’s okay to take a loss from outsiders, but you cannot stiff your own family!"
The room was filled with overlapping voices, all pressuring Maria to hand over the money. Maria's head was buzzing. Ever since the day Justin had hit her and she ended up with a cracked skull, he had disappeared, not answering any of her calls.
Other debt collectors had come knocking, and she had dealt with them by calling the police. However, she couldn't do that to her own family, could she.
The police really got involved, and who knows how they'll spin it after they head back.
"I don't have any money," Maria said, feeling utterly powerless.
"What are you talking about? How can you not have money? What about all that cash Thalassa gave you?" a middle-aged woman yelled; arms crossed. She was quite familiar with Maria.
Even if Maria’s husband didn't regularly provide for her, the money Thalassa had given her over the years was no less than ten million. They were only asking for five hundred.
It was impossible that Maria couldn't spare that.
She was just playing poor to avoid paying.
"I really don't have any money left. I gave it all to Tiankuo recently!" Maria broke down in tears. "I don't even know where he is now! Please, just stop pressuring me!"
Maria had known Thalassa's father since she was sixteen.
Even when he passed away unexpectedly, she had never felt this level of despair.
She couldn't understand it.
Her tranquil life took a sharp turn for the worse.
"Stop with the nonsense, who's going to believe that?" the middle-aged woman rolled her eyes.
Maria had always acted like such a high-roller in front of them.
No one believed her cries of poverty anymore.
"Yeah right, I don't believe for a second that Justin wouldn't come home," the man who had just called Thalassa scoffed. "We're not leaving without getting our money, we might as well settle in here!"
"Exactly! No money, we'll stay right here," another voice chimed in.
Maria was shocked. "You're going too far. When you begged for my help, you didn't have this attitude! Just because the Shaw family is going through a rough patch and Thalassa and I had a fight, you all turn on us! But don't expect to get anything from the Shaw family once we get back on our feet!"
The group exchanged looks.
Maria pulled out her phone again. "Let me tell you, not to mention the Shaw family, you know who Thalassa's best friend is, right?"
She found a photo of Thalassa and Fiona.
"Her name is Fiona, she's the heiress to the Rhoads family fortune, and she's Thalassa's best friend! If she finds out how you're treating me, she won't let you get away with it!"
With tears in her eyes, Maria continued to try to prove to her needy relatives that she was far from beaten.
She showed them a picture of a construction site.
"See this? This is land I bought in Chicago. We're about to start building an office tower here. If you don't believe me, go there and ask if their boss isn't named Thalassa!"
Lately, Fiona had been quite the hot topic.
Within the Shaw family, just mentioning Fiona’s name carried enough clout to intimidate.
They glanced again at the picture of the construction site and exchanged knowing looks.
Then, the middle-aged woman spoke up first, "Maria, cool down. We're just too anxious. You know, your two nephews are in college abroad, and just the tuition costs us tens of thousands of dollars each year. Living expenses over there are sky-high. We're about to pay for tuition and living expenses again, and we really have no choice!"
Her tone had softened considerably.
No more rolling of the eyes either.
Maria scoffed, "I won't stiff you. I've never stiffed anyone!"
She paused for a moment. "If you all plan to stay here, then by all means, stay! When Thalassa and his best friend come over, it will be the perfect opportunity for you to meet them, so I can introduce my nephew to some real folks!"
Everyone listened, their expressions turned uneasy.
To be honest, these people were once the dregs of society.
Their wealth might not have been possible without their association with the Shaw family.
So, they weren't sure whether to believe Maria's words or not.
But after some thought, if she was lying, it just meant a delay in getting the money.
But if she were telling the truth., crossing a big shot would be the end of them.
"Maria, what are you talking about? I was just speaking off the cuff," the man said with a forced smile. "How about this, give us another week to talk things over with Thalassa, to get our family's finances sorted."
Maria lifted her chin in pride.
Then, she grunted through her nose.
“Well then, we won’t bother you, you can rest now!“
The group stood up almost in unison.
They all said their polite goodbyes to Maria.
Maria didn’t even glance at them.
As soon as the Shaw crew left, Maria felt her legs go weak. She rushed to the front door and double-locked it.