The college admissions scores had just been released. The girl I had been financially sponsoring for the past four years sent me a text. She scored a 900 on her SATs—somehow even lower than her score last year. She texted me: Chloe, I don't want to do another year of prep classes, and I really don't want to go to a community college. A classmate told me I could study abroad at a private university, but the tuition and fees are going to be around $50,000. Chloe, I truly want to pursue my education. Can you please keep sponsoring me? 1 Sitting across from me, my best friend Sarah noticed me frowning as I set my phone face-down on the table. She looked at me, surprised. "What's wrong? You look like you just swallowed a lemon." I slid my phone across the table so she could read the text. "Where on earth did you find this entitled parasite? Fifty grand? The sheer audacity she has to even ask," Sarah said, her eyes wide with disbelief. "So, what are you going to do?" "Tell her I'm pulling the plug on her sponsorship. I'm just trying to figure out how to word it." Before I could even finish my sentence, another text chimed in. Chloe, I really need this educational opportunity. I know my test scores aren't high. But Chloe, you know my family’s financial situation... I hope you can help me achieve my dreams. I will remember you forever. Thank you. Reading that little sob story didn't change my mind. If anything, it made me realize that sponsoring her for the last four years had been a massive mistake. Suppressing my irritation, I typed out a reply. Mia, hi. I'm sorry to hear your scores weren't what you hoped for. When we spoke last year, I made it very clear that this was your last chance. My condition for continuing the sponsorship was that you get accepted into a four-year state college. As for your plan to study abroad, I am not wealthy enough to afford a $50,000 tuition bill, so my hands are tied. Given the current circumstances, I am terminating my sponsorship. Moving forward, you'll have to rely on yourself. Hitting send felt like a massive weight lifting off my chest. Sarah read the text over my shoulder and sighed. "You should have bluntly rejected her like this ages ago. Instead, you dragged it out for an extra year." The screen showed Mia was typing, but no message ever came through. I assumed the matter was finally settled. 2 When I opened my front door and saw Mia and her mother standing in my hallway, I was genuinely shocked. Mrs. Gallagher was holding an assortment of cheap gift bags. Mia was looking down, tapping away on her phone. The moment she saw me, she shoved her phone in her pocket, practically lunged at me, and locked her arms around mine. "Chloe! I finally get to see you! I've been wanting to visit you forever, but school has been so busy I never had the chance." "This girl has been talking my ear off about coming to see you, saying she needed to thank you for all your help over the years," Mrs. Gallagher quickly chimed in. I glanced at the bags cluttering my hallway and said flatly, "Let's go inside first." They hadn't even been sitting on my couch for five minutes before Mrs. Gallagher revealed their true motive. "We know the girl didn't test well this year, and she felt too guilty to face you. But you know how it is—a girl without a real degree these days is going to struggle. Her dad is disabled, and I have to support both her and her little brother on my own. We simply don't have the money to send her abroad. You're the only person we could turn to." I poured them two glasses of water and sat back. "Universities abroad still have academic standards. With her grades, even if she goes overseas, she won't get into a reputable school. Finding a good job when she comes back will be just as difficult." "I already asked around! It only takes $50,000 to get the degree, and when she comes back, they guarantee job placement with a starting salary of $80,000 a year!" Hearing that, I couldn't help but laugh. "Mrs. Gallagher, things like that don't exist. Whoever told you that is running a scam." Mrs. Gallagher's face immediately hardened. "I may not have a college degree, but I'm not an idiot." "Chloe, you have to believe us. It's real," Mia insisted. "My boyfriend—well, a guy in my class—is going too. If we apply together, they even give us a discount." I shook my head. "That makes it sound even more like a scam." "It's real! Look, I'll show you the texts." Mia shoved her phone in my face. The chat was open to a contact saved as "Baby Bear." She glanced at me, and seeing I wasn't reacting, quickly backed out to pull up the contact for the "agent" she had mentioned. The agent's pitch was flawless. They claimed to represent globally recognized universities—top-tier schools across Europe and Australia, take your pick. They didn't care about your GPA; as long as you paid the fee, they would ensure you passed the interview and got your visa. If you chose to return to the States after graduation, they guaranteed an $80,000/year corporate job. Hell, if it were real, I'd want to sign up. I had been busting my back in the corporate world for two years and barely cleared $5,000 a month. "This is an obvious fraud," I said firmly. "Studying abroad doesn't work on a 'flat-rate package' deal, and costs vary wildly depending on the country. If it were this easy, why would anyone even bother taking the SATs? We'd all just pay a fee, go abroad, and come back to guaranteed $80K salaries." "That's just because other people don't have the right connections! This isn't an opportunity just anyone can get." Mrs. Gallagher leaned in close, lowering her voice like we were discussing state secrets. "These spots are strictly allocated. Mia is just incredibly lucky to have access to one." I looked at Mia, who was staring at her phone with a dopey, lovesick smile. I sighed inwardly. "Mia, how exactly did you get this 'spot'?" Hearing her name, Mia quickly locked her screen and turned to me. "My boyfriend pulled some strings through his relatives. His uncle is a massive real estate developer in New York with huge connections. That's how we got the VIP allocation." Her face was plastered with a smile so smitten it looked glued on. A rich developer uncle? Massive connections? I instantly knew exactly what was going on. "Mrs. Gallagher, I'm telling you, you've met a con artist. He's just trying to drain your bank accounts." "Impossible. Why would he be a scammer?" Mrs. Gallagher waved me off, utterly dismissive. Since the mother was a brick wall, I pivoted to the daughter. "Mia, listen to me. Nothing your boyfriend is telling you is true." She blinked, totally failing to process my bluntness. "I don't know how long you've been dating this guy, but everything he's pitching is a lie. I highly suspect he's trying to scam you out of your money. I strongly suggest you call the police." Mia's eyes went wide, acting as if I had just uttered absolute heresy. "Call the police? For what?!" Mrs. Gallagher erupted. "You just don't want to pay up! You only agreed to sponsor us in the first place to look like a saint on social media! Now that Mia found a boyfriend with real money and power, you're jealous!" "Yeah, Chloe! How could you be so mean?" Mia chimed in, tears brimming in her eyes as if I were a heartless monster. "Just because I accepted your financial help doesn't mean I lose the right to fall in love!" "Trey said that when they get back from Europe, he's going to build her brother a massive three-story house back in our hometown! He's not a scammer! You just can't stand seeing us do well. Honestly, if we knew you were going to be this stingy, we would have found a different sponsor. We wouldn't have to sit here begging you while you act superior. We'd already have the money wired!" Mrs. Gallagher ranted. Seeing my face turn to ice, Mia tugged her mother's sleeve. "Mom, stop." "Why should I stop? She should have sponsored you and your brother from the start! Instead, she decided to split her money and sponsor two different families to double her clout. If she had just given us all the money, I wouldn't have to work so hard!" Hearing that, any remaining shred of politeness I had vanished. I stood up and pointed to the door. "I don't have the money to fund your delusion. If you want to study abroad, figure it out yourselves. It's late, and I have work tomorrow. Please leave." Mia's face went pale. "Chloe, it's so late. We don't know anyone in this city. You're really not going to let us stay the night?" "There's a hotel right down the street." "You gave us a little bit of charity and think you're royalty?! Fine! I refuse to believe we'll sleep on the street!" Mrs. Gallagher grabbed Mia with one hand, snatched her cheap gift bags with the other, and stormed out, slamming my door so hard the walls shook. The mother-daughter duo successfully completely cured my burnout from work. Turns out, there really are things in this world far more nauseating than a 9-to-5 job. 3 I thought ambushing me at my apartment was the lowest they could go. I underestimated them. They showed up at my workplace. Mrs. Gallagher's exact logic was: How can a liar who breaks her promises be allowed to work in the public sector, supposedly serving the community? This time, it wasn't just the two of them. They dragged along Mia's disabled father and her fragile younger brother, Kevin. The whole family camped out in the main lobby of the City Hall permit office. Mrs. Gallagher marched up to every single service window, loudly broadcasting her sob story. She claimed I had promised to fund Mia's entire university education, but now I was going back on my word and refusing to pay. She cried about how they brought me hometown gifts out of the goodness of their hearts, only for me to turn up my nose and kick them out onto the street at night. She wailed that if I wasn't going to fund Mia's college, I shouldn't have stolen the sponsorship spot from wealthy corporate donors who actually had money. Now, Mia was doomed to rot in their dead-end hometown because I was a greedy liar. She put on such a tear-jerking performance you'd think she was auditioning for an Oscar. I had funded this girl for four years. Because she wanted an exorbitant amount of money to go abroad, I said no, and suddenly I was the villain of the century? In just a few days, she successfully made me the most famous person in my department. Sitting at my front-desk window, I could feel the side-eyes and whispers from my coworkers. But because I worked at the public-facing front desk, I had no valid excuse to have security throw them out without causing a PR nightmare. "Chloe, Director Davis is back from his conference. He wants to see you in his office." After the family had terrorized my lobby for four straight days, my boss returned from a two-week training trip early. Clearly, the circus downstairs had prompted his early return. "Chloe. Come in, sit," Director Davis greeted me with his usual warm, politician smile. I forced a polite smile back. "Good morning, Director." I sat down, feeling incredibly anxious. "I've heard about the situation downstairs," he said, taking a slow sip from his thermos. "Why don't you walk me through exactly what's going on?" "I started sponsoring Mia when I was a junior in college. $500 a month. I had come into a little bit of money that year, and I just wanted to do something good, so I picked two students to help out. Last year, she failed her college entrance exams, so I terminated the agreement. But she begged me, saying if she didn't do a prep year, her mom was going to force her into an arranged marriage just to collect a dowry for her brother. I agreed to sponsor her for one final year. The condition was that she had to get into a state college. If she failed again, the money stopped." "I see. I know your character, Chloe. Doing a good deed is commendable," Director Davis said, rubbing his temples. "But this family causing a scene in the lobby every day... we can't let this continue." "I know, Director. I'll handle it." "With people like this, you can't just throw money at the problem to make them go away. They're a bottomless pit." "I understand." "If you need help, don't try to shoulder it alone. We have your back," he said thoughtfully. "Have security bring them up to my office. I'll have a word with them." "Thank you so much, Director." As I walked downstairs, I ran into the family of four being escorted up by the security guards. Mrs. Gallagher shot me a triumphant, arrogant glare, strutting like she owned the building. "Mia," I called out to the girl trailing at the back. She flinched, surprised I was speaking to her. "What's the matter? Finally willing to talk to us?" Mrs. Gallagher sneered, assuming my silence over the past few days meant I had caved. "You gave us a few pennies and think you're God. If we knew you were just a miserable 9-to-5 desk jockey, we would never have taken your money! I'll make a scene every day until you're completely humiliated. Let's see if you dare bully us again." "Mia, for the last four years, I wired your tuition and your $500 monthly living expenses on time, every single month. You told me you would study hard to repay my kindness. Is this how you repay me?" I stared dead into Mia's eyes. "Have I ever asked you for anything unreasonable? Have I ever mistreated you? Don't you think causing a scene at my job is completely immoral?" "$500?!" Mrs. Gallagher gasped like she had just been struck by lightning. She slapped Mia hard on the shoulder. "You ungrateful brat! You told me she only sent $300! Where did the other $200 go?!" Kevin lunged forward, grabbing his sister's arm. "Did you hide money from me?! Give it back!" Being yanked back and forth by her mother and brother, Mia finally snapped. She ripped her arm away and screamed, "I gave it to Trey!" She shot me a venomous glare. "Trey's wealthy parents despise my background. They cut off his credit cards to force us to break up, so I gave the money to him!" "But that was supposed to be my money!" Kevin whined. "Oh, shut up, look at the big picture! Once your sister and Trey come back from studying abroad, do you really think we'll care about a few hundred bucks?" Mrs. Gallagher beamed at Mia as if looking at a winning lottery ticket. Suddenly, her eyes shifted back to me, filled with absolute disgust. "If you hadn't shoved your way in, the person sponsoring Mia would have been a real millionaire! An actual CEO! Not a fraud who can't even scrape together $50,000. You're broke, but you still pretend to be rich." I let out a dark chuckle. "If I hadn't sponsored her, you would have sold her off for a dowry four years ago. Did you forget?" "Th-that was a special circumstance!" Mrs. Gallagher stammered. "Besides, Mia found Trey on her own! It's her own blessing! You don't have the money anyway, so this is none of your business!" I didn't bother arguing with the mother. I just looked at Mia. But in her eyes, I couldn't find a single trace of gratitude or apology. Perfect. Four years of charity, wasted on a snake. Director Davis stepped out of his office, saw us in the hallway, and ushered everyone inside. "I'm familiar with your situation," Director Davis said with his signature smile, taking a slow sip of his tea. "What exactly are you hoping to achieve here?" "Director, Chloe promised to sponsor Mia through college, but now that Mia's grades slipped, she's backing out. We couldn't swallow that injustice, so we came to find her. Just because a kid struggles in school doesn't mean she should be stripped of her right to an education, does it?" Mrs. Gallagher's rapid-fire guilt trip even caught Director Davis off guard for a second. "We're reasonable people. We just want you to judge the situation fairly. How can someone with zero integrity like her be allowed to work here?" "Chloe is an exceptional employee. Her work ethic is recognized by everyone in this building," Director Davis interrupted smoothly. "Well, she's your employee, and she promised to pay for Mia's college. Since she doesn't have the money, Director, don't you think your office should allocate some public funds to solve this issue?" I swear, even a seasoned veteran like Director Davis blue-screened for a second when he heard that. I certainly didn't expect Mrs. Gallagher to drop a demand so delusional it could shatter the sound barrier. "Chloe's charitable contributions are strictly personal actions. They have absolutely nothing to do with this office," Director Davis replied, recovering his diplomatic tone. "You're a massive government office, and you don't have a charity fund?" Mrs. Gallagher pressed, refusing to give up. "Sponsoring Mia is an investment with infinite returns! You really don't have a precedent for this?" "If you're looking for charity, I suggest you contact the Red Cross," Davis said, glancing at them. "Though, somehow, I doubt they'll fund an international vacation." "I don't care! Your employee made a promise. If she doesn't have the money, you need to figure it out!" Mrs. Gallagher had fully transitioned into throwing a toddler's tantrum. "Chloe doesn't have money?" Director Davis looked at me, thoroughly amused. "Chloe, did you not explain your financial situation to them?" 4 Yes, I was just a regular 9-to-5 employee. But during my junior year of college, my family received a massive payout from a corporate eminent domain buyout of our land. It wasn't "buy-a-private-jet" money, but it was enough that if I budgeted well, I wouldn't have to stress about bills for the next two hundred years. I wanted to put some of it to good use, so I picked two students to sponsor. I never expected them to worship the ground I walked on. I just wanted to help people who actually needed it. But I never anticipated creating a monster like Mia. The moment Mia and her mother realized I actually did have money, the speed at which their attitudes flipped was genuinely breathtaking. Mia was suddenly calling me "Chloe" with nauseating sweetness, blaming her "youth and immaturity" for her past behavior. She claimed she was just so desperate to study that it clouded her judgment. Her mother parroted the same nonsense, claiming her "fierce maternal love" made her act disrespectfully. Mrs. Gallagher even went back downstairs to all the service windows, aggressively singing my praises to my coworkers and asking them to "take good care of me." The whiplash was so severe my coworkers looked at her like she belonged in a psych ward. But true to form, they operated entirely on their own shameless logic, uncaring of how unhinged they looked. The venom they spewed yesterday matched the sickeningly sweet flattery they poured on me today. In just a few days, this mother-daughter duo taught me that when someone truly abandons all shame, there is absolutely no limit to what they are capable of. They started camping outside my apartment again—this time, practically trying to force-feed me home-cooked meals. Her disabled father limped around my hallway, sweeping my doormat. And Kevin, the frail, delicate brother, waited for me outside my office every morning and evening, claiming he was there to "protect" me. People talk about getting milked like a cash cow, but this family was trying to harvest my organs. I had sponsored a student and accidentally adopted a whole lineage of parasites. Director Davis loved watching the karma unfold, but at the end of the day, it was my mess to clean up. I sighed in defeat. "Mia, come here." Hearing me finally address her directly, Mia's face lit up with pure ecstasy. "Yes? What is it, Chloe?" "Regarding the funds for you to study abroad," I said, my tone completely flat. The moment those words left my mouth, the entire family swarmed me like vultures. "Are you willing to sponsor me?!" Mia's eyes practically glowed in the dark. "Let me explain my situation." I paused for dramatic effect. "I don't spend a lot of money on a daily basis. My funds are locked in high-yield Certificates of Deposit. If I withdraw the money early, the penalty fees are massive." "So after all that talk, you're just making excuses not to pay us," Kevin sneered, rolling his eyes. I completely ignored him. "If I am going to continue the sponsorship, we have to sign a legally binding contract. I will only wire the money directly to the educational institution for tuition. Furthermore, you must guarantee you will actually graduate and receive a legitimate diploma." "Yes, yes, absolutely! I promise I will study so hard!" Mia nodded furiously. "Like I said, my money is locked up. It matures in exactly fifteen days. That is the earliest I can access the funds." "Ah, is that so?" Mia looked deeply distressed. "Chloe, can't you just take the penalty fee and withdraw it early? My family already took out a huge loan to start building my brother's house... Just pull it out early, and we'll pay you back whatever the penalty fee is!" I stared at the girl flashing me a brilliant smile. Pay me back the penalty fee? The absolute delusion. "This is my final offer," I said coldly. "Until those fifteen days are up, do not contact me." Realizing I left zero room for negotiation, Mia pouted and muttered an "Okay." "And stop lurking around my apartment," I added, looking at the family of four buzzing with greedy excitement. "In fifteen days, bring the contract to my office, and we'll sign the paperwork." "Chloe, you are the absolute best! Our whole family thanks you!" Before leaving, Mia forced me into a massive, suffocating hug. As Mrs. Gallagher walked away, she loudly praised my "kind and generous heart." I funded Mia for four years and never got a single word of thanks. Now, I was making them wait fifteen days, and suddenly I was a saint. Was I being kind and generous? No. I was simply respecting the fate they chose for themselves.
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