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Chapter 4 A Leech\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
286 (Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4 A Leech\u00a0<\/p>\n
Late that night, the tintinnabulation of the wind chime cut through the silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up to see Eileen and Barnaby prancing into the convenience store, arm in arm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, Syl, you\u2019re still here?\u201d Eileen\u2019s tone was dripping with exaggerated surprise, as if I weren\u2019t slaving away for a living but simply experiencing life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without a word, Barnaby made a beeline for the shelves, tossing chips, chocolates, jerky, and two boxes of H\u00e4agen-Dazs into the basket before slamming it down on the checkout counter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBarnaby\u2026\u201d I stared at the heap of snacks, my heart sinking. \u201cAll of these\u2026 They\u2019re expensive,\u201d I whispered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cExpensive?\u201d His brows drew together, his tone harsh and impatient. \u201cIf my girlfriend wants them, I don\u2019t care how much they cost, and she will have them! Don\u2019t tell me what to do!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After yelling at me, he put on an obsequious smile directed at Eileen. \u201cHoney, take whatever you want. My sister is paying today!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eileen scanned my sickly pale face, then covered her mouth and giggled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on, Syl, don\u2019t be such a miser! Your brother said that everything you earn will one day be his. You should be glad that we want to spend your money. Think of it as fulfilling your obligation in advance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the checkout, the cash register read: 55 dollars.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Barnaby didn\u2019t even bother to look and pushed the whole pile toward me. \u201cPut it on my tab.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBarny, this is a small business. I\u2019m afraid I can\u2019t do that,\u201d I explained, on the brink of tears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the hell is that supposed to mean?\u201d Barnaby\u2019s face darkened, his voice rising to a roar. \u201cI\u2019m spending my own money. How dare you stop me? Just so you should know, Sylvie, every single coin you\u2019ve earned belongs to me! If you hadn\u2019t been stealing all Mom and Dad\u2019s love, would they treat me like this? All of this is on you!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eileen held his hand, pretending to be considerate. \u201cCalm down, Barny! Why argue with your own sister? Syl, can\u2019t you cover it for now? He will pay you back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c1\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew this money would again be logged in Dad\u2019s red ledger, becoming another \u201cgap\u201d that I\u00a0<\/p>\n
0.00%\u00a0<\/p>\n
10.38\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4 A Leech\u00a0<\/p>\n
needed to fill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silently, I fished out the wrinkled bills from my tattered purse and covered the cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carrying the bags, they strutted off, grinning like the Cheshire cat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Liam Underwood, the store owner, walked over and sighed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSyl. I can\u2019t believe it\u2026 Your brother is a leech!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head, words caught in my throat, tears running down my cheeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I thought this was hell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the real hell had yet to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
82.90%\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:38\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph King is an editor and storyteller who ensures every chapter is clear, polished, and engaging for readers.<\/p>\n
Marriage On Hold by Mark Twain 4 \u00a0 Chapter 4 A Leech\u00a0 :\u00a0 286 (Vouchers\u00a0 Chapter 4 A Leech\u00a0 Late […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-story-of-my-life-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23189\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}