Chapter 459: Chapter 459: Utterly Shameless
Even so, they still thought Faye Collins should just settle for him. They even said hurtful things like, "You’re an older woman with a kid. You should be grateful anyone even wants you. Being so picky, it serves you right if you never get married," verbally humiliating her and forcing her to accept the relationship.
Because of this, Faye Collins had a huge fight with them that night and hadn’t even answered their constant calls for the past two days.
But Faye Collins knew her own personality. As long as her parents kept contacting her relentlessly, guilt-tripping her with talk of blood ties and family bonds, she knew that over time, she would inevitably soften, give in, and forgive them. And when that happened...
Just thinking about what might happen if she went back to her parents’ house made Faye Collins start to tremble slightly.
Watching her, Arabella Donovan couldn’t help but sigh. The truth might be cruel, but that’s just how it was: her parents didn’t love her at all.
Ultimately, it was all because she was a girl, and she had a coddled younger brother.
Faye Collins’s family structure was just like that of Ken Young’s wife—the man Arabella Donovan had met on the set of the Xianxia drama where Hector Donovan had a guest role. It was the same story: misogynistic parents, a domineering, parasitic brother, and a sister who was forced to endlessly support him.
The only difference was that Young’s wife had no skills of her own but had found a capable husband, so she and her brother leeched off him. Faye Collins, on the other hand, was a good earner herself but hadn’t found a good partner. Though unwilling to support her brother, she couldn’t overcome her parents’ emotional blackmail and was forced to let her brother bleed her dry.
In this world, children from biased families generally fall into two categories. One type awakens and completely breaks away from their family of origin, cutting off all contact for life. But most can never escape the cage of their family.
The least-loved child is often the most filial. To put it bluntly, it’s because those starved for love can’t let go of it and are the easiest to be emotionally manipulated. This was likely the case for Faye Collins. She yearned for her parents’ love and approval, and even the tiniest crumb was enough to keep her hooked.
Little did she know, that insignificant, and likely feigned, affection was enough to drag her into a pit of mud she might never climb out of.
Arabella Donovan knew her family could hear her thoughts, so she didn’t hold back and started complaining internally.
’This family... honestly. A daughter can be a thousand times better, but she’ll never measure up to the useless son who’s supposed to bring glory to the family, all because he was born with that extra bit of flesh. She’s clearly the most promising and successful one in the family, yet she’s been forced to live the most pathetic life.’
Ever since Faye Collins could remember, she had been the family’s personal ATM. If her dad was short on money for cigarettes, he came to her. If her mom didn’t have enough for groceries, she came to her. If her brother’s tuition wasn’t paid, they still came to her.
If she hadn’t by chance met her life’s first benefactor in junior high—the talent scout who recognized her vocal abilities and single-handedly nurtured her career, who later became her agent, Dean—she probably wouldn’t have even finished her compulsory education.
But even with a benefactor’s help, after entering the entertainment industry and earning more money than she ever thought possible, Faye Collins still couldn’t escape being leeched off by her family.
’To put it bluntly, in this day and age, people look down on the poor, not the promiscuous. Everyone scoffs at kept men who live off rich women, yet everyone secretly wants to be one. Ms. Collins’s "glory-of-the-family" brother is one such kept man, and the rich woman he’s living off of is his own sister. The difference is, other kept men at least have to sell their looks and grovel. He doesn’t have to do any of that.
The blood ties between them, coupled with their parents’ boundless and shameless favoritism, have made him take his sister’s contributions for granted. Not only is he clueless about his own lack of ability, but he’s also incredibly arrogant. He bosses around his benefactor all day, acting all high and mighty. Anyone who didn’t know better would think he was the one holding the family up.’
The Donovan Family: HISS... That’s just beyond shameless!
By bleeding Faye Collins dry, the Collins family moved into a big house, drove luxury cars everyone envied, and the brother married the woman he wanted. Then, he and his new wife and child continued to leech off his sister, making Faye Collins cover over ninety percent of the household’s expenses.
Even so, they were still not satisfied.
After Faye Collins got pregnant and had her child, her income dropped sharply. This was partly because having a baby took time away from her work, and partly the inevitable consequence of digital music channels impacting vinyl record sales. But the Collinss didn’t care about any of that. All they knew was that ever since Faye Collins had a child, the amount of money they received had decreased.
This child not only hindered Faye Collins from making money for them but also, as her daughter, was spending money that they felt should have been theirs. Most importantly, she was a daughter’s daughter—how could she possibly be as precious as their own darling son and grandson? It was generous enough that they weren’t treating the child as a spare blood bag for their son and grandson. Just a little girl, so much money shouldn’t be spent on her!
The Donovan Family: Fuck, that makes my blood boil!
After all, they had been her family for decades. Even if she was blinded by their fragile, false affection, she still knew their personalities and character better than any outsider.
Just as Faye Collins suspected, her parents knew perfectly well what kind of person this blind date, introduced by their relatives, was really like in private.
The man had even been married before, though he never got a marriage license for the first one and had no children. The woman couldn’t take his domestic abuse and ran away after he beat her a few times.
Having learned his lesson, the man now knew how to put on an act. Misled by the Collinss, he learned that Faye Collins used to be a singer who earned tens of times more than an ordinary person. He thought he could marry a cash cow, so he agreed to pay a bride price of several hundred thousand to marry her, fantasizing that she would bring even more money into the marriage.
’But how could he possibly know that over the years, eighty to ninety percent of Ms. Collins’s money has been siphoned off by that family of vampires? The little that’s left is barely enough to support her and her daughter. How could she have any savings to pay back his bride price or fund his future splurges? If Ms. Collins actually agrees to this marriage, once they’re wed and he finds out the truth... given his violent tendencies, you can imagine the consequences of his rage.’
Hearing this, Mrs. Donovan and Eloise Donovan subconsciously turned to look at the lonely, frail mother and daughter nearby, their eyes filled with sympathy.
As women themselves, they could empathize more deeply with their plight and were all the more enraged by the ugliness and shamelessness of certain people.
’But the Collinss would never give up on the prize that’s already in their grasp. You can tell from Ms. Collins’s past experiences that this family has been psychologically pressuring her to accept this blind date, PUA-ing her into agreeing to the marriage. Her wishes don’t matter; what matters is the several hundred thousand they’re about to get their hands on.
If Ms. Collins were to just go home rashly and tell her parents she doesn’t want to continue seeing the man and won’t marry him, she’d most likely be humiliated and cursed out, then probably knocked unconscious, locked up, and forced into the marriage.’
The Donovan Family: "!!!" How could they be such monsters to a living, breathing person?!