Get Lost, You Broke Parasite

Late at night, while scrolling on my phone, a post caught my eye. [How can I get a wife with a free house and car without spending a single dime?] The comments were unanimously roasting the original poster, calling him a delusional loser.

Except for one pinned comment, which gave a serious response: [Just knock her up. Then give her the cold shoulder. Her family will start panicking.

When that happens, forget about demanding a house and a car—they'll probably even hand you cash just to take her off their hands.] The poster asked, [Does that actually work?] The guy replied, [Tested it myself.

Works like a charm. My future wife is on her way to my parents' house right now.] [She bought a gold bracelet for my mom and expensive wine for my dad.

She couldn't be more desperate.] I glanced at the pile of luxury gift bags sitting by my entryway. My stomach instantly dropped.

There was no way the world was this full of coincidences, right? I checked the commenter's location. Miami. I tapped into his profile. It was completely blank.

Even the gender was set to female. Was I just overthinking? Right then, Lucas came out of the bathroom.

He had a white towel wrapped loosely around his waist, proudly showing off his sculpted eightpack abs. He was gorgeous. Genuinely breathtaking.

I had fallen for Lucas entirely because of his looks. A man this handsome couldn't possibly be that calculating, right? It had to be a pure coincidence.

Lucas dried his hair, walked over to the couch, and picked up the stretch mark oil from the coffee table. He gently leaned down and began massaging it onto my stomach.

He was actually the one who had researched this product. He said I needed to start applying it the moment I got pregnant so I wouldn't get stretch marks later.

Looking at how tender and attentive Lucas was, all my doubts melted away.

Besides, the moment Lucas found out I was pregnant, he immediately offered to take me home to meet his parents. He hadn't frozen me out or made me anxious at all.

That alone proved the comment couldn't have been his. After a twohour drive, Lucas finally pulled up in front of his family's home.

It was a generic, threestory concrete house out in the rural boonies. The interior was unfinished, and the furniture looked dingy and worn.

A chubby woman in her fifties hurried out the front door when she heard the car engine. The moment she saw me, her face wrinkled up into an overly wide smile. "You must be Chloe!

Lucas talks about you all the time.

I'm so glad to finally meet you in person." She enthusiastically grabbed my hand and led me inside, while Lucas unloaded the expensive gifts I had prepared for his parents from the trunk.

Mrs. Adams pulled me down next to her on the sofa. Lucas carried the bags in and sat beside his mother. The sound of cooking came from the kitchen. A moment later, Mr.

Adams placed a few bowls on the table and mumbled that dinner was ready. Mrs. Adams led me to the dining table. The moment I saw the food, I froze.

A small plate of scrambled eggs, a bowl of plain boiled greens, a block of cold tofu, and the rest were clearly last night's leftover dishes. Mrs.

Adams shot an awkward glare at her husband. "Isn't there pork in the fridge? Why didn't you cook it? Look at this table—it's all plain veggies.

How is Chloe supposed to eat this?" Mr.

Adams didn't even look up. "I don't know how to cook that." Sensing the tense atmosphere, Lucas quickly tried to smooth things over. "Chloe loves greens anyway.

These are all her favorites." As he spoke, he used his fork to drop a piece of scrambled egg into my bowl. Mrs. Adams offered a hasty apology. "I'm so sorry, Chloe.

We spent all day yesterday cleaning the house to welcome you, so we overslept this morning and missed the farmer's market.” “You know how hard it is to shop out here in the countryside." Since she put it that way, I could hardly complain.

I could only force a smile and say it was fine. Throughout dinner, Lucas kept his mouth shut and shoveled food into his face.

I felt awkward bringing up the wedding settlement and financial arrangements myself. After all, that was something the groom's family was supposed to bring up first.

After finishing his meal, Mr. Adams tossed his fork aside, stood up, and went straight to the living room to watch TV. Lucas got up and vanished into the bathroom.

That left only Mrs. Adams and me at the table. Just as I stood up, Mrs. Adams spoke up. "Chloe, sweetie, could you give me a hand?

I threw my back out yesterday..." Since it was my first time visiting my boyfriend's family, I figured I should show some goodwill.

I nodded politely. "Why don't you go rest on the sofa? I'll take care of it." Her face lit up instantly.

She thanked me repeatedly and walked off to the couch without looking back once. I sighed, cleared the table, and washed the dishes. Just as I finished, Mrs.

Adams stepped into the kitchen, sighing theatrically. "Oh, I feel so bad making you work the moment you arrived.

It's just that my back..." Before she finished her sentence, she saw that I had scraped the leftover scraps from yesterday into the trash.

She let out a piercing shriek. "Why did you throw that away?! That food was still good!

Good heavens, girl, what a terrible waste!" Lucas came out of the bathroom just in time to hear the commotion and hurried over.

When he heard that I had dumped last night's leftovers without asking, an irritated scowl flashed across his face, though he quickly masked it. "Mom, don't eat that stuff.

It's old." Mrs. Adams bristled like a cat with its tail stepped on. "Listen to you, acting like a big shot! What's wrong with leftovers?

You grew up on leftovers!" "You live in the city for a couple of years and suddenly you're too fancy for overnight food?" "Our family isn't like those rich city folks who throw food away after one day." As she spoke, she threw pointed, sideways glances at me.

The air grew suffocatingly awkward. Lucas shot me an annoyed look. "Chloe, you could have at least asked my mom before tossing it.

Now she's going to be upset about it for days." Two tiny bowls of scraps, barely a few bites left, and she was going to be upset for days? What was his problem?

I didn't want to ruin the trip on day one, so I swallowed my pride and apologized. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Adams. I didn't know. I won't do it again." The second I apologized, Mrs.

Adams dropped her sour face and beamed. "Oh, Chloe, I'd never stay mad at you! It's fine, totally fine!" With that, she dragged me back to the sofa just as warmly as before.

The living room had a tiny threeseater couch and two single armchairs. Mr. Adams was glued to the TV from one armchair. Mrs.

Adams pulled me down onto the threeseater, and Lucas took a seat next to his father. I pulled out my phone and sent Lucas a text on SnapChat: [What about the marriage fund?

Aren't you going to bring it up?] I hadn't told my parents about the pregnancy yet.

My plan had been to come here with Lucas, see their stance, and find out what kind of wedding contribution they were offering before talking to my parents.

Lucas glanced at his phone, then turned his eyes right back to the TV screen. I was getting anxious. This was the whole reason I had agreed to come here.

Why was he acting like a mute? I sent him two more messages. This time, he didn't even bother unlocking his phone. Losing my patience, I finally addressed his mother directly. "Mrs.

Adams, if Lucas and I are getting married, how much are you planning to put down for the traditional marriage fund?"

Lucas looked stunned that I had actually asked out loud. It was usually considered awkward for the bride to bring up money directly. But I was out of patience. Mrs.

Adams glanced at me, her smile freezing. She rubbed her hands together nervously and looked at her husband. Mr. Adams said nothing. He kept staring blankly at the TV.

Seeing their silence, I pressed on. "Back where I'm from, the standard contribution is around $180,000.

My parents won't keep any of it—they'll pass it all directly to me, and they'll match it with property." "Besides, my parents already bought a condo under my name.

If your family isn't planning on buying a marital home, we can just live in mine." I didn't even mention that the car Lucas had driven today was also mine. Mrs.

Adams gave a strained chuckle. "Chloe, sweetie... our family isn't wealthy. So I was thinking... we could give you $2,880.

It's a lucky number." Two thousand, eight hundred and eighty dollars? That was completely different from what Lucas had promised me.

I turned to Lucas. "And what do you have to say?" Lucas kept his head down, staying silent. A silent agreement. Unbelievable. So this was their little game?

The luxury gifts I brought to their house today cost more than that insult of a check, and she had the nerve to offer me $2,880 as a bridal settlement?

To convince me to buy expensive gifts for his parents, Lucas had sworn that they had saved up a massive wedding fund for him years ago. And this was the grand reveal?

I stood up abruptly.

I looked at the three of them—one staring blankly at the screen as if none of this concerned him, one hanging his head like a spineless coward, and one wearing a fake smile that didn't reach her eyes.

I walked to the entryway and picked up the most expensive gifts I had bought.

Seeing this, Lucas panicked. "Chloe, what are you doing?" I said coldly, "Since your parents haven't figured out their budget yet, let's talk after you've all reached an agreement." Lucas jumped up to chase after me, but his mother grabbed his wrist and shot him a sharp look.

In the end, Lucas stayed put. Sitting in my car, my chest ached with sharp, stabbing pains. I could barely breathe. Lucas and I had been dating for a year and a half.

This pregnancy was an accident. Given my age, I hadn't wanted to casually terminate it.

I thought we could meet the parents, settle the wedding arrangements, and if everything went smoothly, my parents wouldn't object.

Lucas had pounded his chest, promising he'd handle everything. Yet the moment I set foot in his house, I was served garbage leftovers, followed by a pathetic $2,880 insult.

Did I look like an easy mark? I was providing the apartment and the car. Did they really think I was desperate for their crumbs?

Biting my lip, I drove back to the apartment Lucas and I rented. The truth was, I paid the rent for that place too.

Lucas had claimed it was closer to his office and begged to move in. After moving in, he never paid a single cent toward rent.

Whenever I brought it up, he'd make up excuses, act cute, or push me down onto the sofa to distract me.

I must have been completely blinded by his handsome face to play sugar mommy to him for over a year. After I got back, Lucas didn't call.

He didn't even send a single text to soothe things over. The last flicker of hope in my heart went completely cold. I started packing up all of Lucas's belongings.

As I sorted through his things, I realized that from his socks and underwear to his jackets and bags, almost everything he owned had been bought with my money.

And what had he ever bought me? A single DIY tote bag. He got it on Amazon for $9.99 and scribbled some childish doodle on it himself.

It was so ugly that I had never once worn it out. The more I packed, the angrier I became. Suddenly, a dull, agonizing cramp seized my abdomen.

I collapsed onto the floor, clutching my stomach. When the pain subsided slightly, I struggled to my feet, only to feel a warm flow between my legs.

Supporting myself against the wall, I limped to the bathroom. I pulled down my pants—there was blood everywhere.