My Sister's Boyfriend Humiliated Me at Christmas Dinner , He Didn't Know Who I Really Was

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My sister's boyfriend decided to interrogate me at the Christmas Eve dinner table, right in front of everyone.

So, Glendawhere do you work these days?

I kept my voice even. I don't have a job. I've been studying full-time for the civil service exam.

He didn't miss a beat. No job, huh? Then how can you afford to dress like that?

A smirk slid across his face. "I'll just say itI've seen you at a karaoke bar. You've got a heart-shaped mole on your chest." He leaned back in his chair. "Go ahead. Prove me wrong. Take it off."

Twenty-some relatives sat around that table. Every single pair of eyes turned on me, dripping with contempt. The weight of their stares burned through my skin.

My parents kept their heads down. My sister, Anne Cox, didn't say a word to stop him.

I'd spent five years preparing for this exam. Five years. I'd finally placed first in both the written and interview stages. The background check was scheduled right after the new yearthere was zero room for scandal.

"Watch your mouth!" I snapped.

Eric Dickerson pulled out his phone and hit play. "Princess Number 36 at a Kingsbury karaoke lounge. Pretty face, sweet voice. My buddy booked her oncesaid she was real popular."

The woman in the video, writhing and swaying, looked startlingly like me. Seventy percent resemblance, at least.

The table erupted.

"No wonder Glenda always comes home for the holidays loaded down with gifts. So that's how she's been making her money."

My parents said nothing.

I stared at the pile of gifts I'd brought, stacked neatly in the corner, and raised my voice above the noise. "You want to know what those gifts actually are? Mom, Dadif you won't tell them, I will!"

My mother, Cara Cox, panicked. She rushed over and yanked open my coat.

"Sweetheart, why don't you just take off your top and prove you're innocent?"

...

Nevernot once in my lifehad I imagined my own mother would sacrifice me to bury those secrets.

Her words landed like a thunderclap, and the abuse only swelled louder.

"Even her own parents are telling her to strip. Imagine what she must've been doing."

"And Laurence is supposed to be a university professor! This is the daughter he raised? A disgrace to the entire Cox family!"

My father, Laurence Coxa man who rarely so much as cracked a smilecrossed the room in three furious strides. His palm connected with my face so hard my vision went white.

"Glenda Cox. Apologize for the filthy things you've done, and swear you'll never do it again." His voice was iron. "Otherwise, get out of this family. Right now."

I stared at him, reeling. "Dad? On what grounds are you forcing a confession out of me? Did I ever once say I was selling myself?"

I turned to the relatives packed around the table and pointed straight at Eric. "Because of a few careless words from an outsider, you're all ready to condemn me? Do you understand that what he's doing is slander?"

Anne grabbed the front of my shirt, her voice shrill. "Eric Dickerson is the man I lovehe is not an outsider!"

She jabbed a finger at me. "You haven't held a job in five years. How exactly are you affording Chanel?"

Rage flooded my chest until I could barely breathe. I fired back, "Other people might not know, but you do."

Anne released her grip. I stumbled backward, lost my footing, and hit the floor.

Not a single person moved to help me up. Twenty-some relatives, and not one.

Anne let out a derisive laugh. "Oh, rightyou did tell me something. You said you'd landed yourself a man. That the two of you were very close. Couldn't keep your hands off each other."

Before I could react, she reached down and tugged the silk scarf from my neck. The marks it had been hiding drew a collective gasp from the room.

Eric already had his phone aimed at me, snapping photos. "That many hickeys, and you're still going to claim you're not a sex worker?"

I slapped the phone out of his hand. "What is wrong with you? Taking photos of a woman's exposed skin?" My voice shook with fury. "I'm a grown adult. Whatever I do with my partner is my businesscompletely legal and none of yours!"

Anne's voice rang out across the room. "Fine, Glenda. If you're so sure of yourself, tell everyone. What's your boyfriend's name?"

I clenched my jaw. "Jarvis Sanchez."

The room went dead silent for half a secondthen exploded with mocking laughter.

"I'm sorrydid she just say Jarvis Sanchez? As in the eldest son of the most powerful family in Kingsbury?"

"The Sanchez family sits at the very top of the food chain. Why on earth would someone like that look twice at a nobody family like ours?"

"The Sanchez family has no shortage of options for alliances. Why would they bother with someone like Glenda Cox?"

"Unless she got handsy with the Sanchez heir during one of those debutante parties and decided to tell everyone she slept with him?"

Every person in this room was familyrelatives who had watched me grow up. And now they stood on their moral high ground, passing judgment, tearing me apart without a shred of shame.

My father produced a feather duster from God knows where and brought it down hard across my back.

"Glenda Cox! Have you no shame? It's bad enough you're making dirty money, but now you're lying through your teeth!"

I dodged the duster, trying to explain. "Every word I said is the truth!"

He swung harder. Pain bloomed across my body, and I curled into myself.

Eric snatched my phone from my hands. "If Jarvis Sanchez is really your boyfriend, why don't we give him a call and find out?"

Before I could stop him, he'd already dialed the number and put it on speaker.

The voice on the other end was cool and detached.

"Hello? I thought we agreedonly I call you."

The expressions around the room shifted immediately, a flicker of uncertainty crossing their faces.

My sister pinned me down, refusing to let me grab the phone back.

Eric spoke into the receiver. "Is this Mr. Sanchez? I'm a suitor of Glenda Cox's. I just want to knowwhat's your relationship with her?"

Jarvis scoffed. "I don't have time for games. Hanging up."

"WaitMr. Sanchez, this is important to us," Eric pressed.

Jarvis's voice turned cold and clipped. "A fling. Nothing more. Satisfied?"

The line went dead.

Eric tossed the phone back to me. He never saw the barrage of texts that came flooding in the moment after Jarvis hung up.

Getting bold, are we? You just turned me down, and now you're flirting with another man?

What exactly am I to you? A booty call?

Send me your location. I'm coming right now.

Ignoring my messages again? You think that means I can't find you?

Glenda Cox, you can't run from me.

They weren't wrong about one thinghow Jarvis and I met was nothing to be proud of.

A year ago, I'd just failed the civil service exam. My best friend dragged me to a bar to drown my sorrows. She drank too much and got picked up by her boyfriend.

I stumbled through the wrong door, straight into Jarvis Sanchez's private booth. Something reckless seized memaybe the alcohol, maybe the ruin of all my plansand I pushed him back against the couch and kissed him.

His eyes were red-rimmed. He didn't push me away.

After that night, he stared at the scarlet stain on the sheets, a crease forming between his brows.

From then on, we were tangled in something neither of us should have started.

I knew the gulf between us. I knew I was just a stand-in for the woman he truly lovedhis idealized love, the one he could never have. So I kept my feelings on a tight leash every time we were together.

He confessed to me more than once. I turned him down every time and told him that whenever he found someone worth being with, he could end things with me. No hard feelings.

Jarvis was generousextravagantly so. Sometimes it felt less like a relationship and more like being kept.

I'd never breathed a word of this to my conservative parents. I never imagined the only person who knewmy own sisterwould weaponize it against me.

Eric's mocking grew louder. "I can say with absolute certaintythat was not the Sanchez heir."

"Jarvis Sanchez is the chairman of the multinational corporation where I work. I just cross-referenced the number. It doesn't even match!"

"Besides, everyone knows Mr. Sanchez has zero interest in women. The only one he's ever cared about is his first lovethe one who married overseas."

Eric's gaze crawled down to my chest, lingering there with an ugly smirk. "With that innocent little face of yours, what makes you think you'd even register on his radar?"

My sister sneered. "Maybe someone tricked you out of your virginity, sis."

The laughter from the relatives swelled, each voice piling on louder than the last.

"That stupid girl was so desperate to climb the social ladder, she got played like a fool!"

"Let this be a lesson to all of youstay away from trash like Glenda Cox. Understood?"

Mom walked up to me and slapped me hard across the face.

"What have I always taught you? A woman should have self-respect and dignity. How could you sink so low as to become someone's bedmate?"

Eric sneered. "I'm guessing this fake 'Mr. Sanchez' is just one of many clients she services."

"You have no idea the kind of damage a 'Number 36 Princess' can do!"

"If you don't mind me askingwhat's your rate for one night?"

The words were designed to humiliate, and they worked. The relatives erupted in laughter.

Anne pounded her fists playfully against Eric's chest, her voice coy. "Why are you asking my sister her rates? Thinking of placing an order yourself?"

Eric slid his hand around Anne's waist in front of everyone. "Never. You're the only little temptress I want."

The display made my stomach lurch. I gagged.

Anne's voice turned cold. "Oh myis my sister pregnant?"

I swallowed the pain, grabbed the feather duster from Dad's hand, and hurled it across the room. "Enough! Dad, you were hitting me that hardwere you trying to kill me?"

"If you actually beat me to death, that respectable career of yours goes up in smoke too!"

The words landed. Dad's grip went slack, his arm dropping to his side. The only thing left in his eyes was disgustall of it aimed at me.

I turned to Eric and his weasel face. My voice was ice. "Save the slander for the police."

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and swept my gaze across every gawking relative in the room. "Oh, and by the wayevery word you all just hurled at me? I recorded it."

"When the verdict comes down and you're looking at jail time, don't come crying to me."

The color drained from their faces. The tone shifted instantly, voices turning saccharine. "Glenda, sweetheart, we were only looking out for you! Trying to set you straight! How can you repay our kindness like this?"

"What kind of man has Anne brought home? Does he even have real evidence? Don't drag us all down with you!"

Eric snatched my phone from my hand and killed the call to the police. "Calling the cops during New Year's? That's terrible luck. You want to curse everyone here with bad fortune?"

Anne burst into tears. "I don't want bad luck! This is my third time taking the IELTSI have to get accepted to study abroad!"

Study abroad.

The words hit me like a shockwave. I turned slowly toward my parents. Both of them looked panicked.

Dad spoke first. "You know our financial situation. Between you and Anne, we can only afford to send one of you overseas."

My voice came out hoarse. "But I earned my admission to Imperial College London three years ago. You talked me out of it. You said it was too dangerous for a girl to go abroad alone. You said something had come up with the family finances and you couldn't afford to send me."

"I gave it up. It nearly destroyed me, but I gave it up and stayed by your side. And now you're promising to send Annewho hasn't even passed the IELTS?"

Anne put on a remorseful face. "I'm sorry, sis. When you got into Imperial College London back then, I was so jealous. I told Mom and Dad I wanted to go abroad too."

"I never expected them to talk you out of going."

"They probably just figured you're so talented, you'd succeed no matter what!"

"I mean, look at youyou even excelled as a KTV princess. You managed to reel in a fake Mr. Sanchez and everything."

I couldn't hold back. My hand flew before I could think, and the slap cracked across her face.

Mom pulled Anne into her arms and unleashed on me.

"Glenda Cox! She's your sister! How dare you lay a hand on her? Giving up your spot abroad was YOUR FATHER'S decision and MINE! It had nothing to do with Anne!"

Dad hit me backreturning the slap on Anne's behalf. "I'm more convinced than ever that making you give up was the right call!"

"Your character is rotten. Your behavior is out of control. Wherever you go, you're nothing but a disaster!"

My heart plummeted. The tears I'd been fighting finally broke free, pouring down my face in a flood I couldn't stop.

I was only two years older than my sister, but our parents had never treated us equally. Not once.

Just because Anne had a sweet tongue, knew how to bat her eyelashes and play cutewhile I was blunt and awkwardI deserved this?

Eric sneered. "What right do you have to cry? If you've got any guts, prove it yourself! That heart-shaped moleif you don't have one, I'll get on my knees and beg your forgiveness."

"But if you do have one, you need to voluntarily give up your government position."

"Because someone like you doesn't deserve to be a public servant."

A chill sank through me. So this was what he'd been angling for all along. Everything tonightthe accusations, the spectacleit had all been leading here.

The relatives exchanged confused glances, their voices tinged with something sour.

"Government position? Glenda passed the exam?"

"Passed and didn't even tell anyone? What an ungrateful child."

"Since when can a prostitute get a government job? Don't they do background checks?"

Five years. I'd spent five years preparing for the civil service exam. Four failures. This year, I'd finally come out on topfirst place in both the written and oral exams. The background review was scheduled for after the New Year holiday.

Having learned my lesson from before, I hadn't told a single soul about the news this time.

And yet my parents, my sister, and Eric showed no surprise whatsoever. As if they'd known all along.

My voice came out cold and flat. "Eric, you placed second for that position, didn't you."

"Trying to use these filthy tactics to force me out. How pathetic."

Eric's jaw clenched. "Stop changing the subject!" He turned to the room. "Someone help mehold her down and strip her!"

Anne was the first to grab me, pinning my arms. "Mom! Dad! Come help!"

I shouted, loud enough for every person in that room to hear: "If you lay a hand on me, you are no longer my family!"

My parents' footsteps falteredbut the words that left their mouths were ice.

"Glenda, don't blame us. Anne's boyfriend came all this way. We have to see that justice is done for him."

In front of everyone, my clothes were peeled off, layer by layer, until I stood in nothing but my bra.

Several relatives pulled out their phones and started taking pictures.

Twenty-seven years I'd been alive. Neverneverhad I been subjected to humiliation like this.

Eric shoved me aside and bellowed, "Everyone, look! A heart-shaped mole! I wasn't lying! She's Princess Number Thirty-Six!"

The room erupted. Camera shutters clicked in a relentless, overlapping barrage.

In the chaos, I snatched my phone back and typed a text to Jarvis.

Help me.

Then I composed a message to the police and hit send.

My father grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me upright. "What do you have to say for yourself now?"

I wiped the tears from my face. I refused to bow my head. "You can pin any crime on someone if you try hard enough."

"This mole isn't mine. Someone put it thereand I don't need to spell out who."

His palm cracked across my face again. My entire cheek burned white-hot.

I'd lost count of how many times he'd hit me tonight.

"Still talking back?" His voice was a blade. "Glenda, you said it yourselfyou don't claim us, and we sure as hell don't want to claim a vile daughter like you!"

"The Cox family elder is here tonight. He witnessed everything. He'll serve as our witness."

"Effective immediately, your name is struck from the Cox family registry! From this day forward, you are no longer one of us!"

The insults that followed his declaration were even worse than before.

"Laurence, removing the little tramp from the registry is the right call. I don't want people pointing fingers at me on the street."

"Too many daughters is more trouble than it's worth. One sweetheart like Anne is plenty."

"So does this mean Anne's boyfriend gets the government job now? Congratulationslanding a civil servant for a boyfriend, not bad at all."

"Eric, you know what they sayfirst thing a man does after getting a government post is dump his girlfriend. You wouldn't do that, would you?"

Eric pulled Anne into his arms and kissed her, deep and open-mouthed, right there in front of everyone. "Anne is the love of my life. I'd never leave her."

My stomach lurched. I doubled over and threw up everything I'd eaten that night.

My sister's face twisted with fury. "What's that supposed to mean? You see us together and you're so jealous you're losing your mind?"

I finished getting dressed and let out a cold laugh. "Oh, absolutely. Every single one of you in this room is revolting. So revolting I've already thrown up."

I waited for my moment, then darted toward the bags of New Year gifts I'd brought.

My parents had thrown family loyalty out the window and humiliated me in every way they could think of. So why should I keep their secrets?

Dad's voice erupted in rage. "Glenda Cox, you open that bag and I swear to God I'll kill you!"

I smiled, calm and deliberate, and tore the bag open, dumping everything onto the floor.

I moved too fast. By the time my parents lunged forward, it was already too late. The relatives' faces shifted, one by one.

At that exact moment, the front door was smashed open from outside.

Eric saw who walked inand his legs gave out. He crumpled to the floor.