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Jr happily pulled the wrapping paper off of the box I gave him, exposing a robot that I didn't even understand what it did. I just googled the top Christmas gifts and got the one at the top.

He seemed excited.

"Thank you." He said softly with a smile on his face.

"You're welcome." I replied moving to kiss him on the cheek, "Let me open it for you."

We were seemingly the only ones in a festive mood since Paisley was on her phone doing something, and my grandma was quietly watching Jr and I.

After that, I gave him his stocking, which was mainly filled with small toys like legos and sugar-free fruit snacks.

"Okay come open mommy's." Paisley said while standing up and bringing over a huge box.

I didn't know where she got the money from to buy it but I was just happy that she found a way to get him a gift.

Once he unwrapped it, I saw it was a Jeep Power Wheel.

Again, I'm not one to count people's money, but I know they cost about 2 or 3 hundred dollars easily. Maybe his dad helped out for once.

Smiles were on everyone's faces as we watched him look at the box with pure elation.

"Kyser help her put it together." My grandma instructed.

Oh look, she talks.

"I don't even know how." I said while walking on my knees to read the box.

"I think you just need a screwdriver." Paisley spoke.

"Well go get one."

To my surprise, she stood up and did what I told her to without saying a word.

"It's a blessing you ran across that money Pai." My grandma said when she returned to the living room.

Paisley looked at me briefly, "Yeah it is."

My eyes narrowed, "What money?"

"Demetrius gave me money for Christmas." She replied, referring to Jr's dad.

So like I thought then. At least he's finally doing some shit.

While we were putting Jr's car together, my phone dinged with a message. I handed Paisley the screwdriver before checking it, seeing that Jaxon had sent a message telling me he wired the money for next month into my account.

Our agreed date for payment was in the middle of the month, the same date that we'd signed the contract.

Maybe I was reading too much into it, but I felt by him sending the money early, he was letting me know everything was fine between us.

We hadn't exactly spoken that much, just quick messages here and there, but this put my worries about the situation to rest.

I quickly replied, telling him thank you before going to check if it came through or not. I didn't expect it to since the banks were closed, but I checked anyway.

Once my account loaded, my eyebrows knitted in confusion, wondering where my money had gone. Yeah I bought Christmas gifts, but not thousands of dollars worth.

Scrolling through my transactions, my shoulders dropped in defeat.

Because Paisley was about to get her ass beat.

She had Cashapped herself $5000 from my account. A semester's worth of money from my account. A literal year worth of bills from my account.

"Paisley let's go outside." I said while standing up. I didn't want to fight her in front of Jr.

Her eyes went to mine and she already knew what was wrong, "Ky I'ma give you your money back."

I wasn't trying to hear that. She shouldn't have touched it in the first place.

My grandma leaned forward, "What money?"

"She stole five thousand dollars from me."

"You don't even need it. How you walking around letting grandma struggle while you got all that money?"

"I pay most of the bills in here Paisley!" I yelled, "Why do you think she's able to give your broke self money all the time!"

Jr looked up at the sound of me yelling, shrinking away from me.

"Is that where you got the money from to pay me back?" My grandma asked before looking at me, "It's still money in my account. I'll give it to you."

This woman is delusional.

I ignored her, keeping my eyes on Paisley, "How did you even know my password?"

She had to have used my laptop which I left here when I went with Jaxon. All of my passwords are saved on the websites but she still would've need my laptop password to make it that far, and I was the only one who had it.

And my grandma.

"Nevermind." I shook my head, "Just give me my money back or we're fighting. Period."

My grandma was on her tablet at this point, likely trying to log into her account.

"I spent it." Paisley shrugged.

"You spent 5 grand in a week?"

I looked her up and down trying to see where the money would've gone. Her hair was still in the same ass ponytail, she had on the same shoes, I didn't see anything.

"Demetrius needed to get his car out of the shop."

A sharp pain went through my chest, making me place my hand there. These people were trying to kill me.

My grandma gasped, "Paisley what did you do?"

I thought she was talking about me, but she was still looking at the tablet. Walking over, I looked at the screen which showed her account was negative by nearly $10,000.

"The guy gave me a check." She tried to explain, "He asked for $5000 and gave me a check for $10,000."

She really fell for the money scam.

"It's a bounced check you fucking idiot!" I screamed, not caring that my grandma was in the room anymore.

"We'll figure it out Kyser." My grandma lied, "We'll figure something out."

Jr had started crying on the floor, making Paisley walk over to him, pretending that she gave a fuck.

"Grandma," I began, trying to keep my voice at a normal pitch as not to upset Jr any further, "She can't come here anymore."

"This isn't even your house." Paisley scoffed.

She was the least of my concerns as I kept my eyes on my grandma waiting for a response.

"We can't give up on someone because they make mistakes Ky."

"I can't live like this anymore." I insisted, "Either you tell her not to come here, or I'm moving out."

Obviously I didn't want to leave my grandma here, but what am I supposed to do?

We stared at each other, and when she shook her head again, I knew I'd be leaving, "Just give me time to figure something out."

I went into the back, pulling out suitcases and grabbing clothes. I didn't have a destination in mind but it wouldn't be here.

Christmas day, and I'd be spending it sad and alone.

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