My $20K Spend, His Breakdown

I ran into Alex, a scholarship student from my year, working a part-time shift at the campus mail center while I was picking up a package.
We started chatting, and when he found out my Black Friday haul cost over twenty thousand dollars, he just snapped.
I've never even seen that much money in my entire life! And you just... spend it?
"Did your mother send you here to get an education or to blow her fortune?"
He snatched the package out of my hand and physically blocked the exit.
"You need to return all of it! Now! Kids like you have no idea how hard adults work for their money! If you're this wasteful now, what man is ever going to be able to afford you?"
His bizarre, accusatory tone was so absurd I had to laugh. "I'm spending my mom's money. What's that got to do with you?"
"What's it got to do with me?" he shot back, his face a mask of self-righteousness. "I'm dating your mother. And every cent you spend... is our future marital property!"
I froze.
But... isn't my mom a lesbian?
When did she start liking men?

1
Alex was still ranting, his voice rising with indignation.
"I know you're young, you don't understand real hardship! But I'm not like you. I had to grow up fast, and I know better than anyone how tough your mom has it!"
He took a step closer, spittle flying from his lips.
"Twenty. Thousand. Dollars! Gone with a click of a button. Do you have any idea how many fake smiles, how many drinks, how many sleepless nights she endures to make that kind of money? The world doesn't see the struggles of a single woman building an empire, but you're her daughter! Can't you have a little empathy?"
Seeing his pained, heartbroken expression, I almost burst out laughing again.
Never mind that the thirty thousand dollars I get every month is an allowance my mom practically forces on me. For my eighteenth birthday two years ago, I casually mentioned wanting a car that cost nearly two hundred thousand dollars, and she didn't even blink before saying yes.
My mom's favorite line is, "Honey, I make money so fast I was worried I'd have no one to help me spend it. That's why I had you, my little helper."
How we spend our money is our business. When did it become a stranger's place to lecture me?
"Pick it up." I stared at the package Alex had thrown on the floor, my brow furrowed. "Willful destruction of property is a crime. If you touch my things again, I'm calling the police."
"Hah!"
He wasn't intimidated in the slightest. In fact, he doubled down.
"You little brat. I try to talk some sense into you, and it goes in one ear and out the other, doesn't it?"
He lunged forward and grabbed my arm, his voice laced with menace. "I'm warning you! Your mom and I are getting married soon! Legally, I'll be your stepfather! And as your parent, I am ordering you to return every last piece of this junk! Right now! Or else..."
I scoffed, knocking his pointing finger away with my package. "You're so eager to be my dad. Do you even know my mother's full name?"
Alex crossed his arms, oozing confidence. "Eleanor Vance. Chairman of the Vance Group. Made her fortune in fashion. Who doesn't know that? And I also know your real father died young, and she raised you all by herself, through thick and thin! Eleanor told me all of this herself! What, you don't believe me?"
Believe him? Yeah, right.
Everything he just said was the simplified, bullshit version of my life I'd scribbled on my school admission forms to save time. He must have seen it when he was helping our advisor organize student files. I'd invented the "dead father" story to avoid the endless questions that came with being an IVF baby. I never thought someone would use it against me.
It was clear Alex's delusion didn't start today. Class was about to start, and I had no more patience for this. I bent down, picked up my package, and turned to leave.
Behind me, I heard him on the phone.
"Yes! It's me! I want you to freeze all the bank accounts under Mia Vance's name! That's right, all of them! Let's see if we can't teach her a lesson today!"
I rolled my eyes so hard I almost saw my brain. He's watched one too many cheesy TikTok dramas and thinks he's a CEO. The guy was losing his mind.
But just as my foot was about to cross the mail center's threshold, my phone buzzed violently in my pocket.
A sense of dread washed over me.
I pulled it out. Glowing on the screen was an urgent notification from my bank

2
I tried to school my features, to hide the flicker of shock that shot through me as I read the "ACCOUNT FROZEN" notification, but Alex saw it.
"So? You see what I'm capable of now?" he gloated. "I told you, Eleanor and I are very close! I don't care if you're her daughter. If you disrespect me, she won't let it slide. How about this"
He paused for dramatic effect, then magnanimously waved his phone. "Apologize to me. Right here, in front of everyone. Admit you were wrong to talk back to an elder. Then, return everything you bought on Black Friday and transfer the refunds to my account. Think of it as a gesture of goodwill. A sign of respect."
"Do that, and I'll have Eleanor unfreeze your accounts. What do you say?"
The mail center was packed during the lunch rush, and our little drama had drawn a crowd.
"Wow, so that's what those female execs are into! That guy's so lucky. Lands a sugar mama before he even graduates. He just skipped decades of the corporate ladder!"
"Well, Alex's poor, but he's good-looking and knows how to talk. Maybe after all these years alone, that's what Mia's mom is into!"
"But the girl looks like she has no idea what's going on."
"That's the point, isn't it? Mom's new boy toy is her daughter's classmate. Of course she'd keep it a secret!"
A guy who seemed to be friends with Alex nudged him, a sly grin on his face. "Nice one, man! Freezing your stepdaughter's accounts just like that? You've got the power in that family! Guess we should start calling you Mr. Vance, huh?"
Feeling the hostile, gossiping stares all around me, I let out a cold laugh and pointed at the loudest hecklers. "Slander and defamation are crimes. Do you need me to call the Vance Group's legal team to come give you a little lesson on the law?"
The chatter died instantly. The faces of the guys who'd been speaking went pale.
Alex sighed dramatically. "Mia, I didn't want to make a scene. But" His tone shifted, becoming a lecture. "I can't just stand by and watch you fall into the trap of consumerism! We're about to be a family. You need to start thinking about"
WHAM!
Before he could finish, the cardboard box in my hand connected squarely with his face.
"Family? Get over yourself! My mother could be blind and she still wouldn't look twice at you!"
"Hey, what's your problem? That's too far!"
"Even if you don't like your stepfather, you can't deny your mom the right to be happy!"
My actions had reignited the crowd that had just been silenced.
Just then, the warning bell for class rang.
I pulled out my phone. "I didn't want to have to prove anything, but I don't have time for this! Everyone here who backed him up today, I'll be holding every single one of you accountable."
Ignoring their sudden looks of alarm, I dialed my mom, who was on a business trip in Europe.
Ring... ring...
No answer.
I hung up and dialed again.
Still no answer.
I frowned. The onlookers, who had been about to scatter, now hesitated. I tried a third time, but all I got was the cold, robotic voicemail prompt.
Alex smirked, slowly pulling out his own phone. "Looks like Eleanor's busy. No problem. I'll give her a try. She told me she has a special alert for my number. She always picks up for me, no matter what."
With all eyes on him, he made the call.
It connected instantly.
He put it on speaker, and a woman's slightly rushed voice came through the receiver.
"Hey, Alex, what's up? I'm in a meeting, make it quick."

3
Even after my lecture ended, I was still replaying that phone call in my head. The woman's voice and tone were eerily similar to my mom's. Anyone who wasn't intimately familiar with her habits would have been fooled into thinking it was Eleanor Vance, CEO of the Vance Group.
But I knew better. When my mom is overseas, she answers every call in English. It's an instinct ingrained from years of international business. That woman, however, had spoken English with a stilted, unnatural cadence, and she lacked the sharp, decisive energy my mom always has.
So who was this woman Alex claimed he was going to marry? And was the sudden freeze on my accounts really connected to him?
Back in my dorm, I forced myself to calm down and tried my mom's number again. Still nothing. I ended up leaving her a long, rambling voicemail, explaining everything that had happened at the mail center and begging her to call me back as soon as possible.
Agitated, I opened my laptop to work on my study abroad application, hoping to distract myself. But just as I logged into the university's system, my phone rang.
My heart leaped, but it wasn't my mom. It was a campus number I recognizedProfessor Davis, the advisor for my exchange program.
"Mia," she said, her voice tinged with confusion. "I just received a call. Someone claiming to be your father submitted a request to withdraw your application. I just wanted to check in with you, has something come up at home?"
When I got to her office, I found a familiar, unwelcome figure already there.
"Alex! What is wrong with you?"
He just shrugged, completely unbothered, and addressed Professor Davis with a somber, righteous tone. "I'm currently dating Mia's mother. That makes me her stepfather. I have the right to withdraw her application for the exchange program. My reason is"
He pulled out his phone and played a security video from the mail center, showing me hitting him with the box.
"I believe my stepdaughter is emotionally unstable and is not currently fit to study abroad."
My vision tunneled. "Professor, don't listen to him! He has nothing to do with me or my mother! My mom would never agree to this!"
"Mia!" Alex turned to me, his face a picture of weary disappointment. "You saw it yourself this afternoon. I'm the only one who can get through to your mother. Why are you being so stubborn?"
Professor Davis looked from me to Alex, her brow furrowed. "Mr. Alex, you claim to be Mia's stepfather and to be representing Ms. Vance's wishes. Do you have any proof? A marriage certificate, perhaps? Or a signed letter of authorization from Ms. Vance?"
Alex's smile faltered for a split second before he recovered. "Professor, Eleanor and I are about to get married. It's just a matter of time. As her future husband, I'm concerned about her child's well-being. Is that so wrong? We'll provide the official documentation after the wedding."
"Without legal proof, based solely on your word, we cannot accept this request," Professor Davis said, her tone firming. "Mia's application process will continue as planned. And please, refrain from interfering in her academic affairs in a parental capacity again."
Alex's face darkened. He shot me a venomous glare. "You're just determined to do this the hard way, aren't you? You're going to regret this, Mia."

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