My Family Called Me a Freeloader, So I Took Every Client Away Chapter 01

My Family Called Me a Freeloader, So I Took Every Client Away Chapter 01

A client I’d referred had just placed a $140,000 order with my brother’s building supply company.

As usual, I stopped by with two bottles of good bourbon to celebrate.

But I’d barely stepped into his house when his son Tyler laughed. “Well, look who’s here for another free meal!”

“Two bottles of booze and you’re here to collect your cut? Must be nice getting something for nothing.”

I looked at the five relatives in the room. Not one spoke up for me.

They all lowered their heads, as though they agreed with him.

For years, I’d brought them clients and earned a ten percent commission. It was in our contracts and had never changed.

“Is that what all of you think?” I looked from one face to the next.

Daniel gave me an awkward smile. “Evie, your referrals helped when I first opened the company. But we’re established now, and you’ve been collecting a cut all these years for nothing. So…”

My sister Claire joined in. “We have plenty of business now. Honestly, you’re the one who needs us.”

So they thought I had no right to a commission. Fine. My clients could take their business elsewhere.

***

Tyler sneered. “Aunt Evie, you show up with two bottles every time a commission comes due. Did anyone invite you?”

“Are you so broke you’re counting on a cut from my dad to eat?”

“He’s put up with you for years. Every time you come to eat and drink on his dime, he smiles. I’ve had enough of it.”

I looked at Daniel and waited for him to say something.

He avoided my eyes, staring at the floor for a long time before he spoke.

“Evie, my company’s doing well now. I don’t need referrals anymore. Those clients would choose us even without you.”

So, in his mind, my work had nothing to do with their decision, and I no longer deserved a commission.

I almost laughed. Ten years earlier, when he first opened his business, he hadn’t had a single customer.

He’d come to me in tears, begging for referrals. I was the top salesperson at a trading firm, he said, with plenty of connections. Couldn’t I find him a few customers?

Tyler needed to go to school, and Daniel was still short on tuition. He said his own lack of education had held him back, and he didn’t want the same for his son.

Other companies offered me a fifteen percent commission then. But I wanted Tyler to get a good education and have a better future.

So I gave Daniel the contracts, even though it meant taking five points less.

When the first payment arrived, he came to me clutching a bag of cash and dropped to his knees in front of me. He said I’d saved him and promised that as long as he had enough to eat, I would too.

“That’s not what you said back then,” I told him coldly.

Daniel rubbed his nose. A flicker of shame crossed his face. “Maybe I’ll pay you this time. But we can’t keep doing this forever. Next time…”

“Dad!” Tyler snapped. “Don’t cave. Think of all the money she’s taken from us for doing nothing. She talks like every order we get is thanks to her!”

“Do we lack customers? Orders? Plenty of people want to work with us!”

People did want to work with them. Those companies had a history of unpaid bills, though, and local distributors refused to deal with them. They were only approaching my family because they thought they could get away with it.

There wasn’t a reliable client among them, certainly no one like Mr. Lawson, who always paid on time.

Even the better ones might make them wait a year or two.

I turned to Claire. I’d brought the clients to her clothing factory too.

She ducked her head. “Sure, we needed you when we didn’t have orders. But we’ve paid you all these years for nothing. You’ve made plenty off us, haven’t you?”

“Besides, plenty of influencers want to sell my clothes online. I don’t need wholesale customers anymore.”

Tyler pulled out a calculator. “You’ve taken over $200,000 from us over the years. I’ll round it down to $200,000. How are you paying it back?”

“Son.” Daniel tugged at his sleeve.

Tyler ignored him. “What are you waiting for? Don’t have it? Don’t want to part with it? Or did you get so used to taking advantage of us you never thought we’d ask for it back?”

Daniel came close and lowered his voice. “Evie, let’s forget your commission for this year. After all…you barely helped.”