Chapter 3
My husband immediately called our son and told him to come home. Half an hour later, our son walked in, his head hanging low. “Dad, Grandma, why did you call me back so urgently?” My husband rushed forward and scolded him. “You good-for-nothing! Your mother raised you all these years and this is how you treat her?” My mother-in-law patted him on the shoulder and added, “That’s right! Your mother almost died giving birth to you. How could you—” Before she could finish, my son interrupted impatiently. “Stop it. Because of this, Chloe wants to break up with me!” The living room fell into complete silence. The next moment, my son looked at me reproachfully. “Mom, can’t you think about my happiness for once?” “Chloe said if you just transfer the money and apologize, she won’t hold it against you.” Hearing this, my husband looked at me and tried to persuade me. “Honey, why don’t you just transfer the money to Chloe and apologize? It’s not easy for two young people to be in a relationship…” My mother-in-law quickly agreed, “Right, right. Young people don’t always think before they speak. As elders, we should just apologize. There’s no shame in it.” I stared at both of them and suddenly burst out laughing. “So, you called him back, not to scold him, but to scold me together?” A flash of guilt crossed my husband’s face, but he still spoke gently, “That’s not the point. The point is that the kids are fighting.” “You’re a mother now. Don’t add fuel to the fire.” My mother-in-law chimed in with an authoritative tone, “Exactly. Chloe is still young. She doesn’t understand social etiquette yet. She’s just straightforward. As an elder, why can’t you be the bigger person?” Watching them echo each other, I felt my heart go cold. “A straightforward temperament?” I scoffed. “Just because I had dinner with my son on my birthday, she called me an old hag, said I was a vampire and cursed me to an early death? That’s called being straightforward?” Seeing that I wasn’t backing down, my husband sighed helplessly. “They speak without thinking. You don’t have to take it so personally.” “And to be honest, what Chloe said may have sounded harsh, but wasn’t it true?” “It was just your birthday. You could’ve cooked a bowl of noodles at home instead of going out and spending your son’s money.” My mother-in-law nodded thoughtfully and added, “Exactly! My precious grandson works hard to earn money. As his mother, how can you not feel sorry for him?” My son looked at me darkly and said in frustration, “Mom, I’ve always spoken to you politely out of respect, but you can’t just bully my girlfriend because you’re my mother. If this keeps up, who would even dare to marry into this family in the future?” I was so angry, my heart was pounding. “Bully her? Go ahead, tell me how I bullied her.” My son shouted back, “Isn’t it obvious? I originally took you to the restaurant without intending to pay. You didn’t show any intention of paying either, so I reluctantly covered the bill. And then I find out you actually made me pay for it!” “Chloe was just worried about how hard I work and stood up for me. What did she do wrong?” “Not only did you waste my money, but you also froze my supplementary card so I couldn’t buy her the bag I promised. Isn’t that bullying her?” I looked at the son I had raised with such care and sacrifice and all I felt was deep disappointment. “All these years, I’ve raised you for nothing,” I said quietly. “I might as well have raised a dog.” Upon hearing this, my son let out a cold snort. “Finally. You’ve said what’s really on your mind, haven’t you?” “Chloe was right after all. You only keep me around to suck my blood. And when you can’t get anything more from me, you fly into a rage!” Smack! My hand flew before I could stop it and I slapped my son across the face. My heart ached, but I couldn’t hold back any longer. He clutched his cheek and stared at me in disbelief. “How could you hit me?” My mother-in-law immediately rushed to his side, gently stroking his face, glaring at me like I was a monster. “Camila, how could you get so worked up over just money?” she scolded. “You blocked Caleb’s card and now you’re hitting him?!” “It’s such a small matter, do you really need to blow it out of proportion?” My husband sighed and looked at me with disappointment. “Honey, you were definitely in the wrong this time.” Just as the three of them stood united against me, my phone buzzed. It was a text message from Chloe: [You old hag, now you finally realize how important I am? As long as I throw a tantrum, your whole family will side with me.] [Try me again, once I marry into your family, the first thing I’ll do is kick you out of the house.]