Chapter 2

With that, I didn't spare another glance at Agatha or Wilbur, who looked like he wished the floor would swallow him whole. I just scooped up my daughter, Stacie, and headed straight to the bedroom, shutting the door behind me.

Outside, Agatha's shouting mixed with Wilbur's awkward attempts to calm her down, turning into an irritating noise that made my head ache.

I tucked Stacie in, then sat on the edge of the bed, feeling like every ounce of energy had been sucked out of me.

Soon, Wilbur knocked on the door.

"Monica, can you open the door? Let's talk," he said.

I didn't move or say a word.

"Mom's just trying to do what's best for the family. You know how Maxine is. She cares about her reputation. Can't you just go along with her this time?" he said.

His voice was full of exhaustion and helplessness.

I closed my eyes, feeling my heart turn to ice.

This was my husband, my so-called partner.

He was a full-grown man-child, always preaching about how I should be generous and tolerant.

The voices outside finally stopped, and I thought he'd given up.

But a few minutes later, Agatha's booming voice rang out again, this time shouting right at the door.

She yelled, "Monica, you need to come out right now and apologize to Maxine.

"You upset her. How are we supposed to maintain family ties after this? This is an embarrassment to our family.

"A harmonious family is the key to everything. Are you really trying to turn this place into a war zone?"

Me, apologizing to someone who tried to scam me with knockoffs and played me for a fool?

Wilbur's voice followed right after. "Come on, Monica, can't you just let it slide this once? We're all family."

What a joke.

All that pent-up anger suddenly exploded in my chest, burning my throat dry. The last thread of my sanity snapped.

I flung the door open, startling Agatha and Wilbur.

"Family?" I repeated.

I stared at them, finally tearing off the mask of meekness I'd always worn.

"When have you ever treated me like family?" I demanded.

My voice trembled, not from fear, but from sheer fury.

I shouted, "Agatha, have you ever treated me right since I married into this family? To you, your precious eldest son, eldest daughter-in-law, and grandson are all that matters. What about me, Wilbur, and Stacie?"

"And you, Wilbur!" I turned to Wilbur, who couldn't meet my eyes right now. "All you ever say is 'just let it go,' 'she's your sister-in-law,' 'she's your mom.' Seriously, is that all you can come up with?

"You really think I'm just making trouble, don't you? You think Maxine is the innocent one here, right?"

I spun around and dashed back into the bedroom, yanked open the drawer, and grabbed my backup phone. It was loaded with all the evidence I'd been saving for this exact moment.

I marched right back in front of them and tapped on the screen.

"Come on, let me show you what your beloved daughter-in-law and sister-in-law have really been up to!" I snapped.

I pulled up a screenshot of a post Maxine made a month ago.

It said, [My son is so thoughtful. He knows grandma's not feeling well, so he bought her some fancy supplements to help her get better.] The post had a picture of several boxes with super fancy packaging.

I said, "Agatha, do the supplements look familiar? I had someone bring it back from Chavaria City for you last month. They were over a thousand bucks a box. Maxine was standing right there when I handed it to you, wasn't she?"

Agatha's face changed, her lips trembling.

I swiped to the next screenshot.

It stated, [Borrowed my sister-in-law's bag to show off at class reunion. Didn't tell her it was the real thing. Didn't want her to feel bad.]

Below was a selfie of Maxine with a designer bag, and there was a big, obvious grease stain in the corner.

I said, "Wilbur, I paid over 4 thousand dollars for this bag. It was perfectly clean when she borrowed it, but when she gave it back, there was a grease stain on it.

"I asked her about it, and she just shrugged, said I was making a fuss over nothing, that it was just a bag.

"You were there. What did you say? You said, 'Forget it, it's just a bag. She didn't mean to do it.'"

As I flipped through each screenshot, every grievance and bit of anger I'd buried inside had the receipts to back it up.

I went on. "She took the local specialties I brought from my own family and handed them off to her relatives, then showed off online, pretending she bought them herself.

"In front of the relatives, she said that since I'm an accountant, I'm always too busy working to look after Stacie. Unlike her, who's always making sacrifices for the family.

"She even snuck my imported breast milk out of the fridge and fed it to her dog, just because her kid was done nursing and she figured I had plenty to spare, so why not?"

I held up my phone, staring Wilbur down as his face went from flushed to ghostly pale.

I added, "You knew about all of this. You saw everything. Did you do anything? Did you ever stand up for me, even once? No.

"All you ever do is tell me to put up with it, to keep quiet, to swallow every bit of humiliation and disgust just for your so-called 'family harmony'."