Chapter 3

It was late at night. Lily was dozing off by the door.

Annie had already gone home, but before she left, she said she'd be back tomorrow to get the recipe for that "secret remedy."

Inside, Mark was motionless now, only twitching every so often.

I figured it was about time. 'If I let this drag on any longer and he actually croaks, how am I supposed to enjoy the show?' I thought to myself.

I walked over to the door and yanked it open.

Lily, who was dozing off by the door, was startled awake and nearly fell off her stool. "What are you doing?"

I forced out a few tears, my voice trembling with sobs. "Lily. Something's wrong. Mark looks like he's dying."

Lily's face went pale, and she scrambled inside, nearly tripping over herself.

When she saw Mark lying there, unconscious and turning purple, her scream was so loud it nearly blew the roof off. "Mark, my son."

She lunged for the bed to check Mark, but when she saw the snake, she froze, her hand hovering in midair before she snatched it back.

"What's going on? Wasn't this the whole fight poison with poison thing? How could this happen?" Lily asked.

I stood there, acting clueless and lost. "I don't know either, Lily. I followed your instructions and stayed with him as you said. I didn't dare mess with him. He kept screaming, then suddenly went silent."

Lily was pacing frantically, muttering, "No way, I definitely pulled out its fangs myself."

I reminded her, "Lily, what if this snake has some other kind of venom?"

Lily froze for a second, then started cursing up a storm. "That damn snake seller. How dare he trick me? I spent 300 dollars on this Golden Snake, and he gave me one that still had its fangs."

She was ranting and raving, but calling an ambulance never crossed her mind. To her, dialing 911 was like killing herself. She'd rather die than spend the money.

She started tearing through the house, muttering under her breath, "Oh, I remember another remedy. Virgin boy's urine cures any poison. Whitney, hurry up and go pee."

Watching her go completely nuts, I almost burst out laughing. "Lily, I'm not a virgin boy, you know."

Lily slapped her thigh. "Oh, right. Then what do we do?"

She was sweating bullets, then her eyes suddenly lit up. She dashed to the kitchen and grabbed a kitchen knife. "That's it. Gecko blood can get rid of snake venom.

"There are geckos all over the corners of our house. I'll catch a few and drip their blood right onto the wound."

Watching her brandish that kitchen knife in the corner like a lunatic, I almost wanted to give her a standing ovation.

'How did I ever think someone like her was worth giving everything for in my previous life?' I thought to myself.

I stomped my foot, acting all panicked. "Lily, this is an emergency. Your remedies aren't working. We need to get Mark to the hospital right now."

"Hospital? Are you nuts?" Lily shot me a glare. "Hospitals are money pits. Walk in, and you're throwing dollars straight down the drain. Mark's scared by the snake. He needs to rest, and he'll be fine."

"No way." I started putting on a firm front. "If anything happens to Mark, how am I supposed to live?" With that, I dashed for the door to call 911.

Lily freaked out and shoved me aside. "You money-waster. All you ever do is blow cash. Mark's not gonna die."

To stop me, she even used her own body to block the door. "No way anyone's wasting our money at the hospital today."

I looked at her and smiled. That was my dear mother-in-law. In her eyes, her son's life wasn't worth a hospital bill.

I pulled out my phone and dialed 911. "Hello, this is an emergency. I need help. My mother-in-law tied a venomous snake to my husband's dick to cure him, and now he's dying. She won't let me take him to the hospital. The address is..."

Lily's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she heard me. She never expected me, the pushover, to actually call the cops.

"You dare?" She lunged at me, trying to snatch my phone, but I slipped deftly out of her grasp.

Soon, the wail of sirens echoed from downstairs.

That was it. Everyone in the building knew the whole story now.

Lily's reputation was totally trashed.