Chapter 2

When I stayed silent and didn't make any move to pay, Jessica, sitting on the couch, started getting impatient.

"I really don't get it," she said. "Who are you putting on this pitiful act for? And have you ever thought about this? If it weren't for me, who would want to marry into a single-parent family like yours?"

I looked up at her. "What's wrong with a single-parent family? I don't rely on you to support me, and I don't cling to Andrew. So how did I suddenly become someone so disgusting in your mouth?"

It was the first time I'd spoken to Jessica in such a harsh tone. Her face immediately fell.

She sneered, "Oh, so what you really mean is that you do want us to support you? You do want to rely on Andrew? You want to compete with me, fight me for attention, and turn this whole family upside down?"

Before I could respond, she laughed, "Good thing I saw through you early. Do you know why I refused postpartum care and refused to hire a nanny or nurse? It was to torture you on purpose."

That was when I truly got angry.

So it wasn't that Jessica was being dramatic these past two months. She had been deliberately making things hard for me.

I slammed my hand on the table. "Jessica, go ask around. Who on earth takes care of someone and ends up owing them four hundred and ten thousand dollars? How many people in this world are like you?"

That only made her explode.

She shouted, "I risked my life to give birth to your grandson, and that counts for nothing?

"You think I'm spending that money on myself? I'm doing this for your grandson and your son. You're the one who wastes money. I'm just securing their future before you blow everything!"

She went on and on about how hard pregnancy had been for her.

I cut her off coldly. "You chose to have this child yourselves. I never once pushed you to."

She froze, unable to argue back. Finally, she snapped, "You're paying this money whether you want to or not."

Then, she stormed into the master bedroom.

After Jessica left, the living room fell completely silent.

Andrew finally stopped playing deaf and mute. He edged over to me carefully and called out, "Mom, there's something I haven't told you. Jessica might have postpartum depression."

Postpartum depression?

I didn't have the same patience for Andrew that I had shown Jessica. On top of that, he had kept his mouth shut the entire time earlier, which only made me angrier.

I shook his hand off. "Depressed? If anyone's depressed in this house, it's me.

"After she gave birth, Jessica didn't take care of a single thing. She spent every day ordering me around, smiling like nothing was wrong. Don't just learn a new term and slap it onto her.

"If you really think she has postpartum depression, I can take both of you to the hospital right now. Ask her yourself. Does she dare to go?"

Andrew laughed awkwardly, "Mom, I know it's your birthday, and you feel wronged, but at the end of the day, Jessica is my wife. She's also my son's mom, your grandson's mother. Do you really need to fight with her?

"How about this? You go stay somewhere else for a few days. I'll stay home and talk things through with Jessica. You can get some rest too. Once everyone's cooled down, we'll talk again, okay?"

When I still didn't nod, Andrew grew a little impatient. Then he sighed and switched to coaxing me, "Mom, can't you just do this for me? When you two fight, the one stuck in the middle is me.

"When you and Dad got divorced, I was already torn apart. This situation is almost the same. I really don't want this family to fall apart."

Looking at how conflicted Andrew seemed, I sighed.

I was just about to nod when the door to the master bedroom opened. "Andrew, why aren't you back yet?" Jessica called out.

Andrew didn't dare argue. He shot me a pleading look and trotted back to her. Before leaving, he even turned off the living room light.