The day my mother-in-law discovered she had uterine cancer, she packed up and moved in to our home.

“I don’t have much time left. I’m all out of hope!” she choked out. “You’d be cruel to kick me out. Show me some mercy!”

I looked at my speechless husband, then at my beloved son I had raised with so much love and care. I asked them, "What do you guys think?"

My husband silently made a grim expression and grabbed my arm.

“How long are you going to hold on to that little incident that happened after Everett was born? Mom's already so sick."

My son echoed his sentiment, “Grandma doesn't have much time left. Of course we have to take good care of her!"

I smiled at them and said, “Alright. You guys can take care of her if you love her so much."

I pushed open my front door after a long day of work to find Angeline Delmont, my mother-in-law, smiling at me. She sat on the sofa with her legs crossed, snacking on some peanuts. "Oh Daphne, my dear daughter-in-law! You’re finally back."

My expression froze.

Before I could wonder what she was doing here, she had already gotten up from the sofa and walked toward me. "Are you surprised? You didn’t expect to see me here, huh?

"Your husband and son personally requested I come over. Are you upset?" Angeline said proudly, "Do you know what family means? Blood is thicker than water. An outsider like you could never break the bond among my son, my grandson, and me!”

Angeline's face was as disgusting as ever. Her expression made me feel sick to my stomach. I did not have time to ask her anything before my husband, Rowan Delmont, and my son, Everett, left the room they were in to join us.

Rowan's and Everett’s laughter stopped abruptly the moment they saw me. A suffocating silence engulfed the quiet living room.

Angeline, who was sporting a sarcastic smirk seconds ago, immediately changed her expression and said pitifully, "Please don't blame Rowan. I don’t have much time left, so I begged him to let me in."

Angeline pushed her performance further and took out a test report.

"My physical examination revealed uterine cancer! I don’t have much time left. I’m all out of hope!" she choked out. “You’d be cruel to kick me out. Show me some mercy!”

She begged me fearfully.

Angeline shed tears and dropped to the ground with her outstanding acting skills. "You can see this as my last wish. Please let me stay with you!"

What an excellent performance. I looked at my speechless husband, then at my beloved son whom I had raised with so much love and care. I asked them, "What do you guys think?"

Rowan knew how the situation got to this point. He knew exactly why Angeline and I could not get along. He reluctantly asked Angeline to leave years ago to save our marriage. He repeatedly promised me that he would never let his mother see me again, even if she was close to death.

Barely a few years had passed, yet Rowan had already forgotten his vow to me. He walked up to me silently and took my hand with a stony face.

"Nothing is more important than treating your parents right," Rowan whispered. "How long are you going to hold on to that little incident that happened after Everett was born? Mom's already so sick. What harm could she do now? Even if not for me, you should consider it for Everett’s sake."

I looked at Everett.

He was stubbornly defiant and said, “Grandma doesn't have much time left. Of course we have to take good care of her!"

As soon as Rowan and Everett expressed their opinions, Angeline immediately added fuel to the fire and quipped, "I’ll just leave if you really don't want to take me in. The worst that can happen is that I’ll die anyway."

Angeline doubled down on her horrible scheming.

What a pity that I would never be fooled again. When I heard that she was going to die, I smiled kindly and said, "That's great! You have life insurance, right? If you really die, you’ve done us a favor."

Angeline froze. Trembling, she pointed at me and burst into tears.

"How cruel can you be? I'm not even dead yet! All you can think about is getting your grubby hands on my money!” Angeline cried and howled at the top of her voice. "You’re terrible! Sob sob sob! My son is so unlucky to have married a witch like you!"

Rowan got upset when Angeline cried. He tried to patiently comfort her.

The more attention Angeline was given, the prouder she became. She spoke like she was the victim, but her eyes were full of spite and provocation.

She wailed, "Rowan, your father died so young. I struggled all my life to raise you alone. I guess my duty as a mother is complete now!

“I’m old and dying now. I’m not asking to be treated like your father was. I just want to spend more time with you and Rowan, but it’s okay. It's all my fault, after all. I made you and your wife argue. I'll just see myself out!"

I knew Angeline would not leave, so I stepped forward and grabbed Rowan, not allowing him to interfere.

Angeline walked to the door but saw me holding onto Rowan. She plopped down on the ground and started crying all over again.

"There goes your conscience! Rowan, you can't forget your mother even though you have a wife! Boohoo!”

Angeline would never leave. This was not the first time she had done this. She had pretended to be weak to gain sympathy many times in the past. In the days when I got along with her, I got into trouble with her countless times because I was not cunning and ruthless enough.

She was trying her old tricks again, but she could not fool me twice.

However, she was still Rowan’s mother, after all. He felt bad being caught in the middle. As he watched his mother cry hard and remembered her cancer diagnosis, he immediately pushed my hand away.

He went to help Angeline get up and yelled at me, "Haven’t you caused enough trouble? Come over here and apologize to Mom!"

Even my beloved son, whom I doted on daily, looked at me with a face full of blame. He said, "Mom, I heard what Dad and Grandma said. Why are you holding on to such a long grudge over a trivial matter? How could you not care about Grandma’s life at all?!"

A trivial matter?

I stared at my dear son in shock. Before I could open my mouth, I heard him say…

"If you don't let Grandma stay with us, I will never call you Mom again!"

Everett actually threatened me.

My flesh and blood, the son that I raised with so much love, actually threatened me over the old woman who almost killed him.

I could not stop the icy resentment taking over my heart, so I blurted out loud, "Let me say this once and for all today. There’s only room in this family for one of us!"

I was so angry that I was shaking all over. My eyes burned with the tears I was holding back as I stared at Everett.

Everett could not understand me. He thought I was being childish and sneered.

"Mom, you must be crazy! Why are you still acting like a child despite your age?! Will you force me to choose between my wife and you when I get married too?"

"Daphne, can you please stop this nonsense? Our family is doing just fine, yet you insist on making a fuss."

Rowan stared at me angrily.

"I have been an unfilial son for your sake for so many years. Can’t you just let me accompany my mother during her final days?"

Rowan's words woke me up completely. Between his mother and me, I was always his second choice. He may have chosen me back then, but he had been forced to with the situation at hand.

The love I had for my husband and son was completely extinguished.

What Angeline said was right. Blood was thicker than water. They were a real family, bonded through having the same blood running through their veins. I was merely an outsider.

I smiled at them and said, “Alright. You guys can take care of her if you love her so much."

There was nothing much left to say. I could not be bothered to argue further with them, so I turned around and went back to my room.

To them, my silence was a disguised form of submission.

Rowan deliberately raised his voice and snorted coldly. "Women can be so unreasonable and arrogant sometimes. You must’ve gotten used to being spoiled every day. Who the hell do you think you are?!”

Angeline immediately carried on with her phony act and said, "Shh! Don’t say that about Daphne."

"It's all my fault," Angeline’s weepy voice came again. "I came here and inconvenienced your family."

"Grandma, you’re not allowed to say that,” Everett coaxed Angeline and said, "My mother is just being arrogant. She has no conscience! I can’t believe she won't even spare her elders from her wrath."

"Don't worry, Grandma," Everett continued as he took a clear stand. "Dad and I are on your side! Just stay here with us.

"My mother is getting her bonus today. Let her treat you to a big dinner later to make amends. She should buy you some king crabs!"

Everett had chosen some beautiful words to make his point. Angeline was very happy.

They sounded like a happy family, but their joy was built on my pain. Angeline’s evil laughter was like daggers to my heart.

"Don't argue with your mother." Angeline continued to express her fake kindness and said, "Even though she’s quite petty and likes to hold onto grudges from years ago, she’s still your mother. She can’t help thinking about what happened after you were just born."

Angeline began to break into sobs as she spoke. "I thought she would eventually change. I could accept it if she never did, but she actually got even worse!”

I stuffed the last of my clothes into my suitcase and recalled that fateful day.

Angeline had discovered that I was secretly feeding stray dogs. She was furious. Thinking that I would harbor germs from being in close contact with dirty animals and harm her dear unborn grandson, she chased the poor dogs with a kitchen knife. She intended to stab those poor puppies to death.

I chased after her in tears. I tried to persuade her that the stray puppies were already very pitiful, so she should not hurt them any further.

She responded by calling me a shameless, sanctimonious witch. She said I was pretending to be kind while wasting her son's money to feed wild dogs. During the scuffle, she pushed me into traffic, and I was hit by an oncoming car. I was injured and even gave birth to Everett prematurely.

My heart ached at the memory. Everett stayed in the incubator that entire year. Now, he was all grown up.

I zipped up my luggage and pushed it to the living room. I looked at all of them and laughed helplessly. "Back then, you pushed me into a car accident. Everett was born prematurely and stayed in the intensive care unit for a whole month. Did you ever visit him back then?"

Everett was born prematurely that year.

Angeline cried and refused to allow Rowan to pay the hospitalization fee. She cursed and made a fuss at the hospital, claiming that they were scamming her. She argued that I was just giving birth to a baby, so why should I be hospitalized for so much money? She sobbed and caused trouble at the hospital for two days straight.

In the end, my parents rushed over from another state to pay for the medical expenses.

Angeline's expression changed at my questioning, so I pressed further, "Why did you suddenly stop crying after my parents paid the bills? Why did you suddenly change your tone and insist that we should follow the doctor’s advice?”

Guilt flashed across Angeline's face. I had never told Everett about what happened back then. I saw it as a matter that should be handled among adults and not forced on children.

Considering Everett’s response today, I decided to tell him the truth.

"Everett was hospitalized for a month before he was discharged. Who was it that didn’t want to ‘waste’ hot water and gave him a bath in ice-cold water? He contracted pneumonia right after he finally came home!"

It was a cold winter, and it was snowing heavily outside the house. I had just come back from buying baby milk powder and bottles at the mall when I saw Angeline giving Everett a cold bath in the heated room.

I was shocked to my core. I pushed Angeline away and scooped Everett up in my arms. He was so cold and shivering. I quickly put him under a quilt to keep him warm.

Angeline merely complained that I was making a big deal out of nothing by coddling him. She insisted that children would end up spoiled if they never faced any struggles. She claimed she was using the cold water to improve his physical fitness.

Everett developed a high fever that day. I was about to take him back to the hospital when Angeline stopped me and said the fever was caused by evil spirits. In cahoots with Rowan, she snatched Everett from my arms and took him to the church to ask for blessings. She then boiled three bowls of holy water and fed it to Everett.

When I finally arrived at the scene, Everett was almost dead.

As Everett listened to me talk about the past, all emotion left his face. He turned to look at Angeline.

"Grandma, is what Mom said true?"

Of course it was true.

I met Angeline's guilty eyes.

Just as Angeline was about to succumb to defeat, Rowan walked out of the study and said, "It's been so many years. Why can’t you let go of this old matter?"

"No matter what happened," Rowan blamed me, "it’s your fault for failing to communicate with Mom properly.

"Mom had Everett’s best interests at heart, but you think it’s an unforgivable crime that she loves him too, right?" Just like that, Rowan wiped Angeline’s slate clean with just a few words.

Everett caught on.

"Mom, don't blame Grandma." Everett tried to make peace and said, "Grandma is uneducated and doesn't understand such complicated things. You shouldn’t keep bringing old matters up. Besides, grandma is sick now. Don't hold on to those old grudges anymore."

I looked at Angeline, who had regained her composure after faltering a bit earlier. "Yes, Daphne. We’re still a family, after all."

Angeline looked at me sideways and noticed the luggage I was holding. She quickly changed the subject and asked, "What are you doing with your luggage?

"You're not going to run away from home again, are you?" Angeline deliberately brought up the past and said, "You pulled this trick before to force Rowan to drive me away. Do you really think..."

Angeline started crying again. "I shouldn't have come home after all! Fine, I’ll just leave!"

She did not even move an inch to make it look convincing.

Everett stood in front of Angeline, and Rowan looked at me angrily. I suddenly realized that all was lost.

I had dedicated my entire life to this family, but all I got in return was being called too calculative for continuing to bring up the past.

In that case, I wanted to see how harmoniously the three of them could live without me, the ‘calculative’ one.

"You don't have to leave."

I interrupted Angeline’s act. Under her surprised gaze, I looked at Rowan coldly and said, "We’re getting a divorce."