"I've transferred the three hundred-dollar rent to you. Thanks, Samuel."

A contact named Misty has sent my husband, Samuel Tucker, a message on WhatsApp.

I snatch his phone immediately, only to be stunned by what I see.

"Rent? Samuel, you told me that this is the income you earn from your part-time job!"

Samuel's expression freezes on his face. Then, he tries to snatch his phone back.

"Darling, my brother has already passed away. It's difficult for Misty to raise two children on her own…"

As I caress my tiny baby bump with a hand, I feel my heart sinking at his words.

"Which residence is this rent for?"

Samuel parts his lips hesitantly. A long time later, he finally tells me the residential area's name.

I'm completely flabbergasted at that point. The luxurious apartment sitting in that particular area is an asset that my deceased parents have left for me. Also, the rent there is worth 10,000 dollars.

Yet, Samuel has rented it out to my widowed sister-in-law, Misty Patterson, and her children for only 300 dollars!

My husband, Samuel Tucker, still tried to snatch the phone away from my hands, and in doing so, he accidentally spilled the pot of consommé all over the floor.

I had slaved over this consommé for hours.

It was his favorite soup, and he would always request it for dinner every year on our wedding anniversary.

"No, wait, I can explain, darling! I didn't mean to hide it from you!"

He then stepped over the mess on the floor and rushed toward me in a hurry.

"But you know very well that Samson left his wife and two kids behind after his death three years ago! And she is unable to find a job, and she still needs to raise Zack and Zoe as well! It's very hard on her…

Samson Tucker was Samuel's older brother. His wife was Misty Patterson, and they had two children together, Zack and Zoe Turner.

I gripped my phone tightly and fought to stay calm over everything.

"So? What was the issue that stopped you from telling me the truth back then? And for keeping it all a secret from me?"

He stopped about three feet away from me and stammered, "I-I was worried that you'd get the wrong idea about Misty and me having an affair… I didn't want you to get mad."

I understood what he was trying to say now.

He thought that Misty was having it rough, so he thought of renting out my luxury apartment to her for the lowballed price of 300 dollars monthly instead of the 10,000 dollars it was worth. And, he kept everything from me because he thought that I would get jealous about it.

"How long have you been renting it to her?"

"Three years. Ever since Samson passed away."

"Since it's a rental, then were you really helping out at a friend's place every weekend as you said you were? Where were you, actually?"

Samuel lowered his head and avoided my gaze.

"I was working overtime…"

"Lies," I refuted. "Nothing in your payslip suggested that you worked any extra hours all that time."

I tapped into the WhatsApp chat interface and saw Misty's message pop right up. I tapped on it again.

It was the weekend yesterday.

"Sam, the lightbulb in the second bathroom has gone out. Are there any light bulb shops around here?"

Samuel had answered instantaneously, "I'll be right there to change it out for you, Misty. Don't touch it. You might get electrocuted."

I continued scrolling upward, and there was a text message exchange every single morning on the weekends before that.

"Sam, the freezer isn't working anymore. Do you have the technician number?"

"I'll be right there. If I can't fix it, then I'll just replace it for you."

"Sam, Zack bruised his knee against the floor, but I don't know where the emergency kit is."

"Is it bad? I'm coming right over to bring him to the hospital."

Every single time, Misty would start each message with his name, and the outcome would be Samuel immediately hurrying over to her.

The entire screen was filled with their conversations, and it was making me dizzy.

"Samuel Tucker," I said. "The light in our hallway went out for weeks, and every time I asked you to change it out, you'd always tell me that you were too busy to do it.

"Did you know that Elsie hit her head in the middle of the night while going to the bathroom because she couldn't see? And I had no choice but to pay for a technician to fix it for me while still being considerate of you.

"As it turned out, you'd been spending all of your weekends being a free handyman for Misty instead?"

Samuel gulped instinctively and said, "But darling, she's bringing up two kids on her own, and she doesn't have a man by her side to help her—"

"What about me? Where's my man?" I demanded. "Do I even have a man by my side anymore if you're always by her side instead?"

I couldn't bear the thought of him still defending Misty and painting her in such a pitiful light anymore. I grabbed my spoon and flung it in his face.

Samuel panicked. He didn't even duck as the spoon hit him on the face.

"Don't be mad, Carol. Elsie is still asleep…"

I suddenly found it very ironic.

As it turned out, he still remembered that we had a daughter together. So, who really was the woman who had to bring up her kid by herself without a man to help her, now?

The anger burned even more intensely in my chest. I grabbed my phone and called the property manager for a luxury apartment at once.

Samuel tried to snatch my phone away from me.

I swerved and turned my back to him, quickly speaking into the phone. The manager then exclaimed and said, "Ms. Caroline Whitaker, the unit you're referring to isn't housing just a lady and her two children, miss. A family of six is living there."

At once, I recalled having briefly met Samson's in-laws back when he was still alive, and I felt goosebumps spreading all over my body.

"Samuel Tucker! Is this what you meant by Misty being a poor widow bringing up her children by herself without a man by her side?"

Samuel's face turned red then pale as he frantically thought of a way to explain things to me.

However, there was no denying the facts, and after hesitating for a long time, he could only admit, "Misty's parents and younger brother were worried about her, and also, their old house in the village was getting too old for them…"

"Samuel Tucker," I said, stressing every syllable of his name. "Did you know that your own mother's place in her hometown is small and drafty, and she sleeps huddled in the corner of her bed every day, but she absolutely refused to move here so she wouldn't disturb us.

"And yet, yesterday, she slipped and fell into a puddle, injuring her leg terribly. It was her neighbor, Lettie Carlson, who had to send her to the clinic to get treated!

"But now, you're telling me that you took in your sister-in-law and her entire family of six here, paying only 300 dollars in rent for my 3,000-square-foot apartment that's worth at least 10,000 dollars a month?

"Who's the daft one here? Is it you? Or your sister-in-law?"

Samuel began to panic.

"How did Mom fall? Was it serious? What did the doctor say?"

I chuckled coldly and turned to return to my room.

"If you were really worried about her, you wouldn't have hung up straight on Lettie multiple times yesterday when she tried calling you just because you found the calls annoying!"

He then called out to me behind my back, "Carol! I'll settle things on Mom's side… And as for Misty, I really didn't mean to keep it from you. Don't get mad at me, please. It's not good for your health."

I didn't even bother stopping as I replied to him, "Clean up the kitchen. You're sleeping on the couch tonight."

I then shut the bedroom door behind me and looked down at my belly, which was very slightly protruding.

Our second baby together was just eight weeks old today.

Initially, I had wanted to tell Samuel about this good news tonight and discuss with him about using it as an excuse to ask his mom to move in with us. After all, her tiny place was really too run-down and unsuitable for her as a retirement home.

Who would have thought that I'd see Misty's message pop up on his phone before we even had a single bite of food to eat?

And so, our seventh wedding anniversary dinner was ruined, just like that.

When I came out of the room the next morning, the living room couch was back to normal. Samuel had already gone to work.

He texted an apology to me.

However, the entire mini TED Talk he gave me in text simply defended Misty again and again, citing how hard life was on her and more.

I didn't reply to any of his messages. Instead, I sent Elsie to preschool before driving straight to my luxury apartment in the center of the city.

After keying in the wrong passcode thrice, someone impatiently yanked the door open from the inside.

"Who is it? How dare you break into a house in broad daylight!"

I stared at the man with stubble all over his face, recognizing him as Misty's younger brother, Mitchell Patterson.

Misty came out of the kitchen just then, her eyes doubling in size as soon as she caught sight of me at the door.

"What are you doing here?"

"Is this your friend, Misty? Doesn't she know basic manners like ringing the doorbell instead of keying in the passcode immediately?"

Mitchell rolled his eyes at me before turning away and walking back into the place before entering the master bedroom.

Misty hurriedly placed Zoe on the floor and rubbed her hands together, sounding a little nervous as she asked, "Caroline? What brings you here?"

My face was dark as I entered the door and swept my gaze around the apartment. "Do I need to give anyone a heads-up coming into my own apartment?"

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, however, someone punched in the keycode at the door. And then, Samuel walked in with practiced ease, crouching down to change into some indoor slippers when he suddenly saw me and froze midway.

"W-What are you doing here?"

This was getting ridiculously absurd.

I didn't even know where to begin questioning him.

"And what are you doing here, Samuel Tucker? Shouldn't you be at the office working right now?"

Samuel was at a loss for words. Misty hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over and said, "Don't blame this on him, Caroline. I was the one who asked him to come here.

"It's just… Our door broke. I was worried about our safety…"

She didn't even finish her sentence before shutting up.

They had changed the door passcode themselves a long time ago. It wasn't broken in the slightest, and she knew it more than anyone else.

Samuel then tugged on my sleeve and said, "Let's go back first, darling. I'll explain everything to you once we're back."

I met his gaze and questioned him in response. "Which part are you planning to explain to me? About the low-balled rent? The lightbulbs? The family of six living in this apartment?

"Or the fact that you refused to take even a half-day leave when your own daughter was hospitalized due to a high fever, yet you immediately rushed here to fix a door that wasn't even broken in the first place?"

Samuel's expression changed. He hesitated, unsure of what to say, when the door to the secondary bedroom was opened, and Misty's parents, Chris Patterson and Francine Garcia, walked out.

They were no longer dressed in their drabby old countryside clothes. Rather, they wore bright, expensive clothing on their bodies as they rolled their eyes at me.

"Ah. You're the Tuckers' second daughter-in-law," they said. "Heard that this place belongs to you. How could you be so insensible and unreasonable at your age?

"Your husband already agreed to let us live in this place for free, and yet, you still insisted on collecting 300 dollars a month from us!"

I turned around and shoved Samuel back with all of my might.

He surely knew how to play the game and twist the facts here! He was the one who agreed to "rent" the place to them, yet he told them that I was the one who insisted on collecting the rental fees. And now, he was the one with their favor, while I was made out to be the unreasonable one.

"Let's go home first, Carol. I promise I'll tell you everything when we're back," Samuel said, grabbing my wrist tightly as he looked at me pleadingly.

However, I didn't know if the pleading in his eyes was to preserve his pride and dignity or for Misty's sake.

When he saw the cold look on my face, he made up his mind to drag me out of the place.

However, I kicked out at the umbrella stand in the doorway all of a sudden. Then, I pointed at the blue employee badge hanging there, my voice shaking in anger and disbelief.

"You even gave her my position too? And this is what you mean by her not being able to find a job?

"Samuel Tucker! What else have you been lying to me about?"

I had worked very hard and even insisted on working from home throughout my maternity leave. Then, once it was over, I left Elsie with her nanny and shuttled tirelessly between home and the office, practically risking my life until I was finally promoted to Deputy Director.

However, three years ago, during dinner, Samuel suddenly brought up that the company was doing a massive layoff, and unfortunately, I was one of them.

He choked up and apologized to me, saying that even though he was the Deputy Director of the Human Resources Department, he couldn't influence the board's decision at all.

I had felt sorry for his predicament, and despite my own reluctance to leave my position, I still comforted him and said, "It's okay, honey. I guess now's the best time to stay home and take care of Elsie instead."

In the following years, I thought quite often that I would find myself a new job once Elsie was enrolled in and started elementary school.

But today, I saw my old employee badge with Misty's name on it instead!

Judging from the employee number, the start date was exactly two months after Samson's death, which was also the very month I was supposedly laid off from the company.

Samuel had lied to me again.

The company hadn't been laying anybody off the entire time! He just wanted to give my position to Misty, his sister-in-law!

Seeing that even this cat was let out of its bag, Samuel lowered his voice and pleaded, "Darling, please, let's just go home first…"

But I refused to move.

At this time of the day, he wasn't at work because of Misty's call. However, Misty wasn't at work. Why was that?

I scoffed after thinking about it.

"Really, Samuel Tucker? This is the job position for the Deputy Director of the Creative Department. You really dared to let her just hold onto that position and take the monthly salary without even going to work?

"When I worked at the office, you refused to even approve of my sick leave when I was obviously very sick!"

Misty came over to us just then, probably thinking that I was sounding a little too pitiful. She sighed and frowned as she said, "Don't blame this on him, Caroline. It's just that he thought I had it really hard bringing up my kids by myself, and he only did this for me—"

I couldn't hold it back anymore and interrupted her, "Misty! You're just receiving a salary of at least 20,000 dollars a month without even having to go to work, and you're only paying 300 dollars a month for your family of six to live in a luxurious apartment like this!

"You even have my husband as your private handyman! What is it that's hard about your life?"

"Caroline Whitaker!"

Samuel grabbed me by my hand when he saw how white Misty's face had gotten and forcefully dragged me out of the door despite my protests. He didn't let go of me until we were finally out of the building door.

Then, he plastered the pitiful look on his face again and said, "Listen, darling, I can explain. I had no choice but to do all these!

"Did you know how depressed and heartbroken Misty was after Samson died? She was suicidal every other day! I only did this because I was trying to stabilize her emotions!"

I stared straight into Samuel's eyes until he felt goosebumps crawling on his skin.

"When Samson passed away, you and your mom were both upset and distraught, and I was the one handling all of the funeral proceedings. I know her condition more than anyone else!"

If a widow were truly depressed and heartbroken because of her husband's death, she would never have brought her six-month-old baby out on cafe-hunting trips at that time.

And if she were truly suicidal, she wouldn't have slept snugly until noon while I got up at the crack of dawn to make funeral arrangements, and then pretend to wipe away fake tears from her eyes while thanking me for my trouble!

Yet, Samuel was still lying to me until now.

This was our eighth married year together. Elsie was five-and-a-half years old, and her little sibling was still in my belly.

However, this was the very first time that I finally took a good, hard look at him. I had given my all to him, but I still didn't know what exactly was on his mind.

At this point, Samuel was behaving like a deflated balloon. He kicked a stone by the roadside with a sullen face and finally threw caution to the wind.

"I'll tell you the truth, Carol. Samson specifically asked me to take care of Misty and his kids before he passed away."