I took my parents-in-law, Edmund and Macy Hale, out to a restaurant. When it was time to pay, we ran into my husband’s female assistant, Vera Rhodes.

Seeing Mrs. Hale packing up the leftover bouillabaisse she had been drinking, Vera marched over and slapped the takeaway bag out of her hands. The soup splashed all over Mrs. Hale in an instant.

"If you can’t afford to eat here, then don’t come," she sneered. "Look at you, reeking of poverty. How do people like you deserve to be Mr. Orion Hale’s in-laws? Don’t embarrass him."

I asked the restaurant to prepare a fresh portion of fish soup to go. Before anyone could respond, Vera slapped me to the ground.

"This is a members-only restaurant. You’re using Mr. Hale’s card, aren’t you?" she mocked. "Can’t you earn your own money? You need his money to support your hillbilly parents?"

Mr. Hale was so enraged that he was rushed to the hospital. I called Orion and asked him to come sign the surgery consent form.

He laughed coldly. "Vera already told me everything. Your dad even needs to trick me into paying medical bills now? Has your whole family gone insane from poverty?

"If you’re going to die, then hurry up and die. Just don’t die in front of me. It’s bad luck."

"Orion Hale, your dad is in emergency surgery. Get to the hospital right now!"

Orion answered carelessly, his tone lazy and indifferent. "Oh? Isn’t that a little too convenient? I just got to Vera Rhodes’s place, and suddenly Dad has an accident?

"Lyra, next time you make up an excuse, how about cursing yourself instead? Stop dragging my parents into it."

My father-in-law, Mr. Edmund Hale, was being resuscitated in the emergency room downstairs, while my mother-in-law, Mrs. Macy Hale, had collapsed from anxiety and fainted.

I was staying by her bedside, completely overwhelmed, unable to be in two places at once.

On top of that, the critical condition notice for Mr. Hale had already been issued.

Clinging to what little family bond remained, I wanted Orion to see his father one last time. I swallowed my anger and continued trying to persuade him.

"I’m not lying. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Vera.

"I took your parents out to eat. She kept provoking us, and that’s what angered Dad into collapsing. He’s already been declared critically ill. You need to come sign the consent form. If you keep delaying, you might not make it in time to see him for the last time..."

Orion suddenly exploded, cutting me off mid-sentence. The sound of the phone slamming to the ground rang out, followed by his furious shouts, broken and distorted through the line.

"Lyra, are you done yet? Vera already told me everything. Your hillbilly parents came into town, and you used my money to treat them to a meal. I let that slide.

"Now the old man gets sick, and you want me to rush over. Isn’t that just so I’ll personally swipe my card and pay? You think I don’t know what you’re really after?

"I told you a long time ago, Lyra. Didn’t you marry me for my money? My money. You won’t get a single cent of it, even if you die."

Vera spoke in a soft, delicate voice, murmuring a few words to comfort him. Then she slowly walked over to the phone and spoke with open provocation, "Lyra, I saw it with my own eyes. That country woman was perfectly fine. Why don’t you let her talk to Orion for a bit? Surely Orion can recognize his own mother’s voice, right?"

I fell silent.

Mrs. Hale had been severely frightened earlier. She was lying in the hospital bed now, wearing an oxygen mask, finally asleep. If I woke her up just to prove to her own son that the man lying in the emergency room was his biological father, I couldn’t imagine how devastated she would be.

After a long moment of hesitation, I let out a quiet sigh. "She just fell asleep. I don’t want to disturb her."

No one responded.

From Orion’s end of the call came the faint rustling of clothes, followed by the unmistakable sounds of two people kissing, lost in each other.

After a long while, Orion finally spoke again, his voice hoarse, "If you can’t provide proof, then stop bothering me. Or are you trying to listen to us?"

Vera lightly slapped him, her voice coy and playful. "You’re awful. I don’t want her to hear that. She’s so annoying. I’m turning off your phone now, okay?"

"Whatever you want."

The call ended. My world fell back into silence.

My throat felt tightly blocked. It was raw and aching, as if something were stuck there. Tears slid down uncontrollably, one after another.

My parents-in-law were good people. Even though there was no love left between Orion and me, I still hoped my parents-in-law would stay healthy and live long lives.

Yet now, Mr. Hale lay in the emergency room, while his own son would rather be tangled up with an assistant than come to the hospital and stand watch.

They came from scholarly families, well-mannered and dignified. They didn’t want to argue with Vera in public, but they never imagined that their restraint would only give her more confidence, emboldening her to hurl insults until she quite literally angered Mr. Hale into the hospital.

Two hours earlier, I had been accompanying my parents-in-law at Mooncrest Pavilion for dinner.

Mooncrest Pavilion used to be my family’s restaurant. It was also Orion’s parents’ favorite place to eat, as well as Orion’s.

Before we left, Mrs. Hale carefully packed up the remaining bouillabaisse.

"Orion said he’s coming home for dinner tonight. When he was little, this bouillabaisse from Mooncrest Pavilion was his favorite. I’ll take it back and cook some pasta for him, and satisfy his craving."

She smiled with her eyes half-closed, telling me stories from Orion’s childhood, when suddenly a figure rushed forward and slapped the bouillabaisse out of her hands.

The soup splashed all over her face and clothes, even into her eyes. I didn’t have time to demand an explanation. Neither did Mr. Hale. We hurried to wipe her clean.

However, Vera refused to let it go.

"Lyra, do you even know what kind of place this is? This is Mooncrest Pavilion! Where did trashy, poor people like you come from? You can’t even finish a bowl of bouillabaisse without packing it up, and you still have the nerve to eat here?"

She stood in sky-high heels, wrapped head to toe in luxury brands Orion had bought for her as she peered down at my parents-in-law with undisguised arrogance.

"Look at what these two old things are wearing. What kind of rags are those? If your parents are that poor, they should eat at a roadside stall. Why come to Mooncrest Pavilion? Orion was right about you. You married him for his money. Shameless."

Mr. Hale understood immediately. She had mistaken them for my parents and was deliberately humiliating them as poor relatives.

Being the dignified man Mr. Hale was, he didn’t expose her mistake. Instead, he chose to speak up on behalf of my parents.

"Young lady, how can you speak like that? Whether someone is qualified to enter Mooncrest Pavilion isn’t for you to decide. And how old are you, anyway? We are your elders. Lyra is also several years older than you. You should show some respect and apologize."

Vera didn’t apologize. Instead, she lifted her high heel and swung it hard at his face. If I hadn’t reacted quickly and blocked it, the heel would have struck his eye.

She snorted coldly. "You want me to apologize? Do you even know who I am? I’m the girlfriend of the president of the Hale Group. If I so much as open my mouth, he’d give me Mooncrest Pavilion itself. And what are you, exactly?

"You probably don’t even know this yet. Your precious daughter was kicked out of the Hale family a long time ago. She didn’t get a single cent. And here you are, eating a fancy meal, enjoying yourselves, expecting Orion to foot the bill? Keep dreaming."

Before her words had even finished falling, a neat row of men in Mooncrest Pavilion uniforms lined up behind her.

The staff I used to manage here had long since been replaced. My parents-in-law were low-key by nature, so no one recognized us.

The men bowed respectfully to Vera, then, without a word, forced the three of us down onto the ground.

"What kind of broke trash thinks they’re qualified to eat at Mooncrest Pavilion? Do you even know who you’ve offended? Miss Rhodes is Mr. Hale’s precious favorite. You made her unhappy. Just wait and see how Mr. Hale deals with you!"

Mr. Hale already had trouble with his legs. After his knee slammed heavily into the ground, he couldn’t get back up. Beads of sweat instantly broke out across his forehead.

I rushed forward and shouted sharply, "I’m Lyra Hale. Orion Hale’s wife. These two are Orion Hale’s parents. Open your eyes and look carefully! Get Mr. Hale to the hospital immediately! If anything happens to him, you won’t be able to bear the consequences!"

The manager, Calvin Brooks, snorted coldly. Grabbing my chin, he swung his hand and slapped me hard.

"I’ve seen this kind of pathetic dine-and-dash trick countless times. Every day, someone claims to be Mr. Hale’s girlfriend to get out of paying. So why haven’t I ever seen Mr. Hale bring you here to eat?

"Up to now, the only person Mr. Hale has personally brought here is Miss Rhodes. We only listen to Miss Rhodes."

At that, Vera burst into laughter, grinning wildly. "Looks like these people can’t afford to pay. Just take them to the kitchen and make them work it off. Washing the dishes should cover the bill."

Calvin and the others ignored everything we said. They confiscated our phones and dragged the three of us into the kitchen at the back, forcing us to scrub dishes and sweep floors under watch. If we stopped working, we were beaten.

It wasn’t until Mr. Hale was locked inside the garbage room and was unable to breathe and collapsed unconscious that Calvin finally realized someone might die. Panicking, he threw us out through the back door.

As I climbed into the ambulance, I happened to lock eyes with Vera, who was just leaving after finishing her meal.

She stood at the entrance, her expression vicious. "Lyra, this time was just to teach you a lesson. This is what happens when you go against me."

Mrs. Hale came to her senses not long after that, still worried about her husband. With tear-filled eyes, she clasped my hands tightly.

"Lyra, don’t worry about us. Please go and bring Orion back. I don’t want Edmund to leave this world without even hearing his son’s voice."

She threw back the covers and got out of bed, trembling as she insisted on waiting outside the operating room.

I had been full of resentment. I thought that since Orion treated me like that, I would no longer involve myself in matters between his family. However, when I saw the pain on Mrs. Hale's face, I simply couldn’t bring myself to be that cruel.

By the time I reached Vera’s place, they had just finished.

Using a fire extinguisher to smash open her front door, I stormed inside and threw clothes onto Orion’s bare upper body.

"Get dressed. Come with me to the hospital and see Dad one last time."

Vera hooked Orion’s shirt with her foot and disdainfully kicked it out the window. "Lyra, can’t you see Orion’s busy? You’re so utterly unromantic. No wonder he doesn’t want to come home."

I ignored her. I flung the critical condition consent form straight into Orion’s face and stared at him as I repeated myself, "Mom is holding herself together with her own frail health, waiting outside the operating room for the results.

"She begged me to bring you to the hospital to see Dad one last time. I’ll give you five minutes. Get dressed and leave."

With one arm wrapped around Vera, Orion casually picked up the notice with his free hand and glanced at it. He scoffed, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it out the window.

"You think forging a critical condition consent form like this will make me believe you? Lyra, you’re still the same as you were five years ago. Stupid and blindly confident. Disgusting."

I let out a deep sigh. A sense of helplessness surged up from my chest.

I had deliberately taken the critical condition consent form just to prove to Orion that the man lying in the operating room really was his father.

I never imagined he wouldn’t believe it at all.