Shane grinned. "Lydia, see? I told you I'm popular. You'd better keep a close eye on me, or someone might actually steal me away. Then you'll regret it."

He wasn't only incapable of reading the room, but he was also insufferably narcissistic. Faced with someone this shameless, I was truly at a loss for what to do.

I picked up the plate of garlic butter shrimp and moved to dump it in the trash. "You two really are perfect for each other. You're both equally unreasonable and irrational. Since you don't know how to respect the work I put in, then don't bother eating it."

Sarah chased after me into the kitchen and hurriedly grabbed my hand, pleading in a low voice, "Jo, don't be upset. Lydia's young and doesn't know any better. We should be the bigger people here and not stoop to her level. I'll have Shane talk to her later.

"This is Lydia's first time visiting, and Shane finally has a girlfriend. Please, just bear with it for my sake. The shrimp you made is delicious. Don't throw it away, alright? I'm begging you."

The older woman was being so humble that I couldn't bring myself to refuse. I set the shrimp back on the dining table.

After all, she'd lost her husband before she even turned 30 and raised Shane on her own. That couldn't have been easy.

But Lydia wasn't having any of it. "Oh, so you wanted to throw a tantrum but chickened out halfway? What an act.

"You're deliberately putting on this magnanimous show for Shane so he'll compare us in his head and think you're so much more mature than me. Look how thoughtfully you take care of his mother. How virtuous!

"Take a good look in the mirror. You're old and ugly. Shane would never be interested in you."

Sarah didn't want the misunderstanding to escalate and quickly explained, "Lydia, Jo has a boyfriend."

But Lydia refused to believe it and continued her mockery. "Don't think I can't see through this act you two are putting on together to fool me. Just look at that worthless face of hers. Any man who'd be interested must be blind."

I'd thought if I just put up with this, the whole thing would blow over. I never expected Lydia to push her luck and keep going relentlessly.

She was like a persistent fly I couldn't swat away, absolutely revolting.

I laughed bitterly. "I'm not as worthless as you, not as ugly as you, and I actually have some class. Any man who'd date you must be blind too."

After saying that, I stood up and bid Sarah farewell. "Sarah, I have other things to take care of. You all enjoy your meal. Consider this my parting gift."

I'd only taken a few steps when Sarah grabbed my wrist to make me stay.

Shane probably felt like I'd embarrassed him. He looked at me with a cold laugh. "Joanna, you've always been the queen bee since we were kids. The moment you meet someone who can match you, you can't take it and start being passive-aggressive. How tacky."

Once he finished scolding me, Lydia rewarded him with a kiss. "Babe, that was perfect. You can't stand fake bitches like her either, right?"

She shot me a contemptuous glance and continued in that mocking tone. "Listen, wake up. No matter how understanding or generous you pretend to be, Shane will never like you.

"The more you act like this, the more fake you look. There's nothing genuine about you. Plus, the way you're fuming right now just aged you another ten years. You look like a middle-aged housewife."

The fury that'd been building in my chest kept churning. I clenched my fists, about to explode.

But Shane beat me to it. "Lydia, you really hit a nerve with Joanna. Watch out, when she loses it, she'll hit you. I've been bullied by her every single day for years.

He turned to me and winked, his tone smug and satisfied. "Joanna, karma finally caught up with you. Someone can finally put you in your place. Let's see if you still dare to bully me from now on."

I used to feel sorry for him. He grew up without a father, so I'd always protected him like a little brother. Whenever someone bullied him, I was the first to step up and defend him.

So around him, my personality was a bit domineering. And yet, he'd never once said he hated it.

I never imagined that now, for the sake of his girlfriend, he'd turn around and throw me under the bus. I couldn't take it anymore. I flipped the entire table over, sending food crashing to the floor.

I walked over and slapped Shane across the face. "Then stay the hell away from me. You and your girlfriend don't deserve to be in the same room as me!"

Amid their shocked cries, I turned and left.

On the way home, Shane kept sending me messages saying I was being petty, that I was jealous of his girlfriend, and demanding I apologize to both of them.

I texted back, "Shane, from now on, our families should stop associating with each other. That way, your girlfriend won't get jealous and lose her mind."

After I told my parents what happened, they also decided to cut ties with his family. However, the next day, Sarah suddenly showed up at our door carrying gifts.

The moment I opened the door, she dropped to her knees.

"Jo, I'm so sorry about yesterday. I failed to raise my son properly. I brought him here today to apologize to you."

"Please don't do this."

I quickly helped her to her feet. No matter how angry I was, I couldn't accept an elder kneeling before me.

Seeing me soften, Sarah immediately grabbed Shane from behind her and scolded him sharply. "You brat! Jo has treated you like a little brother since you were kids, yet you caused conflict with her over some other woman. Apologize to her right now!"

Shane looked reluctant, but he still apologized. "I'm sorry, Joanna. I wasn't thinking straight yesterday. I was just playing a little joke on you.

"You know it's not easy for me to get a girlfriend. Can you please not hold this against me?"

I frowned slightly. His apology felt perfunctory and uncomfortable.

But having him blocking my doorway and refusing to leave would be a hassle, so I brushed him off. "If it's over, let's not bring it up again."

I reached to close the door, but Sarah caught the scent of the lamb chops I'd been cooking and dragged Shane straight into the house.

By the time I registered what happened, the two of them were already seated at the dining table with their utensils in hand, calling back to me, "Jo, come on in and eat with us."

Fine. Since we hadn't completely burned bridges, this would be the last time I'd host them.

But after just a few bites, violent pounding came from outside the door. "You cheating bastards in there, get out here!"

Shane's face changed. He scrambled to open the door in a panic.

The next second, Lydia burst in, screaming obscenities. "Joanna Calbry, you filthy slut! You lured my boyfriend to your place while I wasn't around. Shameless much? Are you deliberately provoking me?"

"No, Lydia, let me explain—"

Shane barely started before Lydia's hand cracked across his face with a resounding slap. "Shut up! I can see you're enjoying this bitch throwing herself at you."

Her mouth was as foul as a toilet. The fury in my chest kept churning.

I forced it down and pointed at them coldly. "Get out of my house right now. Stop causing a scene here, or I'm calling the cops."

Sarah couldn't stand seeing her son get hit and raised her cane to strike Lydia. "You little tramp, you dare hit my son? I've never even laid a finger on him!"

Lydia dodged while cursing. "You old hag, you want Joanna as your daughter-in-law, but your son thinks she's old and ugly. He only loves me with all his heart! You don't deserve to be Shane's mother!"

She ran into the dining room and, without another word, flipped the table over. Lamb chops and soup spilled across the floor.

Fury consumed me. I strode forward and slapped her across the face. "You think you can come to my house and throw a tantrum? Are you out of your mind?

"Let me say this one more time—I'm not interested in Shane at all! No one's competing with you."

Lydia clutched her face and immediately shrieked, "Shane, are you just going to watch her bully me? I'm telling you, if you don't get revenge for me today, we're through!"

The moment she finished speaking, Shane grabbed a chair without hesitation and hurled it at me. I dodged nimbly and grabbed my phone to call the police.

The next second, Lydia charged out of the kitchen brandishing a kitchen knife, completely unhinged. "Joanna, you bitch! I'll kill you, you man-stealing whore!"

In her panic, Sarah used her cane to strike at Lydia. But Lydia suddenly changed direction and stabbed straight toward Sarah. "Go to hell!"

Accompanied by Shane's panicked cry, Sarah collapsed in a pool of blood.

"Mom!"

The sudden violence left us all frozen in shock. Shane yelled at me, "Call 911 and save my mom!"

Lydia dropped the knife and threw herself into Shane's arms, wailing. "Babe, I didn't mean to. It's all because Joanna provoked me. If anything happens to your mom, I wouldn't want to live either!"

The ambulance arrived. Shane was so panicked he'd lost all sense of direction, clinging to Lydia and barely able to form coherent words.

I had no choice but to accompany Sarah to the hospital as a friend. After a round of emergency treatment, she was finally out of danger and transferred to the ICU.

During all of this, Shane never showed up once. I was the one running around handling the payment and admission paperwork.

My parents called Shane an animal, said he couldn't even take care of his own mother, and told me to stop getting involved too.

But I figured after being neighbors for over 20 years, I'd help out this one last time and then be done with it.

Once Sarah was moved to a regular ward, I contacted Shane to pay the bills. He agreed over the phone.

I'd just returned to the hallway outside the ward when a swarm of media reporters suddenly appeared. They surrounded me at the door, shoving me and demanding answers.

"What kind of grudge do you have that would make you stab a woman in her 60s and critically injure her?"

"Speak up! If you don't explain yourself today, don't think you're leaving here!"

My mind went blank for a moment. I looked up at the crowd. Suddenly, I spotted Shane and Lydia standing outside the mob.

I immediately understood. They'd struck first with false accusations, pinning Sarah's stabbing on me.

I forced myself to stay calm and explained, "Lydia caused Sarah's injury. It has nothing to do with me."

But no matter how I explained, no one believed me.

"Stop trying to shift the blame. The elderly woman's son and daughter-in-law are witnesses. They witnessed you attacking his mother with their own eyes."

As soon as those words landed, a man suddenly flew into a rage and kicked me to the ground. I felt my ribs crack.

I struggled to get up, screaming at the top of my lungs, "You can ask Sarah yourself who's the real culprit who stabbed her!"

The next second, the crowd turned their cameras toward the person on the hospital bed. I looked at Sarah with hope in my heart, praying she'd clear my name.

But instead, she pointed at me in outrage. "The culprit is her. Joanna Calbry."

I froze in shock. I could barely believe my own ears. My voice trembled as I asked, "Why… why are you lying?"

Since childhood, I'd followed my parents' example and treated the Sheridan mother and son with genuine sincerity. When she got hurt, I even came to the hospital to take care of her.

I never imagined she'd betray me when it mattered most. The pain cut deeper than any physical wound.

"Joanna has been shamelessly chasing after my son, constantly throwing herself at him with food and clothes. But my son only has eyes for Lydia.

"Joanna went mad with jealousy and tried to sabotage my son's relationship with his girlfriend. When I exposed her, she viciously stabbed me in retaliation."

Like mother, like son—Sarah was just as good at twisting the truth as her son and Lydia.

I didn't have time to feel hurt. I could only shout for help. "Call the police! Let them investigate who the real culprit is! You can't lay another hand on me, or you'll all end up in jail!"

Those words enraged Lydia. She ran over and slapped me hard across the face. "You're the one who's done nothing but evil, and you still have the nerve to threaten people?"

She yanked my hair and hissed in my ear, "I destroyed all the security footage from your house. There's no evidence to prove your innocence. You filthy bitch, you're absolutely going down in flames this time."

My face burned with pain. Suddenly, I remembered I'd given Sarah the passcode to my door lock.

This woman had actually gone to my house while I was taking care of Sarah and destroyed the evidence. How despicable and shameless.

I turned to leave.

Shane walked over and grabbed me by the throat, his face full of glee. "Joanna, you've always acted so high and mighty, lecturing me like you're better than everyone. It's time you learned how humiliating it feels to be trampled underfoot."

With that, he clenched his fist and slammed it into my abdomen, one blow after another. "You bitch! My mom treated you like a daughter, and you tried to kill her!"

I had no power to fight back. The blows made me cough up blood.

Lydia pointed her phone at me, laughing wildly. "Everyone, get a good look at this bitch's face! When she couldn't have my boyfriend, she maliciously stabbed my future mother-in-law and tried to frame me for it. She's rotten to the core!

"Thank God we caught her in time, or who knows what would've happened. Tell me, doesn't she deserve a beating?"

Cheers erupted around me. "Beat her to death! I hate fake bitches like her!"

Every part of me was in agony. I didn't know who could possibly help me now.

Suddenly, a group of people rushed through the door.

The man leading them threw Shane to the ground and shouted, "Even if you destroyed the video, I can still prove Joanna didn't stab your mother!"