After being a housewife for three years, I enjoyed the life of my husband Trent Guerra earning money, and our child Alanna Guerra relied on me.

I thought this could last a lifetime, until one day at the hospital, I saw Trent and his mother Molly Schmitt supporting a woman.

Molly muttered, "Amari, once you give birth to our family's precious child, I'll make sure my son divorces that woman!"

Trent, caressing the woman's belly, smiled with joy. "Amari, why not just quit your job as a kindergarten teacher and focus on the child?"

I had been married to Trent for three years, ever since I was captivated by this upperclassman when I first entered university.

His daily concern and care naturally won me over.

The sound of the door opening interrupted my thoughts. I quickly wiped my hands on my apron and walked over to take Trent's coat.

"Have you had dinner, honey?" I hung his coat on the rack and went to the kitchen to bring out the food.

As we sat down, I glanced around and asked, "Where's Alanna?"

Without a pause, Trent responded after eating a few bites, "Mom came over, so I asked her to pick her up."

"Okay." I didn't think much of it, since Molly would often come to stay with us for a while.

After dinner, Trent hugged me from behind and pulled out a necklace.

The blue diamond gleamed beautifully under the light.

He put it on me, and I stood in front of the mirror for quite some time, reluctantly taking it off and placing it back in the box.

"Why aren't you just wearing it? You used to love this kind of thing," he remarked.

I hesitated for a moment before casually replying, "I don't wear jewelry much these days. It's inconvenient when I'm cleaning or cooking."

As if I didn't care... but how could I not? In my younger days, I adored fashion and frequently bought accessories. I never lacked anything at home either.

But after marrying Trent, I gradually toned it down. The endless housework was overwhelming.

My parents always thought he wasn't good enough for me, but who was perfect anyway?

As I came out of the bedroom, Molly and Alanna had already returned.

Seeing scratches on Alanna's face, I asked with concern, "What happened, Alanna? Did someone bully you at school?"

Molly, holding Alanna's hand, smiled, "No, no. Alanna just accidentally scratched herself on a tree branch.

"Isn't that right, Alanna?" Molly's tone was strange, though the smile never left her face.

Alanna nodded, admitting it was her carelessness.

After dinner and some tidying up, we all went to bed.

Trent hugged me from behind and whispered, "Valeria, how about we have another child? Alanna must feel so lonely by herself."

I turned over, thinking for a moment before gently replying.

"Honestly, Alanna is fine on her own. I grew up as an only child too. And with a second child, it's hard for parents to treat them both equally."

Trent got a bit upset. I didn't understand why he was so insistent on having two kids. One was enough, especially when he was at a critical point in his career. A second child would only add more burden.

I patted his back to comfort him, and we soon fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of banging and clattering outside.

I walked out to see Molly mopping the floor early in the morning. I took the mop from her.

"Molly, what are you doing? It's barely morning!"

Molly sat on the couch, eating the fruit I had bought from the supermarket the day before.

"You don't know, Valeria. Back in my day, we were up at the crack of dawn every day, always working in the fields."

She said as she dusted off her hands from the sticky fruit and continued.

"Nowadays, you have it so easy, sleeping in until sunrise!"

I was speechless. The generation gap and her authority as my elder made it hard for me to respond, so I just laughed it off.

Alanna came out of the bedroom, looking at us.

"Is it too noisy, Alanna? Go get dressed, and I will take you out for breakfast and then to your tutoring class."

I patted her head and went to the bedroom to change.

As I held my Alanna's hand and walked out, in the elevator, she looked up at me with hesitation in her eyes.

I knelt to her level. "What's wrong, Alanna?"

"Mommy, actually... my face was scratched by my teacher's son. We were playing."

I was furious. What kind of game involved scratching a girl's face?

After dropping Alanna off at her class, I took out my phone and sent her teacher a message.

[Ms. Ochoa, Alanna said your son scratched her face while playing. I understand kids sometimes roughhouse, but could you please remind him not to scratch girls' faces while playing?]

I sent the message and got no response for a while, probably because the teacher was busy. After buying groceries, I headed home to make lunch.

When I got back home, Molly immediately grabbed my hand, saying, "Valeria, I heard your family's house is being demolished. Is that true?"

I thought about it for a moment. It was true, so I nodded.

Seeing me nod, Molly's smile widened.

She pulled me over to sit on the couch, not even letting me put down the groceries.

With tears in her eyes, she looked at me and said, "Valeria, you know my second son. He wasn't good at school since he was a child, so now he can only do odd jobs. He's 30 and still not married. How could I not be worried as a mother?"

As she spoke, she dramatically pounded her chest, looking like a concerned mother fretting over her son.

I cautiously asked, "Molly, are you suggesting we give the demolition compensation to Dario?"

She immediately jumped up, waving her hands.

"How could that be! Your money can't just go to my son like that. I'm just asking if you, as the sister-in-law, could help him out a little with some money to buy a house."

I was confused. How was this "helping" any different from just giving the money away?

"But the house isn't in my name. It's under my mother's," I replied.

I wasn't a fool. Molly favored her younger son so much that giving him this money would be like throwing it into the wind, never to return.

After thinking it over, I grabbed her hand and said earnestly.

"How about this, Molly? I'll ask my mom to lend him the money, but how about he writes me an IOU?"

Molly's eyes widened in disbelief, as if she had just heard the most ridiculous thing.

"Valeria, that's not right! How could you ask your brother-in-law to write an IOU?"

Before I married Trent, I was the little princess in my family and naturally had a bit of a temper.

But in recent years, I toned it down after having a child, knowing that parents were their children's first teachers.

I crossed my legs and leaned back on the couch. "Molly, I said he could write the IOU, or I can't lend him anything. The house isn't even in my name, so where am I supposed to get the money from?"

I glanced at my phone and then looked up at her again.

"He's 30 years old and can achieve nothing. Doesn't he reflect on that? If he needs his mother to borrow money for his wedding, won't his future wife start paying off debts after they get married? You've spoiled him, haven't you?"

Furious, Molly pointed at me and scolded, "Who do you think you are? You were like a princess in your family before, but now you've married my son!"

She glanced at my belly, her words dripping with disdain.

"A woman who can't even give birth to a son means nothing!"

Hearing that, I couldn't hold back anymore. I slapped her hard across the face.

She clutched her cheek, staring at me in shock.

I rubbed my stinging hand and smiled at her.

"Don't try to provoke me. You knew my temper before we got married. I only hold back out of respect for your age, but don't push your luck."

Just as I finished speaking, Alanna returned with Trent.

I went over to pick up Alanna. "How was dance class? Was it easy to learn?"

Alanna nuzzled my face and kissed me. "Mommy, it was fun! The dance teacher is so pretty. I like her!"

I pinched her nose and carried the groceries into the kitchen.

Outside, I could hear Trent asking Molly what had happened to her face.

Molly didn't say much, brushing it off with some excuse.

Later that night, as we were going to bed, Trent pulled me up from the bed and confronted me.

"What happened to Mom's face? Don't tell me it's an allergy. Do you think I'd believe that?"