I laughed with my mom, Melinda, and the manager laughed too.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Signing the contract and transferring the money went smoothly, and I already started looking forward to my confinement period, eager to move in immediately and have hundreds of people taking care of me every day.

My brother Jayden and my mom Melinda lived in the same neighborhood, so close to my due date, I moved over to make it easier for them to take care of me. In the late stages of pregnancy, I needed someone around all the time.

Jayden was a truck driver and only comes home once every ten days or so. His wife, Mia, who was also heavily pregnant and unable to work, joined us for meals.

Her due date was a few days before mine. Three nights before her due date, Melinda was out all night, I don't know where.

Suddenly, Mia started having abdominal pain, and a gush of water flowed down her legs; her water had broken.

I quickly helped her sit down and frantically tried to call Melinda, but I couldn't reach her.

Facing this situation for the first time, I panicked and called 120 (emergency services). My sister-in-law was in excruciating pain, her contractions coming in waves, and her clothes soaked with sweat.

I was terrified, was giving birth really this scary?

When the ambulance arrived to take her away, the nurse looked at me sternly. "Where is the accompanying family member?"

"Can I do it?" I replied nervously, not knowing what I could do.

The nurse glanced at me. "You can't. Where are the other family members? Where is her husband?"

"Her husband is not home; he can't come back."

The nurse looked at Mia with concern, who weakly said, "I can manage. I can make decisions for myself."

"Alright then," the nurse said and shut the ambulance door without looking at me again.

Back home, I was anxious, unable to sit or stand still.

Calling Jayden was useless; he couldn't come back and was just as anxious. Melinda's phone was still unreachable.

Finally, at three in the morning, Melinda came back. I rushed to her. "Mia has given birth; she's already in the hospital. Where have you been? Why are you just coming back now?"

Melinda panicked for a moment, then hurriedly told me to go to bed and pushed me into bedroom.

"Instead of worrying about others, you better worry about yourself, just in case."

She was right; I suddenly became scared and didn't dare to mess around. After all, I really couldn't help much—there were doctors and nurses there, who were surely more helpful than me.

I lay in bed trying to calm myself down. Melinda was busy in the kitchen for a while and then left the house again.

I sneaked up to check and found that only a few eggs were missing from the house.

At that moment, I had to admit that Melinda might indeed be the evil mother. How could she not be with Mia while she was giving birth? Mia must be so scared now!

Our family doesn't have gender discrimination; Melinda only nurtures excellent children. So when Jayden didn't get into high school, my parents made him work in a factory to support my education.

Compared to him, my academic performance was much better. I didn't let them down and got into a top university. After graduation, I secured a stable job with a permanent position—it was smooth sailing.

I fell into reminiscence but was quickly interrupted by a sharp pain in my abdomen.

Could I be going into labor too?

Then, a more intense pain hit me. I quickly called Melinda, hoping she hadn't gone far.

I've been sensitive to pain since I was a child. After hanging up the phone, I felt like I was going to die from the pain. I couldn't help but roll and convulse.

Eventually, I passed out, and the last thing I remembered before losing consciousness was Melinda's anxious face rushing towards me.

I felt my abdomen being pulled and my pelvis being torn apart. In a daze, I followed the doctor's instructions. Finally, it felt like I was liberated.

When I opened my eyes again, Melinda and my husband were by my bedside, and Jeff had tears in his eyes.

"Joanna, are you okay? You went through too much, I love you."

I was about to be infuriated. Jeff had finally decided to show up. He was always running around, claiming he was making big money for us, but I hadn't seen much of that money, and he was never around.

I started crying and looked at Melinda with grievance. "Mom, I'm in so much pain..."

Melinda's tears welled up out of sympathy. "Dear, you've suffered enough. We won't have more children. One is enough."

I looked around the hospital room, which had only one bed.

"Where's Mia? How is she?"

Melinda averted her gaze and brought over a cup of oatmeal, "Dear, have some. I prepared it for you!"

I felt like vomiting. "Take it away, I don't want to drink it! How is Mia?"

Melinda, frustrated, put the oatmeal down, "Jeff, you take it."

Jeff cheerfully took it went to the back table to savor it.

"Don't worry about Mia. She's fine. She's already discharged and gone to the postpartum care center."

Hearing about the postpartum care center, my eyes lit up. "When do I get to go? Can I be discharged today?"

The previously sentimental atmosphere became lively. "You'll go soon. The staff from Honeydew will pick you up this afternoon."

I was instantly happy. At 3 PM, Honeydew's luxury nanny car was parked at the hospital entrance. Melinda helped me walk, while Melinda had disappeared again.

The maternity nurse held my newborn son. It was my first time seeing him. He was tiny, wrinkled, and quite ugly.

The gates of Honeydew opened for us. "Welcome home."

It was full of ceremony; the money was well spent.

Honeydew has two villas, and I was going to stay in the largest one in the middle of the courtyard, which looked like a castle.

I wasn't sure if it was just my illusion, but as we passed by a nondescript villa in the corner, I felt someone watching us.

Following my instinct, I looked over and saw only dark windows. This area shouldn't be for guests.

On the first day in the presidential suite, dinner and a late-night snack were delivered on time. Doctors and nurses checked on me, and the manager briefed me on the schedule for the next day.

At the postpartum care center, I wouldn't get bored. There were many activities every day. As a first-time mother, I was curious about everything and wanted to experience it all. But strangely, I never ran into Mia.

Honeydew didn't enforce breastfeeding, so I chose formula and could sleep as long as I wanted.

On the third day at Honeydew, I was woken up at dawn by noise.

"Is this how you take care of Mia? How can you be so discriminatory?"

Jayden's angry voice boomed from the living room, and Melinda's voice wasn't any less loud.

"She insisted on going back. I couldn't stop her."

In my pajamas, still groggy, I walked out of the room.

"What are you arguing about? What happened to Mia?"

Jayden glanced at me with a look I had never seen before, as if he wanted to stab me.

"Mia had no one with her during childbirth, and the promised postpartum care center was a lie. How can you treat her like this? You said you'd take good care of her."

Tears welled up in Jayden's eyes, and he struggled to hold them back.

I was getting more confused and angrier. Jayden had never spoken to us like this before.

"What are you talking about? I saw the room myself. It's just a bit smaller than this one. It's not as bad as you say."

Hearing my response, Jayden was furious. "A bit smaller? Three or four people crammed into one room, with only one maternity nurse looking after them. You call that a bit smaller? Why don't you go stay in the smaller one?"

I am increasingly unable to understand.

"What are you talking about? That room is not that small. If you don't believe me, I'll take you to see it! Melinda is my mother, so of course she gave me the presidential suite. Mom already booked a place for Mia at the postpartum center, what more do you want?"

Saying this, I pulled my Jayden to go downstairs to see Mia's room. I couldn't believe it. Mom paid for it, so how did it turn into mistreatment?

As I pulled my brother towards the door, about to open it, Melinda, who had been silent, finally spoke.

"There's no need to go. I was the one who changed Mia's room. It has nothing to do with Joanna. Jayden, stop making a scene. Joanna needs to rest!"

Melinda admitted it. She secretly switched Mia's room. No wonder I felt someone watching when I arrived—it must have been Mia.

I walked angrily towards Melinda. "Mom, how could you do that? How could you downgrade Mia's room? How can she rest well with several people crammed into one room?"

Jayden grabbed my arm and pointed at my nose, yelling.

"Joanna, stop pretending. You know exactly how rich Melinda has. You insisted on the presidential suite, which forced Mia into a worse room. I paid for your college education for nothing. The education went to waste. When did you become so heartless?"

His accusations left me baffled. I shook off his grip and shouted back, "What do you mean I forced her? I was the one who called ambulance when she was in labor. If I had known Mom would downgrade her room, I wouldn't have agreed!"

Jayden's tone suddenly softened, and he looked at me with a strange smile.

"You wouldn't have agreed? Then return the room now and get two equal ones! Go on, my dear sister, return it!"

I was speechless. Jayden knew me well—I always got what I wanted, and I hadn't enjoyed the presidential suite enough yet. There was no way I would give it up!

I pretended to be righteous and questioned him loudly, "Do you think the postpartum center belongs to you? You think you can change rooms just like that? If you're so capable, why don't you book a room for your wife yourself? Mom made the booking, and now you're not satisfied. Everyone else can stay there, so why can't Mia? Is she more special than others?"

Seeing us about to come to blows, Melinda hurriedly stepped between us, afraid we'd start fighting.

"If you want to blame someone, blame me. It's my fault. I don't have enough money to meet all your needs. Stop arguing, please. You're both my children."

Melinda lowered her head in guilt. I, with tears in my eyes, hugged her and shouted at Jayden, "What more do you want from Mom? Thousand dollars for a postpartum center, and you want to break her heart?"

At that moment, I felt like the worst kind of person, defending Melinda's actions and placing all the blame on Jayden.

But I really didn't want to give up this room. It would drive me crazy. Melinda had been so good to me, I had to protect her. After all, I was the daughter who always stood by her.

Jayden had calmed down by now. "I checked. Melinda never booked two equal rooms. She always planned for Mia to share with others because it only costs 3,000 dollars! It's cheap!"

He continued, "From now on, you and Melinda stay out of our affairs. If you keep humiliating us, you'll get your comeuppance." With that, he turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

I stood there, stunned. Melinda never intended to book Mia a separate room?

"Mom... is what Jayden said true?" I asked shakily.

Melinda wiped her tears. "Stop asking, it's all my fault. Jayden is back now, he will take good care of Mia."

I felt a shiver down my spine, as if my current comfort was built on Mia's humiliation.

I picked up my phone to call Mia but didn't know what to say. I decided to send an emoji instead.

The bright red exclamation mark on the screen told me she had blocked me.