The Invoice Before the Vows

When I prepared to marry my boyfriend, his mother gifted us a brand-new house.

But to my surprise, my future sister-in-law—who'd married into the family ten years before me—just up and moved into my new home. She stood there like she owned the place and announced, "Why should you get the new house? Both our husbands are sons of this family. How can they play favorites like this?"

The truth is, when she got married, my future in-laws had given them a house of equal value too. It's just that ten years had passed, and their once-new home had simply grown old.

My future mother-in-law just wiped her tears, clearly torn, but she didn't say a word.

So I smiled and agreed to switch houses with my future sister-in-law.

But she didn't stop there. "I've taken care of Mom for ten years," she said. "I spend no less than five thousand dollars on her every year. That's fifty thousand over ten years. You two should split that cost with us—just give me twenty-five thousand."

The truth was, my future mother-in-law had spent those ten years helping them raise their kid, even draining her own pension into their household.

I turned to look at her. Still, she said nothing.

What they didn't know was that James Carter and I hadn't even filed our marriage license yet. They'd shown their true colors way too soon.

As far as I was concerned, I wasn't setting one foot into that family anymore. And I swore that I'd turn their whole house upside down.

I smiled faintly and asked Samantha Sterling, "Since you think everything is so unfair, why don't we switch everything? What do you say?"

A flash of delight crossed her face, clearly not expecting me to be so agreeable. "Fine. We'll switch."

She lifted her chin with smug pride. "I'm not taking advantage of you. As the eldest, we're the ones who've always been at a loss!"

My future mother-in-law, Cami Ulrich, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke. Beaming at me, she said, "Lyndis is so sensible. James has such good taste—he married such a wonderful wife!"

James looked at me with open pride, his eyes practically declaring that I was the best woman in the world.

I stepped over to James's older brother, slipped my arm through his, and leaned my head lightly against his shoulder.

"In that case," I said sweetly, "from now on, I'll switch husbands with Samantha. I'll live with Nick, and she can be with James."

James's expression changed instantly. He yanked me back, his voice sharp. "Have you lost your mind? What nonsense are you talking about!"

There it was—he couldn't keep his composure anymore. No more playing the invisible man.

I stared at him and sneered with a smile. "Oh? I thought you'd suddenly gone mute. Guess not."

Looking embarrassed, he tried to placate me. "Don't throw a childish tantrum. We're all family—if there's something to say, let's talk it out calmly."

Samantha's face darkened even further. "Lyndis, what do you mean by that? Switch husbands? Do you have no shame at all?"

I smiled lightly. "Wasn't it you who said that since both James and Nick are brothers, it's unfair for you to use the old while we use the new?

"I'm only thinking of you, Samantha. If you want everything new, shouldn't that include people too?"

Samantha flushed red with anger, her neck stiff as she shouted at Cami, "Mom, listen to what she is saying! Is that even something a human would say?"

Cami turned to me. "Lyndis, that's going too far. You're sisters-in-law—you should get along."

Samantha snapped impatiently, "Enough with the useless talk. Let's get to the money. You two need to hand over the 25,000 dollars right now!"

I looked at James. He had turned mute again.

So deep down, he agreed—I was supposed to give his sister-in-law that 25,000 dollars.

When I agreed to marry him, my family hadn't asked for anything. We weren't short of money.

His family had only to provide the marital home, and the property was registered solely under James's name.

Since I was eighteen, my parents had already bought me several properties outright. So I had never cared whether my name was on the deed of the marital home.

I hadn't expected that my understanding would be seen, in their eyes, as weakness—that I was easy to manipulate, an easy target to take advantage of.