Seeing me so agreeable, Tiara was thrilled.

She accepted the formula and then pulled Ansley aside for a chat.

After the celebration ended, my mom started checking the gifts while scolding me.

"You're his aunt, and yet your gift is worth less money than a stranger's."

"Mom, drop it. Leticia hasn't got a job since she got a postgraduate degree. She can barely take care of herself."

Off to the side, Marcus Proctor chimed in gleefully while eating some snacks.

Sure enough, hearing him say that, my mother started nagging again.

"What's the point of a girl getting that much education? I think you'd better come back and get married soon. What's so good about the big city? Wait too long, and you'll be an old lady that nobody wants.

"Look at your brother. He's so capable. So what if he didn't get into college? He still makes money and marries a good wife. Now, he's even given me a chubby grandson!"

After belittling me, she started praising her son again.

It had been like that my whole life, but I'd gotten used to it.

I frowned but said nothing. They all thought I hadn't found a stable job since graduation.

Little did they know, I'd joined a research team, earning tens of thousands in bonuses from just one experiment.

In the past life, after I told them about this, they kept an eye on me constantly.

Every expense in the family, including Damian's books and tuition and my mother's medical bills, fell on me.

In the end, not only were they ungrateful, but they also cost me my life.

This time, I wouldn't be that stupid.

After leaving my hometown, I threw myself back into the research project.

And I worked late every day.

My mom still had her mind set on marrying me off, constantly sending me pictures of men.

They weren't much to look at, but she kept praising them.

I didn't reply to her.

Then she called me directly. "What's going on, Leticia? Did you even see the messages I sent you? These are the best guys in our county. There's a boss who... Ouch!"

She was still talking when something happened, and the call ended abruptly.

Then my phone rang.

"Leticia, Damian's in the hospital. What should we do?"

It was Tiara, and she sounded panicked.

Damian?

"He's been vomiting and having diarrhea since last night. The doctor just said it's food poisoning. He's just a kid…"

"Food poisoning? What did you feed him?"

"Nothing special, just the formula Ansley gave us!" she cried.

"I knew that Ansley wasn't any good. The formula she gave us must've been bad, and now it made my son sick…"

Marcus chimed in from the phone.

"Shut up! Ansley is a great person. I bet it was your mom sneaking some corn mush to Damian while I wasn't looking last night…"

The voices on the phone were getting chaotic, so I held the phone away in disgust and hung up.

I didn't know what happened after that, but I heard Tiara had a huge fight with my mom.

That was when my mom thought of me again and called to complain.

She said it wasn't her fault.

The doctor said it was the formula that caused Damian's illness.

But Tiara refused to believe it.

She kept feeding Damian the formula anyway, and later, Damian's fever broke and he seemed fine, growing taller and stronger.

Then Tiara credited the formula for it.

I once glanced at a photo of Damian. He was twice the size of other babies his age.

He looked a bit too healthy.

But Tiara didn't think so. She kept posting his photos on her social media.

She even captioned: [My son is going to be a big success with this strong body.]

Watching Damian's unusual growth, I thought about the recent news of an inferior formula circulating and could only sigh silently.