I was married to a wonderful man. I decided to marry him because he treated her family well.

However, I had a problem with my mother-in-law. She was always biased toward her children. She gave the entire relocation compensation to her eldest son. The fact that her younger son did not argue really pleased her immensely.

She praised him by saying, "You're a good kid. When I'm old, I'll be living with you."

Unfortunately, I was the younger son's wife. So, you could very well imagine how she treated me.

At that time, I thought she was just saying that out of politeness. I didn’t expect her to actually move in.

From the moment she arrived, strange things started happening in our home. Then one night, I caught her sneaking around, holding a piece of fabric that looked suspiciously familiar.

“Mom, why are you holding my underwear?”

——

Ever since my mother-in-law moved in with us, my underwear had mysteriously vanished. The amount was just astonishing, eighteen pairs in just one week.

This matter made me recall the day she arrived here.

My mother-in-law had boasted, "It's so easy making money. I can easily earn one hundred and fifty dollars a day. So, I won't become a burden by staying here." As she said that, she patted her chest with a face full of pride, surrounded by her bags and boxes.

The confident smirk on her face made my own smile freeze.

There she was, a short woman with sharp eyes and a shrewd face, standing in front of me, my mother-in-law, Gloria Keller. She always dressed casually in a short-sleeved shirt. Her presence was enough to make me uneasy and after years of marriage to Hugh Warren, I knew her personality perfectly well.

That woman was calculating and petty. She had a habit of stealing things from others and the most favorite persons were her two sons.

When I married Hugh, she was so worried her oldest son would suffer, just because I came from a well-off family. So, she gave all of the relocation money, hundreds and millions of dollars of it, behind me and Hugh's back to her oldest son.

Actually, I did not care, after all, it was her money. However, when she saw me did not say anything or fight for the shares, she became even more brazen. She flashed a wide triumphant grin in front of Hugh and me and said, "You two are kind children. When I grow old, I'll come and live with you."

The moment she said it, Hugh did not react at all, but the smile on my face was almost gone.

At that time, when I snapped back to reality, as I was watching her standing there, I grabbed Hugh's arm and gave it a hard twist. 

He had given me a pleading look and because of that I finally relented and let my mother-in-law to step through the door.

That woman tossed a dirty woven bag onto my freshly cleaned floor then her eyes darting around the room, taking in every detail. Her hands folded behind her back as she inspected around the house. “Tsk, tsk, tsk… This is nothing like your brother’s place. You, rich people, really know how to live.”

She began to ruffle around the house, search every nook and cranny, dig every drawer and peek into every corner as if looking for hidden treasure.

I stepped on Hugh's feed and dug my heel onto it a couple of times while fuming silently in anger. Although my face remained calm, my heart was inexplicably seething with discomfort.

Although I did not care about her family properties, Gloria was really something ....

Before I could finish that disturbing thought, she turned to me, with a big smile on her face. “Yvonne, I know you are an easygoing person. I know you won't mind, that I’m staying here, right?"

Because both of them stared intently at me with expectant eyes, I forced a stiff smile and nodded, then lowered my head in annoyance.

As I looked down, I missed the glance that passed between Hugh and his mother.

From that moment, my nightmare began to unfold.

Hugh begged me to bear with his mother's antic and avoid having arguments with her. Finally, I relented to his wishes.

At five in the morning, I was startled awake by the sound of clattering and banging inside the house. Frowning, I went to the living room. There I found my mother-in-law was dragging in piles of cardboard boxes and plastic bottles.

"Did I wake you up? I'm just trying to help lighten my son's burden by earning a little money for him," she said. She did not find it strange to make a lot of noise early in the morning and did not say any regret for waking her up. Instead, her face was beaming with pride as if by collecting trash, she could earn a fortune.

Before I could say anything, Hugh had tugged my hand and pulled me into our room. Meanwhile, his mother’s voice grew even louder and her eyes were gleaming with smug satisfaction.

There was something off about it. I could not put my finger on it, but it left me feeling uneasy.

What was stranger, for me at least, Hugh seemed completely unfazed by the noise outside. In fact, there was a nostalgic look in his eyes. He held my hand and his expression was full of gratitude.

“My father died young and my mom worked hard, saving every bit of money that she earned to put my brother and me through school. She went through so much. I’ve always wanted to repay her.”

His voice broke as tears welled up in his eyes and he looked pointedly at me as if he were waiting for me to say something.

After a moment of silence, I finally realized what he was implying.

I forced a smile while staring at him in disbelief. "You and your brother can repay your mother all you want. However, it has nothing to do with me. You need to make sure she doesn’t make too much noise in the morning. The neighbors will complain.”

Hugh’s face stiffened for a split second. He quickly lowered his head and muttered awkwardly, “Okay.”

The first time I noticed my underwear was missing, I had just come home from work and headed to the balcony to collect the laundry.

As I stared at the empty clothespins, I felt confused. Hadn’t I hung everything here? Why did it seem like some items were missing?

We lived on a high floor, so I peered outside, while wondering if a strong gust of wind had blown my clothes away.

Once or twice could be a coincidence, but when I noticed a whole section of my wardrobe box was empty, I knew something was wrong. I mentioned it to Hugh, but he quickly brushed it off.

“Who would take something like that? Maybe you didn’t clip them tightly enough and the wind blew them away. Don't be too stingy, just buy more.”

I was still trying to figure it out when I caught sight of my mother-in-law in the hallway. She was busy wrapping a small cardboard in tape with her body hunched over it. She was very quick while doing it.

“Mom, what are you doing?” I asked casually.

Before I could step closer, she snatched the box away, while muttering something about mailing a package. Her hands moved deftly as she taped the box shut.

“You’ve really embraced online shopping, huh? You are getting the hang of shipping things too,” I joked.

Gloria gave me a strange smile and her eyes narrowed slightly in my direction. “Oh yes, I can make good money with this.”

It was probably another one of those so-called get-rich-quick schemes. I responded half-heartedly, my attention wandering to the rose bouquet on the dining table.

I wondered who brought this because Hugh had never given me flowers before.

Strange things kept happening one after another. This time, Gloria rushed over to protect the flowers on the table and then claimed that she had picked them up.

Seeing her flushed face, I decided not to say anything,

More of my intimate clothing kept disappearing. It always happened when Hugh and I worked during the day and as I counted the days, I realized the thefts had started right after Gloria moved in with us.

One afternoon, while she was out grocery shopping, I couldn't shake my suspicions. I decided to search the house thoroughly. Everything seemed normal. It seemed none of our valuables were missing. However, as I stood in the living room, my eyes drifted to the one place I hadn’t checked yet.

Why would she take those things? It made no sense.

Even though inwardly I already had my suspicions, the moment I pushed open the door to her room, I couldn't help but feel my heart thumping with nervousness.

I held my breath as I walked in. I searched everywhere, but I couldn’t find my missing clothes. The only unusual thing I found was a small collection of boxes.

After thoroughly checking her room, I stood up and sighed, disappointed. Just as I was about to leave, a soft voice came from behind me.

“Yvonne, what are you doing in my room?”

Startled, I stiffened and turned around to face Gloria’s gaze. I forced a smile. “Mom, it's nothing, I came over to see if you have opened the window in your room to ventilate it," I said.

She didn’t respond immediately, only stared at me with those unsettling eyes. The intensity of her gaze made me nervous. After what felt like an eternity, she finally replied with a slow nod and I quickly excused myself from her room.

I had my reasons for suspecting her. During the first year of my marriage to Hugh, I had seen her slip her hand into a relative’s pocket during a family gathering.

It was winter and everyone was wearing thick coats. When that relative realized their money was missing, they assumed it had fallen somewhere along the way. However, I knew the truth that it was Gloria who had taken it.

“We’re all family. My mom would never do something like that,” Hugh had said dismissively when I told him. “Even if she accidentally dipped into their pocket, I’ll cover the missing money. It’s no big deal.”

I had pressed him to talk to her, but I never knew how that conversation ended or even if it happened.

Thinking back on that incident, I shook my head. Maybe I was wrong this time. What would she even want with used clothes? They weren’t worth anything.

It was all just intimate items of mine that had gone missing. That night, I brought up the idea of installing a camera on the balcony to catch the culprit. Unfortunately, the moment I mentioned it, Hugh shot up from the bed with a visibly upset expression.

“We haven’t lost anything valuable! Why do we need surveillance? Are you seriously trying to say we should spy on my mom? Do you even respect her?”

His face turned red with anger as if I had insulted him deeply. Not wanting to escalate the situation, I agreed to drop the idea and let it go.

Unable to reason with him, I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. My mouth felt dry, so in the middle of the night, I quietly got up to get some water.

The living room was pitch black as I groped my way toward the kitchen, using the faint light from my phone screen to guide me. I took a few sips from my glass, but just as the phone screen dimmed, I heard a faint rustling sound behind me. My heart stopped for a beat as my mind raced through every possible terrifying scenario.

A few seconds later, the noise grew louder. I rushed to the wall and flipped on the light.

The sudden brightness stung my eyes, but I immediately turned toward the source of the sound.

There, standing in the bathroom doorway was Gloria, dressed in her nightgown. Her mouth was wide open with eyes filled with panic. She barely had time to hide what was in her hand before I grabbed it. It was a piece of soft fabric.

“Mom, why are you holding my underwear in the middle of the night?” I asked. As soon as I realized what it was, I couldn’t help but gasp. My expression froze in shock.

In the dead of night, she had been sneaking into the laundry basket to take my used underwear.

The whole scene felt disturbingly eerie.