The two of them went into the kitchen, whispering about who knows what.

I sat on a chair nearby and shot Nicolas’ little brother a stern glare.

The little brat, growing bolder by the second, actually tried to hit me.

I wasn’t about to let that slide. I grabbed his arm and sent him sprawling onto the floor.

He glared at me viciously and spat out, “Just you wait!”

A moment later, a piercing shriek tore through the air—so loud it seemed to rattle the walls—yet not a single tear stained his cheeks. It was all for show.

Hearing the commotion, his mother came rushing out of the kitchen.

“What happened, sweetheart? Who hurt you?”

The little brat, still pretending to wipe the non-existent tears, pointed straight at me.

I saw her face darken, but before she could say anything, Nicolas quickly stepped in and tugged her back.

“Stop making things up. Why would your sister-in-law bully you? Get up and go wait in your room until dinner.”

Her words felt strained, and it wasn’t hard to guess why. Nicolas had probably said something to her in the kitchen—most likely about that so-called seventeen-thousand-dollar “gift” he’d been pushing for.

Still, the way she called me “sister-in-law” made my skin crawl.

“Ma’am, just call me Claire,” I said politely.

“Alright then, Claire. Sorry about that—you know how kids are. I’ll go finish up dinner now. You two sit tight in the living room.”

Her cold stare had turned into an overly sweet smile so abruptly, it left me momentarily disoriented.

But I could play along with her act just as well as she could.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Before long, the dishes were set on the table. It was a simple meal, but at least it was hot.

I’d just taken a few bites when Nicolas’s little brother suddenly looked up at me from across the table.

There was still grease at the corner of his mouth, and though he was just a kid, he had the audacity to look so smug and self-righteous.

“My mom said that after you marry my brother, you’ll buy me a house and a car in the city. If you do that, I’ll consider forgiving you for bullying me. Oh, and you’ll have to give me extra allowance too.”

The dining table fell into a brief, awkward silence.

Nicolas looked embarrassed, clearly not expecting his brother to blurt that out so directly.

However, his mother remained unfazed and instead placed a piece of meat on my plate with an overly warm smile.

“Claire, try the pork I made for you.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” I said with a strained smile.

“Don’t mind what the kid says,” Nicolas muttered, his tone a little forced.

Clack.

His mother suddenly set down her spoon.

“Watch your mouth,” she snapped at him before turning back to me with another smile.

“By the way, Claire, when are you and Nicolas planning to get married? Young people need to plan ahead. Why don’t we set the engagement after the New Year?”

I feigned a look of surprise.

“Isn’t that a bit fast, ma’am?”

“Not at all,” she said matter-of-factly. “You and Nicolas are the same age, right? Twenty-four? If you wait much longer, it’ll be harder to have kids.”

I let out a cold laugh in my mind.

“Oh, you’re joking, ma’am.” I kept my tone polite but firm. “Where I come from, no one gets married after just a couple of years of working.”

Nicolas must have picked up on the tension in my voice because he hurriedly jumped in to smooth things over.

“Mom, we’ve got plans. You don’t have to worry about it.”

But then Nicolas added, “But Claire, I think an engagement wouldn’t hurt. We could move in together first, and once my career is stable in a couple of years, we can make it official.”

While the mother and son casually planned out my future like I wasn’t even there, I could only sneer inwardly.

Right now, I had one goal: get my money back from Nicolas and teach him a lesson he wouldn’t forget.

“There’s no rush,” I said calmly, pulling a napkin from my bag and wiping my mouth.

At that, Nicolas’s mother’s expression soured further.

Nicolas nudged me under the table, throwing me a pointed look.

Feigning ignorance, I blinked at him. “What?”

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Claire, didn’t you bring gifts for my parents?”