After politely refusing help from the police regarding my situation, I made my way home in a smug yet lighthearted mood, continuing to enjoy my blissful life without having to serve Albert or Thelma.
I looked at my radiant self in the mirror and couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.
In my past life, I was basically my in-laws' free caregiver. I attended to their every need, no matter day or night. I sacrificed my youth for this family. Eventually, I turned into a haggard, sickly woman.
However, all I got in return for my devotion was betrayal and deception. They'd even kicked me out of the house when I was terminally ill with stomach cancer.
Then, the bank statements showed up on my phone.
Every month, Albert and Thelma would use their ongoing "illness" to demand astronomical sums of money for their "medical expenses". And to afford their medical expenses, I worked myself to the bone and even took on three jobs every day just to make ends meet.
I could never bear to spend a single penny on myself and transferred everything I earned into their bank accounts instead.
However, in the end, all the money that they took was squandered away by Matt!
When I thought about that, a surge of intense hatred welled up inside my chest. I clenched my fists and dug my nails deep into my palms until they drew blood.
I called up the bank and withdrew all of the savings I'd put into Albert's and Thelma's accounts. Then, I used that money and cleared out everything on my Amazon wishlist. I even spent the money on all sorts of luxury items that I had always wanted but could never bear to buy.
I'd scrimped and saved for 20 years in my past life, not willing to spend anything on myself. This time, I was going to make sure that I reaped all of my rewards, and with interest this time.
Moments after their accounts were frozen, Thelma called, sobbing on the line.
"Debbie! Why did you have to be so cruel? Do you really have the heart to watch us freeze and starve to death?"
Thelma was trying to play the emotional card again, but I wasn't buying it this time.
I answered her coldly and sarcastically, "It's fine if you freeze to death. I can just throw your ashes in the trash after you've been cremated. That way, it won't end up polluting the environment after all."
After my burning remark, I hung up the phone with a cold resolve.
On the day of the court hearing, the corridors were packed with media personnel. Their camera flashes were going off while their mics recorded everything.
Thelma sat in the plaintiff's seat, wiping her tears away as Albert delivered a touching and passionate speech to the judge and audience.
"We'd always treated Debbie as our own daughter. Since she married into our family, we have never mistreated her.
"However, it hasn't even been long since my son passed, and she's already stolen all our property and kicked us out of the house. She's left us cold, starving, and homeless. We can only beg for a living now."
Thelma added, "I really don't understand why she's treating us like this. Did I do something wrong as her mother-in-law?"
A slideshow flashed on the large screen in the courtroom, showing photos of them all pretending to be kind to me.
They showed how Thelma mended my torn clothes and stayed up all night to take care of me when I fell sick. They showed how Albert purposely grew his own crops by clearing away the land and sweating profusely in the woods so that I wouldn't have to eat pesticides from commercially grown produce, and more.
Next, it cut to a video that was recorded during Matt's funeral. It showed me forcefully and domineeringly forcing them to sign and ink their fingerprints on the inheritance relinquishing agreement. Their helpless weeping contrasted sharply with the evil sneer on my seemingly selfish face.
Thelma then tearfully recounted her grievances to the judge.
The influencers and other audience members in the gallery cast sympathetic glances at her, while their eyes burned with rage when looking at me.
They probably thought that I was an evil, shameless daughter-in-law who shouldn't even exist.
After the judge heard their accusations, he stared at me with a hostile expression on his face.
"Defendant, do you have anything to say about the plaintiff's demands for the return of the property and monetary compensation?"
"Why is he still asking her for her statement? Just sentence her already!"
"I hope she gets the death sentence! Society is getting sick because of women like her!"
"I hope she gets executed!"
The audience clamored in the gallery.
However, I remained unmoved and slowly rose to my feet. Then, I retrieved a USB flash drive from my bag.
"Your honor, coincidentally, I also have something to show you. This video was taken just three days ago. Let's all have a look at it."
The next moment, the video started playing on the screen, showing my "dead" husband, Matt Blanchard, passionately kissing Laura on a beach in the Nali Islands.
