While cleaning up my son’s scattered toys, he suddenly spoke.

“Actually, I’m quite ashamed to have a mother like you.”

My hand was scratched by a toy and I was momentarily unable to react.

He said to himself, “Even though you wash my clothes and cook for me, that’s not the kind of mother I want. A mother should be like Miranda, not a nanny like you.”

I felt like I’d been hit hard.

Perhaps my face was too grim, but my son burst into tears and threw himself into my husband’s arms.

My husband said helplessly, “Don’t get angry with a child. Children his age loved pretty things and it’s normal to want a young, beautiful girl who can play with them. You looked disheveled and when you went to his parent-teacher conference the other day, his friends laughed at him for having a nanny. He felt ashamed, so he said that.”

I was speechless. It turned out that he was venting his anger on me because I refused to let my husband’s childhood sweetheart accompany us to the parent-teacher conference.

In the past, I would have squatted down and explained things to him. But at this moment, I felt incredibly exhausted.

I decided I needed a break.

So, I had my lawyer file a divorce petition, packed my bags and rented an apartment.

The day I left home, he and his son were preparing to attend Miranda’s birthday party.

He and his son didn’t even stop and only jokingly asked me back.

“Just because of what your son said, you want a divorce?”

I hummed softly.

——

The family was busily dressed and passed me by.

But no one stopped to listen.

Nancy put on her earrings in the mirror and made a perfunctory comment.

“Are you mad about Miranda going to the parent-teacher meeting in your place? She isn’t a stranger. She felt bad for you being busy with housework and wanted you to rest more. You should be grateful for that. Instead, you flew into a rage and are now threatening divorce.”

Gary shook his head. “That’s completely unreasonable.”

But was I really unreasonable?

A week ago, my son’s kindergarten graduation parent-teacher conference took place.

I’d been looking forward to it for so long.

To make my son proud, I ignored Nancy’s sarcasm and Hannibal’s disapproval and used my savings to buy myself a new dress.

When Gary knew I was going to the conference, he scolded me for running around all day and neglecting to clean the house.

I got up early and prepared all the chores, clothes and meals.

Excited and happy, I went to the kindergarten in my dress, but was stopped by the kindergarten security guard and the homeroom teacher.

“You’re Hughie’s mother? How could that be? Hughie’s mother is right there. Who are you? If you don’t explain clearly, we’ll call the police.”

Through their shoving, I saw my husband and Miranda, one on each side, holding my son’s hand, all three of them wearing identical clothes.

I pushed past the homeroom teacher, rushed over, grabbed Hannibal and said, “Why did you ask Miranda to come to our son’s parent-teacher meeting? This is the parents’ section; she shouldn’t be here. You even asked her to go to the audience.”

I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that statement.

But they were mad at me for a long time because of it.

The door was unlocked. Miranda walked in and held my house key.

“Godmother, Goddaddy, the driver’s here. Let’s go.”

The whole family immediately surrounded her and hugged her excitedly, their faces filled with love.

“Our precious baby is turning twenty-six this year! Happy birthday, baby!”

“Miranda, Hughie and Daddy have also prepared a gift. Miranda, please open it and take a look!”

I watched Hughie approach with an exquisite gift box. When he opened it, he found a gold bracelet.

My heart began to ache.

Since marrying into this family, I had never celebrated my birthday.

And last month, on my birthday, I bought the new dress I wanted to wear to the parent-teacher meeting.

It wasn’t expensive, only 41 dollars, not even a fraction of what this bracelet cost. But when Hannibal saw me coming back with the clothing bags, he rubbed his brows and said helplessly, “Wife, the company’s performance hasn’t been good lately. Don’t waste unnecessary money like this.”

So, it wasn’t about cutting costs, but rather it was their money that I didn’t deserve to spend.

Miranda saw me standing in the living room, looking surprised and embarrassed.

“Regina is here too? Hannibal said you couldn’t come to my birthday party, so I just called a five-seater car. Why don’t you…”

Before she could finish, my son grabbed her hand, walked out and mumbled, “Don’t take her. She’s an old witch. She’s not even as pretty as your nanny, Miranda. It would be embarrassing if we took her.”

I felt nothing but pity.

The son I carried with all my heart for ten months actually called me an old witch. I said, “Hughie, who taught you to call me that? I’m your mother!”

Hannibal immediately rebuked me, “Hughie! Stop talking nonsense.”

He lowered his head and looked a little guilty as he came over to take my hand.

My fingers trembled slightly and the heart that had long since resolutely left suddenly felt a sense of relief and bitterness.

Perhaps Hannibal was willing to defend me...

But the next moment, his words chilled me to the bone.

He said, “Alright, stop it! Don’t make everyone unhappy. Hughie’s words weren’t nice, but they were true. Miranda’s birthday party is going to be full of internet celebrities and CEOs today. You’ll only embarrass us if you go like this. You can stay home and do the chores. Then reflect on your recent behavior.”

Nancy scoffed, “It’s all your fault. I told you you should marry someone as cultured and presentable as Miranda.”

Gary gave me a disdainful look, which imitated the attitude of his former boss. “You’ve really been being naughty lately. Write a 1,000-word self-reflection by hand and read it to me when you get back.”

The anger within me kept rising and flooded my limbs and my brain.

The next second, I swung the mop in my hand and smashed it against Gary’s face.

“Write my ass!”

Like a madman, I lashed out with the mop furiously at my parents-in-law.

I smashed it against Hannibal, who had hurriedly evaded Miranda by clutching her in his arms.

I smashed it against the coffee table and the TV, which I wiped countless times every day.

Until Hannibal slapped me in the face and roared, “You crazy bitch! I want to divorce you! Get out of here right now!”

At that moment, I felt a sense of relief I’d never felt before.

I dropped the mop and said calmly, “Okay.”

I looked around and saw my parents-in-law. They were hiding in a corner amidst the debris and holding a wailing Hughie, their faces wary. I smiled, took out the divorce agreement again and handed it to Hannibal.

“Sign it. Just in time, the movers I called are here.”

But Hannibal held onto the divorce agreement and refused to write.

He rubbed his eyes, sighed wearily and looked up at me.

“Stop it, okay, honey?”

His gaze fell on the swollen slap marks on my face and a hint of heartache crossed his features.

“I know you’ve been feeling cooped up at home and your mind’s wandering. We won’t hold it against you for what’s happened lately, okay?”

I simply continued, “Sign it now.”

My intransigence caused a sullen look on his face.

He clicked his tongue impatiently. “Stop your angry words. If you really divorce me, where can you go? Besides, if your parents knew, they’d be fussing with you again. Are you sure you can handle it?”

He half-smiled, as if mocking my presumption. I felt a chill run down my spine.

My mother, who favored sons over daughters, had been using me as a betrothal gift to buy my younger brother since I was born.

The year I graduated from college, she locked me up with a strange man, simply because he could give her 41,000 dollars.

That was enough money for my younger brother’s down payment.

I ran away from home and she and my father chased and beat me until Hannibal called the police to rescue me.

Later, after I married Hannibal, he secretly gave my parents 69,000 dollars as a warning to treat me better.

He also placed my younger brother in the security department of his company and gave him a decent job.

My profit-driven parents finally started to treat me kindly.

If they knew I’d left Hannibal, they’d break my legs and send me back to kowtow and apologize.

Or… they’d sell me to another widower to buy my younger brother a new car.

I felt a shudder run down my spine.

Hannibal, thinking he had me figured out, smiled and softened his voice. “Come on, stop it. You’re a stay-at-home mom who hasn’t worked in years. If you really leave me, how are you going to live? I was wrong not to take you to Miranda’s birthday party, but wasn’t I just worried you’d feel uncomfortable there? Next month, when I’m free, I’ll take you and our son to Disneyland, okay? You’ve been wanting to go for a while, haven’t you?”

Miranda came up from behind him and tried to persuade me.

“Yes, Regina, don’t overthink it. My birthday party is going to be livestreamed and hundreds of thousands of fans will be watching. You’ve never seen anything like this. What if you get nervous and embarrass yourself? If people gossip about you online, Hannibal will be heartbroken. He didn’t let you go because he wanted to protect you. How could you misunderstand his good intentions? You should apologize to Hannibal.”

She pulled Hughie into a hug. “Look, you scared the child. Don't be afraid, Hughie. I will have your mother apologize to you.”

My parents-in-law carefully examined Miranda’s face and body, worried that I had hurt her.

“She’s really outraged. Son, you can’t forgive her so easily. At least she has to kneel down and apologize to us and to Miranda as well! And she has to be punished to clean up Miranda’s house.”

Five people stood across from me, waited for me to bow my head and apologized as usual.

“I don’t want it,” I said calmly.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I apologize? Why should I be punished by you? If you’re so disgusted, I’ll have your son sign it right away. That way, you can let him marry your beloved Miranda as your daughter-in-law, right?”

Miranda returned five years after Hannibal and I were married.

As soon as she landed, she burst into tears and threw herself into Hannibal’s arms.