I nodded patiently, “Alright, I'll wait for your call!”

After hanging up the phone, I sat on the sofa, growing increasingly angry.

My son had been born prematurely after eight months of pregnancy.

To give birth to him, I had suffered severe bleeding and nearly lost my life.

As a premature baby, he had always been frail and prone to illness.

I remembered one time when he suddenly developed a high fever, over 40 degrees Celsius and his condition was critical.

The hospital had even refused to admit him.

It was only after I cried and begged the doctors on my knees that they finally saved his life.

Fortunately, my son had always been understanding and grateful that I had given him a second chance at life.

He had always been respectful and filial toward me.

Even during his rebellious phase, when he argued with his father and glared at his grandmother, he never dared to speak harshly to me.

After he started working, he always said that once he made money, he would make sure I lived a good life and never suffered any hardship.

I had been touched by his filial piety and understood how difficult life was for young people today.

So, when he said the commute to work was too long and he had no time to sleep,

I had specially bought him a car to make his commute easier.

After raising him for over twenty years with so much effort, I had finally waited until the day he grew up and voluntarily invited me out for a meal on my birthday.

But then his girlfriend called me an old vampire who sucks blood?!

I really felt more and more wronged.

Did I raise my son for over twenty years just to not even deserve a meal from him?

An hour later, my son called, “Mom, Chloe was wrong to scold you, but she’s also worried about how hard I work to earn money and wants to help me save some. After all, we’re planning to get married and every penny counts.”

“Can you transfer the three hundred dollars to Chloe first so she doesn’t argue with me?”

My son’s tone was meek, but his words made me tremble all over.

As his mother, I had been berated by his girlfriend.

And all he could think about was how to make her happy?

I was afraid he’d drive me to a heart attack, so I hung up immediately.

But after hanging up, my son sent me a message.

[Mom, three hundred dollars isn’t much for you. Just do it for my sake and transfer it to Chloe. Don’t argue with her anymore.]

I was so angry that my scalp tingled.

For him, I had worked myself to the bone for most of my life and the money I had spent on him was no less than a million.

Fearing his salary wouldn’t cover his expenses, I had even given him a supplementary card so he could withdraw money from my account whenever needed.

Did he really think I cared about the money?

I ignored him and immediately called the bank to freeze my supplementary card.

Ten minutes later, my son called again, “Mom, what do you mean?”

“I specifically came to buy a bag for Chloe to apologize and make amends for you. Why did you freeze my supplementary card?”

Heaven knew, the one being scolded and wronged was me.

And yet, my good son had actually used my money to buy something for the person who had scolded me, to make amends?

Had he lost his mind?

I clenched the phone tightly and blurted out in frustration:

“Get lost. I don’t have a son like you who’s so ungrateful.”

After saying that, I hung up the phone.

Hearing the commotion, my husband in the study and my mother-in-law in the bedroom both rushed into the living room to ask what had happened.

After hearing the details, my husband immediately frowned and snapped, “That good-for-nothing brat! How dare he treat you like this?”

“Doesn’t he know how much you’ve sacrificed for him over the years?”

My mother-in-law also spoke angrily, “This good-for-nothing brat! He’s forgotten his mother now that he has a wife!”

“Camila, you must call him back immediately. We need to have a serious talk with him!”

My husband immediately called our son and told him to come home.

Half an hour later, our son walked in, his head hanging low.

“Dad, Grandma, why did you call me back so urgently?”

My husband rushed forward and scolded him.

“You good-for-nothing! Your mother raised you all these years and this is how you treat her?”

My mother-in-law patted him on the shoulder and added, “That’s right! Your mother almost died giving birth to you. How could you—”

Before she could finish, my son interrupted impatiently.

“Stop it. Because of this, Chloe wants to break up with me!”

The living room fell into complete silence.

The next moment, my son looked at me reproachfully.

“Mom, can’t you think about my happiness for once?”

“Chloe said if you just transfer the money and apologize, she won’t hold it against you.”

Hearing this, my husband looked at me and tried to persuade me.

“Honey, why don’t you just transfer the money to Chloe and apologize? It’s not easy for two young people to be in a relationship...”

My mother-in-law quickly agreed, “Right, right. Young people don’t always think before they speak. As elders, we should just apologize. There’s no shame in it.”

I stared at both of them and suddenly burst out laughing.

“So, you called him back, not to scold him, but to scold me together?”

A flash of guilt crossed my husband’s face, but he still spoke gently, “That’s not the point. The point is that the kids are fighting.”

“You’re a mother now. Don’t add fuel to the fire.”

My mother-in-law chimed in with an authoritative tone, “Exactly. Chloe is still young. She doesn’t understand social etiquette yet. She’s just straightforward. As an elder, why can’t you be the bigger person?”

Watching them echo each other, I felt my heart go cold.

“A straightforward temperament?” I scoffed.

“Just because I had dinner with my son on my birthday, she called me an old hag, said I was a vampire and cursed me to an early death? That’s called being straightforward?”

Seeing that I wasn’t backing down, my husband sighed helplessly.

“They speak without thinking. You don’t have to take it so personally.”

“And to be honest, what Chloe said may have sounded harsh, but wasn’t it true?”

“It was just your birthday. You could’ve cooked a bowl of noodles at home instead of going out and spending your son’s money.”

My mother-in-law nodded thoughtfully and added, “Exactly! My precious grandson works hard to earn money. As his mother, how can you not feel sorry for him?”

My son looked at me darkly and said in frustration,

“Mom, I’ve always spoken to you politely out of respect, but you can’t just bully my girlfriend because you’re my mother. If this keeps up, who would even dare to marry into this family in the future?”

I was so angry, my heart was pounding.

“Bully her? Go ahead, tell me how I bullied her.”

My son shouted back, “Isn’t it obvious? I originally took you to the restaurant without intending to pay. You didn’t show any intention of paying either, so I reluctantly covered the bill. And then I find out you actually made me pay for it!”

“Chloe was just worried about how hard I work and stood up for me. What did she do wrong?”

“Not only did you waste my money, but you also froze my supplementary card so I couldn’t buy her the bag I promised. Isn’t that bullying her?”

I looked at the son I had raised with such care and sacrifice and all I felt was deep disappointment.

“All these years, I’ve raised you for nothing,” I said quietly. “I might as well have raised a dog.”

Upon hearing this, my son let out a cold snort.

“Finally. You’ve said what’s really on your mind, haven’t you?”

“Chloe was right after all. You only keep me around to suck my blood. And when you can’t get anything more from me, you fly into a rage!”

Smack!

My hand flew before I could stop it and I slapped my son across the face.

My heart ached, but I couldn’t hold back any longer.

He clutched his cheek and stared at me in disbelief.

“How could you hit me?”

My mother-in-law immediately rushed to his side, gently stroking his face, glaring at me like I was a monster.

“Camila, how could you get so worked up over just money?” she scolded. “You blocked Caleb’s card and now you’re hitting him?!”

“It’s such a small matter, do you really need to blow it out of proportion?”

My husband sighed and looked at me with disappointment.

“Honey, you were definitely in the wrong this time.”

Just as the three of them stood united against me, my phone buzzed.

It was a text message from Chloe:

[You old hag, now you finally realize how important I am? As long as I throw a tantrum, your whole family will side with me.]

[Try me again, once I marry into your family, the first thing I’ll do is kick you out of the house.]