Later, when I saw my parents' text messages, I felt warm in my heart.

[Loretta, someone called to congratulate our family on winning something. What's going on? If there's any misunderstanding, you need to make it clear ASAP.]

Apart from that message, they also sent me other messages, showing their concern for me. I quickly made a phone call to my parents to explain the situation and asked them to help me clarify it. After that, I felt a little relieved.

At this moment, Maddox's voice sounded outside the room. As soon as I opened the door, Maddox hugged me warmly. His faint scent brought me a sense of security.

Maddox and I fell in love when we were in school. From campus to society, no matter what difficulties we encountered, we always fought together. We even overcame the challenges set by Martha together.

He was like the lubricant between me and Martha.

"Baby, you really gave me a surprise."

Maddox's surprised voice filled my ears, but I felt a bit embarrassed. I slightly pushed Maddox away and looked up at him.

He was wearing a simple white shirt with suit pants, looking fresh and young. His eyes were deep, and his smile carried a unique charm.

I apologized to him with regret. As I spoke, I didn't notice that the expression on his face suddenly froze.

"Honey, did you make a mistake? I remember the numbers of the lottery ticket you bought a few days ago. They were almost right, I think. So now... Where is the lottery ticket?" Maddox frowned with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

I didn't think much of it and thought that he believed me. So, I told him that I did win the lottery, but the prize was only a hundred dollars. The lottery ticket was now in my bag in the bedroom.

Martha suddenly raised her voice and chimed in sharply, "Maddox, your wife has benefited from our family and now wants to take all of our family's money. How could she do that?"

She stood with her hands on her hips, leaning forward, and shouted at me loudly, almost spitting her saliva on my face.

For the sake of Maddox, I didn't retort. Besides, I was indeed the cause of the misunderstanding this time. So, facing Martha's accusation, I chose to suppress my anger and remain silent.

However, in Maddox's eyes, my silence was an indication of my guilt.

Maddox didn't show any of his thoughts on his face. Instead, he began to comfort his mother as a peacemaker. He pulled Martha aside and said something to her. Then, she stopped mentioning this matter again.

But somehow, Maddox's attitude towards me changed a little bit after this.

Anyway, when I saw that Maddox had solved this matter properly for me, I felt relieved. Every time there was a conflict between Martha and me, Maddox would act as a peacemaker and fix things up. I thought that I should compensate him well this time.

Martha made a lot of dishes tonight, including the freshly stewed free-range chicken.

The stewed chicken smelled nice, giving me a good appetite. Although Martha was a bit picky, her cooking skills were indeed good. It was just that I rarely had the chance to try her cooking.

But it looked like Martha had only cooked half a chicken tonight.

Just as I was about to pick up a chicken leg, Martha reached out and interrupted me, and the chicken leg instantly fell back into the pot, splashing the soup everywhere on the table.

I instantly felt a little annoyed and aggrieved. "Mom, what are you doing?"

Martha averted her gaze and murmured, "You're an unlucky woman, so you don't deserve it. Anyway, Maddox works hard, so he should eat more. You don't need to eat that much."

Martha's words were like fine needles, gently pricking my heart. Although not fatal, it was still painful.

I asked, "Mom, how can you say something like that? I also have a job, and I work hard too. How can you only let your son eat and not let me eat?"

Martha immediately snapped, "You better know what's good for you. When I want to give you food, I'll give you; and when I don't want to, I won't. That's the rule. If you want to eat chicken, go buy it yourself."

At this time, Maddox quickly intervened in our argument.

His eyes were full of concern and anxiety, and his voice carried a hint of helplessness. "Mom, don't be angry. Let's talk things out. Loretta, I know you've been wronged. Just let me talk to Mom, okay?"

He tightly held my hand, as if telling me that he would always stand by my side.

Martha's words made me feel wronged. Although Maddox stopped her, he seemed somewhat absent-minded.

Feeling wronged, I naturally didn't notice Maddox's change...

After casually taking a few bites of food, I went back to my room, followed closely by Maddox. After entering the room, he held me in his arms and comforted me, telling me not to argue with Martha. Gradually, I calmed down a little.

I asked Maddox about the impact of his sudden return from a business trip and apologized to him.

But he said, "Baby, since we have so much money now, and you've already let almost everyone know about it, why don't we just start a family business? We have so many relatives, and we should help each other. We can't be selfish, right?"

Maddox's puzzled and blaming tone made me stunned.

I couldn't believe that the person closest to me also didn't believe me.

"You don't believe me?" My face instantly turned cold.

Even though Maddox said that he believed me, his perfunctory attitude made me feel very uncomfortable in my heart.

But at the same time, the exhaustion in his eyes made me feel sorry for him.

In the middle of the night, a soft rustling sounded in the quiet room, like the sound of a breeze blowing through leaves, but this was a little creepy.

Suddenly, without warning, I woke up. Then, I vaguely saw a dark figure standing silently in that endless darkness.

My heart started racing, and my body trembled uncontrollably, with an indescribable fear surging up in my heart.

I wanted to scream for help, but I found that I couldn't make a sound no matter how hard I tried.

The dark figure seemed to be slowly approaching me. The closer it was to me, the deeper I got into fear.

I could feel a pair of pitch-black eyes staring at me intently.

I tried to move my body, but I found myself completely immobilized, unable to move at all.

I panicked and tried to reach out, touching the place beside me. Then, I found that Maddox was nowhere to be found.

And so was my phone...