The day Ulric and I went to finalize our divorce, Sanvnnah showed up at the courthouse too.

With a triumphant smile, she gleefully announced that Ulric’s girlfriend was pregnant—and it was a boy.

I turned my gaze to Ulric, whose eyes immediately darted away. Then I let out a cold laugh. Ulric couldn’t have children. So, whose baby was this?

...

Ulric and I were college classmates.

Back in school, Ulric was the model student, winning countless scholarships and competition prizes, while I, not caring much about grades, just got by as long as I passed.

I still don’t know why he suddenly took an interest in me.

The day he confessed, I found myself nodding along, staring at his handsome face, caught up in the moment.

I lived locally, so I often invited him to my house for family dinners on weekends.

Ulric didn’t come from a wealthy family, but he was hardworking and exceptional, so my parents always liked him.

But when it came time to talk about marriage, my father, Benedict, insisted we couldn’t continue seeing each other.

Ulric’s family was from the countryside, and to discuss our marriage, they even brought his mother, Sanvnnah, from the rural area to join us.

Originally, we had planned just to have a meal and chat the next day, since the elderly woman had traveled a long way.

But as soon as Sanvnnah sat down, she coldly spoke up. “Let’s be clear from the start. Our family is just an orphaned mother and son. We don’t have much money. We can contribute part of the funds for the house, but it must be in my son’s name.”

The moment those words left her mouth, the atmosphere at the table shifted awkwardly, the silence thick.

Ulric’s face turned pale, and he pulled at Sanvnnah. “Mom, why are you saying all this? Please stop.”

“What’s wrong with what I said? You’re so talented, you could—” Sanvnnah insisted, clearly dissatisfied with me as her future daughter-in-law.

My father, Benedict Voss, grew increasingly angry, and the dinner ended in an uncomfortable silence.

When we got home, Benedict ordered me to stop seeing Ulric, but I refused.

My mother, Thalia, sighed from the side. “You really need to think this through. Can you handle a woman like that in your life?”

Unfortunately, love often clouds one’s judgment. All I could think about was spending the rest of my life with Ulric, and as for Sanvnnah—she’d be far away in the countryside. What was there to fear?

Benedict couldn’t convince me. After smoking nearly a whole pack of cigarettes, his face was drawn with worry. “We can afford the house, but have you really thought about this? She’s already like this before you’re even married. How will it be after?”

I hadn’t really thought it through—or maybe I just didn’t want to.

The next day, Ulric came over with a gift and an apology.

He explained that his father had passed away early, and that Sanvnnah had suffered a lot, being just a rural woman. He asked me not to take her words to heart.

With determination in his eyes, he added, “Remy, once I’m able to, I’ll make it up to you tenfold.”

I smiled and shook my head, not feeling wronged. I told him we were married now, and we needed to be a team—not two separate people. Then I gave him a big hug.

Things moved forward naturally after that, and we got married.

Benedict paid for Ulric’s car and covered the down payment on our new house.

After the wedding, Ulric landed a job at an internet company, and I worked at an advertising firm. After paying the mortgage each month, we had little stress, and life was smooth and fulfilling.

But not long after everything settled, one night, Sanvnnah called, crying that she had a terrible headache and feared she might be dying.

Ulric had always been a devoted son, so when he heard those words, all sleep vanished from him. “Mom, what’s wrong? Have you seen a doctor?”

On the other end of the line, his mother was crying uncontrollably. Ulric, now clearly flustered, urged, “Mom, tell me, what happened? Can you explain it properly?”

I immediately got up, thinking something serious had happened.

Through her sobs, Sanvnnah struggled to speak, and it wasn’t until Ulric’s persistent questioning that she finally admitted the truth.

She mentioned that, as she was getting older, she no longer trusted the doctors in their small town. She had been wanting to come see a doctor in the city where Ulric lived. It had become somewhat of a wish for her.

The phone was on speaker, so I could tell what Sanvnnah was really saying. It seemed like seeking medical attention was just an excuse—she simply wanted to visit Ulric.

Ulric turned to me, his eyes pleading silently.

After a long pause, Sanvnnah spoke again, her voice trembling. “I know, as I get older, people start to dislike me…”

Upon hearing that, Ulric’s voice grew urgent. “Mom, don’t say that.”

I stifled a yawn, finally understanding Sanvnnah’s true intentions. I gently patted Ulric's hand and said, “Why don’t we bring her over here? Let her see a doctor in the city. It’ll help put her mind at ease.”

At my suggestion, Ulric visibly relaxed. He hung up the phone and kept thanking me, praising my thoughtfulness. He said it wasn’t easy for Sanvnnah to be alone at home.

I understood completely and reassured him that it was nothing to worry about, urging him to get some rest since he had work the next day.

But that phone call had left both of us restless that night. Ulric was worried, and maybe I had a feeling something wasn’t right, because by morning, we both had dark circles under our eyes.

Looking back, everything changed after that moment.

Sanvnnah arrived on the morning of the third day. Ulric had an important meeting, so I took the day off to pick her up.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that Sanvnnah’s attitude grew cold the moment she saw me at the airport. I explained that Ulric was busy with work, but she simply smiled faintly and said, “My son is so driven.”

Once we got her back home, the housekeeper had prepared lunch.

The meal I had cooked was barely edible. Before our marriage, Ulric had promised me that we’d have a housekeeper, so I wouldn’t be stuck in the kitchen all day.

However, the moment Sanvnnah laid eyes on the housekeeper, her expression soured. She pulled me aside. “Is this the housekeeper you hired?”

I nodded, but before I could explain further, I was bombarded with criticism.

She accused me of not understanding hardship, of wasting money on a housekeeper, and how it was a show of wealth.

I tried explaining that the housekeeper only came three times a week to clean and occasionally helped with cooking, but she wouldn’t hear it.

She seemed genuinely hurt, as if I had betrayed her in some way.

I managed to persuade her to sit at the table, but once she started eating, she complained about the blandness of the food and how it didn’t suit her taste.

In front of the housekeeper, she scolded me for a long time, and after the meal, the housekeeper refused to work anymore.

I could only apologize to her and then cleaned up the dishes myself.

That evening, Ulric got off work early. He had planned to take Sanvnnah out for dinner, the three of us together.

But once we got home, Sanvnnah refused to go out, insisting it was too wasteful and that we should eat at home instead.

In the end, we couldn’t argue with her. We made do with what we had at home, and after some effort, Ulric and I managed to prepare the meal.

Sanvnnah wasn’t satisfied again. She complained about Ulric working so hard, only to come home and cook.

Ulric kept giving me pleading looks, but I could only pretend not to hear them.

Somehow, the conversation circled back to the topic of the nanny again. Sanvnnah wouldn’t stop insisting that we shouldn’t hire one.

Ulric tried to speak a few times but couldn’t get a word in. Finally, he sighed in exasperation, “Mom, both of us are so busy with work. We just don’t have the time for that.”

“You think your life is as hard as ours was back then? If it’s really that difficult, I’ll take care of you. There’s no need to spend so much on a nanny,” Sanvnnah said, her words tumbling out with so much force that some of her saliva flew across the table.

Ulric stayed quiet, his expression one of a guilty child.

As for me, I kept my head down, staring at the bottom of my bowl. I had completely lost my appetite.

After dinner, Ulric was pulled into the room by Sanvnnah. The two of them stayed in there for what felt like forever, talking about who knew what.

When Ulric finally came back, he was all smiles. “Honey, you know my mom is really frugal. What do you think about not hiring a nanny while she’s here?”

I had just finished applying my face cream and turned to look at him. I could tell that if I didn’t give in, it would put him in an even more uncomfortable spot.

I had already expected this outcome. When it comes to matters like this, it’s always the younger generation that ends up compromising.

But still, something about it didn’t sit right with me. I opened my mouth to say something, but the words didn’t come. All my frustrations just stayed bottled up inside.

Seeing me nod, Ulric let out a relieved sigh and smiled, walking over to hug me. “Don’t worry, Mom won’t stay for long. After her checkup, if everything’s fine, she’ll go back home.”

Later, Ulric took Sanvnnah to the hospital for a full checkup, and everything came back fine.

We were both relieved, but somehow, the return date kept getting pushed further and further back.

Sanvnnah showed no sign of wanting to leave, and I didn’t want to push her.

One day, when I came home, I was immediately hit with a terrible smell. Pinching my nose, I asked, “Mom, what’s that smell in here?”

Sanvnnah pointed to a few pots of rose bushes on the balcony. “You know that half a carton of milk had expired, right? I watered the flowers with it. Didn’t want to waste it.”

Horrified, I rushed over to water the roses again.

“Mom, I’ll handle the flowers from now on. Milk can rot the roots of the plants.”

As soon as I said that, Sanvnnah’s face soured, and she fell silent for a long time.

After a while, she called us to eat. When I saw only a bowl of tomato soup on the table, I was surprised. “Mom, is this it? No other dishes?”

Sanvnnah took a sip of the soup, shook her head, and explained that there were other vegetables in the house, but since Ulric wasn’t coming home for dinner due to overtime, she didn’t bother cooking anything else.

The casual way she said it made me even more frustrated.

Maybe to Sanvnnah, I wasn’t even considered part of the family.

I quickly drank a couple of sips of soup and went to wash my hands in the bathroom, only to find the floor covered in water.

That pushed me over the edge. The differences in our generations and lifestyles were enormous, and some of her deeply ingrained habits were really getting to me.

Ulric had told Sanvnnah countless times that clothes should go straight from the washing machine into the dryer.

But she insisted on hand washing everything, leaving water stains all over the bathroom.

Many times, even Ulric couldn’t stand it, but he’d just ask me to be patient.

And I, always trying to keep my patience, had reached my breaking point.

That night, when Ulric finally came home after his overtime, I heard the door open but didn’t bother to go check.

I stayed where I was, staring at my phone. Not long after, Ulric entered the room. It seemed like he had come to ask for an explanation.

“What happened this time? I come home, and my mom’s crying.”

Ulric, looking drained, loosened his tie and looked at me. Seeing his expression, I knew it was Sanvnnah who had complained to him.

I had no idea what she had said, but Ulric didn’t even bother to find out the details and went straight to me.

Hearing that, all the frustrations I had been holding back exploded.

And that was the first time we argued since getting married.