"Besides," Mavis continued, "if my parents were stranded at the airport, why would they call you instead of my brother or me? Why would they reach out to a daughter-in-law they've never even liked?"

I froze.

Then it hit me.

No wonder Christine and Mavis had been so calm. They thought the ones stranded in Ravelia were my parents.

Though I couldn't really blame them. I hadn't been clear when I explained.

And Mavis had a point. My in-laws had been vacationing abroad and weren't supposed to return until next month. But they'd decided to come back early to give Hubert a birthday surprise.

If they told everyone in advance, it wouldn't be much of a surprise.

So they'd contacted me to book the tickets.

When they got stranded at Ravelia Airport, they chose to reach out to me again, afraid that Hubert and Mavis would worry, and afraid the two of them would blame them for going in the first place.

Besides, in their eyes, I was the one in the family with nothing else to do. If they called Hubert or Mavis and one of them missed the call, that was a wasted chance at getting help.

I explained this patiently. Several times.

But no matter what I said, Mavis and Christine refused to believe me.

I had no choice.

I left the office, spent half an hour driving to the new company, pushed past Hubert's assistant, and burst straight into the boardroom.

This time, I'd learned my lesson from what happened with Mavis and Christine. I got right to the point.

"Hubert, it's bad. Your parents. My in-laws. Charlie's grandparents. They're stranded at Ravelia Airport."

The board members exchanged glances, too alarmed to care that I'd barged into their meeting uninvited.

"Ravelia? Hasn't the news been warning people to stay away from there?"

"Let me make some calls. I've got business interests over there, a security team, a private jet."

"Yes, Wanda, tell us exactly what's going on. We'll figure out a rescue plan together."

I let out a breath of relief.

With this many people willing to help, my in-laws would be saved for sure.

But Hubert shook his head.

"No need for anyone to worry. I already knew about the situation and arranged a plane and a security team to pick them up."

He offered the room an easy smile. "I just forgot to tell my wife, which is why she panicked."

"But let's pause today's meeting for now."

Everyone nodded in understanding and filed out of the boardroom one by one.

Once the room had emptied, Christine and Mavis arrived.

Both of them looked furious.

"Wanda, you've completely lost your mind. Barging into a board meeting?"

"If I'd known you were going to come here and make a scene, I would've stopped you no matter what!"

I had no patience for either of them.

My eyes were fixed on Hubert. Something felt off. I'd gone to the company the moment I received my in-laws' call, and every time I tried calling them back after that, the line was dead.

How had Hubert arranged a plane?

The question nagged at me, and I couldn't hold it in.

"When exactly did you arrange the plane and security team?"

"Have you reached your parents?"

"How are they doing?"

Hubert looked at me, his face full of barely contained rage.

"How could I possibly have sent a plane to get them?"

"I was managing the room. If the board found out I couldn't even handle something like this, they'd lose all confidence in me. Do you have any idea what that kind of thing does to a company?"

The more I listened, the more wrong everything felt.

"What do you mean? Are you saying you never arranged a plane? That whole performance just now was just so everyone would think you had it all under control?"

Hubert nodded.

"That's right."

"I've known for a while that your parents were stranded in Ravelia. Honestly, the situation over there isn't nearly as bad as people are making it out to be. It's all just rumors getting blown out of proportion online."

"But Christine guessed correctly. You really were going to charter a flight to rescue them, no matter the cost."

"Good thing she canceled your card in time. Otherwise, the losses would've been enormous."

"When did you become like this? You used to work. You know how hard it is to earn money. Why can't you be more like Christine and think about me for once? Think about saving me some money?"

I stared at the Hubert standing before me, and it felt like I was looking at a complete stranger.

Yes, there had always been something unclear between him and Christine.

But I also knew they didn't have any real relationship.

If I made too big a fuss, I'd only push him closer to her. So I'd always held back. Not because I was stupid, but because I'd always believed that somewhere in his heart, there was still room for me and our child. But now, looking at him, I realized I'd been fooling myself.

I didn't bother clarifying who was actually stranded.

Instead, I turned the question back on Hubert.

"Hubert, just like Mr. James said, the situation in Ravelia is unstable. The news has warned people repeatedly not to travel there. But Christine deliberately changed the tickets to save a few dozen dollars. Do you honestly think that kind of penny-pinching is justified?"

"Do you really believe two human lives are worth less than a few dozen dollars?"

Hubert shot me a look of disdain.

"Nobody's dying. Can you stop being so dramatic? The locals are still going to work like normal."

"Once things settle down in a few days and flights resume, your parents will come back on their own."

I let out a cold laugh.

"Mom and Dad are getting up there in years, and their health isn't great. Don't you think being stranded terrifies them? Can you really live with that?"

Hubert shifted uncomfortably.

After all, I had a point.

Even if there was no immediate danger to their lives, the psychological toll was undeniable.

Before he could respond, Christine cut in, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, spare us the guilt trip."

"You just stood in front of everyone and lied, telling them it was your in-laws who were stranded in Ravelia, not your own parents. How noble of you, cursing your husband's parents like that."

"That's called being absolutely despicable."

"And besides, if your parents hadn't been trying to mooch off the Delgado family by getting you to book those tickets in the first place, why would I have ever needed to change them to save the company money?"

"Your parents being stranded? They brought it on themselves."

"You want the truth? I overheard your phone call. I knew you were about to book those tickets, so I changed them on purpose. It had nothing to do with saving money."

"I wanted to teach them a lesson about which perks they're entitled to and which ones they're not."

With Christine backing him up, Hubert found his footing again.

"Exactly. My parents have been nothing but good to you. How could you curse them like that?"

Hearing those words from Hubert, something inside me finally snapped into clarity.

Whether or not he and Christine had any real relationship was beside the point. In Hubert's heart, the gap between Christine and me had already become an uncrossable chasm.

But the clarity brought a strange calm with it.

If Hubert didn't care whether my parents lived or died, then I no longer needed to care about his.

I was ready to leave.

But then I thought of Charlie. He might lose his grandparents because of all this. So I swallowed my fury and picked up my phone.