3: 3

3

I didn't sleep all night. I sorted out the bills, the property payment receipts, the online account records, and sent everything to my best friend's lawyer boyfriend.

By dawn, Raymond and the rest came trooping into the living room, exhausted but thrilled, arms full of shopping bags.

I scrolled through the payment alerts on my phone. In a single night, Raymond had run up a hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars on my linked account.

Yvette didn't hold back. She kicked off her heels, collapsed onto the couch, and yelled at the top of her voice,

"Melanie, we were up all night. Hurry and get breakfast ready. I want to eat and then get my beauty sleep."

I stood in the living room, staring at the boxes piled everywhere.

A hundred and twenty-eight thousand.

Raymond hadn't just charged a lavish dinner to the card I'd loaded. He'd used my mobile payment account to buy them a hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars' worth of gifts.

Seeing me, he came straight over, cheap iodine and gauze in his hands.

"Mel, I was too rash yesterday. I'm sorry."

"See, I went out and bought iodine and gauze just for you. Let me bandage it."

He touched the cut on my forehead, his eyes full of tender guilt.

If the sting on my forehead weren't there to remind me, I might have forgotten that the man who beat me yesterday was him, the one who listened to his childhood sweetheart egg him on was him.

Just then my phone rang. Mom was video-calling.

I turned my face away on instinct, out of the frame, not wanting to worry her.

On the screen, Mom was cheerfully asking about the wedding arrangements.

"Mel, be sure to book the very best hotel. You only get married once in your life. Don't give anyone a reason to laugh at you."

"Oh, and the bedding, I ordered you a ten-piece silk set from a good brand. I'll send the pictures in a bit, you pick the pattern."

I just kept my face turned aside and murmured back, mm-hmm.

Beside me, Raymond leaned into the call, his voice sweet and fawning.

"Mom, Mel and I are doing great, don't worry. After the wedding I'll treat her right, I promise."

"You and Dad take care of yourselves too, don't fret so much. Oh, and my godmother and my brother have already come up from back home to help us with the wedding, so you can relax, we'll make it a lively affair."

At that, Katherine Vance stepped forward too, putting on a doting act.

"Mrs. Swanson, the two of them are young, I worried they might not think of everything, so I came all this way to help run the wedding. Please, put your mind at ease."

She held an old brass ring up to the camera and said to me,

"Mel, look, this is my family heirloom. Raymond may be my godson, but he's dearer to me than my own son. This heirloom, I'm passing it to you."

Cecil and Minnie Vance came straight over to me as well and pulled two sets of old red pajamas out of a bag.

"Melanie, honey, I sewed these cotton pajamas myself. Don't turn your nose up at them now."

Then Yvette squeezed in and shoved a four-piece set into my arms.

"You're marrying my brother, so don't go calling me cheap. I picked out this wedding bedding for you specially, went all the way to the department store for it. It cost me a good few hundred."

I said nothing and tugged out one corner of the set. Cheap, glaring pink.

On the screen, my parents looked at the cheap ring and the pink things, and their faces changed too.

Raymond jumped in at once to smooth it over, brazening it out.

"Pink is so pretty. Bright red is tacky and old-fashioned. New-style weddings are what's trending now. Yvette really did think of everything."

Yvette arched a smug eyebrow and said,

"Sir, ma'am, you're older, your ideas are dated, you don't follow the trends. Everyone getting married uses pink now. Who still uses bright red? It just looks dreary."

I didn't want my parents worrying, so I grabbed the phone and hung up. The instant I turned, I heard Mom's alarmed cry,

"Yvette, what happened to your forehead? Is someone hurting you?"

4: 4

4

The living room went dead silent.

Seeing how cold my face had gone, Raymond came over guiltily, grabbed my arm, and dragged me into the kitchen, then put on that pitiful look again and begged,

"Mel, when Mom video-calls back, just explain it away. Tell her you knocked your head on something during the renovation. Don't let it ruin our wedding."

"Look how good my godmother and her son have been to you. She even gave you the family heirloom."

I let out a scornful laugh at the brass ring in my hand, then turned and threw it in his face.

"Raymond, keep this for your future sister-in-law. It makes me sick."

The ring stung when it hit him, and his expression flickered.

"You've been up all night. Let me help you make breakfast so my godmother and the rest can eat and rest."

As he said it, he suddenly produced a silver bracelet like it was some prize,

"Melanie, look what I picked out just for you. Do you like it? I chose it especially, to make it up to you. No more being angry, okay?"

Looking at the cheap fake stone on that bracelet, I almost laughed from sheer fury.

I'd spent a hundred and twenty-eight thousand, and all I got back was a fake bracelet worth a few hundred.

I turned around, picked up the rice basket, and started rinsing rice for the porridge.

"You're right, honey. Your family is my family. Honoring your mother, your sister-in-law, and your little sister is only what I should do."

Raymond froze for a second, then his face lit up with pure joy. He pulled me into a hug and planted a loud kiss on my cheek.

"Baby, I knew you were the most sensible, most understanding one. I really didn't misjudge you."

In the living room, Yvette watched Raymond wrapping himself around me, and she couldn't take it anymore. She let out a sudden shriek,

"Ow, it hurts so much! Raymond, come look, how did I scrape off this huge patch of skin on my foot?"

At that, Raymond forgot all about cuddling me. He let go and strode straight out.

"Yvette, where? Does it hurt badly? If it's serious I'll take you to the hospital."

He crouched in front of her, took her foot, examined it carefully, and blew on it gently.

Before, this would have stabbed me like needles, and I'd have turned cold at Raymond, and then, under his sweet talk, I'd have let it go and told myself Raymond was just a sentimental man who cared about appearances.

Before, I really was jealous, envious of how close the two of them were. Now I just curled my lip in a cold smile.

By the time breakfast was on the table, all six of them were already seated without a shred of politeness, waiting for me to carry the food over.

Yvette clung tightly to Raymond's arm, whining that she was exhausted and her foot hurt.

Only the moment she saw me did she reluctantly sit up straight.

The instant my eyes landed on Yvette's neck, I froze in place. A glittering diamond necklace hung against her chest.

The same familiar style and color, the same logo as my bracelet.

Before I could even open my mouth, Yvette picked up her porridge and started eating, saying dismissively,

"Raymond, see, I was right, wasn't I? A woman needs to be trained. If you'd listened to me earlier, you'd have set yourself up as the man of the house long ago."

Then she looked at me with contempt,

"Some old women are just shameless, clinging to a man for five whole years. Nothing but an embarrassment to the rest of us."

I clenched my fist, forcing my anger down, and looked coldly at Yvette,

"I clung to him for five years, and he never broke up with me. He proposed eight times, flowers and rings and all."

"Too bad some people aren't even worth as much as a sewer rat, spending every day scheming how to seduce another woman's man. Isn't that more shameful?"

Yvette's face went white in an instant, and she flung her chopsticks at me.

In a flash, I threw a bowl of porridge at her. Yvette was scalded on the spot and burst into a howling cry.

Screw it. Worst case, I lay it all out right now. I'm done holding back. Mom and Dad already texted that they're on their way.

Raymond rushed over at once, grabbing napkins to wipe her clean.

Yvette shrieked and pounded on him,

"Raymond, are you blind? That awful woman actually threw porridge on me!"

"You promised me. You said you'd never let anyone bully me. Hit her back for me, now!"

Raymond looked at me, torn, and the moment he rose to his feet, I glared at him, slamming a plate down in front of him with a bang.

"Raymond, if you dare lay one finger on me again, my dad gets here this afternoon, and he'll break your legs."

Raymond went stiff on the spot, his eyes darting around, and then he shifted to a gentle expression, cleared his throat in front of me, and said,

"All right, all right, everyone stop this."

"Mel, you know Yvette just speaks her mind. She means well for me. And you hit her too. Look how much thought my godmother and the rest put in for you, preparing gifts, helping with the wedding. Just give them a little face."

"Give me thirty thousand, call it your gift as the new sister-in-law. This afternoon I'll take Yvette to buy a few outfits for the wedding. Aren't your parents coming? I'll pick up some gifts for them while we're at it."

Just then my phone chimed. A message from the agent: the client was free this afternoon, could they come by to see the apartment?

I quickly replied with an okay, then went silent for three seconds before saying coolly,

"Honey, I can give you the money. You'd better make sure certain people stop provoking me."

Seeing that I was no longer angry, Raymond broke into a grin, hugging me and kissing me over and over, pouring out sweet talk, "I knew it, my Mel is the most virtuous, the most sensible. That's what a sister-in-law should be. I really didn't misjudge you back then. Marrying you is the greatest blessing of my life."

Swallowing my disgust, I slowly pushed him off and made another entry on my phone's tally. June 12, thirty thousand.

That afternoon, just past one, Raymond took the whole family out to spend.

The moment the front door shut, I gathered up all my documents. At two, the buyer arrived right on time to see the apartment.

Since the place was newly renovated, all the furniture brand new, the location prime, and I was selling in a hurry at ten percent off, the buyer made the call on the spot and put down the deposit.

The instant the agent produced the contract, I signed it without hesitation, done in three seconds.

Countless arguments, and I'd finally seen people for what they were and faced reality.

Let Raymond stay chained to his godsister and her family.

At two thirty, I handed all the paperwork over to the agent to handle and gave the lawsuit power of attorney to my lawyer.

At three, I dragged my suitcase out the front door.

Outside the door, that shabby pink bedding set, the cheap pajamas, and all the luggage of the six Vances and Raymond were dumped by the roadside.

Katherine's shabby brass ring I'd tied deliberately to the front door, and beneath it I'd left a note.

"Raymond, every last cent you spent of mine, you're paying back in full, or wait for the court summons."