2: 2

Jayden watched me, hunting my face for some flash of anger.

If he could catch even a trace of resentment or temper there, he'd have something to pin on me. Ungrateful. Willful. A woman who talks back to her elders.

He didn't find it.

My face stayed calm, and I looked at him the way you'd look at a stranger.

He glanced around at the others.

His voice dropped even lower.

His tone softened too.

"Still, what you said just now wasn't easy to hear. If you'll only be truly devoted to Mom from now on, she'll come around and treat you well. She'll start seeing you as family."

The words were almost identical to the ones I once used to talk myself down, in my past life.

I'd tried to put myself in their shoes back then. A newcomer with a different name coming into the house, of course it took some getting used to, of course it needed time.

So at first I wasn't angry.

I believed it too. As long as I was genuinely good to my mother-in-law, as long as I treated her like my own mother, heart would answer heart in the end.

But I was wrong.

After the wedding in my past life, I set out to win her over.

I knew she liked earrings, so I spent over thirty thousand on an imported pair and gave them to her.

I thought it would make her happy.

Instead she said, "If you really cared, why buy them only now? You just want to move me to tears, don't you. You're nothing but a scheming little gold-digger."

How badly I'd wanted Jayden to say one word for me.

He did say something.

Except he said it from his mother's side.

"Gabriella, you ought to try seeing it from her point of view. Mom actually has a point. You have to keep it up, so she can tell it comes from the heart."

He wore such an earnest face when he said it.

And in that moment I actually thought he was right.

So I listened to him, and I paid attention.

Whatever she liked to eat, I bought it for her.

Whatever clothes she liked to wear, I bought them for her.

All top quality. All the most expensive.

And none of it bought me her heart.

I'll never forget what she said in front of the whole family.

"A daughter-in-law waiting on her mother-in-law is only right. Am I supposed to thank her for it now?"

Time after time I tried to please her, and time after time I got nothing but cold sneers.

So I simply stopped buying her anything at all.

And that made her furious.

She had her son give me the cold shoulder, wouldn't even let me come home.

When I asked why, she just said, "I made it perfectly clear at the wedding, and you didn't object then. You're an outsider, not blood, so what are you making a fuss about now!"

So after that.

Nothing in the Gilbert family was ever any concern of mine.

I just kept working, like a servant who never stopped.

3: 3

Remembering all of that from my past life, I looked at my husband.

"Winning heart with heart is a fine thing to say. But put your hand on your chest and tell me. I've already given everything. Has your mother ever once been sincere with me?"

"What am I supposed to do to satisfy her?"

"Jayden, how do my parents treat you? Don't they treat you like their own son?"

"Both sets of parents, and yet why such a difference when it comes to an outsider who isn't blood family?"

I hadn't even finished speaking.

Every gaze in the room had already swung to my mother-in-law.

Heads shook, one after another.

Their eyes were full of contempt.

The two sisters, who had been sitting there acting like none of it was their business, couldn't stay in their seats anymore.

They came over.

Smiling, apologetic.

"Our mom isn't a bad person. She just speaks a little bluntly. What mother-in-law doesn't love her daughter-in-law? Of course she has to."

"Right. If our mom treated you badly once you're part of the family, I'd be the first one against it."

The whole time her daughters were saying this, Kathryn kept a cold face.

The corner of my mouth curved up slightly.

"You two shouldn't say that. You can't force these things. If she doesn't want to accept me, then I'll just go. I won't hold it against her."

A lot of people in the room couldn't take it anymore.

They started calling out how far Kathryn had gone.

As for me, I'd said what I needed to say, so it was as good a time as any to leave.

Seeing me turn to go, Kathryn's expression changed.

After all, she'd set out to put me in my place from the start, and she'd never expected that instead of going along with it, I'd walk out.

If I left, what would that make her?

So her mouth crumpled, and the tears came.

"It's all my fault. I'm the bad one, I'm the wicked mother-in-law, I'll leave. That works now, doesn't it?"

With that, she made a show of getting up to go.

Jayden panicked and grabbed her.

"Mom, you can't leave!"

Then he turned on me.

"My mother's already like this. What more do you want?"

"Apologize, now!"

"If you dare walk out, you'll never set foot in the Gilbert house again."

Calmly, I said, "Goodbye."

And I walked straight out of the hall.

4: 4

The wedding fell apart.

The guests had come to bless the couple. Now they were here for the show.

The story spread fast until everyone had heard it.

The Gilberts couldn't hold their heads up.

At his mother's prompting, Jayden texted me.

"Gabriella, blowing this up won't do you any good. Push it too far and you'll never get through the Gilbert family's door."

"My mom has a big heart. She says you're young, so a little willfulness is only natural. So she's willing to give you a chance."

The corner of my mouth curved.

I wrote back.

"Oh? Go on."

Jayden thought I'd caved.

His tone hardened.

"Now that's what a smart woman sounds like. Buy some gifts, come apologize to my mom in person, I'll put in a few good words for you, and we'll call the whole thing settled."

Then.

He sent me a list.

All high-end women's clothing.

And at the end, a photo.

A kneeling cushion, made of foam.

I let out a scoff.

"You mean kneel and bow my head?"

"Just once, enough to make the point. It's the Gilbert family's custom. See, I was worried you'd be uncomfortable on the floor, so I bought you a foam cushion special."

I sneered inside.

But I replied.

"You really are thoughtful."

Three days later.

I carried a bulging bag.

And knocked on the Gilberts' door.

The living room was packed.

Every one of the Gilbert relatives had come.

Along with a few unfamiliar faces, holding professional camera gear.

At the head of the room.

Mrs. Gilbert sat in a chair, arrogance all over her face.

At her feet.

That kneeling cushion, laid out neatly.

When they saw me come in.

Every face turned scornful.

The whispers started.

*She really came, just like they said, meek as anything.*

*That's called knowing which way the wind blows. Otherwise the Gilberts would drop her, and who'd ever marry her then?*

*If she'd known it'd come to this, why act up in the first place?*

Mrs. Gilbert spoke down at me from her seat.

"Gabriella, it's good that you came on your own to admit you were wrong. Just kneel now and bow your head, and I'll let everything that happened before go."

Then.

She shot the strangers a look.

The camera lenses clicked on, one after another, all trained on the cushion.

I laughed to myself.

She really had it all worked out. The moment I knelt, the Gilberts would win back every ounce of face.

I said: "No rush. Let's have a look at what's in the bag first."