"He's fine."

"Fine enough to sign our house over to someone else."

On the other end of the line, I heard Peter suck in a sharp breath.

Then came the explosion.

"What?! That goddamn son of a bitch!"

"Effie, you sit tight. I'm booking a flight right now!"

"I'm going to skin him alive!"

Listening to my brother's fury on my behalf, my nose stung and tears nearly spilled over.

In this world, there was still someone who truly cared about me.

"You don't need to, Peter."

"I can handle this myself."

I hung up and blocked both Marvin's and Imogen's numbers.

Then I changed into a new outfit I'd just bought and did my makeup with care.

I rented a sprawling flat in the most upscale high-rise in downtown.

When I swiped my own bank card and signed the lease for a full year's rent under my own name, a sense of freedom I had never known washed over me.

For the past thirty years, every dollar I spent seemed to carry the Swanson family's stamp on it.

Now, for the first time, I could spend my own money without apology.

The eminent domain compensation came from my parents' old house. It was my premarital asset, mine and mine alone.

In the past, I'd always thought of it as a family fund, money to leave for the children someday.

Looking back now, how laughable.

The day after I settled in, an unexpected visitor showed up at my door.

It was my mother-in-law. Dean's mother.

Marvin and Imogen trailed behind her.

They must have tracked my spending records and followed the trail here.

The moment my mother-in-law stepped inside, she surveyed the place like she was inspecting her own territory, eyes roaming every corner.

When she spotted the spacious living room and the glittering riverfront view beyond the windows, a flash of envy crossed her face.

"Effie Fox, you've really outdone yourself!"

"Your husband is lying in a hospital bed, life hanging in the balance, and here you are, hiding away in luxury!"

"And you still expect Dean to take you back?"

She dropped onto the leather sofa like she owned it, radiating the air of a woman who'd come to deliver a verdict.

Marvin and Imogen piled on immediately.

"Mom, we've been looking for you for two days!"

"You won't answer your phone, you won't respond to texts. All so you could hole up in here?"

"Do you even care about Dad anymore? Do you even care about this family?"

I poured each of them a glass of water and set it in front of them.

"That family you keep talking about belongs to the Finch woman now, doesn't it?"

"I'm an outsider. Why would I get involved?"

My mother-in-law slammed her palm on the table.

"What nonsense are you spouting?!"

"What do you mean, 'Finch woman'? Dean and Myra are true love!"

"Can't you show a little understanding?"

"Besides, Myra already said she doesn't want the house! Once Dean recovers, she'll give it right back to you!"

I nearly laughed out loud.

"She doesn't want it? Then why don't you have her sell it and use the money to pay Dean's medical bills?"

One sentence. All three of them went silent.

My mother-in-law's face cycled between green and white. She sputtered out a response.

"That... the house is in her name now. She won't sell it. What are we supposed to do about that?"

"But you're different! You have money!"

"Dean is your husband. Paying for his treatment is your duty!"

"Exactly!" Marvin jumped in immediately. "Mom, Dad's follow-up treatment is going to cost a fortune. The doctor said at least fifty thousand."

"Hand over the money. Now."

Imogen chimed in with the same entitled tone.

"Mom, just think of it as doing it for us. Pay the bills first."

"Once Dad's better, we'll make sure he gets the house back for you."

I looked at their faces, one by one. Eager. Greedy.

What a wonderful family I had.

My husband cheated, and they told me to be generous about it.

His mistress took over my home, and they told me to be understanding.

Now, here they were again, demanding money from me with the audacity of people who believed they were owed it.

On what grounds?

"I won't give you a single cent."

My voice was quiet, but every word was clear.

Susan's eyes went wide.

"What did you just say?"

"Effie Fox, you heartless witch! You're going to sit back and watch my son die?"

She lunged at me, hands reaching for my face.

I was ready. I sidestepped, and she stumbled past, nearly crashing to the floor.

Marvin caught her just in time, then turned to glare at me.

"You dodged? You actually dodged?"

"Let me make this real simple for you. You're handing over that money today whether you want to or not!"

He started tearing through my apartment, yanking open drawers and dumping out cabinets, hunting for bank cards or savings books.

I watched him with the kind of detachment you'd give a clown performing for an empty room.

"Don't waste your energy."

"The money isn't here."

"And even if it were, you wouldn't get a dime."

Susan was shaking with rage, her bony finger jabbing toward my face as she screamed.

"You jinx! You cursed, husband-killing wretch!"

"The Swanson family must have been cursed for eight generations to let someone like you through our door!"

"I should never have let Dean marry you!"

The insults were sharp, each one meant to cut like a blade.

Once, they might have. Once, I might have felt the sting, might have swallowed the hurt and said nothing.

But now my heart was numb. I almost wanted to laugh.

I walked to the front door and pulled it open.

"Are you finished?"

"Then get out."

"If you're not gone in the next thirty seconds, I'm calling security."

My indifference pushed them over the edge.

Imogen's eyes turned red, her voice cracking with accusation.

"Mom, how can you be like this?"

"You're such a disappointment!"

Susan went further. She dropped straight to the floor and began wailing, rolling around like a woman possessed.

"Somebody help! There's no justice in this world!"

"A daughter-in-law this ungrateful, trying to kill our whole family!"

"Somebody come look at this!"

Without a flicker of expression, I pulled out my phone and dialed building security.

As two tall guards escorted them out, Susan was still hurling curses over her shoulder.

"You just wait, Effie Fox!"

"You'll get what's coming to you!"

For the next few days, the Swansons didn't come back.

They must have realized that brute force wasn't going to work.

But I knew they wouldn't give up. As long as Dean needed money for treatment, they'd keep circling back like flies drawn to the scent of blood.

Sure enough, a week later, my phone rang. It was Dean's attending physician.

He told me Dean was awake and stable, but agitated. He was demanding to see me by name.

I didn't want to go.

But the doctor's tone was earnest, almost pleading, and after a long silence, I agreed.

Some things needed to be settled face to face.

When I arrived at the hospital, the room was packed.

Every aunt, uncle, and distant cousin the Swanson family could muster had shown up, all wearing the same grim, pitiful expressions.

Myra was there too.

She sat at the edge of the bed, gently tipping a cup of water to Dean's lips with the tender attentiveness of a devoted wife. Her movements were more practiced than mine had ever been.

My children, Marvin and Imogen, flanked her on either side, gazing at Dean with open adoration.

What a touching family portrait.

The moment I appeared, every voice in the room died.

A dozen pairs of eyes locked onto me at once.

"Hurry up and hand over the money," Dean said, his face twisted with disgust. "As for remarriage, I'll think about it."

I stared at Dean on the hospital bed, my expression blank, my voice perfectly calm. "Dean, I'm not here to remarry you."

The room went silent for a beat. Then my so-called family burst into exaggerated laughter.

"Running away from home gave you a backbone, did it? What happened, couldn't afford the hotel anymore and came crawling back?"

"Effie, why don't you take a good look in the mirror!"

"You're a woman in your fifties. Without our Dean, you don't even have a doghouse to sleep in!"

My mother-in-law rolled her eyes, looking me up and down like I was a beggar, mocking me from head to toe.

"Mom, just stop pretending." Marvin folded his arms across his chest and looked down at me. "Aunt Myra doesn't even hold a grudge about you causing a scene. She said she'd let you stay at the house."

He tilted his chin, towering over me. "Just swallow your pride, pay the medical bills, and maybe we'll let you have the storage room. Unless you'd rather sleep under a bridge?"

Imogen clung to Myra's arm, her eyes full of undisguised contempt for me.

I looked at them. All of them, united against me. All of them so certain that without the Swanson family, I'd starve in the gutter.

I wasn't angry. I actually laughed.

Myra seized the moment, letting out a delicate sigh. She leaned against the edge of the bed, frail and soft-spoken, her voice dripping with false concern.

"Effie, I'm fine, really. You can borrow the house for now. Just come back and take care of Dean..."

Dean lay in his hospital bed. Weak as he was, his eyes brimmed with the smug confidence of a man who believed he had me exactly where he wanted me.

"Effie! Even if you got on your knees and begged me today, I wouldn't remarry you—"

"Shut up."

I cut him off, cold and sharp. Then, slowly, deliberately, I pulled out a document stamped with a bright red official seal.