However, I clearly underestimated Sarah's capacity for mischief.

"Ding dong~"

The doorbell rang, and I asked my husband to answer it.

To my surprise, it was my own parents.

"You ungrateful brat, how dare you have an abortion! I'll teach you a lesson!"

My mom reached out to slap me, but my husband stopped her.

"Mom, what are you doing? Amy is still recovering from the procedure, how can you upset her like this?"

"Nonsense! An ungrateful child like her doesn't deserve any rest. No wonder my son didn't do well on his college entrance exam this year, it must be because of this bad influence. I'm telling you, you have to compensate us and buy my son a house and a car."

I listened to their insults without caring, even finding them routine.

Our family always favored boys over girls. If it weren't for my excellent grades and working my way through school, they would have sold me to the village idiot next door for a bride price of $30,000 long ago.

As my best friend, Sarah naturally knew all this. She must have told my parents to come and make trouble.

"Jake already finished his college entrance exam. He did poorly because he skipped classes all the time, not because of me."

I got up from the bed, and my husband quickly stopped me, helping me sit up.

"You've taken plenty of money from me over the years. I'd say I've more than repaid you for raising me."

My mom's spit flew as she yelled.

"You ungrateful wretch, how dare you slander my son! I'm telling you, you're going to pay up whether you like it or not."

I smirked slightly, "Don't worry, someone will buy your son a car and a house. Just wait for the bride price!"

My mom looked confused and turned to my dad, whose face immediately darkened.

"Amy, you can't slander my son like that."

If I hadn't just had a miscarriage, I would have laughed until I cried.

"If you don't believe me, why don't you go check Jake's place? Isn't he living with his girlfriend?"

My mom still didn't understand, but seeing my dad leave with a dark face, she just followed him.

Growing up, my mom always played the good cop, and my dad the bad cop.

But in our entire family, my dad was the smartest.

"Amy, is your little brother really into men?" my husband asked.

I nodded, not hiding anything.

The last time Jake was discovered was when my parents had a whim to bring gifts to meet the girlfriend's family.

They never expected that the daughter-in-law they had been dreaming of turned out to be a man.

When Jake was found out, he admitted it directly and disappeared with his boyfriend, cutting off contact with his parents.

With no other choice, they could only contact me, which was how I found out about all this.

But if Sarah didn't want me to have peace, she shouldn't blame me for retaliating.

After my recovery period, I took a shower. Sarah showed up at my door with a fruit basket, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Amy, I heard that your uncle and aunt came to make trouble at your house."

As she spoke, her eyebrows raised happily.

"Oh, it's all my fault. I just thought your uncle and aunt were worried about your health, so I told them."

I suddenly remembered that every time I got a promotion or raise, my parents would always come asking for money.

At first, I was confused, but now it seems Sarah had been leaking information all along, unable to bear seeing me do well.

What a toxic friend. I was blind not to see it before.

I sighed lightly, pretending to be very hurt.

"Then you should compensate me $10,000 for emotional distress. That's not too much, is it?"

Sarah's movements froze, then she quickly recovered.

"Amy must be angry with me. Here, take it."

I looked at the thick wad of cash in her hand and took it directly.

I asked my husband to wash some fruit and entertain her properly.

Sarah didn't expect me to actually take the money. In the past, I always politely refused. Something must be different now.

My husband, who had been briefed by me earlier, brought out a plate of bruised fruits.

"Hey, Amy, you're really not taking me seriously, giving me such rotten fruit to eat."

My husband brought out the fruit she had brought.

"How is that possible? These are all the fruits you brought!"

Hearing this, Sarah's face flushed with embarrassment.

I laughed.

Just when I thought she would slink away, she came up with an explosive idea.

"Amy, how about I let you raise my son? You've already raised a child, so you'll definitely do a better job than me."

My husband and I both saw the shock and disbelief in each other's eyes.

Sarah was still immersed in her own fantasy.

"Your son is already six years old and can go to boarding school. This way, you two can devote yourselves fully to taking care of my son."

I couldn't help but interrupt her.

"What's the deal, you think you're a cuckoo bird, only giving birth but not raising?

Even with that super-male child in your belly, I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. You two better start working out, try to hang in there for a few more years."

Sarah was obviously infuriated.

"Amy, I'm trying to help you out of kindness. A fortune teller said my son is a reincarnated lucky star. I'm letting you raise him for free, that's how much I think of you."

I yawned and waved my hand dismissively.

"Forget it, you better keep this blessing for yourselves."

Sarah wanted to say more, but my husband stopped her with a look.

In the end, she could only leave reluctantly.

Three months later, Sarah gave birth, and I brought fruit to visit her.

"Amy, look at my son, isn't he fair and beautiful?"

Looking at the baby, who was twice the size of a normal infant, I felt incredibly relieved that I chose to abort that child.

God knows how painful it would have been to deliver such a large baby naturally.

Sarah's husband, Kevin, was carrying his son, showing him off around the hospital room. Everyone envied him for having such a big, chubby boy.

"Amy, what did you bring me?"

So that's why Sarah kept craning her neck earlier, trying to see what I had brought.

"Oh my, I forgot."

I took out a piece of red patterned fabric from my purse.

"They say a child with a hundred-family cloth is blessed. Don't thank me, it's just what I should do."

Sarah's lips twitched.

"Amy, you just gave me a piece of rag. Look, even my great-uncle gave me two thousand dollars."

I scratched my head in confusion, "I remember when I had my baby, you also gave me a piece of cloth, didn't you?"

Sarah stubbornly retorted: "That's different. It's been over six years, you should at least give me ten or twenty thousand!"

Talk about asking for the moon!

"Huh? Sarah, did Kevin lose his job and need money? Is that why you wanted to give me your son to raise a few days ago? Are things really that difficult?"

Hearing this, Kevin, ignoring the people in the hospital room, grabbed Sarah's hair and slapped her twice across the face.

"You fucking wanted to give my child to someone else to raise? I'll beat you to death."

I knew he had violent tendencies before, but I didn't realize it was this severe.

I smiled and tried to smooth things over.

"Since that's not the case, I'm relieved. It's already enough of a headache raising one child."

After clearing myself of suspicion, I quickly left the troublesome situation.

However, Sarah's resentful gaze let me know that this wasn't over yet.

When I got home, my mother-in-law was holding a package, about to open it.

Seeing me return, she praised my good taste.

I was completely confused. After my mother-in-law's explanation, I learned that Sarah had sent a large package of clothes via express delivery long ago, under the guise of a return gift.

Out of caution, I stopped my mother-in-law from opening it and took the package outside.

My mother-in-law didn't understand, thinking I disliked the clothes, and insisted on not taking it out.

"Mom, Sarah's just putting on a show. I'm worried these things might not be clean."

At this moment, my husband came in with a bouquet of lilies, seeing my mother-in-law and me arguing.

"What's going on? Are you two at odds?"