It turned out David's mother had somehow crawled under the gift table, where all the gift money was kept.

Realizing she had shouted too loudly, she covered her mouth, but her eyes were still greedy.

I was about to go over when she glared at me.

I thought something must have happened. Still not officially married, so we couldn't be considered a real mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship. So I asked David to check.

Unexpectedly, before he could, his mother emerged, holding a stack of red envelopes.

Licking her blackened finger, she started opening the envelopes and counting the money loudly.

"Nina, four hundred. Ema, six hundred. Ella, eight hundred..."

After hearing this, I wished the ground would swallow me up!

Who would open a red envelope on the spot and read it out loud like this?

Seeing my relatives' disapproving looks, I broke free from David's hand, ran over, and snatched the envelopes, putting them back in the box.

Holding back my anger, I spoke softly.

"Mom, please don't count the money now. We'll do it later in private. Everyone is watching."

She rolled her eyes, clutching the box. "Crystal, I'm not criticizing you, but listen to the amounts. So many people, all dressed up, and not one envelope over a thousand!"

"I think your relatives' gifts are really stingy. I guess they don't even add up to ten thousand. My precious son is going to suffer."

My face twitched with anger. If the gifts were so bad, why was she holding onto the box? Why not show what her relatives brought?

Misinterpreting my expression, she let go of the box and grabbed my hand.

"Don't feel inferior. David told me, although you're not a top university graduate, you're still a college student, and your family is well-off. You deserve my son. Even if some of your relatives are poor, I accept this marriage."

After saying that, she patted my hand reassuringly.

Her hand, still wet from licking, felt sticky.

I yanked my hand away, wiped it with tissues repeatedly.

David's mother was furious, pointing at me and spitting, "Hey, you little brat! I was talking nicely, and you act disgusted. Not even married, and you're already arrogant. Today, I must teach you our Jones family's rules!"

What made me even angrier was that David sided with her, his earlier apology forgotten.

Patting his mother's back, he glared at me.

"Crystal, disrespecting my mom is disrespecting me. My parents and relatives came from far away, and you didn't even offer them water. You called them reluctantly. Now, my mom is just counting the money, and you act like this. What will happen after you're married?"

His mother nodded vigorously. "Yes! My son supports me. I didn't spoil him for nothing. Your wife has made me angry today. After taking our family heirloom bracelet, she is making a fuss over counting money."

"That bracelet is worth more than all these gifts combined!"

"In my opinion, if you kneel down, kowtow, and hand over the box to me with both hands, this matter can be put to rest. Otherwise, don't think you will marry into our family!"

Such a loving mother and son!

I laughed angrily, staring at David.

But he didn't even look at me and turned to talk to Cindy.

Cindy was in contrast to her unfriendly attitude in front of me. I don't know what David said, but she clenched her fists, pretending to hit him, acting coy.

In my opinion, they looked more like a couple than relatives.

Kneeling to apologize never happened. Before I could get angry, his dad started causing trouble again.

This was just an engagement banquet, so not many people were invited. From the planning to now, it was all arranged by my mom and me.

From beginning to end, David never mentioned a word about his family.

So it was a surprise when they suddenly showed up today and there was no room for everyone.

We had to find a hotel staff member to add another table at the last minute, just to fit everyone in.

My mom seated his dad at the head of the table and even let him take the main seat.

Unexpectedly, his father opened a bottle of liquor, drinking directly from it without pouring it into a glass.

No matter how hard the people around him tried to pull him back, no one could stop him.

He didn't drink much before he was red-faced and talking nonsense, stomping one foot on the table and the other on a chair, spilling food all over my mom and our relatives. The whole hall echoed with his loud voice, "Welcome to my son's engagement banquet, everyone! Eat and drink to your heart's content, and don't be polite with us!"

One might have thought it was his family hosting the banquet!

I rolled my eyes and quickly went to help my mom. She had always been elegant, but here she was, looking so disheveled at her daughter's engagement banquet.

Relatives worked together to pull his dad off the table, but he struggled and cursed, saying, "Why? How dare you not let a father drink on his son's happy day?"

His dad, with his fat head and ears, was hard to control. Once they finally got him on the floor, his mom started causing a scene.

She grabbed my uncle's hand, saying, "What are you doing? Anyone who touches my man has to deal with me!"

His dad, unhurt, lay on the ground like a dead weight, not moving no matter how much he was prodded.

When his mother saw this, she became extremely anxious and fell to the ground and began crying.

"Oh my god!"

"He is dead!"

"How can I live without him?"

Her cries grew louder and sharper, filling the hall.

I scoffed, "He's just asleep. Save your wailing for when he's really dead!"

His dad's thunderous snores started up right on cue.

His mom awkwardly stopped crying, standing aside.

David, who had been pretending to be dead, finally came to life, helping everyone move his dad to a resting room.

After all this drama, I was thoroughly disappointed with David's performance.

I decided inwardly that I had to break up with him.

However, with so many relatives present, I couldn't say anything now, especially since my mom cared so much about face. We had to wait until after the meal.

The only consolation was that we hadn't gotten married or registered yet.

I couldn't deal with such a deceitful man!

Faced with Madness