During the Thanksgiving holiday, my mother-in-law Mary came to visit us from Ohio.

I took her to my husband Liam's new spa in Manhattan, Apropos.

We enjoyed a basic facial treatment together, which I had purchased for $9.90 on an e-commerce platform.

Right after the treatment, the beautician slapped a high-priced package down in front of us.

She glanced at us contemptuously and said:

"Do you really think you can enjoy our premium services with a $9.90 coupon?Stop kidding. You two look like you’re here to freeload. A single facial here costs thousands of dollars. This isn’t some free trial for cheapskates like you."

I suppressed my anger and said coldly:

“We have already paid for the basic treatment. How can you call this taking advantage for free?. Go get your manager.”

A flashy woman walked over. Her arms were crossed. She looked down her nose at us.

“I’m the Boss lady of this place.You and this old hag are just trying to get something for free, aren’t you? Let me be clear. You're buying this five-thousand-dollar hydration treatment today. Or you're not walking out that door.”

A five-thousand-dollar hydration treatment?

So this was it. This was why Liam suddenly got into the beauty industry. He didn't open a spa. He opened a scam shop to bankroll his mistress.

I was about to call Liam, but she beat me to it, dialing a number.

“Darling, you need to get down to the spa, right now. I've got a couple of hicks from the sticks making a scene, trying to get free services!”

There seemed to be a promise on the other end of the line, and Chloe grew even more confident.

After hanging up, she pointed at me and my mother-in-law and shouted angrily.

“You two pieces of low-life trash,you actually dare to come here and enjoy the service for free.”

Her voice was sharp as a needle. “This is a luxury spa. Who do you think you are, lowlife trash, to even step foot in here?

“My husband is coming soon, and you’re done for.”

Her shrill voice drew the attention of every customer.

Several uniformed spa employees gathered around and echoed arrogantly:

“I suggest you just buy this expensive package.Our boss lady is not someone you can afford to provoke.”

“Yeah, a couple of days ago, an internet influencer left us a bad review on purpose, saying our boss lady had a terrible attitude.The very next day, the boss broke her legs and had all her social media accounts suspended.”

“Now she’s lost her job. I hear she’s washing dishes in a restaurant,” another employee added with a gloating smile.

I felt Mary tremble beside me.

“Ava…” she whispered, tugging on my sleeve. Her voice was full of fear. “Are we in the wrong place? My son… he couldn’t…”

She didn’t finish, but I heard the terror in her voice.

My kind mother-in-law, a retired nurse, just couldn't process it. She'd rather believe we'd made a simple mistake than face the truth: that her son was a cheat. Or that he would let a woman be this cruel.

So you are.

In our eyes，Liam comes from an ordinary Midwestern family but has become a Wall Street elite. He is a man who loves his wife and is deeply filial to his mother.

A month ago, he was a top VP at an investment bank. Then he suddenly proposed investing in this spa.

I asked him why.

“To help people find a piece of tranquility in their high-pressure lives,” he’d said at the time.

I was so proud of his vision.

I never imagined he’d used our family’s trust fund. Not to give back to society. But to open a scam shop for his mistress.

I pulled Mary behind me and stared straight into Chloe’s eyes.

There was no kindness there. Only raw, vicious hatred.

“Are you sure your ‘darling’ is coming?” My voice was calm.

“Of course!” Chloe lifted her chin. “He said he’s on his way to deal with you two freeloading psychos.”

The employees started jeering. “Want us to rough them up a bit first?”

“No.” Chloe waved them off, a cruel glint in her eye. “When he gets here, I want him to see for himself. I want him to see the kind of trash that dares to cause trouble on his turf.”

I looked at her and almost laughed. It was all so ridiculous.

I looked at Chloe, my voice steady.

“Fine. I’d love to see it. Let’s see how your ‘darling’ is going to deal with us when he gets here.”

My words made Chloe’s face darken. She gritted her teeth.

“I get it now. You’re one of those cheap sluts, aren’t you? Making a scene just to seduce my man?”

She pulled her phone out of her Hermès bag and expertly opened Instagram.

“Everyone, look what I’m dealing with at my store today.” She aimed the camera at us, her voice sickeningly sweet. “A desperate gold-digger and her trashy-looking mom, trying to get freebies at my spa.”

“Oh, I see—you just wanted to use my high-end spa, take a few photos of your treatment, post them on social media, and hook a rich guy.

“Let me tell you something. My husband loves me. Trash like you? Dressed like you're going to a funeral? My husband wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire!”

Her voice was loud. It drew the attention of the other wealthy clients.

In front of everyone, she started an Instagram Live and kept yelling at me.

“Come on, everyone, look at this shameless woman!”

“She brought her frumpy mom to my high-end spa. Now she can’t pay and wants to offer her body instead!”

“But the second she saw me—the real lady of the house—she lost her nerve. She even said she’d wait for my husband to come ‘deal with her’ personally!”

“I’m putting her disgusting face on blast right now. So everyone can be careful. Don’t let this kind of trash seduce your husbands!”

On the phone screen, the viewer count was skyrocketing.

Comments flew across the screen.

OMG, that woman looks so cheap!

What is her mom wearing? Looks like it’s from a thrift store.

Chloe, call the cops! Don’t let people like that dirty up your spa!

The other clients started to gather around.

They whispered and pointed.

“How pathetic. She’ll do anything to trap a rich man.”

“Look at how they’re dressed. There’s no way they can afford $5,000.”

“These crazy women are getting out of control.”

“You… you…” Mary had never seen someone twist the truth like this. She was gasping for air, clutching her chest, unable to speak.

I held her, feeling her body shake.

The kind old woman had never been humiliated like this in her life.

“It’s okay, Mary,” I whispered. “Everything will be okay.”

I patted Mary’s back to calm her down, then pointed at the $9.90 Groupon receipt.

“We just came for a basic facial. She’s forcing us to buy a five-thousand-dollar package. This is extortion!”

I looked at Chloe, my voice cold.

“This is extortion! We're not paying. We have rights. If you can’t handle that, then get your man down here to talk to us!”

A murmur went through the crowd.

Some people started to look doubtful.

“Five thousand for a basic facial?”

“That’s insane.”

Chloe’s face changed.

She quickly moved the camera away from the receipt. “Don’t let them fool you! These professional scammers are experts at twisting the truth!”

“We’re not scammers.” My voice was quiet, but clear. “We’re just waiting for your man to handle this.”

Seeing me talk back, she gave her staff a signal.

Four or five employees immediately closed in, trapping us.

“Listen up, you clueless bitches.” Chloe’s voice turned venomous. “This is Chloe’s turf. I call the shots. I say how much you pay, and you pay it! Forget forcing you to buy something. I could make you lick the dirt off my shoes, and you'd still thank me for the privilege of paying!”

She paused, then yelled even louder.

“If you don’t get on your knees, apologize, and pay the $5,000 right now, neither of you is walking out of here alive!”

“Chloe.”

My heart sank at the name.

Not long ago, a package addressed to "Chloe" had arrived at our house. Inside was a limited-edition set from Victoria’s Secret.

I asked Liam about it. He didn’t even glance at it. He just tossed the package in the trash, his face perfectly calm.

“It’s either a mistake or some influencer trying to get attention. Forget it.”

The truth I couldn't see then was staring me in the face now.

I looked at Chloe, my voice like ice.

“You’d better wait for Liam. Let him tell you himself who the two people standing in front of you are.”

Chloe’s face grew dark.

“You conniving bitch! I knew you were after my husband. You even know his name!”

Only then did Mary finally understand. This was her son’s spa.

And the husband Chloe was talking about was Liam.

But she still couldn’t believe it.

“Miss... you must be mistaken,” Mary stammered. “I'm Liam's mother. My son... he would never be with someone like you. He can't be your 'darling'.”

SMACK!

The word was barely out of her mouth before Chloe slapped Mary hard across the face.

“You old hag! A country bumpkin like you, trying to pass yourself off as my man’s mother? You wish.”

She shoved Mary hard.

Mary wasn't ready. She stumbled backward.

“Mary!” I lunged forward to catch her.

“So this is your little game, huh?” Chloe sneered down at us. “Play the victim, claim you’re related, and then try to sue?”

Mary was coughing violently in my arms.

I saw her breathing become ragged. Her face went pale as she clutched her chest in pain.

“Mary, what’s wrong?”

Seeing her in such agony, my heart plummeted.

After we married, I’d found the best cardiologist to treat Mary’s heart condition. But the doctor’s warning echoed in my head: any severe emotional distress could trigger a fatal heart attack.

I immediately started digging through her purse.

The little bottle of life-saving nitroglycerin was in there.

“Found it!” I had just pulled out the small pill bottle.

Chloe snatched it from my hand.

“What’s this? Some new kind of drug?” She held up the bottle, a mocking smile on her face. “Faking an illness now? You even brought props?”

“That’s not a prop!” I screamed. “That’s her medicine! She’s having a heart attack!”

The crowd started murmuring again.

“These scammers are so convincing these days.”

“They even brought medicine.”

“Be careful, Miss Chloe. Don’t fall for it.”

Mary’s breathing was getting shallower.

Her face was turning from white to a deathly gray. Her hands gripped my arm.

I remembered years ago, when Liam was trying to win me over. He stood outside my family’s villa in the Hamptons for a whole weekend in a rainstorm.

That persistence won me over.

It won over my father, too.

That’s why, after we married, I brought him into the family business. I turned him from a broke nobody into a Wall Street elite.

Now I wondered. Was that all an act, too?

“Please!” I knelt on the floor in front of Chloe. “She’s really going to die! Please give me back the medicine!”

Chloe looked down at me on my knees, a sick pleasure in her eyes.

“Staff, hold her down,” she commanded. “Stop this pathetic act.”

Several employees rushed over.

I fought with all my might, trying to get that life-saving bottle back.

But they were too strong.

They pinned me to the floor. I couldn’t move.

Mary’s breathing was getting fainter.

Her lips were starting to turn blue.

“She really is Liam’s mother!” I shrieked in desperation. “She has a heart condition! She’ll die without her medicine!”