Late one night, my mother-in-law was walking home after a round of square dancing when a drunk driver dragged her for nearly a kilometer.

By the time I got the call, she was already lying in the morgue—her face so mangled she was unrecognizable.

When the police showed me the surveillance footage, I clenched my teeth in hatred, vowing to seek justice for her.

But the very next day, my wife asked me to meet her at a restaurant. She tossed a document across the table. Her expression was cold and sharp.

"Julian, the dead can't come back. Your mother is gone, but Dylan is only twenty-one. He has a whole life ahead of him. You can't be so cruel as to make him waste his youth paying for a dead woman."

"Sign the agreement. Take fifty thousand as compensation for your mom, and let this matter end here."

"If you refuse, then you'll get nothing at all."

Looking at her cold expression, I didn't sign.

And true to her word, Abigail made sure I didn't get a single cent.

Instead, I later saw her kneeling on the courthouse steps, smashing her forehead against the stone until it bled—begging the court to reopen the case.

——

Stunned, I stared at her. "What... what did you just say?"

"Fifty thousand? You want a private settlement?"

Was she serious? The one lying in the morgue was her own mother!

Her parents had divorced when she was still little. Her father sold the house, took all the money, and ran away. It was her mother who raised her alone. For her daughter's sake, she never remarried, never once put her child second.

And yet now...

"What's wrong? Too little money?" Abigail asked flatly.

I opened my mouth, my voice trembling.

"This isn't about money, Abigail. Don't you understand? The victim... the one who died... was our mother!"

I had spoken cautiously, afraid she couldn't bear the truth.

But she only checked her watch, frowning with impatience. "I know. You don't need to repeat it. Since it's not about the amount, then hurry up and sign. Don't waste my time—I still have things to do."

My hands shook as I flipped through the agreement, not sure where to begin.

Then one line hit me like a blow, and my pupils shrank.

The document claimed my mother-in-law had bent down to tie her shoelaces on purpose—framing it as an attempted scam. It even went on to say that because Dylan was feeling unwell, he failed to notice the road and accidentally hit her.

It was a blatant reversal of right and wrong.

Clutching the flimsy paper, I asked hoarsely, "Abigail... did you even watch the surveillance footage at the police station?"

She leaned back in her chair, sipping her drink carelessly, though her voice rose with irritation.

"Watch what? You want me to watch your mom scam someone? An old woman like her trying to extort a young boy? Julian, if you're not ashamed, I am!"

"She wasn't scamming anyone!" I slammed the document back at her. "She raised you for thirty years. You know better than anyone what kind of person she was. Don't you dare insult her like this!"

People at nearby tables began glancing over, curious about the argument.

Maybe her coldness had numbed me, because even my grief seemed to fade under her words.

"Raised me?" she sneered. "She was your mom, Julian. Are you confused?"

I thought I had been clear, but it was like she didn't hear a word I said. She snapped at me again, then suddenly softened her tone, as if remembering something.

"Julian, I know it's hard to accept your mother's death right now. That's understandable. But think rationally. She was old, contributed nothing to the family, and needed us to support her. She's been a burden for years. If she were still alive, do you really think she could earn even five thousand, let alone fifty?"

"We have to be realistic," Abigail said coldly. "If you think fifty thousand is too little, then name your price."

At that instant, something in me snapped—I finally understood.

I lifted my head, my voice edged with bitter irony.

"So, once someone grows old and stops earning money, they're a burden? That makes it acceptable for people to slander them, to put a price tag on their life and buy it off with fifty thousand?"

I looked straight into her eyes.

"Abigail, is that what you really think of your own mother?"

"Shut up."

Like a firecracker set alight, she leapt to her feet and flung the drink in my face.

"Julian, how can you be so ungrateful?" she snapped. "I'm doing this for your sake, yet you twist it into an insult against my mom. What kind of son-in-law are you?"

"You won't sign the agreement? Fine. But don't expect a penny if this goes to court!"

Snatching the document from the table, she stormed out of the restaurant.

I watched her retreating figure until she disappeared outside.

The truth was written at that moment, clear as day.

I almost laughed, but what came out instead was the taste of despair.

Yes, my mother didn't work anymore. But that was only because she and my father had both spent over twenty years in state-owned jobs until the economic downturn forced their early retirement. Even so, their pensions never failed them.

I urged them to travel, to finally enjoy life, but they refused. Instead, they saved every cent to support me and Abigail.

She had no father, and my parents took it upon themselves to help her mother as well. Since marrying into our family, Abigail had never once known hardship. She always did as she pleased, never suffered the slightest grievance.

Even the law firm she now ran with pride had been built on the money my parents scraped together—selling their spacious home to buy a smaller one, just so she could have her start.

All of that, she conveniently forgot.

And in her heart, my mother's life wasn't even worth fifty thousand.

After twelve years of marriage, it hit me with brutal clarity: Abigail had never loved me. Because when you love someone, you love their family too. And when you despise someone... that hatred spreads as well.

When I stepped out of the restaurant, I was startled to find her car still parked nearby.

A boy in a pale blue shirt sat in the passenger seat, carefully applying lipstick on her lips. When he finished, she laughed and leaned in to kiss him.

Through the windshield, I stood frozen, watching them laugh together as if I didn't exist.

When her eyes flicked toward me, her smile vanished, but there wasn't a trace of guilt in her expression. The boy glanced curiously in my direction, and without hesitation, she started the engine and sped away.

The car tore past me, tires splashing through a puddle left by the morning rain. Dirty water sprayed across my body.

Soaked and filthy, I dragged myself home.

My daughter, Jane, came running over, but her small arms froze halfway as she saw my appearance.

"Daddy, what happened? Did you fall?"

My heart clenched painfully.

I crouched down and pulled her into my arms, holding her tiny frame as if she was the only thing keeping me standing.

Hearing her, my mom hurried out of the bathroom, leaving behind the toy she'd been playing with. She came back with a damp towel in hand and pressed it toward me.

"Didn't you go to eat with Abigail? How did you end up like this?"

My chest ached, but I forced a smile. "Tripped on the way back, that's all."

Once I had cleaned myself up, she pulled me aside and lowered her voice.

"About Abigail's mother... what exactly is she planning to do?"

The memory of Abigail's words before she left weighed on me like lead.

I struggled to find an answer.

"She... she says she's going to sue," I choked out.

"Let her," my mother replied. "If that's what she chooses, then fine—she must give justice to what happened to her mother."

Sighing, she rummaged in her pocket, and pressed a bank card into my hand.

"This is a little money your father and I saved over the years. You'll need it—the lawyers, the fees... Take it, and if things get tight, tell your parents."

Forcing a smile, she added, "Son, I should go home. Your father's waiting for me to cook."

She patted my hand and walked toward the door.

I followed her to the gate and watched the front door slam shut behind her, locking me inside. The bank card burned in my palm like a live coal, setting every nerve on edge.

I wanted a divorce.

But I couldn't say that aloud. I couldn't tell my parents that after all their years of sacrifice, in Abigail's eyes, their devotion was nothing and worthless.

And among the things she thought worthless, I was included.

That night Abigail didn't come home. I didn't sleep in the master bedroom either.

I curled up on my daughter’s small bed, holding her tightly in my arms, and lay awake through the long night.

At dawn, I got up to make breakfast. Abigail opened the door and scanned the room; when she didn't see the child, she sat down.

Tapping her fingers on the table, she said, "We need to talk."

I took the seat opposite her, my eyes catching the dull red mark at the base of her neck. She cleared her throat and, looking oddly uneasy, reached into her bag and pushed two documents across the table.

It was a divorce agreement, and the private settlement she'd handed me yesterday.

"You already saw everything yesterday," she said. "So I won't lie. His name is Dylan. I've known him for some time."

"My plan wasn't to get a divorce," she went on, softer now. "But I'm pregnant with his child, and I'm not having an abortion."

Dylan?

My hand paused over the divorce agreement. That name—Dylan—was the same one I'd heard at the police station two days ago. Remembering what happened yesterday, I suddenly understood—though it all still felt ridiculously absurd.

Abigail was pregnant with the man who caused her mother's death?

When I didn't answer, her voice became even gentler. "Julian, he's only twenty-two. For the sake of the years we shared, can you let him go?"

"If you let him go and sign the settlement, I'll give you my house and my car." She smiled, as if making a bargain. "And we've upped the settlement to one hundred thousand."

It was almost laughable. After sixteen years together, the first time she showed me tenderness was to save the life of the man who ran over her own mother.

I picked up the divorce agreement, flipped through it page by page, then handed it back to her.

She thought I’d agreed—her face lit up with relief. Quickly, she dug a pen out of her bag and pressed it into my hand.

I signed, then pushed the two copies back across the table.

“I agree with divorce. But as for a private settlement—I don’t have the right to sign that.”

It was the truth.

But in Abigail’s ears, it sounded like I was deliberately making things difficult.

Her face darkened. She leaned back in her chair, chest rising and falling sharply, then suddenly hurled the pen at me.

“Julian, I only brought up our past out of consideration. Don’t think I’m begging you. That’s your mother we’re talking about. If you don’t have the right, then who does? In the end, you just don’t want to let Dylan go. You’re malicious—and so is your entire family.”

“What did you just say?”

My fists clenched, anger rushing through me like fire.

She could insult me all she wanted, but why should I let her trample my family again and again?