Thinking about the tragic fate of our family of three made my heart ache terribly.

Especially when I thought of Luna on the operating table, my heart twisted painfully.

Not waiting to finish dinner, I pulled Luna into the bedroom.

I kept reminding her not to go out recently and that if she had to, she must have me with her.

Then I whispered to her that she had made it into the top fifty in the state and to keep it a secret from everyone.

Her dull eyes instantly brightened, and she nodded obediently in agreement.

The next day, I went to the school and had a private talk with the principal.

I told him Luna was the top scorer, and if there was any prize money, he should keep it quiet and contact me privately. I promised to promote the school in front of the media.

The principal beamed with happiness and directly transferred the 500,000 dollars prize to me, ensuring that the information would remain confidential.

When I got home, I announced that the school had rewarded us with 50 thousand dollars.

Both Daniel and Martha were surprised.

Daniel was so emotional he was in tears. "Money isn't what matters. The main thing is that Luna has studied so hard for so many years, and she finally made it! We need to reward her well!"

I transferred the money to a card and glanced at Martha, whose eyes were darting around. I said, "I've decided how to use this 50 thousand dollars. We'll take 25 thousand dollars for Luna's college expenses, and the rest will be saved for her future house down payment."

Daniel nodded repeatedly and fully agreed.

But Martha slammed her hands on the table and stood up. "I don't agree!"

"Mom, I think Rachel's plan is great. We don't have any savings, and Luna is going to school soon. Saving this money for her is a good idea."

"What does a girl need that much money for? She'll get married in the future and have a man to support her. Arthur is about to graduate from college and needs money right now—this money should go towards buying him a car!"

Arthur Hall was my nephew and Martha's favorite.

"This is money Luna earned with her own efforts. Why should it go to buy a car for Arthur?"

I directly retorted.

"You, as a daughter-in-law, have no say in this! Without me, you wouldn't have your husband! I raised him, and it's only natural for me to spend money on my family. Who are you to interfere?"

In my previous life, Martha used the guise of filial piety to manipulate Daniel.

He was always soft-hearted and compromised every time.

He would often beg me to forgive her, saying Martha was getting old and we should tolerate her a bit more.

But this time, I would not back down!

"This is my daughter's money, and no one is touching a single cent of it to give to Helen's family! Not a chance!"

"You think I don't know how much you've taken from us? When Daniel was sick, you wouldn't buy him medicine, but you bought Helen a whole new wardrobe! You've spent so little on Daniel, and you have the nerve to talk about it!"

"Don't bring filial piety into this. Even if we went to court, we would be in the right. We owe you nothing!"

Seeing me lose my temper, Martha realized she was being unreasonable and couldn't say a word.

She collapsed on the floor, pounding her chest and claiming we were trying to kill her.

In my previous life, she had acted just like this, throwing tantrums in front of us to manipulate our emotions and get all the money.

She had counted on us to feel sorry for her.

Daniel, in a panic, rushed to support Martha and turned to scold me.

I knew his scolding was just a pretense to calm her down, so I wasn't angry. I firmly stated.

"The card is with me, and the password is with me. I'm keeping this money for Luna, and no one is touching a single penny!"

After saying that, I grabbed Luna and slammed the door.

Only the scolding of Martha kept ringing behind us.

I took out some money and asked Luna to go to my parents' house.

I wanted them to take her out to have some fun and relax.

When she came back, Martha was still cursing at the top of her lungs: "You crooked-eyed fool, I should have drowned you in a bucket of shit when you were born! Then I wouldn't have to deal with a daughter-in-law like this and die of anger!"

Whenever things didn't go her way, Martha would hit and scold Daniel.

But in reality, Daniel was the first person from our village to go to college, with excellent character and grades.

After getting out of the mountain village, the first thing he did was bring his parents to the city to enjoy life. He also often helped out Helen.

Daniel worked hard and frequently worked overtime. Eventually, he became a senior engineer with a good salary, and he was highly respected by others.

However, Martha constantly berated him and schemed to take his money for Helen.

No matter how hard he worked, he could never satisfy Martha's extreme demands and favoritism.

The one-sided verbal abuse in the living room finally subsided. Daniel hung his head, his eyes wet.

He looked dejected, and thinking of his desperate screams in our past life, my heart ached.

I quickly pulled him back to our room and gently comforted him.

Daniel forced a smile, "Honey, don't take it to heart. If it helps, you can scold me to vent. My mom just needs to blow off steam; she's harsh with her words but soft-hearted."

Looking at Daniel, who was kind to his core, I sighed.

How could I tell him that in our past life, the three of us were driven to a fate worse than death by his mother?

Luna had convulsions on the operating table, while Martha stole money to buy a house for Arthur and shut us out.

And I was humiliated to death by thugs, and Daniel was driven to join me in despair.

So the most urgent task now was to make him completely sober.

To fully realize what kind of person his own mother truly was.

The next morning, Martha sat in the living room acting high and mighty.

She glanced at me and said, "Rachel, Helen wants to open a nail salon. You need to give her 20 thousand dollars."

"No."

I refused without hesitation.

"Helen has already picked out the place, and the renovation team is ready. You have to provide the money, now!" she demanded.

"No!"

I stood firm no matter how much Martha ranted and raved.

"It's only 20 thousand dollars. It won't stop Luna from going to college. Are you giving it or not?"

"No!" I repeated.

Before I could finish my sentence, Martha grabbed an ashtray from the table and hurled it at me.

Stars exploded in my vision as blood streamed down my head.

Daniel immediately held me, "Rachel!"

"Mom, why did you hit her?" he shouted.

Martha, still furious, tried to hit me again. "You brutes! You have to give me money if you call me mom!"

"You old hag, I'd rather die than give you a cent!" I snarled.

Martha's face twisted in rage as she lunged at me.

Daniel quickly shielded me with his body, taking the blows himself and gritting his teeth in pain.

Seeing the blood still streaming from my head, he was genuinely worried for the first time.

He stood up abruptly and pushed Martha away, telling her to leave.

She slammed the door and left.

But I knew she would be back.

Sure enough, three days later, Martha was frantic, constantly contacting Helen and saying he wanted to apologize to Martha in person.

I held him back, "Daniel, you're not a fool. Haven't you realized by now? Mom always uses family ties to threaten you. She'll come back; she won't waste money staying at Helen's place."

Two days later, Helen started complaining non-stop.

After all, with Martha not at our place, how could she leech off us?

A week later, Martha came back sneakily.

But she didn't come back to give in, but because had new tactics to torment us.

She cursed and swore at us daily, filling the house with foul language and making the atmosphere unbearable.

I didn't care, but Daniel was deeply affected and became dispirited at work.

After a few days, Martha escalated her tactics.

Every night, she would turn on the TV at full volume to wake us up.

We would turn it off, and she would turn it back on. Unplugging it didn't help.

Daniel and I were sleep-deprived and on the verge of a breakdown.

But Martha could nap during the day because she didn't work. We, on the other hand, were like zombies on our way to work, almost causing accidents.

I eventually sold the TV, but she started using an old radio to make noise.

I installed soundproof walls and bought earplugs.

But Martha would break into our room at night, remove the earplugs, and blast the radio in our ears, scaring us half to death.

Daniel and I were tormented to the point of collapse, but we refused to give in.

When we decided to move out, Martha finally quieted down.

We could sleep at night, but she still found ways to torment us.

She threw away all our shoes, making us late for work.

She took meat out of the fridge to spoil, causing us to get food poisoning and needing IV drips.

She also soaked our bed linens, forcing us to sleep on the couch.

When we decided to lock our doors and order takeout, she came up with another plan.

She went to Daniel's workplace and used a loudspeaker to accuse him of being unfilial, disrupting his work and making him lose face.

After enduring Martha's endless torment, Daniel was on the brink of a breakdown.

He started hiding in his car, only daring to come home late at night and leaving early in the morning.

Just when we thought Martha had vented enough.

One night, the light in her room went out, and we quietly sneaked back into our bedroom.

As we turned on the light, we both let out a sharp scream. Martha had actually...