The wedding day was fast approaching, and my mother-in-law insisted on holding the banquet at her hometown, claiming it was a family tradition.

But what I didn’t expect on the wedding day was for her to tie a rope around me and demand that I jump off a cliff, saying it symbolized rebirth.

However, long before the wedding, I had overheard my mother-in-law talking to my boyfriend about arranging a posthumous marriage for me with his younger brother.

So, I immediately turned the tables and tied her up instead. "Mom, how about you try it first?"

On the day of the wedding, when my mother-in-law suggested I marry my brother-in-law in a posthumous ceremony, I slapped her without a second thought.

"Anyone who wants to participate in this kind of ritual, go ahead! But count me out!"

…

We had been together for ten years, from dating to marriage, but it wasn't until the night before the wedding that I realized I never truly knew him.

For ten years, everyone praised us as the perfect couple. Even my mother, who had always opposed me marrying Silas Hart, had relented.

But I never imagined that Silas’s mother, Meredith, would become the greatest obstacle between us.

The first time I met Meredith was at a western restaurant near our school. From the moment she walked in, she acted like she owned the place, throwing subtle jabs about how I was wasting her son's money.

"Emily, that dress looks really good on you. It must’ve cost quite a bit, huh?"

Before I could even process her insinuation, I answered honestly, "It’s not too expensive."

But then, Meredith let out a dismissive snort.

I awkwardly glanced at her and noticed her ill-fitting outfit. My heart softened slightly. "Aunt, after dinner, I’ll take you shopping for some clothes."

To my surprise, Meredith immediately put down her chopsticks with suspicion. "Don’t think you can use my son’s money to buy me gifts."

"Aunt, I’m using my own money..." I smiled helplessly.

"Silas, Emily’s using her own money. Stop her mom from making wild accusations." Silas gave Meredith a disapproving look.

Of course, Meredith was even more enraged. "Emily, what kind of nonsense are you talking? You’re about to join the Hart family! Your money is my son’s money—what’s mine is his."

"Such ignorance. What kind of upbringing did your parents give you?"

I forced a smile, feeling the embarrassment of the situation, but out of politeness, I didn’t respond angrily.

However, Meredith continued with no intention of stopping. "I heard you’ve been with my son for ten years. Does that mean you don’t need to give a dowry?"

"On top of that, you should bring another 500,000 for your marriage dowry!"

"Once you marry into the Hart family, you’re not allowed to go out and flaunt yourself. Stay home and take care of us."

"Also, now that Silas works at the famous Sterling Group, there are plenty of women who want to be my daughter-in-law."

"You better appreciate this opportunity—there aren’t many men like my son."

Meredith kept going on and on, and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. I subtly tugged at Silas’s sleeve.

Silas quickly interrupted her. "Mom, enough!"

"Silas, you know I’m your mother. You’ve been dating without consulting me. Don’t you think you should show me more respect? Are you just going to pick any girl you want?"

"Don’t forget what you promised me! All these years, I’ve been telling you to come back, but it turns out you’ve been blinded by some little slut. If I hadn’t found you, would you have stayed away forever?"

"Mom! Please stop."

Although Meredith was cut off by Silas, I still felt uncomfortable.

Just then, my father called me to come home. As I was about to leave, Meredith stopped me. "It’s rude to leave when the elders haven’t finished eating."

"How about you pay the bill? After all, it’s proper for a daughter-in-law to show some respect to her mother-in-law."

Before I could respond, Silas shot me a look, signaling me to pay the bill.

I didn’t want to get into a pointless argument, so I went to the front desk and told the manager to waive their bill.

The truth was, I owned this restaurant—Silas didn’t know that, though.

When we first started dating, I knew Silas came from a rural background and might feel insecure, so I never mentioned the condition of my family.

He probably thought my family only ran a small business, but the truth is, we're the most famous enterprise in town. Even the company Silas works for is owned by my family.

When Silas graduated, I initially planned to recommend him to my father, but to my surprise, he got in on his own merit.

Afterward, his work was exceptional. He even suggested I break up with my boyfriend and give him a chance. It wasn't until I brought Silas home that my dad finally stopped making jokes about it.

So, my dad quickly agreed to my relationship with Silas. However, my mom, knowing Silas came from a small mountain village, was worried I might be taken advantage of. She hesitated to approve, but despite her reservations, she was still quite kind to him.

That’s why, when I first met Meredith, I wasn’t prepared for what happened. I thought Silas’ mother would be just as kind-hearted as him, but I never expected her to be so harsh. It reminded me of the awful mother-in-law-daughter-in-law stories I’d read online, and it made me nervous.

For the first time, I began to doubt my relationship with Silas.

Not long after, my manager sent me a video. In it, Meredith was berating Silas relentlessly.

He didn’t say a word. He just lowered his head and took the scolding. Eventually, he even knelt down with a loud thud.

I couldn’t bear to watch more. I knew how much Silas valued his pride, and even though I had doubts about our relationship, I still wanted to protect his dignity.

Just then, I received a message from Silas: "Emily, are you okay? I'm sorry about today."

I thought he would explain what had just happened, but after waiting for a long time, there was no follow-up message.

With a heavy heart, I turned off my phone. Maybe he had already decided that this relationship wasn’t worth it. After all, how long could a relationship survive when our parents didn’t support it?

But that night, I saw Silas waiting for me downstairs in my apartment complex. After a moment’s hesitation, I walked over to him.

“Emily!” He hurried toward me and wrapped me in his arms. “I’m so sorry. My mom's from the countryside. She’s never seen much of the world.”

“Don’t take it personally, please?” His eyes were red, looking at me like a sad, guilty puppy.

If this had happened before, I would have gently patted his head and told him it was fine. But now, I just didn’t want to deal with him.

“Silas, we need to think about this...”

“Our relationship isn’t just about the two of us. It’s also about our families.”

“If Meredith doesn’t like me, you’re going to be stuck in the middle, and that’s going to be hard on you.”

“If you can’t fix this, then maybe we should end things here.” With that, I turned and walked up to my apartment, not looking back.

Back in my apartment, I saw Silas standing downstairs for what seemed like a long time. A pang of sadness hit me—after all, we had been together for so many years.

Was I really going to end this just because of his mom?

I felt frustrated and went for a shower. By the time I checked again, there was no sign of Silas downstairs.

The next time I heard about Silas, it came from my best friend. She told me Silas was in the hospital, diagnosed with acute appendicitis.

Silas had a weak stomach. I remember the time my dad had cornered me at a family gathering, and Silas went to several bars just to find me. That night, he drank so much he ended up in the emergency room. His stomach had never been the same since. I’d been taking care of him for years, but his condition never really improved.

Thinking he had no one to look after him, I softened and rushed to the hospital. But when I arrived, I found Meredith lying asleep in a hospital bed.

And Silas was sitting by himself, getting IV fluids. My heart ached. Was this really his mother?

When Silas saw me, his eyes lit up. I bit my lip and walked in. "How did you end up like this?"

Silas gave a helpless smile. “You know, I’ve been living in the company dorm. My mom didn’t have anywhere to rest, so...”

He pointed to Meredith, who was fast asleep. “She had to sleep in the bed.”

Just then, Meredith woke up, glared at me, and shoved me out of the room. "You damn harbinger of death! You’ve been cursing my son!"

“If it wasn’t for you, he wouldn’t be in the hospital, and he wouldn’t have wasted so many years without saving a penny.”

“Don’t you know how many women would jump at the chance to marry Silas? And you—you're not even grateful.”

I stood there, confused. “What do you mean by that?”

"Ugh, what do you think I mean?"

“If it weren’t for you, would my son be drinking until he passed out?”

“You’re the cause of all this...”

Meredith continued talking beside me, but I couldn't focus on a word she said. All I could hear was the news that, after we broke up, Silas had drunk himself to the point of causing stomach bleeding.

I remember, after his hospitalization, Silas hated the smell of alcohol. Even when I had a sip, he would furrow his brows and lecture me about it.

While wiping my face, he'd ramble on about everything, always trying to reason with me. I loved watching him scold me like that, with his face all scrunched up. At those moments, Silas's eyes were filled with nothing but me.

But now...

Just before I was about to leave, Silas suddenly pulled me into his arms, ignoring Meredith's gaze, begging me to stay.

Silas cried as he said, “Emily, I’m sorry. I promise I won’t let you suffer anymore. Please, don’t leave me.”

“What about your mom?” I tried to push him away, but he only held me tighter.

“Emily, trust me. I’ll solve this. I won’t let you suffer. I won’t let my mom make things hard for you.”

“But…”

Before I could finish my sentence, I was defeated by the redness in his eyes. I slowly wrapped my arms around him and whispered, “Okay.”

Silas promised that after we were married, he'd stay here with me and wouldn’t return to his hometown.

For every holiday, he'd come with me to visit my family, and I wouldn't have to deal with his side of the family anymore.

Looking at Silas, eyes still red, I realized that after all these years, my heart was softening.

Strangely, Meredith didn't oppose this time. In fact, I could swear I saw a brief smile on her face, though it quickly disappeared.

I wondered if I had imagined it, but that smile had been so obvious.

After Silas and I made up, the preparations for our wedding went smoothly. Even Meredith, who had always opposed the idea, began to warm up.

As she put it, seeing how much her son liked me, she had no choice but to accept me. While I still didn’t like Meredith, the wedding preparations went by without much trouble between us.

My parents, too, had agreed to the marriage after seeing Meredith's change in attitude.

Dad had always liked Silas. He admired that Silas had earned his position at the company through hard work, and not long ago, he had been promoted to manager.

Dad was very optimistic about Silas, often joking that I didn’t deserve him.

The wedding preparations were hectic, but as I watched Silas and my soon-to-be mother-in-law working tirelessly, a sense of unease settled in my chest.

And as the wedding day grew nearer, that feeling only grew stronger.

I asked Silas why his mom had suddenly changed her mind. He pulled me into his arms and said, “I almost died for you, Emily. My mom couldn’t bear to see me hurting myself, so she finally agreed.”

But no matter what he said, I couldn’t shake the unease in my heart. With the wedding half-prepared, I had no choice but to force myself to keep going.

I wasn’t sure what felt off, but my gut told me something wasn’t right. So, on the side, I hired Griffin Vale, a private investigator I’d known since childhood.

I hoped he could find me a clue, something to set my mind at ease.

During this time, Silas awkwardly approached me, saying that Meredith insisted the wedding must be held at their hometown.

“Why? Why must we go back to the old place? Didn’t we agree that after the wedding, we wouldn’t need to go back there?” I snapped at Silas, my patience starting to wear thin.

Silas’s eyes turned red in an instant. “Emily, getting married in the hometown is so the people who’ve seen me grow up can witness my happiness.”

I lowered my voice and patiently explained, “If you want them to see, I can send cars to bring them here. I’ll take care of their accommodations, too. Why does it have to be at your hometown?”

“I know your family’s rich, but have you ever thought about me? Have you considered what the people in my village will think of me?”

“Are you really looking down on the village I grew up in? Or is it that you just don’t care about me?” Silas’s voice trembled with hurt.