Chapter 2

His eyes dropped to the baby in my arms. His hand froze in midair, then pulled back.

"Tamara, is that any way to speak to your elders?"

"How much my son gave us is Harding family business. An outsider like you has no place pointing fingers!"

"I haven't even brought up how my son died because of you. And you've got the nerve to come here shouting?"

I went rigid, staring at them in disbelief.

Three years ago, at the wedding, they had clasped my hands, thanks pouring out of their mouths. The words were still ringing in my ears.

They'd said the Harding family was blessed, marrying a daughter-in-law like me who asked for no bride price, no car.

Now they wore a completely different face.

Timothy, my brother-in-law, couldn't stand it. He started to charge forward, but Julia yanked him back.

She slapped her thigh and broke into loud sobbing.

"My poor boy, only thirty years old. Working himself to the bone to support this family, forced by you to work overtime every single day, and in the end he dropped dead at the office. He was still so young..."

"We're old people who've lost our son in our final years. God knows how we'll go on!"

"What a sin! Everybody, come see! The daughter-in-law's come to grab our money! My son's not even cold in his grave, and she wants to put us out on the street!"

The neighbors heard it and came out to watch the show.

A ring of people gathered fast, pointing and whispering at me.

The shouting frightened my son, and he wailed without stopping.

I stood there, the blood in my whole body gone cold.

Seeing the crowd had turned in her favor, Julia cried harder.

Timothy rushed forward, putting on a show of comforting her.

"Mom, don't be sad. From now on I'll take care of you and Dad. I'll do it even better than my brother ever did!"

Elijah gave a cold snort, lit a cigarette, and blew out a mouthful of smoke.

"You see that? Keep this up, and your mother-in-law will follow Joel to the grave. If you want people saying you drove your mother-in-law to her death, then by all means, keep it up."

"But let me be clear right now. No matter what you say today, there's no money. All you'll get from me is my life!"

Julia clung to him, still sobbing, and screamed at me.

"Why are you still wasting words on her? The Harding family has no such ungrateful daughter-in-law!"

"Get out. Get out right now! Don't ever show your face to me again! Whether we live or die is none of your business!"

Grievance and fury surged up into my chest all at once, and I moved as if to rush at them.

A neighbor grabbed me and held me back.

"What are you doing? You think you're going to lay hands on them?"

"That's enough, don't say another word. You're holding a baby. It's no good for the child to hear all this."

"Right, just leave already. Making a scene will only hurt you!"

I knotted my brows, staring hard at Elijah and Julia.

"Fine. I'll remember these words. And I hope you won't live to regret them!"

"You cheap slut, you dare threaten us? How did Joel go blind and marry a fox spirit like you? I'll beat you to death!"

"All right, all right, everyone hold your tongues!"

A crowd of them shoved me out onto the main road.

It was the hottest stretch of summer, blazing sun overhead, and yet my whole body felt like it had dropped into an ice cellar.

My son was still crying.

I had no time to go back and argue it out. I could only get a rideshare home.

I waited half an hour at the edge of the fields before the car I'd called finally arrived.

On the way, I took out the formula I'd mixed early that morning and fed my son.

I soothed him the whole drive, and by the time the car pulled into the city, his crying finally stopped.

At the complex, when it came time to pay, I opened my phone.

The wallpaper was still the photo of Joel and me from before I gave birth.

He was down on one knee, both hands cradling my heavy belly.

His cheek pressed against the swell of my stomach.

His eyes full of the joy of becoming a father.

I still remembered him saying he'd take annual leave the next month, that he'd take me and our son to Hawaii.

But in the span of a few short days, everything had been turned upside down.

I dragged my exhausted body home and coaxed my son to sleep.

A text about a credit card balance popped up.

This month's bill: eighty-eight thousand dollars. Payment due on the twentieth of next month.