Chapter 1

At my son and daughter-in-law's wedding, all I did was wish them a baby soon, and my new daughter-in-law slapped me seven times across the face.

My son chose to look the other way. My parents played deaf and dumb right along with him.

Everyone told me to be the bigger person.

I didn't make a scene. I swallowed every bit of it in silence.

I only did one thing after the wedding was over: I had the new house I'd paid to build for them bulldozed to the ground.

1

The wedding was winding down when the host called us up, one by one, to give the couple a word of blessing.

When my turn came, I said, "May my son and his wife be blessed with a baby soon."

I didn't expect it. One second my daughter-in-law was smiling, and the next her face changed completely. She walked right up to me and slapped me back and forth, seven times.

My cheeks went red and swollen in an instant, and blood welled at the corner of my mouth.

"What a jinx! You know perfectly well your son and I want a daughter, and you go and wish us a son, cursing us like that. What are you playing at!"

I stood there staring at her fury, dumbstruck.

I looked at my son. He had his arm around her, gazing at her, smiling.

I looked at my parents. Their faces were full of blame, as if I'd ruined the beautiful mood of the wedding.

Not one of them said a word for me.

The emcee stepped in to smooth things over. "How about this—we'll give the lady another chance to say it again."

The microphone was pushed in front of me. To keep my family from losing face, I forced myself to say it: "May my son and his wife be blessed with a baby girl soon."

The others went on with their blessings, as if the ugly moment had never happened.

But the burning sting on my face kept reminding me, every second, how humiliating what I'd suffered today really was.

The ceremony ended, and my daughter-in-law hurried off to change into her toasting dress.

My son came over to me. I thought he'd come to apologize on her behalf.

Instead, he said,

"Mom, you know full well your daughter-in-law hates the idea of having a son more than anything, and you still said that at our wedding. You had it coming."

I pointed at my own face. "So I deserved to be beaten like this?"

"Anyone with a grade-school education knows 'a baby soon' just means having a child soon. When did I ever curse you to have a son?"

"Mona Bryant did it on purpose, to put me in my place and humiliate me!"

My mother laid a hand on me. "Florence, you know your daughter-in-law is sensitive. It's a happy day. Don't sit there with a sour face and make it awkward for everyone."

My father chimed in, "For your son's happiness, just put up with it."

They turned and went off to greet the guests, without a single thought for how I felt.

My parents had always favored sons over daughters. I was their only child, a daughter, and they resented that a woman couldn't carry on the family line.

So they took in a live-in son-in-law—my husband, who died young.

My son carried my surname and called my parents Grandpa and Grandma.

My best friend Philippa Lawrence came over to me. "Florence, are you all right? Stop crying for a second—I want to show you something."

She pulled out her phone and found a video.

"I just went to the restroom and happened to pass your daughter-in-law's dressing room, so I filmed it."

She hit play.

In the video, the makeup artist was doing Mona's hair, and Mona's two best friends—her bridesmaids—stood beside her.

Mona wore a smug look. "Was I something up on that stage or what? I slapped Florence Henson seven times, and her family didn't even dare to fart."

"You scared me half to death back there. But it was just a lucky-blessing kind of line—wasn't that a little much?"

"I hit her on purpose!"

"I marry her son and she doesn't so much as give a cash envelope. She runs a company in the big city, she's got money, and when her own son gets married she doesn't chip in a single cent!"

"Seven slaps was going easy on her. Me not having someone toss her out of the hotel—that's me being the considerate daughter-in-law, honoring family ties."

"Aren't you afraid she'll hit back, and the two of you end up brawling in front of everyone?"

"No way. Florence Henson cares about her family more than anything. There's no way she'd make them lose face on a day like today."

"And even if she did dare to hit back, her son and her parents would never let her lay a hand on me."