Chapter 3

3. Just as I grasped the doorknob, Dirk suddenly lunged at me.

He grabbed my waist and yanked me back hard.

I stumbled a couple of steps and nearly fell.

"Dirk, what are you doing?"

He lowered his voice and demanded, "Why did you bring him here?"

"Don't tell me it's really like my mom said—you planned all this from the start?"

I said, can't a brother even come to visit his sister?

He clung on for dear life and wouldn't let go.

"Talk it over with me first before you open that door."

"Otherwise we'll be found out."

I gained a whole new understanding of just how shameless he was.

"So now you know to work things out ahead of time?"

Dirk explained awkwardly, "That... that's my mom, there's nothing I can do."

"You think I can go up against her?"

"That would be unfilial."

I gritted my teeth and told him, "What you've got is blind filial piety."

He pretended not to hear.

"Tell your brother that my mom has been waiting on you all through your confinement and treating you really well."

"Otherwise, if the two families come to blows, it won't look good for anyone."

I was so furious I laughed.

"Why can't I tell the truth?"

He pleaded with me.

"It's not that I won't let you speak, I just don't want the two families at odds."

"Can't you show a little sense?"

I nodded, faking a look of sudden understanding.

"Got it."

"Your family treats me badly, and you still want to keep taking advantage of my family—is that it?"

Christine poked her head out from the second bedroom.

"Sister-in-law, that's an awful thing to say."

"My mom waits on you every single day. Have you no conscience at all?"

I swept a dark look over her.

I had no time for her.

Dirk only held on tighter and tighter.

I struggled a few times but couldn't break free.

My wound was being pulled at, and it hurt terribly.

Then my brother's voice came from outside the door again.

"Letty? Are you okay?"

"Why isn't the door open yet?"

Dirk's forehead broke out in a nervous sweat.

"Hurry up and promise me—just say my mom's been good to you."

I looked at his face, and it had never seemed so unfamiliar.

The man I once thought was honest and dependable.

Now he only made me sick.

I took a deep breath and bit straight into his arm.

"Ah!"

Dirk screamed and let go all at once.

I seized the chance to open the door.

Besides my brother, I saw two strangers standing behind him.

He saw the look on my face, and his eyes went cold.

"Letty, did they mistreat you?"

His tone was calm, but it carried a pressure that bore down on you.

Dirk cradled his arm and backed up two steps.

He was afraid of my brother.

My brother graduated from the police academy and was a mixed martial arts champion.

Before I got married, he'd warned Dirk.

If he ever dared to treat me badly, he'd be the first one my brother went after.

My mother-in-law took one look at my brother, big and burly as he was.

Then she suddenly plopped down on the floor and started making a scene for everyone to see.

"What sins has my son committed to deserve this!"

"Marrying such a scheming wife!"

"I gave her everything I had, and she turns around and stabs me in the back!"

Then she slapped the floor and wailed at the top of her lungs.

The neighbors had probably all heard that wailing.

I watched her performance and found it nothing but ridiculous.

Then I turned to my brother. "Who are they?"

My brother stepped aside and introduced them—a nutritionist and a postpartum nurse he'd hired especially for me.

The two quickly stepped forward.

"I'm Shelagh Dickerson, a high-end nutritionist."

"I'm Valerie Lawrence, a top-rated postpartum nurse."

Once I knew who they were, I shook my head.

"Eddie, I don't need this. Don't waste the money."

My mother-in-law's eyes lit up, and she scrambled up off the floor at once.

"Why don't you need it?"

She sidled up to the two of them. "How much do you charge for one home visit?"

The two exchanged a glance.

The nutritionist spoke first.

"My monthly rate is twenty thousand dollars."

The nurse chimed in.

"Mine's thirty thousand a month."

My mother-in-law cried out.

"What? Fifty thousand dollars all together?!"

Her eyes darted around.

"Here's what we'll do—I won't make you come for nothing."

"Fifty dollars each for gas money. Just refund the rest to me."