Chapter 4

The nutritionist and the postpartum nurse were both stunned when they heard this.

They looked at my brother, not sure what was going on.

My mother-in-law immediately put on a smile.

"Letty, listen."

"Whatever a nutritionist and a postpartum nurse can do, I can do too."

"From now on you can eat whatever you want, and I'll make it for you."

"So this fifty thousand dollars..."

I cut her off.

"Can you, though?"

"What have you been feeding me these past few days?"

"Greasy dishwater, with bread and pickled scraps."

"And the rare time there was meat, it was your leftovers."

My mother-in-law got flustered and kept shooting me looks.

"Watch how you talk!"

"Eddie's still here—he'll get the wrong idea if he hears this."

Dirk quickly chimed in.

"Yeah, honey, your brother went to a lot of trouble to come all this way."

"Sit down and have a glass of water first."

When Christine heard fifty thousand, she couldn't sit still either.

She wriggled over closer. "Your brother is so good to you."

"I wish I had a brother who cared about me that much."

The moment she said it, the air went silent.

Dirk's expression turned rather ugly.

But the whole family was thick-skinned—they didn't care at all.

My brother glanced at me.

Then he swept his eyes over the three of them.

He said nothing.

He took out his phone and made a call.

"Bring the car downstairs."

Then he looked at the nutritionist and the postpartum nurse.

"The confinement recovery won't be happening here anymore."

"We'll do it at home."

My mother-in-law's face changed in an instant.

"Eddie, wait!"

She blocked the doorway. "You can't just listen to Letty's one-sided story."

"She's got postpartum depression."

"You know about that condition, right?"

"Sometimes people just blow things out of proportion and talk nonsense."

I almost laughed out loud.

A minute ago it was "having a baby is no big deal," over and over.

And now she even knows about postpartum depression?

Dirk nodded quickly.

"Yeah, Letty's been emotionally unstable lately."

"Eddie, don't take it seriously."

Christine backed him up too.

"That's right, your sister-in-law got really sensitive after giving birth."

"When I talk to my mom, she thinks I'm cursing her out."

"She even cries in secret in the middle of the night—scared my brother half to death."

"I read online that this is a classic case of postpartum depression."

"It needs treatment, or it'll be bad for the baby too."

The more I listened, the colder my heart went.

This family really is world-class at twisting black into white.

I was about to explain.

My brother stepped straight in and shielded me behind him.

He stared at the three of them and gave his warning, one word at a time.

"If any of you dares say one more word of nonsense, don't blame me for what happens next."

His tone wasn't harsh.

But Dirk visibly flinched.

My mother-in-law swallowed hard and forced herself to challenge him.

"What... what do you want?"

"I'm telling you, this is my home!"

Seeing that my brother wasn't paying her any attention,

my mother-in-law got flustered and raised her voice.

"What right do you have to meddle in our family's business?"

"Once she married in, she's a Swanson!"

I let out a soft laugh.

I slipped off the diamond ring, so tiny it was practically invisible, and tossed it onto the shoe cabinet.

And I formally informed the man in front of me.

"Dirk Swanson, let's get a divorce."