Chapter 2

The slap came out of nowhere. It wasn't just me. Everyone in the living room froze.

Uncle Frank's pipe hit the carpet with a clatter, tobacco scattering everywhere.

His mouth hung open, one finger pointed at Eileen, and for a long moment he couldn't get out a single word. His face had gone purple with rage.

Aunt Rita shot up off the couch, her hands shaking. "Eileen, are you out of your mind? Why did you hit Patty!"

Charles was the last to catch up, and his face went dark.

He grabbed Eileen's arm and shouted, "What is wrong with you? Apologize to Patty right now!"

Eileen wrenched her arm out of his grip.

Maybe because Uncle Frank and Aunt Rita only sputtered without actually coming after her, she took it as the elders quietly siding with her.

Her spine went straighter, and she started firing off in every direction like a machine gun. "I'm out of my mind? I think your whole family's lost it! A grown woman in her mid-twenties, hanging off my husband every day to buy her things. Last time it was a bag, this time a lipstick, next time is it going to be a house? I'm telling you, Charles, if you don't give me an answer today, we're done. And you!"

She spun and pointed at me, spit practically flying into my face.

"A grown woman clinging to somebody else's husband for handouts every single day. What is it, you short on cash or short on love? If you're that desperate for a man, go hire yourself some male escorts. I'll pay for it myself! Just stop hanging around here trying to seduce my husband!"

I listened to her finish, touched the swollen half of my face, and couldn't help laughing.

With a stupid woman this brainless, I honestly didn't know what there was to say.

I just pulled out my phone and called my mom, right there in front of Uncle Frank's whole family.

Her end was a little noisy in the background. She was probably still in a meeting at the company.

"Patty, what is it? Something wrong?"

I glanced at my smug cousin-in-law and smiled a little, amused. "Mom, Eileen says I'm a beggar. Says I hang off her husband every day to get him to buy me things, and she just slapped me across the face. Cancel that order to Charles's company. From now on we should all mind our boundaries, so nobody gets the wrong idea."

The second I finished, the living room went dead silent.

Eileen, mouth still open, ready to keep cursing, froze right where she stood.

She knew about that lifeline order, of course.

What she hadn't figured was that the order came from me.

But for the sake of her pride, she stiffened her neck and blustered on. "So cancel it, cancel it. Who do you think you're scaring—"

She didn't get to finish before Uncle Frank cut her off with a roar.

"Eileen, shut your mouth and get back to your room this instant!"

Charles panicked too. He let go of Eileen's arm and came over to grab mine. "Patty, Patty, don't be angry. Eileen's lost it, she's talking nonsense, don't lower yourself to her level. The order... you can't cancel the order. Our whole company is running on it. If it's canceled, we're finished!"

I didn't shake Charles's hand off, and I didn't say anything. I just held the phone and waited for my mom to answer.

A couple of seconds passed before her voice came through.

"Who hit you? How's your face? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"Eileen hit me. My face is fine, just a little swollen," I said into the phone.

"She also called me a slut, said I'm starved for love and offered to find me male escorts."

"Ha. This Eileen really is a piece of work." My mom let out a scornful little laugh.

"Fine. I'll have HR cancel the order right away. Tell your cousin to return that fifty-thousand deposit within a week, or I'll take it to court. And stop staying at your uncle's house. They look down on us, so there's no need to keep pushing ourselves on them. I'm sending Cliff to come pick you up right now."

"Okay. Thanks, Mom."