Chapter 2

On the way to the psychiatric hospital, I sent Ronald a text.

"Nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Bring your documents. Meet me at the county clerk's office."

Ronald immediately sent back one word: "Fine."

No explanation, not a trace of reluctance.

Looking at that one cold word on the screen, I smiled.

So many years of marriage, and he wouldn't give me even half a sentence of explanation. Just like that, it was over.

Good.

It saved me from having to fake politeness with him.

It was already past eight in the evening when the car reached the psychiatric hospital.

I walked in, knowing my way around.

The nurse at the reception desk saw me and greeted me with a smile. "Tracey, here to see Ms. Lawrence again? She's in good spirits today. She even sang for us."

I tugged at the corner of my mouth, unable to name what I felt inside.

The "Ms. Lawrence" the nurse meant was Ronald's mother, Flora Lawrence.

In her youth, she had been the star performer of a musical theater company.

Later, after witnessing Ronald's father's affair with her own eyes, she developed a mental illness.

When she wasn't having an episode, she was no different from anyone else.

But the moment an episode hit, she would turn severely violent.

Especially toward pretty young women.

Originally, Flora's condition wasn't serious enough to keep her in a psychiatric hospital full-time.

It was Ronald and his father who came to me in tears, begging me to pull some strings, and that was how I forced through her long-term stay.

For the past three years, I had been the one caring for her.

Ronald and his father never came to visit, not even once.

I figured that father and son had gotten so used to their comfortable life

that they'd forgotten they still had this wife and this mother.

Since that was the case...

naturally, I ought to help them remember.

And while I was at it, I'd send my former mother-in-law back to her precious son.

Let them have their reunion!

3

When I followed the nurse to the ward, Flora was sitting by the window peeling an orange.

The moment I came in, she shoved the half-peeled orange in her hand into my mouth.

"Tracey's here? Here, have some orange... this orange is so sweet..."

She really was doing well today; her eyes were clear, with no sign of madness at all.

I took the orange, and my heart clenched.

After all, we'd been mother-in-law and daughter-in-law for over a decade, and when she wasn't ill she was genuinely good to me.

But the thought of Ronald and that mistress cooled that flicker of guilt at once.

I crouched down beside her, held her hand, and said softly, "Mom, tomorrow I'm divorcing Ronald. He's found himself a new wife, and I came today to take you back to him... Are you happy?"

Flora's hand froze mid-peel, and the tenderness in her eyes drained away in an instant.

She kept muttering, "Marriage? New wife? Vixen... vixen... old and young, both of them chasing vixens..."

I went along with it and patted her back, my voice softening further. "That's right. Your son found himself a vixen too, and he's making a big fuss about divorcing me... but don't you worry... that new wife of his looks so sweet and obedient... I'm sure she'll take good care of you."

Maybe my words set her off, because Flora suddenly shot to her feet.

Her eyes turned vicious in a flash. "Where is that vixen? I'll kill her! Back then she stole my husband... and now she wants to steal my son! I'll kill her! Kill her..."

The nurse saw it on the monitor and hurried over. "Tracey, what's wrong with Ms. Lawrence? She was fine just a moment ago!"

"It's nothing... she just had a sudden stress reaction. I'll take her home and settle her down for a few days and she'll be fine," I explained to the nurse with a smile, then pulled out the discharge papers I'd prepared.

"I've finished the paperwork. Can I take her home today?"

The nurse looked at the form I'd signed and seemed about to speak, then held back.

After a long moment, she sighed. "All right... but, Miss Henson... are you really sure you want to take Ms. Lawrence out of the hospital?"

"Of course," I said with a faint smile.

"A family should be whole, all together again!"