Chapter 1

I gave every cent of my savings to my daughter-in-law, but once I was paralyzed, all she fed me was pumpkin.

"The grudge from my postpartum month is one I'll never forgive. Back then, so you wouldn't have to care for me during my recovery, you deliberately went off on a trip and even sent over thirty-two pumpkins to humiliate me, calling them good stuff to help me recover."

"Well, now you get to find out what it's like to eat pumpkin for a whole month!"

I froze.

I had clearly booked her a postpartum care center for two hundred thousand—how had that turned into thirty-two pumpkins?

And I never went on any trip. My son said his wife wanted her own mother to look after her and didn't want me getting in the way.

Because of that, I even transferred an extra eighty thousand as a gift.

But the pumpkin was choking my throat, and I couldn't get out a single word.

Everyone cursed me as a wicked mother-in-law who deserved to be mistreated by her daughter-in-law.

Even my grandson said I was a bad grandma.

But after I died, my daughter-in-law stood before my headstone, murmuring to herself.

"Old lady, you were so tightfisted while you were alive, and less than a month after you died, your father-in-law married his old flame and paid a three-hundred-thousand bride price. So what was it all for?"

"If there's a next life, let's not fight anymore. Let's get along, okay?"

Only then, my soul drifting in midair, did I finally learn the truth.

It turned out my son had been deliberately sowing discord between me and my daughter-in-law all along, just to pocket the difference and build up a secret stash.

The bride price and the dowry—he'd used my name to take them all back from his wife.

Even the two hundred thousand for the postpartum care center went straight into his pocket.

Yet right up until my consciousness faded, I never understood why he did it.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I booked the postpartum care center for my daughter-in-law.

...

"Mom, hurry up—has the money gone through yet?"

My son, Giles James, sat across from me, tapping his fingers on the coffee table, looking a little impatient.

"That postpartum care center Marcia's got her eye on costs two hundred thousand a month. She's due in three days. If we don't book now, the spot's gone."

My husband, Sidney James, sat beside him, smoking, drawling out his reply.

"Marcia came a long way to marry into this family. It wasn't easy for her. Whatever other people have, we should have too—we can't shortchange her."

Watching the two of them play off each other, my stomach turned.

If I hadn't been reborn, I never would have guessed how much scheming hid behind those two honest, kindly faces I saw every single day.

In my last life, it was exactly this act of theirs, father and son, that fooled me.

When Giles got married, I gave my daughter-in-law, Marcia Fox, a hundred and eighty thousand as a bride price.

Not long after the wedding, Giles took it all back, claiming I was sick, and I had no idea.

Then, on the pretext of paying overdue premiums on my pension, he took away Marcia's dowry, and again I had no idea.

Once Marcia got pregnant and lost her income, I gave her three thousand a month.

Giles kept it for himself, but told Marcia she'd only get a gift if she had a son.

Later, when my grandson was born, I gritted my teeth and transferred two hundred thousand for Giles to book the postpartum care center.

He carried thirty-two pumpkins home instead and told Marcia, "Mom says pumpkins are good for your health—eating these beats anything else."

Then he turned around, and the two hundred thousand went into his secret stash.

No matter how reasonable Marcia was, she couldn't put up with being mistreated over and over.

She cut me off completely and never called me "Mom" again for the rest of her life.

"Mom? What are you spacing out for?"

Giles waved a hand in front of my eyes.

I came back to myself, pushed down the anger inside me, and nodded.

"Fine. The two-hundred-thousand postpartum care center—I'll pay for it."

Giles instantly broke into a grin and slapped his thigh.

"I knew you were the most sensible one! Then hurry up and send the money—and another eighty thousand on top, two hundred and eighty thousand total."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why is it another eighty thousand now?"

"Marcia wants her mom to come help take care of things. We can't make my mother-in-law wear herself out for nothing, can we?"

Sidney backed him up at once. "It's only right. Those with money give money, those with strength give strength. It's only natural for us to cover this."

I looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"I've got nothing to do at home anyway, so why can't I go take care of her? Anything a postpartum nurse can do, I can do too."

Giles's face changed.

"Mom, your back just healed. Just rest at home—no need to jump into all that."

I picked up my water glass and took a sip. "I just checked the going rate. A postpartum nurse only costs twenty thousand a month. Why pay eighty?"

Sidney's face darkened in an instant.

"Look at you, nickel-and-diming again. Spending money now is for the future. If you're going to quibble over a few tens of thousands, then don't count on your daughter-in-law to take care of you when you're the one stuck in bed!"

Watching him lecture me so self-righteously, I felt like my heart had been torn open.

In my last life, after I was paralyzed, he never cared for me for even a single day.

By then, I suppose, he'd already been carrying on with his old flame.

But why was he in such a hurry to make me spend all my money?

I had a little over three hundred thousand in savings.

In my last life it was precisely because I gave it all away that I couldn't even afford a caregiver.

At that thought, I set down my water glass and clenched my fist.

"Fine. I'll give it."

Giles let out a breath of relief. "Mom, you really are the best mother-in-law in the world! Send the money over quick."

I switched course and pulled out my phone. "No need for all that trouble. I've got Marcia on WhatsApp—I'll just transfer it to her directly."