Chapter 2

Giles blew up instantly and clamped a hand over mine.

"Just transfer it to me! I was going to round it up to a lucky number, two hundred eighty-eight thousand, to surprise Marcia. Don't ruin my plan."

I laughed. "You add a little extra and figure you can hog all the credit for the two hundred eighty thousand? Giles, you sure know how to work the angles."

"Mom! Why are you talking so ugly? We're all family. Who's hogging what?"

Sidney got worked up too. "You're being way too petty, like you're terrified your daughter-in-law won't know the money came from you."

I smiled and nodded. "That's right, I'm afraid she won't know, so I want to transfer it myself. What, is that not allowed?"

Sidney's face flushed red. "Half of the family savings are mine! Why should the credit all go to you?"

I got up, took the bankbook from the bedroom, and slapped it down on the coffee table.

"Take a good look. This money is my dowry from back then, rolled over every time it matured. It has nothing to do with you."

As I spoke, I pulled out my phone to transfer the money to Marcia.

Giles lunged to grab the phone, but he was a step too late.

I opened my chat with Marcia, sent a smiling sticker, and was about to send the transfer.

A red exclamation mark popped up.

She'd turned on friend verification.

I'd been deleted.

Giles froze for a second, then sighed.

"Mom, I didn't want to tell you, because I was afraid you'd be hurt. Marcia... doesn't think very highly of you. She said she didn't want much contact with you, worried it would upset you, so she deleted you."

Sidney sneered. "You're just making trouble out of nothing! Your son works his heart out for this family, inside and out, and all you do is stir things up and suspect everyone. Egg on your face now, isn't it?"

I stared at that red exclamation mark, my fingers going cold.

I knew this was Giles stirring things up.

Marcia was kind at heart. She must have been kept in the dark, and that was why she'd gotten the wrong idea about me.

I hit the call button.

Giles snatched the phone away, his face iron-gray.

"Mom! What are you doing? Marcia's already at the hospital waiting to deliver. You call her now, and what if you upset her so badly she has a hard labor?"

In my past life, I definitely would have been cowed by that.

But now, all I felt was that he had a guilty conscience.

"I'm transferring money to her. How could that give her a hard labor?"

I grabbed the phone back and dialed straight through.

The phone rang for a long time before an unfamiliar young woman answered.

"Are you Marcia's family? Why is no one here at the hospital with the mother-to-be? She just fell going to the bathroom and she's already been wheeled into the operating room! Get over here, fast!"

My mind went blank with a roar and everything exploded.

Giles heard it too and scrambled to pull out his own phone.

Eighteen missed calls.

He'd had it on silent and hadn't gotten a single one.

"If you hadn't stood here casting suspicion left and right, I'd already be at the hospital! Marcia fell with no one around, and it's all your fault!"

"If anything happens to that child, I'm not done with you!"

His shouting stunned me for a moment, then I grabbed my bag.

"Stop wasting breath, get to the hospital now!"

But Sidney grabbed hold of me. "You've already caused her to fall once, don't go making things worse!"

"That's twisting the facts! When did I ever make her fall?"

The neighbors' door opened, and a few heads poked out.

"Oh, is the James family's wicked mother-in-law acting up again?"

"I hear she even took her daughter-in-law's bride price and dowry. A mother-in-law like that, whoever gets stuck with her is out of luck."

I grabbed Giles by the collar. "When did I ever take your wife's bride price or dowry?"

He stammered, his eyes darting away.

Sidney suddenly raised his hand and slapped me across the face.

"After all this, you're still here causing trouble!"

"If you make us late getting to the hospital, I'll divorce you!"