Chapter 1

My brother-in-law's son was starting first grade and needed our house for it, and one day my husband shoved a transfer agreement into my hands.

I flipped through it, and on the last page it read: final ownership of the house goes to Kevin Hughes.

I was stunned. "I won't sign."

Rufus and his wife flew into a rage right then. "You already promised us long ago, and now the registration deadline is almost here. You're backing out?"

I shot back calmly, "That house is what I'm giving to my son."

My husband wrenched my body around to face him. "Hazel, our son is already dead. Wake up."

...

At the family dinner, my husband handed me a property transfer document.

"Hurry up and sign it. We're going to be counting on our nephew to take care of us in our old age and see us off when we go."

I skimmed through the contents of the transfer agreement and raised a question.

"Why is the transfer period fifteen years? Wasn't it ten before?"

Rufus's wife, Bianca, didn't even lift her eyes. "Kevin has at least twelve years of school ahead of him, elementary through high school. Sign for the full term all at once, so we don't have to trouble you again later."

I kept flipping, and when I reached the last page of the agreement, I gripped it tight.

"Why does final ownership of the house go to Kevin?"

This time it was Rufus who spoke. "In the end, everything you and my brother own goes to Kevin anyway, doesn't it? We're just getting the paperwork done ahead of time."

My mother-in-law, Millicent, and my husband, Cyril, kept pushing me to sign quickly.

I looked at Cyril, chilled to the bone. "That house was meant for Leonard."

"But Leonard is already dead. Didn't you promise to give it to Kevin for school?"

I nodded even as I took out my phone and quickly unsent the registration application.

"Now I've changed my mind."

The moment I finished speaking, every one of their faces turned ugly.

Bianca glared at me hard, then grabbed Rufus's hand, though her eyes were on my mother-in-law. "What does my sister-in-law mean by this?"

Of course Bianca knew exactly what I meant. She was asking a question she already had the answer to.

In an instant, four or five pairs of eyes at the table all swung toward me.

Some resented me, others were aimed at Cyril.

As I pretended not to notice and got up to leave, Cyril grabbed my arm.

"Hazel, what's this about?"

"We settled it ages ago that Kevin would start elementary school this year. You back out now, and what are they supposed to do?"

I shook Cyril's arm off, grabbed my bag, and left.

"If he can't get into the city's top-rated elementary school, doesn't your village have a school too? It's not like he has nowhere to go."

Bianca panicked and shot to her feet.

"Mom, look at her. She clearly promised us long ago. How can she go back on her word like this?"

Millicent's glare at me was the most vicious of all. Even without Bianca egging her on, she was never going to stay quiet.

"Hazel, hurry up and sign this agreement. Kevin is waiting to start school."

Millicent was every bit the wicked mother-in-law of the old stories.

"I won't sign."

I turned my head and met Millicent's eyes, not giving an inch on presence.

The words had barely left my mouth when Cyril yanked me toward him.

He lowered his voice and spoke to me in a warning tone. "Hazel, don't make a scene right now. Getting Kevin into school is a big deal. If we offend Rufus and Bianca, it does us no good."

"He's your nephew. He has nothing to do with me."

And with that, this time I really did turn and walk away.

No matter how they called after me from behind, I didn't look back.

Just as I was about to step out the door, I heard Bianca shouting and shrieking.

"Rufus, didn't you say getting Kevin into school would be easy? Look at Hazel."

"And the rest of you, if Kevin doesn't get into Lincoln Elementary, you can just wait around for him to sit at home like a fool."

Of everyone scrambling to apologize to Bianca, Cyril was the most eager. He must have truly pinned all his hopes for his old age on his nephew Kevin.

Thinking of my son Leonard, my eyes went hot. I decided that no one, whoever they were, was going to take away what belonged to my son.