Chapter 1

My son's fiancée came over to visit, and I was thrilled.

Not only did I give her a fat red envelope with twenty thousand in it, I also cooked a whole table of her favorite dishes.

Everything was warm and pleasant, but when it came time to clear the table, I smiled at her.

"Sweetie, could you hand that bowl to Auntie?"

With a loud crash, the future daughter-in-law who'd been so well-behaved suddenly flipped the table and cursed.

"You old hag! What kind of trash are you, that you'd dare put me through a damn obedience test!"

My son shot me a resentful glare and hurried out the door after his fiancée, who left in tears.

There was nothing I could do, so I sent her another ten thousand and apologized, saying I hadn't meant anything by it.

I never expected that after she took the money, that same night I'd scroll past a post she'd put up on Instagram five minutes earlier.

That trashy mother-in-law of mine is putting me through an obedience test. I go over as a guest, and she wants me washing dishes and doing housework?

I'm my mom and dad's precious little treasure, not the maid at her house! You old bag! Drop dead!

My blood pressure shot straight up from the anger, but when my son read it he just rolled his eyes at me.

"It's all because you said the wrong thing, did the wrong thing! You bully my girlfriend and still act like you're in the right!"

Hearing that, I gave a cold laugh.

"That's right, I said the wrong thing, I did the wrong thing! Then that eight hundred eighty thousand dowry, you pay it yourself!"

"And the two million for the house, don't even think about it!"

1

Hearing what I said, my son Nolan Fox gave a cold snort and kept his head down, playing on his phone, not taking it seriously at all.

I pulled out my phone and immediately canceled his shared payment access and unlinked every bank card tied to his phone.

The whole thing was done in one smooth motion, and only when the unlink notifications came through did Nolan bolt up off the couch, roaring.

"Mom, are you crazy!"

"You actually unlinked the cards? Over something this small, is that really necessary!"

He rolled his eyes at me and reached out to grab my phone. "Give me the phone, link them back right now."

"Maria told me to snag a bag for her tonight, the payment's due any second, and if I don't get it I'm holding you responsible!"

I glanced at his phone screen. Tonight he was supposed to snag a bag for that girlfriend of his, Maria Dickerson.

One bag cost fifty thousand.

He'd snagged plenty before, each one no less than five figures.

Every time the money came out of my card, and I never made a fuss.

But this time, all I could think about was the post Maria had put on Instagram.

Not only did she call me "trashy" and an "old bag."

The comments went even further, tallying up my five hundred crimes.

I washed strawberries and set them out on the table for her. She said I was forcing her to eat something she didn't like.

When I gave her a red envelope at New Year's, she said I was testing whether she was a gold digger.

Even when I asked her what she wanted to eat before she came over, that got twisted into an obedience test.

...

It suddenly hit me that being good to her, being good to my son, was so damn pointless!

I snatched the phone right back out of Nolan's hand, and seeing his displeasure, that aggressive, blustering posture,

I smacked him on the forehead. "Get lost. Buy a bag?"

"Your mother's got no money! If you've got the guts, use your own!"

With that, I grabbed my purse, turned, and walked out.

Nolan sat on the couch fuming and threatened, "I'm telling you, if you don't link my cards back, I'm going on a hunger strike starting today."

I didn't even acknowledge it and kept walking.

But I never expected that when I'd just finished a patient's surgery that night and got home from the hospital,

I'd find the once-tidy house torn apart, every cabinet door thrown open.

My clothes in the closet had been rummaged through and scattered everywhere, and even the paintings I treasured had been tossed on the floor.

Instinctively I looked toward the jewelry cabinet, and saw that the locked jewelry box had been pried open.

The vintage gemstone necklace worth a hundred thousand was gone!

I broke out in a cold sweat, terrified, and rushed to call the police.

But the moment I turned on my phone, I saw another post Maria had put on Instagram five minutes earlier.

My darling hubby didn't win the handbag, but he gave me a necklace worth over a hundred thousand, so I've decided to forgive him.

Attached photo: the two of them kissing.

And the necklace around her neck was the very one that had gone missing!

My blood pressure spiked from the anger, my face went red.

With a ding, Nolan sent me a message.

"Mom, I gave the necklace to Maria. You're so old anyway, it wouldn't look good on you."

"Oh, and Maria says she can forgive you, on the condition that you swear you'll never put her through an obedience test again."

Seeing my son's message, a chill ran through my whole body, and I wrote back.

Return the necklace right now, or I'm calling the police.