A Fair Mother

"Mom! Say something! Nana and I truly love each other. Why won't you agree to this?"

As the familiar holler rang in my ears, I opened my eyes to see Tim Liston, my eldest son, standing before me.

He was wearing designer clothes from head to toe, his hair permed elegantly but his eyes red with tears.

Beside him was a young woman who dyed her head blonde, reclining against the couch, her feet on the tea table while playing with her phone.

She didn't even blink as Tim cried out.

I stared at her for a few beats, somehow feeling in my chest the agony of being crushed in that car crash.

In my last life, we quickly found out the day after Tim brought Nana Zims home that she had a six figure debt.

She said she was an entrepreneur, but in reality she goofs off every day while spending the allowance Tim provides.

When my husband Ben Liston and I tried to tell Tim to break up with her, he started breaking things, pointing at my nose as he snapped, "You're disrespecting Nana! And you're always being so demanding with me, while giving Joe a free pass for anything!

"You've decided everything for me since I was a kid! What, I can't decide on my wife too now?!"

I was shaking with rage. I didn't snap at him, and instead patiently reasoned with him that marriage wasn't a game and couldn't be treated lightly.

As it turned out, he was recording the conversation.

He posted cropped clips on the internet with the title: [My parents only care about my brother while micromanaging my life. What should I do?]

Naturally, he framed me as a control freak of a mother who played favorites.

Somehow, he left out plenty of important parts; like how the time he had an allergic reaction, Ben and I had gone to at least three different pharmacies in different states just to get him the best medicine.

When he suffered a leg fracture and bled profusely, I carried him on my back, staying with him for the entirety of the four-hour procedure.

He only stated that I got him and his brother Joe different shirts, neglecting to mention I searched the whole mall for the same design but a different size.

He only stated that I stopped him from eating seafood, refused to take him to the amusement park, refused to get him clothes, and refused to give him our blessing for his wedding.

The netizens' outrage was apocalyptic, with people actually showing up and vandalizing the hallways outside our apartments, and doxxing both Ben and Joe.

Even when I was killed, I could only wonder what I did wrong…

"Mom!" Tim shouted again just then.

Jerking to my senses, I rubbed my temples as I asked, "What was that?"

Tim still had tears on his face, but his tone was cold. "I said, I want to marry Nana. If you refuse, I'll just elope with her."

That was when Nana looked up at me with a smile. "That's right, ma'am. Once we're married, I'll never allow any harm to come to him."

I was staring at the golden bracelet on her wrist. It cost over twenty grand; Tim bought that for her last month. I also quickly recognized the limited edition Birkin Bag she placed by her feet, bought by Tim too.

She kept saying that Tim would be happy with her, when he was the one buying her all her presents…

In my last life, I called her out for that, eventually forcing her to admit she didn't have a job.

Even as she was left fuming and humiliated, Tim leapt to her defense.

"She just couldn't find the right job!" he yelled at me then. "What, you think everyone else should live up to the standards of the rich like you? The way I see it, you're not worried about me. You're just worried I'd leave you!"

Just remembering that left me weary, so I stopped looking at Nana and turned to Tim. "When's the wedding?"

He froze. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Aren't you getting married?" I asked as I picked up my cold tea, taking a sip. "Go ahead."