Chapter 3

The taxi sped down the road.

I stared at my phone, my eyes fixed on my mother-in-law's hands on the livestream. Her fingers were already gripping the cap of the light-resistant glass bottle. My ordinary comments were swallowed up by the flood of messages almost instantly, making them completely useless.

I opened the paid interaction page on the livestream and sent the highest-value Super Chat without a moment's hesitation.

A bright animation announcing the paid message immediately caught everyone's attention.

Jeannie finally stopped what she was doing. Her eyes lit up, and she hurried back in front of the camera, thanking the donor over and over.

"Thank you so much for your generous Super Chat!"

"Wow, you are incredibly generous! Just tell me how much you want us to dump out. I promise to give you a show you won't forget!"

While Jeannie's attention was completely focused on the donation, I quickly typed out a warning.

[This is Xena! That bottle contains highly concentrated industrial sulfuric acid! Don't touch it, and whatever you do, don't add water! Put the bottle down immediately or I'm calling the police!]

The warning appeared in bright red text in the livestream chat and remained visible for a full five seconds.

Jeannie froze.

The smile on her face stiffened as she stared at the screen, reading the message several times as if she could not believe her eyes. My mother-in-law noticed that she had stopped moving and leaned over to take a look. The moment she read the warning, she froze for a second, too.

Then, both of them burst into deafening laughter. Jeannie laughed so hard she doubled over, tears nearly spilling from her eyes.

"Oh my God! I thought some big spender had shown up. It turns out it is just my sister-in-law!"

She turned to my mother-in-law. "Mom, look at this! Xena is freaking out!

"She is so desperate to protect that bottle that she is making up stories about it being sulfuric acid! Now she is even threatening to have us arrested!"

My mother-in-law leaned toward the camera, her face twisted in scorn and her eyes filled with contempt.

"Call the police? Go ahead! See if I care!

"Xena, do you think everyone watching is stupid? Who in their right mind would put sulfuric acid in such a fancy bottle?

"You will tell any lie to protect a few lousy bottles of water! Why not just tell everyone it is full of explosives while you are at it?

"Now that you are married into the Lloyd family, you have to follow the Lloyd family's rules!

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear. Even the police have no business interfering in our family affairs! I'm dumping this bottle today and nothing is going to stop me!"

The viewers erupted.

[Holy crap! The woman herself just showed up! Now this is getting good!]

[It’s no wonder she was freaking out! So, the bottle really is hers! Hahaha!]

[This woman is ridiculously vain. She is making up stories about it being sulfuric acid just to protect her makeup. ]

[Come on, streamer! Everyone is watching! If you back down now, she will walk all over you forever!]

[Stand your ground! Dump it already! We've got your back!]

For the sake of the show, Jeannie immediately clicked on my profile.

"Guys, my sister-in-law is such a buzzkill! All she does is lie. I'm kicking her out so we can get back to the fun!"

The next second, a notification appeared on my screen.

[You've been removed from the livestream by the streamer.]

"Please, just drive faster!" I begged the driver. "I will pay the ticket if you run a red light!"

The moment the taxi stopped downstairs at my apartment building, I threw open the door and sprinted outside.

I had barely reached the entrance when I ran into Chester, who was leisurely heading downstairs to buy cigarettes after finishing his video game.

He was carrying a plastic convenience store bag, a freshly lit cigarette dangling from his lips. He was also holding up his phone, where Jeannie's livestream was still playing.

He was my last hope.I rushed over and grabbed his arm.

"Quick! Call your mother!

"Tell her to put the bottle down! It is highly concentrated sulfuric acid! Someone could actually die!"

The force of my sudden approach made Chester stumble. Ash fell onto his shirt. He shoved me away with an annoyed look, using enough force that I nearly fell over.

"Are you ever going to stop?

"It is just a bottle of cosmetics! Do you've to act like a lunatic and scream about it in the middle of the street?

"My mom just can't stand how you waste money, so she is teaching you a lesson. Just shut up and take it! That stuff cost thousands of dollars? Fine. Let her dump it. Consider it money well spent on a lesson you clearly need."

I shouted so loudly that my voice trembled.

"I'm not lying! It really is sulfuric acid! It is a chemical reagent I use for work!"

Chester sneered, his eyes full of contempt.

"Xena, you are being so dramatic.

"Was putting on that whole act in the livestream not enough? Do you now have to perform for me in person, too?

"Let me make this clear. I'm not stopping my mother. You need to learn to stop wasting money. Otherwise, who knows how much more junk you will bring into this house?"

While we struggled, Jeannie's excited voice suddenly came through Chester's phone.

"Guys, my mom is about to do it!"

I whipped around to look at the screen.

On the livestream, my mother-in-law was determined to prove that I had been lying. She twisted the cap off with all her strength, aimed the bottle of concentrated sulfuric acid at the standing water in the toilet, and poured most of it in without hesitation.

"Watch closely, everyone! I'm dumping it right now! Let us see if it explodes!"

It was over.

There was nothing I could do anymore.

The moment the liquid hit the water in the toilet, a loud splash was followed by an ear-splitting explosion that seemed to shake the entire room.