Chapter 1

Today was the day my mother-in-law, Fiona Lopez, was discharged from the hospital.

To take care of her, I'd bitten the bullet and turned down a major contract—one that could have saved my struggling company. For ten full days, I'd personally waited on her hand and foot at the hospital.

Emptying bedpans, bathing her, giving her massages—I'd done it all, and I could honestly say I'd cared for her better than most sons would care for their own mothers.

Once the discharge paperwork was done, I helped Fiona out of her room, and a crowd of relatives immediately gathered around us.

"Oh, look at him!" one of them gushed. "Howard really is the model son-in-law of the Lawson family!"

"You can say that again," another chimed in. "These days, you can't even count on your own son to do half as much."

Their genuine praise brought me some comfort, making those ten grueling days feel completely worthwhile.

However, what Fiona said next felt like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head, chilling me to the bone.

Right in front of everyone, she shook off my hand, her face darkening. "Model son-in-law? Please! It's all an act. He's just putting on a show for everyone!"

In an instant, the whole place went dead silent.

My smile froze.

Yet Fiona wasn't about to stop there. She dragged over her own son, Kyle Lawson, who had been standing off to the side, glued to his phone the whole time.

Beaming with pride, she paraded him in front of the relatives. "When it comes to devotion, nobody beats my son, Kyle. He's busy with work and can't visit every day, but he calls me daily and sends me a GIF to check in. That's what it means to be a devoted son, always keeping his mom in his heart."

Her words left the relatives looking painfully awkward. One of them forced a laugh and tried to smooth things over. "Come on, Fiona, that's not fair. Howard spent the last ten days—"

"So what if it was ten days?" Fiona cut him off sharply. "He's just got too much time on his hands—running some two-bit company and being bored out of his mind. Not like my son.

"Kyle has a million things to deal with every day. Now that's a man who's actually doing something with his life. Besides, Howard only came to the hospital to look good for Jenna!"

I stared at her spiteful face, a sudden wave of anger flaring inside me.

My wife, Jenna Lawson, was flustered and furious. She yanked on Fiona's arm. "Mom! How could you say that about Howard? He turned down his company's most important contract just to take care of you!"

"Shut your mouth!" Fiona barked as she backhanded Jenna. "You little traitor! You're actually taking his side over your own mother? What did he do, put a spell on you? You've completely lost your mind!"

Jenna's eyes instantly reddened, welling up with tears of frustration.

As I watched my wife get humiliated like that, the last trace of warmth inside me died out.

For years, I'd groveled like a dog to win Fiona over, only to be met with escalating contempt and humiliation. What had I even been trying to achieve?

I took a deep breath, forcing the rage back down. Instead of exploding, I offered a calm smile.

With everyone watching, I slowly set down everything I was carrying, one item at a time—the bags, the thermos, the health supplements.

Fiona gaped at me in shock before snapping, "Howard Sherman! What do you think you're doing? You're just going to drop everything and walk away?"

I straightened up and looked her in the eye. My voice was softer than it had ever been. "Fiona, what you said was a real eye-opener. You're right. I've been going about this all wrong. Everything I did was just empty gestures."

I paused, my gaze sweeping past Kyle's smug expression, and continued. "Starting today, I'm going to follow Kyle's lead. I'll keep all my devotion in my heart."

With that, I turned and walked away without sparing anyone there another glance.

Behind me, Fiona shrieked and cursed in a frenzy of rage, but I tuned her out completely.

She wanted me to learn from Kyle?

Fine. I'd grant her wish and do it well enough to beat him at his own game.