Chapter 2

Samuel's face turned red then pale as he frantically thought of a way to explain things to me.

However, there was no denying the facts, and after hesitating for a long time, he could only admit, "Misty's parents and younger brother were worried about her, and also, their old house in the village was getting too old for them…"

"Samuel Tucker," I said, stressing every syllable of his name. "Did you know that your own mother's place in her hometown is small and drafty, and she sleeps huddled in the corner of her bed every day, but she absolutely refused to move here so she wouldn't disturb us.

"And yet, yesterday, she slipped and fell into a puddle, injuring her leg terribly. It was her neighbor, Lettie Carlson, who had to send her to the clinic to get treated!

"But now, you're telling me that you took in your sister-in-law and her entire family of six here, paying only 300 dollars in rent for my 3,000-square-foot apartment that's worth at least 10,000 dollars a month?

"Who's the daft one here? Is it you? Or your sister-in-law?"

Samuel began to panic.

"How did Mom fall? Was it serious? What did the doctor say?"

I chuckled coldly and turned to return to my room.

"If you were really worried about her, you wouldn't have hung up straight on Lettie multiple times yesterday when she tried calling you just because you found the calls annoying!"

He then called out to me behind my back, "Carol! I'll settle things on Mom's side… And as for Misty, I really didn't mean to keep it from you. Don't get mad at me, please. It's not good for your health."

I didn't even bother stopping as I replied to him, "Clean up the kitchen. You're sleeping on the couch tonight."

I then shut the bedroom door behind me and looked down at my belly, which was very slightly protruding.

Our second baby together was just eight weeks old today.

Initially, I had wanted to tell Samuel about this good news tonight and discuss with him about using it as an excuse to ask his mom to move in with us. After all, her tiny place was really too run-down and unsuitable for her as a retirement home.

Who would have thought that I'd see Misty's message pop up on his phone before we even had a single bite of food to eat?

And so, our seventh wedding anniversary dinner was ruined, just like that.

When I came out of the room the next morning, the living room couch was back to normal. Samuel had already gone to work.

He texted an apology to me.

However, the entire mini TED Talk he gave me in text simply defended Misty again and again, citing how hard life was on her and more.

I didn't reply to any of his messages. Instead, I sent Elsie to preschool before driving straight to my luxury apartment in the center of the city.

After keying in the wrong passcode thrice, someone impatiently yanked the door open from the inside.

"Who is it? How dare you break into a house in broad daylight!"

I stared at the man with stubble all over his face, recognizing him as Misty's younger brother, Mitchell Patterson.

Misty came out of the kitchen just then, her eyes doubling in size as soon as she caught sight of me at the door.

"What are you doing here?"

"Is this your friend, Misty? Doesn't she know basic manners like ringing the doorbell instead of keying in the passcode immediately?"

Mitchell rolled his eyes at me before turning away and walking back into the place before entering the master bedroom.

Misty hurriedly placed Zoe on the floor and rubbed her hands together, sounding a little nervous as she asked, "Caroline? What brings you here?"

My face was dark as I entered the door and swept my gaze around the apartment. "Do I need to give anyone a heads-up coming into my own apartment?"

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, however, someone punched in the keycode at the door. And then, Samuel walked in with practiced ease, crouching down to change into some indoor slippers when he suddenly saw me and froze midway.

"W-What are you doing here?"

This was getting ridiculously absurd.

I didn't even know where to begin questioning him.

"And what are you doing here, Samuel Tucker? Shouldn't you be at the office working right now?"

Samuel was at a loss for words. Misty hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over and said, "Don't blame this on him, Caroline. I was the one who asked him to come here.

"It's just… Our door broke. I was worried about our safety…"

She didn't even finish her sentence before shutting up.

They had changed the door passcode themselves a long time ago. It wasn't broken in the slightest, and she knew it more than anyone else.

Samuel then tugged on my sleeve and said, "Let's go back first, darling. I'll explain everything to you once we're back."

I met his gaze and questioned him in response. "Which part are you planning to explain to me? About the low-balled rent? The lightbulbs? The family of six living in this apartment?

"Or the fact that you refused to take even a half-day leave when your own daughter was hospitalized due to a high fever, yet you immediately rushed here to fix a door that wasn't even broken in the first place?"

Samuel's expression changed. He hesitated, unsure of what to say, when the door to the secondary bedroom was opened, and Misty's parents, Chris Patterson and Francine Garcia, walked out.

They were no longer dressed in their drabby old countryside clothes. Rather, they wore bright, expensive clothing on their bodies as they rolled their eyes at me.

"Ah. You're the Tuckers' second daughter-in-law," they said. "Heard that this place belongs to you. How could you be so insensible and unreasonable at your age?

"Your husband already agreed to let us live in this place for free, and yet, you still insisted on collecting 300 dollars a month from us!"