Chapter 3

Still, I knew I had to keep an eye on Sandra.

From what I had seen, she might've been tiny in stature, but her ambitions were anything but small.

She looked sweet and innocent, as if she wanted nothing for herself. In reality, she never let herself miss out on a thing.

She got Wallace to make her a full-time employee, give her a promotion, and move her into an easy position in the department.

What started as the occasional stay at our house had almost turned into her moving in for good.

She was good at playing the victim and even better at winning people over.

Everyone in the house got a smile from her except me and Wilma Brown, the housekeeper.

To her, winning over Mom and Dad meant winning over her future in-laws. She buttered Wallace up just so she could marry him as soon as possible and become the real Mrs. Wallace Slater.

I was the only one she didn't even bother pretending to be nice to.

One night, she saw Wilma bringing me a late-night snack and insisted on having some too.

But it was already late, and the stew had been simmering for many hours.

There wasn't enough time to make another batch, and Wilma was already going to bed.

When Wilma said no, Sandra put her hands on her hips and started acting like she owned the place.

"What? I can't even ask you to make me some stew? Are you the housekeeper or some pampered lady? Can't I even ask you to do something for me?"

Wilma had no choice but to make it for her.

She was bossy and demanding when no one was watching, yet she always gave in to me in front of Mom and Dad.

I couldn't be bothered to play along with her pathetic little act, so I never gave her the time of day.

Next to her, I ended up looking like the unreasonable one.

I once tried asking Wallace if he was really planning to marry Sandra. Did he even know what she was really like?

He brushed me off as if I were just throwing a childish fit. He said he planned to marry Sandra and wanted me to get along with her.

Mom and Dad grew increasingly fond of Sandra too.

She would go shopping with Mom and help her pick out bags. Whatever Mom liked, Sandra would praise her taste, and Mom loved every bit of it.

Of course, Mom often showered Sandra with gifts. Sandra gave her the emotional comfort she wanted, and in return, Sandra got plenty of material benefits. They both got what they wanted.

Wallace was happy to see them getting along so well.

I was the only person in the family who didn't like Sandra.

That difference became more and more obvious, and I was starting to look like the villainous sister-in-law.

That only made Sandra bolder. Whenever Mom and Dad weren't around, she treated me even worse.

"Madison, your room is really nice," she said. "Once Wallace and I get married, can we move in here? You'll be moving out eventually anyway.

"This room has the best light and the most space. It'd be such a waste to leave it empty."

She made it sound like a question, but her tone said otherwise. So she'd had her eye on my room from the start.

I glanced at Wallace, who was standing to the side. He didn't say a word.

I was so angry that I actually laughed. "Seriously? You don't even know if you'll marry into this family, and you're already trying to take my room?

"You've already bagged Wallace. When you get married, isn't he going to buy you a place of your own? Why do you still have to mooch off my family?"

"Maddie, don't be rude!" Mom heard me and came over. "Sandra, don't take what she said personally."

Mom actually comforted Sandra, then turned to me. "How could you say something like that? Apologize to Wallace and Sandra."

I refused to. I knew I shouldn't have said those things, but I wasn't about to apologize in front of Sandra.

Seeing Mom take her side only made Sandra more smug.

"It's okay, Martha. Madison's just upset. Wallace and I aren't going anywhere. We'll stay here and keep you company. I'll even take care of you when you get old."

She shot me a challenging look, then turned around and started sucking up to Mom.

Wallace tried to smooth things over too. "Don't blame Maddie. Sandra was only joking about switching rooms, and Maddie took her seriously."

Then he turned to me like I was a child throwing a tantrum. "Sandra was only teasing you. Don't be mad, okay?"

Mom kept saying how understanding Sandra was and asked why I had become so petty. She dismissed it as a joke, then scolded me for being unreasonable.

When I saw that the wedding plans were really moving forward, I finally started to worry.

I couldn't let Sandra marry into my family. There was no way I could actually live with someone who was this good at putting on an act.

…

One day, when Sandra wasn't at our house, I called a family meeting with Mom, Dad, and Wallace.

"I don't want Sandra marrying into our family," I said.

The moment I said that, everyone looked at me.

Mom said, "Maddie, don't start."

Wallace didn't look surprised at all. "It's just as Sandra predicted. She knew you would object."

I had to give her credit. She actually saw it coming.

Wallace looked frustrated. "Why do you have such a problem with Sandra? You just have to find fault with everything she does.

"When she told me, I didn't believe her. I wasn't expecting you to actually make things difficult for her at a time like this."