Chapter 2

I listened to my mother's voice messages and suddenly remembered a lot of things.

Back in high school, our family was broke. We couldn't even afford meat. To ease the burden, I only ate plain bread for lunch.

But my mother turned around and spent three thousand dollars enrolling Kyle in a basketball training camp. She said he had talent and couldn't be held back.

I got into an Ivy League, but my mother barely glanced at my acceptance letter and scoffed.

"Just lucky," she said. "But with your personality, you're never going to amount to anything anyway."

When Kyle took the SATs, he only got into a community college—but my mother praised him all day long.

She said he had been clever since childhood, that he would definitely achieve great things, and that the whole family would depend on him in the future.

Later, when Kyle insisted on studying abroad, my mother made me pay for it.

I couldn't stand her pitiful tone, so I agreed.

She threw him a huge going-away party.

All the relatives praised her for raising such a successful son who got to study overseas.

But no one mentioned that I was the one footing the bill.

When my wife was three months pregnant, my mother stayed at the Watson family home for a week. Those seven days felt like a living nightmare.

Whenever I poured my wife a glass of water, my mother would sneer at me.

"Look at him—no real skills at all. All he can do is fetch tea and water around the house."

Then she would turn around and praise Kyle right in front of my wife.

"Kyle is studying in the UK. He has such a bright future ahead. Any girl who marries him will be truly blessed."

I was psychologically manipulated by her my whole life, always thinking I just wasn't good enough.

Only now did I realize she had been stepping on me and boosting Kyle up, all to pave his way into Emily's family.

I took a deep breath and typed: [Mom, where did you get this photo from?]

The other side showed "typing…" for a full minute.

Finally, a reply came: [A friend took it. Don't ask so many questions.]

I pressed further: [Which friend? When was it taken? Where?]

This time she replied quickly: [Stop worrying about where the photo came from! The point is she cheated! Why are you so hung up on that.]

She was getting anxious.

I let out a cold laugh and switched to voice input, sending a message directly, "Mom… my heart really hurts. What should I do…"

My voice trembled, like I was on the verge of tears.

Three seconds later, a voice message came back. She was crying dramatically, her performance flawless. "My poor son! I told you long ago that Emily couldn't be trusted! Rich women are all like this!"

I played along. "So what should I do? Divorce her?"

Her reply was instant. "Yes! Divorce her right now! While the baby's still young—you've still got time!"

I kept pushing. "But I can't bring myself to let go of Emily…"

Her tone turned impatient. "What is there to miss? There are plenty of women in this world!

"Look at Mrs. Johnson next door—she's not bad. Sure, she's over fifty and has been divorced three times, but she knows how to take care of a man. I just don't know if she'd be willing to have you… I'll ask her for you tomorrow."

I held my phone and almost laughed out loud from sheer disbelief.

Mrs. Johnson next door.

I knew exactly who she was. A drunk who kept multiple boyfriends on the side. Her first three husbands had all run away in fear.

In my mother's eyes, I wasn't even worthy of someone like that.

She kept going, "Don't worry. I'll have Kyle come stay with you for a few days. You two brothers can talk things out and keep each other company."

After thinking it over, I replied with a single word, "Okay."

She immediately sent a string of smiling emojis.

"Deal! I'll send him over tomorrow!"

I closed the chat and reopened the post. Sure enough, it had been updated again.

[Thanks, girl! My oldest son bought it. He's heartbroken and crying his eyes out.]

[I've sent my younger son over to keep him company—and to help take care of the daughter-in-law.]

[My sweet boy is gentle and handsome. He'll definitely win her over in no time. Once it's done, I'll come back and give you all an update!]

People were still cursing her out in the comments.

I turned off my phone and lay back down on the bed.

Staring at the ceiling, I suddenly smiled.