Chapter 1 A Price on Dignity

The wedding hall was bathed in a harsh, blinding light.

The emcee smiled brightly and handed the microphone to Alice. "Come on, let the bride change how she addresses you. She should call you Mom. The gift is just symbolic—10,000 dollars with best wishes!"

I held the wine glass in my hand, ready to propose a toast.

Alice sat in her chair, eyelids half-lowered, clutching the money without moving a muscle.

"Ten thousand? That's history."

She curled her lip, her voice ringing across the entire hall.

"If you want to marry into the Forrest family, you follow our new rules. Frankly, I don't see any sincerity from you. Let's round it up to 500,000."

The room fell dead silent.

The emcee froze, microphone still raised.

My hand stiffened midair. I turned to look at Dylan.

He stood there in the suit worth 30,000 I had bought for him with his head down, eyes glued to his phone, acting like none of this concerned him.

I took a slow breath, forcing down the anger rising in my chest. "Mom, the gift is usually from the mother-in-law to the daughter-in-law. I didn't even ask for a wedding gift. I paid for the house in full myself, and my family covered the entire wedding banquet.

"You insisted on 10,000 before, and I agreed. Now, you're suddenly demanding 500,000? Don't you think that's too much?"

Alice rolled her eyes and opened her mouth.

A sharp chime rang in my head.

"Malicious fraud detected. Honest Lies System activated. Target: vicious mother-in-law. Penalty: forced truth-telling."

Alice's lips trembled, then she spoke. "What do you mean by that? If I don't drain your pockets now, how is Gideon supposed to buy a house outright? You expect him to take on a mortgage? That'd be exhausting!"

The room exploded into conversation.

Guests exchanged shocked looks, whispers spreading like wildfire.

"Oh, my God… She's squeezing the daughter-in-law dry just to buy her younger son a house? That's shameless…"

Alice slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide in horror, as if she couldn't understand why she had just blurted out her true thoughts.

Dylan finally looked up, his face ashen. He tugged at her sleeve. "Mom, what did you just say?"

I let the wine glass fall from my hand.

It shattered as it hit the floor, wine splashing onto Dylan's pants.

"So, that's the plan? You're trying to strip me for everything I have?" I looked at them, my voice cold. "If I don't pay, does that mean there's no wedding?"

Alice opened her mouth again, but her response was no longer under her control.

"If you don't pay, then get lost! You're just a pregnant, used woman. Your belly's already showing. Who else would want you besides Dylan?

"You're the cheap one here, throwing yourself at us! Once you marry in, your money will be mine, the house will belong to Gideon, and you'll spend the rest of your life serving our entire family!"