Chapter 1 Chapter 1

My mind went blank when I got the call from the hospital. My mother-in-law, Marie Palmer, came over to bring my husband, Zachary Lambert, some of his favorite homemade pickles. She had only left not too long ago, but I was now informed that she had gotten into a car accident. Feeling panicked, I rushed to the hospital. Along the way, I kept trying to get in touch with Zachary. Busy with his work as a lawyer, he often neglected to take my calls, but he had to this time! His own mother was lying in the hospital, her fate still unknown! When yet another one of my calls to him went unanswered, I pocketed my phone with a frown and hurried over to the operating room. In between pants, I asked the nurse, "H-How is my mother-in-law?" Sighing, the nurse told me, "We're doing our best to save the patient, but she is in critical condition. I'm afraid you might have to be prepared for the worst." Beside myself with anxiety, I hurriedly called Zachary again. At last, he took my call, but he snapped at me impatiently, "What the hell do you want, Annette? Why have you called me over 20 times now? Don't you know I'm busy?" I was just about to tell him the news when I heard the soft, pitiful voice of a woman saying, "Please don't leave, Zach. I'm so scared right now.""It's fine. I'm here for you. The bad guys won't get their way," Zachary quickly assured her. It had been ages since he last spoke to me in such a gentle manner. I felt as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over my head. My throat constricted as I asked, "What are you busy with right now?" Zachary scoffed. Despite not being able to see his face right now, I could still sense how irritated he was. "Something came up with Gigi. Someone's trying to file a fraudulent claim against her. She's a young woman with no one to depend on. I'm the only person she knows around here, so she had no choice but to ask me for help. Can you stop making a fuss for no reason?" Zachary snapped. It was Gigi Norris again. She was Zachary's first love. Despite only having been a month since she returned to the country, I had already lost count of the number of times I heard him mention her name. The stories were plentiful enough. A pipe at her place burst, so he had to go over and fix it for her. Someone was tailing her, and he couldn't let her come to harm without doing anything, so he had to go over and protect her. In Zachary's eyes, Gigi was a demure, mild-mannered woman who didn't like troubling other people. However, she felt more like an overgrown baby to me, one who couldn't survive on her own at all. She became a constant presence in my life. Every bit of Zachary's free time was spent on her. This led to many arguments between us. At first, Zachary promised me he wouldn't maintain contact with Gigi, but over time, he started losing his patience with me. During our last argument, he even said, "My relationship with Gigi is all in the past. Stop overthinking things. Why would I have married you if I had something going on with Gigi?" As I recalled these things, my heart filled with bitterness. However, just when I wanted to inform him about Marie's situation, the call cut off. He dropped my call! I started calling him again, but with each unanswered call, my heart sank. After countless attempts, the call finally connected. Afraid that he would drop the call on me again, I hurriedly explained what happened to Marie. "Mom was in a car accident. The doctors are still trying to save her. You need to come quickly! I don't have enough money in my account either. Can you transfer 100 thousand dollars to me?" Never would I have thought that it wasn't Zachary who answered his phone. Instead, I heard Gigi's delicate voice again, but the words that came out of her mouth made my blood boil. "Annette, I know you're just coming up with this excuse because you desperately want Zach to go back to you, but I really need him right now. I'll return him to you once everything is settled, okay? "As for the money… You shouldn't lie to Zach like that. Just a few days ago, I heard your mom asking you for 100 thousand dollars to buy a house for your younger brother." Apparently, Zachary had been standing on the side the whole time, for I heard him roaring, "You're hopeless, Annette! When are you going to stop acting like your brother's personal ATM? "What does your mother getting into an accident have to do with me? Even if she ends up dying, don't even think of getting money from me to provide for your family. Now, leave me alone. I'm busy!"

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Once again, the call ended on me. I didn't think a few words from Gigi would lead Zachary to misunderstand that it was my mother who got into an accident. He also thought I was asking for money to give to my brother. Staring at the stack of hospital invoices in my hand and the nurse waiting for me at the door, I felt anxious and frustrated. I tried to call Zachary again, only to find that I had been blacklisted. Feeling more and more distressed, I tried all sorts of ways to get in touch with him, to no avail. He kept saying he was busy, yet he didn't seem to think it was a waste of time to blacklist me everywhere. Moreover, it was his own mother whose life was hanging by a thread right now! How could he believe Gigi's baseless claims? It took all my effort to stop myself from losing my composure in front of everyone at the hospital. Now was not the time to confront Zachary about this. Nothing mattered more than Marie's life. I reached out to a few friends and started asking if I could borrow money from them. Once I had 100 thousand dollars, I hurriedly went down to make payment to the hospital. By the time I got back to the operating room, the back of my blouse had been soaked through with sweat. I clenched my hands as I stared at the red light outside the operation room. I kept praying for Marie to be alright. She had always been kind to me. Knowing that my parents favored my brother over me, she loved me as if I were her own daughter. Marie divorced Zachary's father a long time ago and raised Zachary by herself. However, she wasn't the type to feel possessive over him. Instead, she respected us and gave us our privacy by choosing to stay alone elsewhere. She would drop by every week to visit us and bring us some of our favorite food. During her last call with Zachary, he had off-handedly mentioned missing her homemade pickles, but she took it to heart. As soon as she prepared a new batch, she brought it right over to us. She only needed to cross a road to get back to her place, and yet, she ended up getting into an accident while doing so. According to the kind person who brought Marie to the hospital, the driver who hit Marie seemed to have been a drunk driver who was speeding. Marie had been knocked several feet away and lost a lot of blood. Recalling what the nurse said earlier, I felt uneasy. When the doctor came out of the operating room, he shook his head and sighed, saying, "The surgery happened too late. We tried our best, and the patient has regained consciousness, but… Well, you can go in and talk to her now." The last shreds of my hope shattered. Knees going weak, I crashed onto the floor as tears rolled down my cheeks. However, I couldn't waste any time. I climbed back up clumsily and entered the hospital room where Marie had been taken. She was hooked up to all sorts of machines. Just a few hours ago, she was smiling and telling me she would bring over some of her homemade pastries for me to try. But now, she was lying on a hospital bed, looking rather pale. When Marie saw me, she did her best to squeeze out a smile. "You're here, Annie. Where's Zachary?"

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

I didn't know how to respond to Marie's question. My resentment over Zachary's lack of trust in me intensified. Mustering a forced smile, I replied, "Zachary's working, Mom. He can't get away." I wasn't sure if Marie believed me. Her smile seemed to have faded slightly. She gestured for me to come closer. Doing so, I noticed that her eyes were red. "I know Zachary has done you wrong, Annie. I know what's going on. He has never been home whenever I've gone over to your house recently. How can a person be that busy?" Marie said. She spoke with strength, and her cheeks looked flushed. My heart clenched at the sight of that. I knew patients often showed signs of improvement before taking their last breath. Seeing this now, I felt even more anguished. Marie noticed my sorrow. She used her hand, which felt extremely cold to the touch, to wipe my tears away. "Once I'm gone, there won't be anyone to help you teach him a lesson. You're a lovely person, Annie. You should be happy. Stop allowing yourself to be hurt like this. You should get a divorce," Marie said. "I'm to blame too. I never thought he would end up like his father…" A tear rolled out of the corner of Marie's eye, and her hand slowly collapsed onto the bed. I tried not to cry, but it didn't work. I couldn't stop myself from sobbing. "Mom!" The heart rate monitor flatlined. I was never going to get to eat her handmade pastries anymore. … When I went over to Marie's house to go through her belongings, I saw a letter on her desk. I didn't know when she had written it, but it was addressed to me. It was only after reading the letter that I found out Zachary's father had cheated on her. She had suffered a lot in her early years. Life only improved once Zachary was older. Marie hated unfaithful people the most. Who would've thought that Zachary, the son she adored and raised on her own, would become one such person too?

Chapter 4 Chapter 4

Marie's relatives and I organized her funeral. Perhaps I had cried my eyes dry already, for even when I saw the large grayscale portrait of her, I couldn't shed any more tears. During the funeral, some of the relatives asked me why Zachary wasn't in attendance. This time, I didn't cover up for him. I told everyone that he was busy helping Gigi, his beloved first love. John Palmer, Marie's younger brother and Zachary's uncle, was so outraged that he called up Zachary and questioned, "Where are you, Zachary? Why aren't you here after what happened to your mother?" After a long silence, Zachary finally asked, "Uncle John, is Annette with you?" John glanced at me before humming in acknowledgment. "Can you pass the phone to her?" Zachary requested. John hesitated for a moment before handing me his phone. I accepted it with a frown as I wanted to hear what Zachary had to say. "Yes?" Immediately, Zachary lashed out at me. "Can you get any more shameless, Annette? You paid my uncle to put on a show with you, didn't you? Your mom can die for all I care, but my mom has been nothing but good to you! How dare you curse her by pretending something has happened to her? When did you become like this? You can't even begin to compare to Gigi! "If not because I know Mom wouldn't agree to it, I would be filing for divorce right this instant! Stop calling me. Gigi's situation is serious. I have no time for your games!" Having said everything he wanted to say, Zachary ended the call. He had no clue that John had put the call on speaker mode. All of the relatives present heard what he said to me. John was so furious that he nearly got a heart attack. He couldn't stop berating Zachary for being an ingrate. All along, all of Zachary's relatives thought of him as a decent young man and a wonderful son. He was handsome, well-educated, and had a good job. Yet, he was behaving this way when Marie had passed away. He had no conscience to speak of! Staying silent as the others rebuked Zachary, I stared at the photo of Marie in the center of the funeral parlor. She had a warm smile on her face. I had taken that photo of her back when Zachary and I first got married. I could still recall the way she had taken my hand after that. With all the earnestness in the world, she told us to be good to each other, even giving Zachary a double reminder to do so. She also said that I was to tell her if Zachary ever treated me badly. She promised to teach him a lesson on my behalf. At the time, Zachary protested, saying, "What are you talking about, Mom? Why would I ever treat her badly?" "There are no guarantees in life. Who knows what might happen in the future?" Marie retorted. None of us expected her words to act like a prophecy. I was still caught up in my memories when someone asked, "Why didn't the culprit show up either?"