But at that time, I simply felt sorry for her, having an unfortunate marriage with a scumbag and having lost her child due to poor health.
So I often took Hughie and Hannibal with me to accompany her, fearing she might become overwhelmed.
But gradually, Hannibal and Hughie would leave me for Miranda.
They even gave her the key to their house and let her live in.
I objected and questioned, but all I got were a few impatient comments.
“Miranda is in a bad mood right now and her family is abroad. We are her family. Shouldn’t we let her live in our house and take good care of her? Miranda and I are childhood sweethearts. If we were related, we would have been together long ago. How could it be your turn to marry me?”
Seeing this, my parents-in-law no longer concealed their bias.
Miranda was their beloved, a glamorous internet celebrity.
Unconsciously, they compared her to me and found fault and resenting my unremarkable family and my status as a housewife. But I had a stellar education and a great job back then.
It was because Gary and Nancy, one with a broken bone and the other with a cerebral thrombosis and Hannibal’s company was in a financial crisis, that I was forced to resign and return home to take care of them.
Now, it had become the reason they resented my lack of independence.
Even Hughie, under Nancy’s brainwashing, constantly said, “I wish Miranda were my mom.”
He even secretly called her “Miranda Mommy” when I was not around.
So much so that many residents in the neighborhood, Hughie’s class teacher, my in-laws’ friends and Hannibal’s subordinates all mistake Miranda for the daughter-in-law of this family… She made them proud.
But back home, they enjoyed the daily cleaning, laundry and cooking that I was busy doing.
And then they found fault with my sincere efforts.
But why?
My phone rang a few times and I went to open the door. Outside stood the workers helping me move my luggage and neighbors who had heard the commotion and come out to watch.
I pointed to the already packed boxes and told them to move them.
My eyes fell on my parents-in-law’s medical records.
I was silent for a moment, then handed them to Miranda.
“Uncle and aunt need to go to the hospital for a checkup next week. I’ve already made an appointment. Remember to take them. Hughie needs to apply for school before he can start elementary school. You…”
“You’re saying all this, just to make yourself look important and get people to like you?” Nancy muttered.
I took a deep breath, dropped the medical records and walked out. “Wait a minute!” Gary suddenly said, pointing at my suitcases, “Since you’re so adamant about getting a divorce, leave our Chandler Family’s belongings behind.”
“That’s right!” Nancy also stepped forward to shove the movers. “You have all these boxes! Who knows if there might be something valuable hidden inside! Divorce is fine, but you can’t take anything my son bought!”
I looked at Hannibal.
“Is that what you mean?”
He turned his head and said, “If you just apologize and stop threatening divorce, I’ll pretend what happened today never happened.”
I sneered and Nancy had already overturned my suitcases.
Countless old clothes, washed to a pale white, tumbled out.
Also, there were a few gold bracelets and a safety lock. “Damn it, Regina, you bitch! You stole my bracelet! I’ll beat you to death!”
