Along with that exaggerated greeting, a familiar voice rang out again.
Right, I'd heard it before, back when Milo had called his mom. No wonder it sounded so familiar.
The next second, she stepped out of the room, her eyes lighting up eagerly, but the moment she saw me, she froze.
“Where’s your girlfriend? Tell her to come in—”
That face, blooming like an old peony a second ago, instantly collapsed into something cold and stony.
“It’s you!”
Without another word, she spun on her heel and marched back inside.
Milo’s face turned stiff with embarrassment as he tugged me in by force.
She stood at the doorway, eyeing me like an X-ray, her mouth almost hanging open.
Milo forced a smile and said, “Mom, this is Vespera Harper.”
“Vespera, this is my mom.”
My throat tightened, I could barely get the words out.
“Hello, Auntie.”
She let out a sharp laugh, shrill and unpleasant.
“Oh, so it’s you,” she said, dragging out every word with dripping contempt.
Then she turned to Milo, her voice rising without warning.
“Milo, what kind of girlfriend is this? A food delivery girl?”
“Are we starving at home now? You had to go out and find someone like…”
She paused and said, “…someone this shameless and disgraceful?”
The air turned to ice.
I felt the blood rush to my head and my face burned hot.
Milo’s expression shifted, awkward, helpless. “Mom! What are you saying!”
His mom sneered. “I’m telling you, Vespera, our Evans Family will never accept a daughter-in-law like you! Break up with my son immediately. Do you hear me?”
Seeing things spiraling out of control, Milo quickly pulled me into the bedroom, saying I should wait there while he talked to her.
Even with the door shut, I could still hear her voice, sharp, vicious.
Words like “lowly” and “filthy” pierced through the walls. But slowly, it began to quiet.
I didn’t know how much time had passed before Milo came in again, wearing a strained smile and calling me out for dinner.
Before we left the room, he leaned in and whispered, “My mom has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Don’t take it to heart, okay? Just be sensible tonight, don’t lose your temper.”
At the dinner table, the tension still hung thick in the air.
Milo did his best to lighten the mood while I kept my head down, not saying a word and I definitely avoided her gaze, which felt like it could tear me apart.
Just when I thought I had finally made it through the worst, something utterly unexpected happened.
Milo’s mother walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of steaming hot soup and as she passed by me, the scalding liquid poured down without mercy, drenching my hand and thigh.
A large patch of skin turned red in an instant.
“Ah! Ah!” I cried out in pain, instinctively shoving her away.
“Oh heavens!”
She shrieked theatrically as she toppled to the ground, but I caught the flicker of smugness in her eyes.
“What are you doing?! Trying to take revenge on me?!”
Milo’s mom slapped her thigh and wailed from the floor, “Milo! Look at the girlfriend you’ve chosen; she’s practically a demon!”
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Rage boiled up in me like a volcano about to erupt.
I snapped my head up and glared at her.
“What did you just say…”
Slap. Before I could finish, a sharp, stinging slap landed on my face. The skin instantly burned hot.
