1: 1
The wedding.
It came to the part where the mother-in-law gives her speech.
"Once a daughter-in-law marries into the Gilbert family, she needs to know her place. Gilbert affairs are decided by Gilberts. Outsiders should keep their opinions to themselves."
"And another thing. My son has listened to me since he was a boy, and marriage won't change that. There's no point in a wife whispering in his ear at night. It won't work."
I wanted to argue.
But Jayden Gilbert told me to let it go.
"My mom only says these things because she's worried you don't know the rules. Do it for me. Don't take it to heart, all right?"
I didn't want to leave him caught in the middle, so I swallowed it and accepted.
But I never expected it.
After the wedding, I really did become an outsider looking in.
The moment I spoke up, my mother-in-law would throw those wedding-day words back in my face to shut me down.
Until the day I got a severe intestinal cramp and called them, begging for help.
And all they did, on the other end of the line, was say, unbothered,
"Just hold on a while. We'll take you to the hospital once we've finished dealing with Gilbert business."
I died because the treatment came too late.
Now I get to do it over.
I peeled off the wedding gown right there.
"Since you refuse to accept me as one of the Gilberts, then I won't go through with this marriage."
1.
At those words.
The hall went instantly silent.
Every face wore a different expression.
But you could tell most of them thought I'd done nothing wrong.
After all, my mother-in-law's tone had been a taunt.
And all I'd done was follow her words to their conclusion.
Her brow furrowed.
She clearly didn't think she'd said anything wrong, and she didn't believe I'd actually call off the wedding either. She assumed I was just throwing a fit out of wounded pride.
So she sneered.
"What? Was I wrong? The Gilbert family has its own rules, and we can't have an outsider coming in and throwing everything into disorder."
"Besides, do you have any idea how hard it was to raise my son this big? A man forgetting his mother the moment he takes a wife—that will never happen in the Gilbert family."
Words like these.
I'd heard them many times in my last life. I was more than prepared.
So right now I wasn't angry at all, and I didn't argue.
I answered with a smile.
"Exactly. The Gilbert order can't be broken by an outsider, so that's precisely why I can't set foot inside your family. Is there anything wrong with that?"
There was nothing to fault in it.
My mother-in-law opened her mouth and didn't know what to say. She looked over at her son, who was playing deaf and dumb beside her.
Jayden stepped closer to me, displeasure on his face, and lowered his voice.
"Can't you tell right from wrong? There's a time and a place to throw a tantrum. Put the gown back on, now."
"Am I making a scene? I'm only satisfying your mother's wish and going along with what she wants. What? You want me to go against her wishes? You want everyone here to watch me fight with your mother?"
