She'd had it out for me from the start, convinced I'd stolen a position that should have been hers. With her mother-in-law's favoritism as her shield, she opposed me at every turn.
Before the wedding, she'd criticized my taste, called my wedding dress outdated.
She'd complained that the wedding favors weren't high-end enough, even insisted on meddling with the ceremony program, changing this and that.
It wasn't that I had no opinions, but Irvin always said she was still young, that she'd mature once she found a boyfriend.
Today, she'd won again with this tea ceremony stunt. I'd become nothing but a joke.
I rose slowly to my feet and took a step forward.
The hall fell silent instantly. Everyone assumed I was about to explode. Even my mother-in-law instinctively tightened her grip on the microphone and pulled Antonia protectively to her side.
Irvin rushed forward and grabbed my hand, his fingers digging in hard enough to hurt. His voice was low and urgent.
"Phyllis, don't make a scene."
"Do you really want people to think you're the kind of woman who only cares about money?"
I didn't look at him. I simply smoothed the skirt of my wedding dress, pressing out wrinkles that weren't there. Then I turned to the room full of guests and bowed deeply.
"Thank you for the lesson, Mother."
My voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly—calm, without a ripple of emotion.
As shock spread across my mother-in-law's face, I straightened, said nothing more, and walked out of the banquet hall.
Behind me, Irvin's voice rang out, sharp with anger.
"Phyllis, what kind of tantrum is this?"
"The wedding isn't over! If you leave now, what will people think of you? You'd throw all this away over a red envelope?"
I went straight to the bridal suite. Janice followed close behind, so furious her eyes had gone red.
"Phyllis, how can they treat you like this?"
"This isn't about the money! It's obvious that—"
I raised my hand to stop her. I pulled my regular clothes from the closet and gave her a relaxed smile.
"Janice, isn't this for the best?"
Understanding dawned on her face. She wiped her tears and smiled back.
Compared to a moment's humiliation, a lifetime of drowning in that swamp would be far worse.
I had just finished changing, feeling lighter than I had in months, when Irvin burst through the door. His face was thunderous.
"Phyllis Harding, did you have to do this today? It was just a tea ceremony gift. Did you really need to humiliate Antonia like that?"
"It's the New Year! She's in there crying so hard she nearly fainted. She's begging to return the red envelope to you, wants to come apologize herself."
"She's humiliated?" I stared at him, almost laughing at the absurdity.
"She's just your family friend's daughter. I'm the woman you're supposed to be marrying. She hands over a glass of juice and gets fifty thousand dollars. I serve tea and formally call your mother 'Mom' and I get one dollar. In front of all those relatives and friends—who exactly was humiliated here?"
I held up that gleaming silver dollar right in front of his face, then set it on the vanity, standing it upright. Like a headstone for our marriage.
Staring at that ridiculous coin standing on the table, Irvin seemed to realize something was off. His voice dropped.
"Mom meant well. She wanted something auspicious and creative. She thought the amount didn't matter—what's important is that we live happily together."
He rubbed his temples, exhaustion written across his face.
"You don't understand. When you walked out, the whole place erupted. I had to calm the guests, comfort Antonia—I even gave her another sixteen thousand from the gift money to round it up to sixty-six thousand. That's the only reason she stopped crying."
"Phyllis, I've been exhausted preparing for this wedding. Can you please just stop making things harder for me?"
With that last sentence, he slumped into a chair.
I looked at him sitting there in his groom's suit, his face full of grievance.
I never imagined that marrying me would be such an ordeal for him.
My voice was calm when I spoke.
