The Gap in Our Words

My mother-in-law could not understand me. Before my business trip, I repeatedly told her not to touch anything in my study, but she mixed up the contract I needed. As a result, I lost a million-dollar order and was fired from my company. To make up for her mistake, she promised she would take care of my child and help me find another job. I froze my milk, labeled everything with notes, and gave her detailed instructions on timing and measurements. However, when my baby ended up in the hospital, I found out that she had thrown out all the milk and fed my baby expired formula instead. Even worse, she fed my baby peanuts behind my back, causing my baby to suffocate and die. Afterward, she wailed, "That was my granddaughter! How could I not care? If I could, I'd die with her..." My husband slapped me, shouting, "My mom worked so hard to take care of the child, and you want to drive her to her death? She's an old woman. It's not easy for her!" My sister-in-law came over too, calling me ungrateful and blaming me for treating an elderly woman badly. She claimed I deserved to be childless and alone. However, they did not know how many times I had stopped my mother-in-law from causing trouble and harm to them. I was driven to depression by them and eventually sent to a mental institution, where I was tortured to death. If I had the chance to do it again, I would protect my child and myself and stop preventing my mother-in-law from causing chaos for others. I would watch her bring equal destruction to each one of them! Chapter 1 I woke up with a start to the loud sounds of my mother-in-law cleaning. It hit me like a lightning bolt—I had somehow gone back in time. I grabbed my phone and saw it was the day I got fired over a contract mix-up. It was exactly 5:00 am. There she was, stepping out of my study—a place I had told her a million times not to enter, especially not to mess with my papers. She never listened, always doing whatever she wanted without thinking about anyone else. In my previous life, she sneaked into my study and swapped an important page from a contract I needed with one from a different contract. I had checked it so many times before, so that morning, I just briefly glanced over it as I was in a hurry. However, during the signing, the client caught the mistake. They called me a liar right there and then and pulled the plug on our deal. I lost a million-dollar order, and my company blamed me and let me go. I was so mad that I confronted my mother-in-law. She just cried and said, "I woke up early to clean the study for you. I didn't mean to do it! I'm old and useless, and nobody wants me around. What's the point of living?" When she started talking like that, my husband, Edwin Williams, would turn into the world's most devoted son. "Janice, what are you saying? My mom took care of you after you had the baby. She's been cooking and cleaning non-stop, and this is how you treat her? She's old, and she just made a little mistake. Why are you so hard on her? Do you think it's easy for her to take care of us?" That "little mistake" wrecked my career, and now, my husband was trying to make me feel guilty about it! I did not even take a break during my maternity leave. I worked so hard to keep my clients happy, and my mother-in-law ruined everything with a careless mistake! Then, there was my daughter, Teresa. After I lost my job, Edwin and his mom told me I had to find work fast because his meager paycheck could not cover our bills. I did not want our little Teresa to have a hard life, so I took a sales job that kept me out from dawn till dusk. Edwin and his mom refused to hire a nanny, and my own mom had injured her ankle and could not help. However, my mother-in-law promised she would take good care of Teresa, so I let her babysit during the day. Each morning, I froze milk and left sticky notes with feeding times and tips. Teresa was such an easy baby, so I thought feedings and diaper changes would be simple enough. Even if my mother-in-law got things mixed up sometimes, she would not mess up with a baby involved, right? However, I did not know until Teresa ended up in the hospital that my mother-in-law had been dumping my milk and giving Teresa expired formula meant for old folks. My sister-in-law had bought it for her, but she did not like it and did not want to waste it, so she gave it to a six-month-old baby even though it was out of date. Chapter 2 Teresa got so thin in the hospital, and before I could lose my mind, my mother-in-law started acting like it was the end for her. "I'm old and useless. I can't even spoil my granddaughter without getting complaints. I'm better off dead if it means I'll get talked about behind my back otherwise," she wailed. My sister-in-law, Mandy, lectured me, "Mom was just trying to leave the best for the baby. She didn't know it was bad for Teresa! She's lucky to have gotten to drink such a pricey formula. You should be thankful, not complaining! "And the baby's okay, isn't she? Mom's been working hard to care for you both. So she made a mistake. Is it a big deal?" Hearing that, my mother-in-law got all worked up and threatened to jump out the window right there in the hospital ward to express how sorry she was. Edwin was so mad that he slapped me. "Did my mom do something so terrible that you want to push her over the edge? I was wrong about you!" Before, Edwin was really nice to me, and his mom would act like she was so sorry as well, saying she would die rather than make the same mistake again. I believed them. I thought his mom just did not know any better, not that she was mean. Later, she promised she would not mess up again and that she would take good care of our baby. However, it was not long before I saw Teresa in the emergency room at the hospital again. My mother-in-law had given the six-month-old Teresa peanuts, causing her to choke. The doctors could not save her. I was so mad at myself and at all of them. Even after we lost our baby, my mother-in-law did not seem sad. She just cried and made a fuss, acting like she was going to hurt herself. All it took was for her to look innocent and she'd get out of trouble. "It wasn't on purpose," she said. "Teresa wanted to eat, and Edwin and Mandy ate peanuts when they were little. Who knew Teresa would be so unlucky..." She blamed Teresa for what happened! Mandy was all snarky. "If you can't take care of your own kid, don't have one. Why blame my mom? You should be thankful she helped at all, you heartless ingrate!" Edwin took his mom's side as well. "We can have more kids, but a mother is irreplaceable. Just have another child for me, okay?" I was so furious I could have hurt them, but they said I was the crazy one and put me in a mental institution. In the end, I got so depressed that I could not take it anymore and died in there. My mother-in-law had been causing trouble for years. If I had not been there to stop her, who knew what she would have done? Edwin and Mandy did not know what pain was because they had never felt it. However, this time, I would make sure Teresa was safe, and I would watch that old troublemaker get what was coming to her. I packed our stuff, picked up Teresa, who was still fast asleep, and got ready to take her to my parents' place. We got a nanny, which was perfect since my mom had hurt her ankle. They could help each other out. After making sure Teresa was settled, I went back to grab the contract. Just as I thought, someone had switched out the page with the price on it. I quickly fixed it up, checked it over three times to make sure it was right, and then slipped it into my bag. This time, I would keep my job and hold on tight to the chance to move up, all for Teresa's and my sake. As I was heading out, my mother-in-law got home from the market and started banging on my bedroom door. "Janice, Edwin, wake up! You're going to be late for work!" I checked the clock. It was only 7:30 am. We usually started work at 9:00 am, and I had told her not to yell. We would get up at 8:00 am on our own. However, she never listened and would cause a racket as early as 5:00 am. She would start knocking on our door every ten minutes starting at 6:00 am. She woke us all up just to eat her month-old pickled cucumbers and last night's pasta. If I got mad, she would start crying and say she was just trying to feed us. She would blame us for being unappreciative. Previously, when I asked Edwin to talk to her, he would just go along with me but nothing would change. I was a light sleeper, so I was always the one getting up to stop her. However, right now, I let her knock all she wanted. Chapter 3 I left the house with a bitter laugh and let my mother-in-law do her own thing. I would not hold her back anymore. I was going to watch her mess up and watch the whole Williams family get what was coming to them! In the end, Edwin woke up, lost his temper, and argued with his mom. She cried a river, and he ended up calling me to vent. I played the understanding one and told him, "Your mom got up early just for you. It's not easy, right? She's doing it all for you. Why fuss over an old lady?" Edwin was totally confused because whenever he used to complain to me, I would just complain even more. He never thought I would take his mom's side, especially using his own favorite phrases. He was so mad that he just hung up the phone. I could not help but giggle. He now knew what it felt like to be woken up too early, right? He only felt the pain when it was his own toe getting stubbed. Well, this was just the start! The contract was perfect, and I nailed the deal for my company. My supervisor said I did great even while on maternity leave, landing such a big deal. That same day, I got promoted to general manager. My paycheck got a lot bigger, and I got a nice bonus too. We had a company dinner that night to celebrate, and I did not get home until 10:00 pm. When I walked in, Edwin and his mom were on the couch. He looked mad while she was crying. Edwin said right away, "Janice, where have you been? You didn't say you were taking the kid to your parents' place, and now, you're home late. Don't you care about our home?" His mom said, "A woman should put her family first. Being out late and drinking isn't good. People will talk." At that moment, I was enlightened. She messed with my contract because she could not stand the idea that I was doing better than her son. If she did not spread rumors, who would think I was a bad wife and mother who did not care about her own family or the elderly? She totally wrecked my reputation in the neighborhood before. It was all her doing! I sat on the couch, stone-faced. "If I don't make money, will you guys take care of us all? I can quit, but can you handle it? You're starting a fight with me right after I get promoted. We might as well get a divorce!" Edwin and his mom looked at each other, shocked. They did not see that coming. I did not even have to guess. After I brought Teresa away, my mother-in-law must have been causing trouble again. She and Edwin probably had a little spat. She thought I was trying to get rid of her by having my parents watch Teresa. She was always making a big deal out of nothing when she was bored. Edwin was usually nice unless it was about his mom. I guess I did not see his true colors sooner because of that. Now that I had gotten a promotion, he was not about to let me go. He even started giving me a shoulder rub. "My mom didn't mean anything by it. You sent Teresa away without telling us. We were just worried, that's all!" His mom started crying again, getting ready to pull her usual dramatics. I tried to calm things down. "Having my parents watch Teresa for a few days will give your mom a break, right? She's been so tired lately. She's here to enjoy life with us, not to work all the time. You should be grateful for everything she's done for you!" That stopped my mother-in-law in her tracks. She could not keep up her act anymore. She brought out some old leftovers. "Janice, are you gonna eat? I saved all this for you." She was giving me rotten food because I stood up for her? I smiled, though it was not at all sincere. "I'm good. You eat up. Make yourself at home and don't hold back!" She could not finish her food, and the next day, she brought out pickled cucumbers and the same old pasta. She had unplugged the fridge to save on the bills, so everything went bad, like the pasta and the meat that she tried to fry up. She had done that before, and I had always caught her. However, she never learned. She tried to give me the pasta again. "Janice, you work so hard. Have some more." I just passed it to Edwin, along with a few meatballs. "I'm in a rush. You eat. Don't waste your mom's effort." Edwin was in a big rush to see a client today and did not have much time, so he just wolfed down his lunch. The tasty meatballs made him forget all about the pasta, which tasted a bit off. I was in the middle of work when my phone rang. It was bad news—my mother-in-law was in the hospital with a really upset stomach, throwing up and everything. I got permission to leave work and hurried to the hospital. Mandy was already there for a check-up because she was expecting her second baby. I could not tell what they had been talking about, but my mother-in-law looked so sad, with tears in her eyes. As soon as Mandy saw me, she ripped me a new one. "What kind of care have you been giving my mom? You got her so sick with bad food that she ended up in the hospital. How could you be so mean?" Chapter 4 In the hospital ward, everyone stared at me as if I was the mean daughter-in-law. I looked back at them, my face the picture of innocence. I pretended to have no idea what they were talking about. "I work all day, from dawn till dusk. Your mom is the one at home, and she makes her own meals. I give her 1,200 dollars a month for expenses, and she never has any cash left. There's no way she's eating food that had gone bad, right?" Mandy clammed up when she heard that. She knew she was the one pocketing most of that money, a whole 1,050 dollars of it. My mother-in-law? She was good at looking sorry for herself, crying and playing dumb. I used to let it slide, but did she think I was an idiot? Just then, they wheeled in Edwin, who was groaning with a bad case of stomach flu—all because he had food that had gone bad. I had asked the doctor to put him in the same ward as my mother-in-law just to see what would happen. The doctor came in and warned us, "It's hot now, and food goes bad quickly. Don't eat what you shouldn't. Saving a few bucks isn't worth the hospital bills." When my mother-in-law saw that Edwin was in the hospital too, she got scared and hid behind Mandy. Edwin lost it when he saw her. "Mom, did you give me rotten meat and pasta that had gone bad again? You knew I had a big meeting today, didn't you? You've messed up everything! You always unplug the fridge to save a few pennies, and then the food goes bad. Look, we've ended up here, having to spend a fortune. I even lost my job. What are you trying to do, ruin me?" I watched Edwin freak out and had to try my best to keep from laughing. Once, his mom tried to eat spoiled food, and I tossed it out. Edwin got mad at me for wasting food. He said I was just mad about losing my job and taking it out on his mom. We had a big fight. Well, since he was the one who loved his mom's food, I decided to let him have it. He was also the one without a job now. My mother-in-law's tears flowed as she cried, "You've only had a few good days and you've already forgotten where you came from? Your dad passed away when you were young, and I was the one who raised you all by myself. Wasn't it always like this? "Now, you're all grown up, thinking you can fly on your own, so you've started to look down on me. Maybe I should just go be with your dad..." Edwin was so mad when his mom said that his eyes were wide with anger. It was tough when he was expected to always be the perfect, respectful son. I remembered how Edwin used to talk, so I stood up for my mother-in-law, "Edwin, you can't be so unkind. Your mom is only trying to help you. She's your mom; she wouldn't hurt you on purpose, right? "She worked so hard to raise you. She's always been careful with money, and she didn't mean to make a mistake. Can't you be a little more understanding?" I used to hear Edwin say those things when I was sick or when Teresa went to the hospital because of expired formula. Now, I was using his own words to see if he really was the devoted son he claimed to be. My words made everyone in the hospital ward look at Edwin, and they were all watching to see what he would do next. He hated being embarrassed, and he was so mad he looked like he was about to burst into flames. However, he could not say anything mean to his mom in front of everyone, so he just went to the bathroom. Mandy was still acting all sweet and innocent. She knocked on the bathroom door, lecturing Edwin, "You're being too cruel. Mom's been working herself to the bone for your family, and now, she's in the hospital. How could you blame her? That's not how a son should act!" She was only nice to her mom because she got money from her every month. She would do anything for that money, even if it meant being dishonest. However, it looked like her luck was about to run out. Edwin's work was not going great, and the company had wanted to fire him a long time ago. That was just a perfect chance. He spent his days at home playing video games and doing nothing else, expecting his mom to take care of everything for him. I pushed him to get a job, just like he used to push me. "Teresa needs money for her baby formula every month, and I have to give your mom 1,200 dollars a month for her expenses. You've got to find a job, Edwin. You can't expect me to take care of your whole family! " With my salary at the time, supporting the entire family would not have been a problem, but I did not want to spend another cent on them! Chapter 5 Edwin got so tired of me asking him to work that he just started hanging out and playing cards while supposedly working. His paycheck? It was exactly 1,200 dollars, the same amount I gave his mom for her expenses. Hence, she could not help Mandy anymore. Mandy was fed up. Her husband was a gambler and offered no help at all, and she was expecting another baby. They really needed the extra 1,050 dollars each month, and without it, they were struggling. When her husband did not win any money, he would take it out on her. So Mandy, with her little one in tow, moved into my place with tears streaming down her face. She thought she might get some extra help, plus free meals. Edwin and his mom only talked to me about it after they were already settling in. Watching the six-year-old bouncing on my couch and my sister-in-law using my pajamas and skincare, I just said yes. A family in trouble should stick together, right? They were surprised I was so easygoing this time, and they started being nicer to me, at least on the outside. However, I remembered that when I lost my old job and cut down the money for my mother-in-law in my previous life, my sister-in-law wanted to move in too. However, back then, with my mother-in-law looking after Teresa and me working a new job, I was worried her wild child might hurt Teresa, so I said no. Later, when her husband ran out of gambling money and hurt her so badly she lost the baby, she blamed me. She teamed up with my mother-in-law and Edwin, saying all sorts of mean things behind my back. After we lost Teresa, she said it was my fault, that I should not have had a child if I could not take care of her. She called me ungrateful. However, it was my mother-in-law who made a huge fuss back then. She would not let my parents babysit or let me hire a nanny. Now, my mother-in-law would be the one looking after her kid, and I was curious to see if Mandy would still be thankful when things got tough! Her own mom did not play favorites; she was equally mean to everyone. Edwin's family acted like a bunch of leeches, happily living off me every day. To keep them happy, I stayed with my parents after work, saying I was taking care of Teresa. Edwin was still out of a proper job and scared of being found out. He was more than happy when I did not come home. My mother-in-law was the same. Mandy's son was a little terror, and he gave my mother-in-law a hard time every day. She was also busy with her pregnant daughter and would rather not have me bring Teresa back to cause more chaos. Mandy was thrilled about me staying away. She messed with my clothes, bags, and jewelry as she liked. Me? I was just happy watching my parents and daughter. I had quietly drafted a divorce agreement and was ready to sell that apartment through an agent. Yes, Edwin would get nothing, and that apartment was my prenuptial property from my parents. If he had not chased me for three years in college, acting like Mr. Nice Guy, I would not have fallen for it and let his family bleed me dry. I was an only child. After I died in my previous life, Edwin's family drove my parents to their graves and took all the inheritance, making themselves rich. This time, they were going to pay for what they had done! My parents had never liked Edwin. They thought he was not a good person, but I was too blind to see it back then. When I wanted a divorce, they did not interfere. I felt so guilty but grateful too. Even when I messed up, my parents were there to help me fix it. My mother-in-law did not let me down. She could not keep quiet for long and started causing trouble again. Mandy's son, Jared Lewis, ended up in the hospital because of poisoning. Why did they call me? To foot the bill, of course. They always expected me to pay up. When I got to the hospital, Mandy was yelling at her mom like there was no tomorrow. "You're always trying to save a penny here and there, but has it made you rich? Your penny-pinching almost hurt someone! How could you do this? Why didn't you just hurt yourself instead of my son? "If my son is harmed, you shouldn't even bother living!"