Chapter 4

The next morning, I was woken up by a violent pounding on my front door.

Ethan was back, bringing his toxic mother, Brenda, who had just finished dialysis, and two uniformed police officers.

The moment Ethan walked in, he pointed at me and shouted, "Officer, that's her!"

"That's the psycho! She abuses children and beats me!"

"My cousin’s son is still in the hospital, peeing blood!"

My mother-in-law, Brenda, immediately plonked her heavy body onto the floor, slapping her thighs and wailing.

"There is no justice! We welcomed this demon into our family, and now she’s trying to murder us!"

"My poor grand... god-grandson! He’s the only boy in our family line!"

She almost slipped up. Panic flashed in her eyes as she glanced at me, then continued her loud wailing.

The neighbors, hearing the commotion, began peeking through the doorway.

The two officers looked a bit embarrassed. One of them looked at me and asked, "Ma'am, did you assault the child?"

I calmly adjusted my silk robe and poured two glasses of water for the officers.

"Officers, let’s talk with evidence."

"He claims I injured the child. Where is the official medical report? Where is the security footage?"

Ethan pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.

"Here is the medical report! Soft tissue bruising! And a mild concussion!"

I glanced at it. It was a note from a sketchy, low-end clinic down the street, and even the clinic's stamp was crooked.

"I can buy a dozen of these for fifty bucks."

"Officers, if you don't believe me, we can go to a state hospital for a proper forensic evaluation."

"If I really hurt him, I will accept the charges and pay the medical bills."

"But if someone is making false accusations..."

I threw a icy glare at Ethan. "...that’s filing a false police report and defamation."

Ethan’s eyes darted around, but relying on the crowd, he kept pushing.

"Regardless, the fact that you hit him is undeniable!"

"A violent woman like you doesn't deserve to be a Miller!"

"Give us one million dollars to settle this out of court, or I’ll make sure you rot in jail!"

And there it was. The real motive.

One million dollars.

Exactly the cost of his mother's kidney transplant, plus the down payment for the luxury apartment he wanted to buy for Veronica.

What a neat little plan. Too bad I wasn't playing along.

I burst into laughter.

"One million? Ethan, did you get dropped on your head as a baby?"

"Forget one million. I wouldn't even give you a single dollar."

Hearing this, Brenda snapped. She scrambled up from the floor, lunging to scratch my face.

"You ungrateful bitch! My son's money is your money! If we ask for it, you give it!"

"If you don't give us the money today, I’ll kill myself right here in your living room!"

With that, she actually made a run toward the wall.

This was her classic trick: cry, scream, and threaten suicide.

In my past life, I had conceded countless times just to keep the peace.

But this time, I just watched coldly, even taking a step back to give her space.

"Go ahead."

"Hit it harder."

"If there’s no blood on that wall, it means you didn't try hard enough."

Brenda hadn't expected me to let her do it. Halfway through her run, she awkwardly slammed the brakes.

Her forehead lightly tapped the wall, not even breaking the skin.

She stood there, frozen, unable to go forward or back, looking like a total clown.

The watching neighbors burst into snickers.

"Nice acting from the old lady."

"Right? With that build-up, I thought we were going to see a horror movie."

Brenda’s face flushed bright red. She sat back down on the floor, kicking her legs like a toddler.

"Abuse! The daughter-in-law is driving the mother-in-law to suicide!"

Ethan couldn't handle the embarrassment. He lunged forward to grab my collar.

"Chloe! Are you even human?!"

I slapped his hand away with a loud crack.

"Keep your hands to yourself."

"The officers are watching. Are you trying to assault someone in front of the police?"

The officers, unable to stand the farce any longer, stepped in and held Ethan back.

"Sir, calm down. Please resolve your domestic disputes through legal channels. Do not resort to violence."

"Also, without solid evidence of abuse, we cannot make an arrest."

"This is a domestic matter. We suggest you seek counseling."

The police gave them a stern warning and left.

Once they were gone, the Millers' expressions turned thoroughly vicious.

Veronica walked through the door, holding Leo.

Leo’s head was wrapped in a ridiculous amount of gauze, making him look like a mummy.

The moment he saw me, he shrank behind Veronica, but his eyes glared at me with pure malice.

This didn't look like a traumatized child; he looked like a little demon.

Veronica’s eyes were red as she spoke in a victimized tone. "Chloe, if you just apologize and pay for the medical bills, we’ll let this go."

"After all, we’re family. Making a scene isn't good for anyone."

"I’m sure you don't want your employees on LinkedIn to know that their boss is a child abuser, right?"

***