My mother–in–law was great to me when I
was recovering.
She made me different meals every day and
took care of all the housework so that I could
get better quickly.
When my recovery was done, I was much
better, and she was twenty pounds lighter.
My mother–in–law wiped away her tears and pointed at her burn wounds, “Ashley, I don’t
want to die in the hospital.‘
“The doctors said we need skin grafts as
soon as possible, otherwise, the infection is
going to get really bad.”
く
Looking at her desperate face, my heart only
hardened.
I yanked my arm away, “I don’t have money,
and I don’t want to spend it on you.”
“What about all the money you saved up?
You’re not willing to spend it? Now you want
to spend my money? Why would I? I don’t
want to be dragged down by you.”
My mother–in–law grabbed me again,
“Ashley!”
I shoved her hard, and she fell back into the
snow.
Her wound touched the cold snow, and she
screamed.
And I walked faster, leaving the crowd.
I jumped into a cab, leaving the angry voices
behind.
I already sold the house, so I checked into a
hotel.
First, a hot bath, then some iced tea and a
comedy movie.
My phone rang constantly with numbers I
didn’t recognize, so I just turned it off and
watched the movie.
I laughed with the movie.
Then, I fell fast asleep.
The next morning, I went to work.
く
I was in charge of a research project at the
company, and I was busy as hell.
If the project went well, there would be a big
bonus.
I was deep in my work when I heard a
commotion outside.
It was my mother–in–law, “Ashley, come out
here! You heartless witch!”
My boss frowned and came in, “You better go
take care of that.”
I reluctantly went to the front desk and saw
my mother–in–law holding her phone and
shouting my name.
Г
The receptionist looked as though she was
more interested in the show.
Seeing me, my mother–in–law turned up the
phone volume.
She was FaceTiming with my son.
My mother–in–law pointed the camera at me,
and my son yelled happily, “Mommy, is that
you? Mommy…”
I crossed my arms and didn’t say anything.
My son said sadly, “Mommy, when are you
coming to see me? I miss you so much.”
“The doctors said that I’ll leave the hospital
soon, once I’m healed.”
L
“Mommy, I don’t like it here, I want to go
home. When I’m better, I want to give you
oranges!”
My coworkers were whispering.
Someone said to me, “Ashley, your son is so
sweet, if that was me, I couldn’t bear to do
this to him.”
Other people talked louder, so that I could
hear, “Ashley looks normal, I didn’t think she
was crazy, she won’t even help her own son. I
think she might be anti–social.”
I ignored them and walked over to my
mother–in–law.
My mother–in–law looked at me hopefully,
く
“Ashley, think about Johnny, please, just pay
the hospital bill. Even a tiger doesn’t eat its
own cub.”
I snapped coldly, “Don’t call me mom again,
and I won’t go see you at the hospital. I
already used the money to buy dog food.”
Then, I hung up the phone.
The lobby went silent.
My coworkers couldn’t hold back anymore
and started yelling at me.
Some were shouting, “I can’t stand this, I
can’t work at the same company as this
scum.”
“Fire Ashley, or we will quit!”
Г
“Yeah, get rid of this trash, or we all quit!”
My boss came over, annoyed, “Are you crazy?
You know you’ve crossed the line.”
“Go home and cool off for a week. Don’t
come to work for a week. The company’s
reputation can’t handle this.”
I knew, my project was at the critical point,
and he couldn’t fire me. If I left, the project
was dead, and he didn’t want the
responsibility.
If I didn’t have a good job, I would be kicked
out.
When I left the office, my mother–in–law ran
after me.
く
She said, “You’re going to let my son die, I’m
going to do everything I can to ruin you!”
I said, “You can get up and cause a scene
here. You didn’t get burned enough. Why
didn’t it kill you?”
Why didn’t it kill you?
That sentence became trending on the
internet.
Every time I opened my phone, I got
notifications. Everyone was yelling at me.
Besides this, there were videos online.
My husband must have posted them.
In the videos I wore a birthday party hat with
<
In the videos, I wore a birthday party hat, with
my mother–in–law, husband, and son, singing
me happy birthday.
Then the scene changed to a nighttime.
scene, the streetlights flickered quickly, and I
was sitting in the passenger seat, looking
sick, and my husband was driving worriedly,
rushing me to the hospital.
The next scene, I was lying in a hospital bed,
and I looked painful. My son peeled an orange
and gave it to me, and like a grown–up, he whispered, “Be good, Mommy, and you won’t
hurt so much.”
The last scene was my husband.
He was lying on the bed, and his face was
く
completely unrecognizable after being burnt.
His voice was weak and he said with no
energy, “Ashley, the doctor said that I’m
getting worse, and if I don’t get surgery, I
won’t make it.
وو
“Whatever I did wrong, I’m sorry, okay?”
“I won’t ask you to pay for my hospital bills,
I’m going to leave the money for you, so that
you can live a better life.”
“I just hope that you will come to see me at
the hospital, I hope that I can say goodbye
with the person I love.”
The video ended, and the people online
teared up and hated me.
Г
Some people called me a venomous woman,
saying that I had a snake’s heart, and that I
was a wild animal.
