Chapter 14 My Turn to Strike!

• I splashed the coke onto the bed in disdain as I cried out. When Carson heard it, he rushed out from the bathroom to check on me. Upon seeing that I had collapsed on the floor, he helped me up while asking, “Darling, did you hit anything? Does it hurt anywhere?”
• “My butt hurts, but it’s nothing serious.” With his help, I stood up while glancing at the bed sorrily. “It’s such a pity that the mattress is ruined.”
• Carson trailed my gaze to look at the mattress. “It’s merely some coke, so it shouldn’t get in the way of anything.”
• “We can no longer use it now that it’s dirty. It’s all my fault for being careless.” I put up an act of self-blame.
• In the meantime, Carson consoled me by saying, “Darling, the mattress is nothing compared to you. It’s more important that you are alright.”
• “You’re the best, honey.” While cuddling against him, I quickly picked up the conversation from where he left off. “But we won’t be able to sleep here tonight with the condition of the mattress. Why don’t you make a call to the furniture company to have them send us a new mattress?”
• “Do we need to go that far? Darling, we bought this mattress when we were wed.” Carson seemed to be startled by my unexpected request to change the mattress.
• Judging from his expression, it was apparent that he didn’t want to get a new mattress. He knew I never used cheap stuff, which included the dirtied mattress that was imported from Germania that had cost us tens of thousands. Now that he was rich enough to have an affair, he was willing to spend money on his mistress and his illegitimate child, while being stingy toward me.
• Despite the hatred I bore, I made sure to show that I was feeling sorry about it as I held Carson’s arm while I begged in an innocent manner, “I know we bought this when we were wed, but you also know that I am a clean freak. Why don’t you have the seller send us a brand new one that is exactly the same as this one? Pretty please?”
• Carson knew that I was a clean freak, while at the same time, he could hardly turn me down with how gentle I was, thus he relented as he gave a call to the furniture company.
• Dinner was ready when I got out of the bathroom. It consisted of a tableful of delicacies that were both exquisite and nutritious, which were ideal for pregnant women.
• When I was observing the dishes on the table, my mother-in-law and Eliza helped Jolene to take a seat by the table before my mother-in-law filled up her bowl with rice as Eliza put some veggies into her bowl.
• The tableful of people all had their attention on Jolene as they tried to convince her to eat more for the sake of the child. On the other hand, nobody paid attention to Keira and I, which made both of us seem like outsiders. It was under such circumstances that I had to keep my cool as I gripped my chopsticks tightly.
• We had been eating for a while when my mother-in-law said all of a sudden, “Jolene has been having less of an appetite lately. Even though I don’t know how to cook, I still have to take care of my husband. So, Carson is the only one who can cook. However, he has to work, nor does he have time to look after Jolene, so I propose that we should hire someone to help out with the chores.”
• It came as a surprise that my mother-in-law would try to have Jolene spend my money, which I regarded with derision. However, I repeated her request to Carson in a somewhat neutral tone, “Mom’s right. We do need a housekeeper to help take care of Jolene.”
• A frown formed on Carson’s face as soon as I said so, whereas Jolene hastily said, “We don’t have to. I’m not that delicate.”
• “It’s not only for your sake, but for the sake of the entire household as well. We need someone to cook for us,” said my mother-in-law. She sure wasn’t reading the situation by insisting on hiring a housekeeper.
• “That’s true,” I said with a smile. “I’ll leave it up to you, Mom. Thanks for the hard work!”
• The doorbell rang at that exact moment, which Carson went to answer. He opened the door to reveal a man in uniform who said as soon as he saw Carson, “Good evening, sir. I am here to deliver your mattress.”
• Upon realizing that it was the delivery man, I stood to leave the dining room as my mother-in-law asked from behind me, “Why would someone deliver a mattress to us out of the blue?”
• The delivery man had already moved the new mattress into my room, while I was instructing that he remove the old one as well. By then, the Boyers had gathered around to see the delivery man doing so. Before the delivery man left, my mother-in-law stopped him in a hurry as she asked, “Where are you moving this to?”
• “We’re throwing this away,” I replied in his stead.
• “Why would you throw away such a nice mattress?” My mother-in-law shot me a glare. “It’s worth tens of thousands, so how could you do that?”
• My mother-in-law was a textbook example of a stingy country woman, so my act of throwing away such an expensive mattress would definitely irk her, which was the outcome that I was expecting. Also, since Jolene was planning on enjoying life once she moved in, I would make sure that she would never have a day of peace from now on.
• “The mattress is dirty, so I can’t use it anymore,” I said, sounding aggrieved while hanging my head low.
• Sure enough, my mother-in-law raised her voice at me as soon as I said so. “You can always wash it if it gets dirty! You don’t need to throw it away! That’s just wasteful! You aren’t even trying to be prudent with your spending! No family would be able to support such a lifestyle no matter how rich they are!”
• Upon noticing Carson’s indifference toward his mother’s temper, I quickly hid behind him timidly as I said, “Carson, Mom is so fierce...”
• He had no other way than to look toward his mother with a frown. “It’s just a mattress, so you don’t need to make a fuss out of it.”
• “This isn’t about the mattress! This is about tens of thousands worth of money!” With much perseverance, my mother-in-law began yelling, “I need to calculate before even buying something as mundane as a green onion, so how dare you simply throw away something as expensive as that?”
• “Yeah, you’re being too wasteful, Lily!” Eliza quickly chimed in.
• “Hear that? I’m not the only one who said so! You don’t need to throw away something this expensive just because of a stain on it. Am I right, Jolene?” My mother-in-law was urging Jolene to back her claim, while Jolene stood there awkwardly without actually knowing how to respond.
• Upon noticing that Jolene wasn’t backing her, my mother-in-law was a little upset as she targeted me once again. “I’m not trying to work against you, Lily, but this is unacceptable! You bought so many clothes and cosmetics, as well as toys for Keira... This household would end up broke if it wasn’t for Carson!”
• I wondered how could this old woman be so shameless, as she was never grateful toward me, who provided Carson with the means to get to where he was in the first place. Ever since we got married, I had always been providing for myself and the family, while Carson never gave me even a single penny despite having earned so much.
• My anger was threatening to explode, but I put on a sorrowful facade as I stared at Carson. “How could you do this to me, Carson?” I pinched myself on the waist from under my clothes, which resulted in me tearing up due to the pain.
• As soon as he saw my tears, Carson’s countenance shifted. “Mom, listen to what you’re saying. Lily has her own job, so why couldn’t she spend her own money?”
• “It’s not about the money, but her attitude!”
• I nearly let out a laugh upon being lectured about how to live my life by someone who was illiterate.
• “This is how she lived ever since young, so she can’t possibly change her habits in such a short span of time! Besides, where are we supposed to sleep when the mattress is so dirty?”
• “Why can’t she when everybody else can? What makes her so different from everyone else?” Perhaps it was because she witnessed how Carson was trying to defend me, my mother-in-law seemed to be getting more aggressive due to the displeasure she felt.
• Meanwhile, Keira was riled up upon noticing me being bullied by the Boyers, thus she shrieked, “Don’t you bully my mom!”
• I was touched by how defensive she was toward me as I pulled her into an embrace, while more tears fell. This time, I wasn’t crying because of the pain, but because of how Keira’s actions touched me.
• Upon noticing that the Boyers were still engaged in infighting, I picked Keira up to retire to my bedroom, all the while allowing them to settle their own arguments. Carson knew I was furious when he saw me take Keira away, thus he bit back at his mom without a care of how it would sting. “You should go back to the village if you don’t like our way of living!”