Mrs. Lai, both angry and heartbroken, faced her husband’s scolding and table banging.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she cried out loudly:
"You now despise me because I’m old, fancying that temptress, claiming I’ve grown fat. After all, I bore you children, yet you treat me this way for someone who hasn’t even entered our home."
This time, Mrs. Lai’s words were not about children, but all the grievances she had towards her husband.
What women care about the most is their husband, and even in old age, they care about their reputation.
Mrs. Lai felt a major crisis, a sense of danger stemming from a secret within her heart—her eldest son was not her husband’s biological child, a fact only known by her and her husband.
Her husband now wanted to take a concubine, to have his own biological son, which posed a great threat to her. After finally becoming wealthy, there might come a day when her husband would give the fortune to someone else.
At this moment, Mrs. Lai’s thoughts were that she would rather have her eldest son’s family firmly hold onto the fortune, especially since only she and her husband were aware of the eldest son’s secret.
As long as her husband did not reveal this secret, given his current attitude towards her, she could imagine that he might disclose it in front of that other woman.
The day of revelation was not far off, and what Mrs. Lai hated even more was her own inability to bear viable children!
If only her firstborn had truly been her eldest son, then she would not feel such a threat today.
Mrs. Lai’s expression of inner sorrow went unnoticed, eliciting neither sympathy nor any realization of her different look.
The household members were all ordinary people without the Mind Reading Technique—the secret was still ongoing.
Hongji’s father did not care about Mrs. Lai’s expressions, another day had passed, and he needed to prepare for his trip to the county tomorrow to buy jewelry and gifts.
Hongji’s expression worsened, and together with his wife, they took care of their son and then entered their room.
The five sisters... paid no attention to Mrs. Lai, hurriedly finished their dinner, and went back to their rooms.
Ye Shiqi knew about each incident occurring at home, these days the household surely wouldn’t be calm.
The next morning at breakfast, she noticed that grandpa was already out of the house, at the dining table, she just heard grandma ranting non-stop:
"Marrying a man, marrying a man, still getting bullied at old age, your private savings all spent on that little demon, shameless old man!"
Ye Shiqi and her sisters didn’t even glance at grandma, she looked at her parents, who were indifferent to grandma’s words.
One could imagine, grandma’s harsh language over the years had become ineffective. It’s like her words were but wind, and this sort of neglect, treating her words as if she were air, not reacting even when angered, only emboldened Mrs. Lai.
"Have you all gone deaf? Don’t think because you girls are young, with people coming to ask for your hands in marriage, that it’s a good thing. You might end up like me someday."
Mrs. Lai’s words made the entire family stop their breakfast-eating motions, all frowning and giving her icy looks.
"What? Am I wrong? Mrs. Li, don’t think just because my son is nice to you now, you won’t end up like me someday. You’ll understand when you get old, whether my son is unfaithful."
Mrs. Li did not respond to her mother-in-law. Though worried about what she said, she didn’t show it.
This time her father-in-law took a concubine, fearing that they might end up swapping the unsuspecting for the unseen.
She had not discussed these concerns with her husband, nor was there any need to let her mother-in-law know. She and her daughter were wary.
"Mom, how could you say such things about your son? Don’t you wish us well?"
Finally unable to bear it any longer, Hongji exploded.
"Humph, like father like son. Don’t speak too soon. Once a man has money, his belt gets loose."
Mrs. Li, seeing that her mother-in-law was going too far, immediately scooped up her son, called her daughter, and left the dining hall.
Hongji also angrily stormed out. He had been overwhelmed with building a house and dealing with his father’s matters.
The couple were incredibly busy, faced with such incidents and an unquiet mother, it was very distressing for him.
Although he should sympathize with his mother given his father’s decision to take a concubine, her treatment of his children, his wife, and himself made it impossible for him to feel sympathetic towards her.
Mrs. Lai felt a pang of heartache and then realized the dining hall was empty. Her eyes scanned around, her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren had all avoided her.
She did not know where they went, in just a blink of an eye everyone was gone, but she knew they must be in the house, except for her son who had tasks to handle.