Chapter 1

"Bullied and Betrayed: My Revenge Against a Toxic Family"

Barbara "accidentally" sent her complaint about me to the family WhatsApp group:

"My daughter-in-law is so lazy and greedy during her pregnancy. My son's meager salary is all being eaten up by her!"

I quickly @Brian:

"See? Your mom thinks you're incapable and don't make enough money."

Then I @Barbara:

"Feeling sorry that your son's salary isn't enough? Why don't you go get a job too? That would solve the money problem!"

Ever since I got pregnant, I've been extremely sleepy.

One day, after waking up from a nap, I noticed Barbara wasn't home. She probably went to the market to buy groceries.

I quickly grabbed my phone, wanting to call and tell her not to buy anything yet. Today was Brian and my wedding anniversary, and we were going out for a candlelit dinner.

As soon as I opened my phone, I saw over a dozen unread messages in the family group chat.

I casually scrolled through and happened to see a voice message from Aunt Sophia:

"Oh my, what's going on? Airing grievances in the big group chat now? Aren't you afraid of upsetting your precious daughter-in-law?"

She followed it with a smirking emoji.

I could imagine Aunt Sophia's smug face even with my eyes closed. She was the typical troublemaker who loved to stir up drama. Her son's marriage ended in divorce after just a year, largely due to her meddling. Yet she refused to acknowledge any fault, instead badmouthing the ex-daughter-in-law everywhere and causing tension between both families.

Below that was a sarcastic voice message from Aunt Mary:

"Young people these days are so delicate. Going to work seems to drain half their life force. Back in our day, we'd bike to work even while pregnant!"

Aunt Mary was ostensibly supporting Barbara, but her words were clearly aimed at the daughters-in-law in the group. Her own daughter-in-law was busy with work and had no time for housework, so Aunt Mary went over to clean every day, harboring a lot of resentment. She had even complained to Barbara before: "This isn't being a mother-in-law, it's more like being a maid. At least maids get paid for their hard work!"

She certainly had mastered the art of indirect criticism.

But who exactly were Aunt Sophia and Aunt Mary talking about?

I scrolled up further and finally saw Barbara's voice message in the group, insinuating about me:

"This daughter-in-law of mine, oh my! She's so lazy and greedy during her pregnancy. My son's small salary is all being eaten up by her!"

So she was complaining that I was spending too much money during my pregnancy!

I immediately sent two voice messages in the group, making sure to @Barbara:

"Mom, why don't you go get a job too? That way, with both you and Brian earning money, there'll be enough to spend!"

"The supermarket downstairs is hiring cashiers! 8 AM to 8 PM, lunch provided, $1500 a month. You love to gossip, right? Go there and talk all you want. With all the people coming and going, I'm sure you'll get your fill of chatter."

As soon as I finished speaking, the group fell silent. No one dared to make any more sarcastic comments.

That's right, if you're not willing to come help out, then go find a job!

Stop giving me trouble!