“Cause trouble? The house you bought is in the suburbs, thirty kilometers away from the hotel. In this downpour, you want me to take a taxi with our daughter? Why don’t you have your parents take a taxi too?”
“I just finished my postpartum period and my body hasn’t recovered yet. Is your sister’s menstrual cycle more important than me and our daughter? Luna just gave birth and has a weak immune system. If she catches a cold and something happens, who will be responsible?”
As I finished speaking, Stella’s sobbing could be heard over the phone.
“Theo, I’m in so much pain. Am I going to die?”
“Did you know giving birth was this painful? I’ll never get married. You promised to take care of me for the rest of my life…”
“Where’s my sanitary pad? If you don’t buy it for me, you can forget about getting your shirt back!”
Theo’s tone softened instantly.
“Just be nice, Stella. Your sister-in-law is upset. I need to take care of her and the baby first.”
“Let me explain to Adele. She’s so kind, she’ll understand.”
The phone was snatched away and Stella sobbed.
“Hello? Adele, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know my period would come early. I ran out of sanitary pads last time and didn’t stock up, so I had to bother my brother.”
“Don’t be angry with him. If you must blame someone, blame me. My body is too weak and I’m not strong enough.”
Her manipulative tone left me seething with anger, unable to vent it. I felt so frustrated that I was about to explode.
“Stella, you know Theo is just your brother, not your husband. You’ve been clinging to him since before we got married. Now he has his own family. This is way too much, don’t you think?”
“He made me and my daughter take a taxi to the birthday party. If something happens in this heavy rain, who will be responsible?”
Before I could finish, Theo interrupted me coldly.
“Enough! Is there no one good in this world in your eyes? We live in a peaceful society. What kind of accident could happen? How come you always get into accidents?”
“It’s rare for Stella to ask me for help. Are you really being so petty?”
“If you have time to argue with me, you could have called ten taxis by now!”
With that, he hung up the phone roughly, leaving me breathing heavily in anger.
My mother-in-law, Barbara, saw this and came over, looking impatient.
“Are you scolding my son again? He’s a man who has to support his family. He’s not your servant. What kind of attitude is that?”