“Susan’s held up,” he said, pulling off his damp coat. “An important project. But she asked me to give you… this.”
With a theatrical flourish, he pulled the white envelope from his pocket and handed it to his mother. All conversation instantly ceased. The guests stared at the envelope with curiosity.
“What is this, dear?” Eleanor feigned surprise, though her eyes showed she knew exactly what was going on. Mike had let slip about his wife’s bonus the day before.
“It’s a small, but very sincere gift from me and Susan, Mom,” Mike announced with great ceremony. “She worked very hard to make you happy on your special day.”
Eleanor slowly took the envelope. She turned it over in her hands, savoring the moment and the attention.
“Oh, my children, you shouldn’t have,” she said, but her fingers were already eagerly tearing at the paper. “I know how tight things are for you right now.”
She peered inside. For a second, her face froze in confusion. She had been expecting a stack of crisp bills. Instead, there were several folded sheets of paper. She pulled them out. The first was a referral for a 24-hour Holter monitor test from an expensive private clinic. The second was a referral for a consultation with a renowned cardiologist. The third was a crumpled note in Susan’s hurried handwriting: “Mom’s heart. Don’t forget.”
“What is this?” Eleanor whispered, her bewildered gaze shifting from the papers to her son.
The guests, not understanding what was happening, began to whisper among themselves. Mike, who had expected tears of joy and gratitude, was just as confused. He leaned over his mother’s shoulder.
“Mom, what is it? Is the money there?”
“What money?” Eleanor suddenly shrieked, her benevolent expression twisting into a mask of rage. “What the hell money?!” She threw the papers onto the table. “These are doctor’s appointments! Is she making fun of me? Does she think I’m some sick old woman?”
Mike grabbed the papers, his eyes scanning the lines. Holter monitor, cardiologist, Mom’s heart… It slowly began to dawn on him. Susan had tricked him, slipped him the wrong envelope.
“It must be a mistake,” he stammered, feeling his face flush. “Susan probably mixed up the envelopes.”
“Mixed up?” Eleanor’s voice cracked. “She did this on purpose! On purpose, to humiliate me in front of all my guests!”
She looked around at the attendees with wild eyes.
“Do you see? Do you see the snake my son has been warming in his bosom? I give her a home, my heart, and she gives me doctor’s referrals. Hinting that it’s my time to go!”
One of her friends, a heavy-set woman in a sparkly top, patted her hand sympathetically.
“Eleanor, calm down, maybe it really was a mistake?”
“What mistake?” the birthday girl raged. “And the note? ‘Mom’s heart.’ She’s talking about her mother! Hers! She spent her husband’s bonus on her own mother and slipped me this handout!” She pointed a trembling finger at the referrals.
Mike wished the floor would swallow him whole. He stood in the middle of the room, red-faced and sweating, not knowing what to say. Everyone was staring at him. Some with sympathy, some with open curiosity, and some with poorly concealed amusement. He felt like an idiot. A complete and utter idiot, played for a fool by his own wife.
“I… I’ll call her right now,” he mumbled, pulling out his phone. “I’ll sort this out.”
“Don’t you dare call anyone!” Eleanor snapped. “I don’t even want to hear her voice. Get out, get out of here, and don’t come back without the money! Do you understand me?”
“Mom, but the guests…”
“The guests understand!” she turned back to the room. “They understand what it’s like to raise a son, only to hand him over to such… such an ungrateful witch!”
She dramatically clutched her heart and began to breathe heavily.
“Oh, I feel faint… Water… Get me some water!”
Her friends immediately bustled around her, one running for water, another for her purse. Mike stood there, lost. Part of him wanted to rush to his mother and comfort her, but another part wanted to flee the apartment, to escape this humiliation.
At that very moment, the doorbell rang. A short, insistent buzz. Everyone froze.
“Who could that be?” Eleanor rasped.
A distant cousin sitting near the door went to open it. A second later, she returned, her face pale.
“Eleanor… it’s… it’s… Susan…”
Susan stood in the doorway of the living room—calm, composed, her hair damp from the rain, but her back straight and her gaze steady. There was no trace of her earlier tears. She slowly surveyed the room: the bewildered guests, Mike, crimson with shame and anger, and her mother-in-law, faking a heart attack.
“Good evening,” her voice sounded surprisingly clear and loud in the sudden silence. “Eleanor, happy birthday. It seems I’ve come at a bad time. You don’t look well. Perhaps you should take my gift and see that cardiologist after all?”
Eleanor, forgetting her ailment, sat up straight and stared at her daughter-in-law with eyes full of fury.
“You…” she hissed. “How dare you show your face here?”
“I came to get my things,” Susan replied just as calmly, her eyes fixed on Mike. “And my husband. We need to talk. It seems we’ve had a little misunderstanding about the family budget.”
Mike flinched as if he’d been struck. He looked at his wife and didn’t recognize her. Where was the quiet, compliant Susan who always agreed with everything? Before him stood a stranger, a cold, unfamiliar woman.
“Talk?” Eleanor sneered, slowly rising from her chair. “Oh, you want to talk now? Fine, let’s talk. Right here, in front of everyone. Let them all know what you’re really like.”
She strode toward Susan. Her eyes burned with a malevolent fire. The birthday party was ruined beyond repair, and now she wanted only one thing—revenge. Revenge for her public humiliation.
“So, what is it you want, dear daughter-in-law?” Eleanor stood almost nose-to-nose with Susan. She smelled of hairspray and cheap perfume. “Want to explain yourself? Want to tell everyone how you tricked my son and stole his money?”
Susan met her gaze calmly. She had expected this attack and was ready for it.
“I didn’t steal anything, Eleanor. I simply used my bonus as I saw fit—for my mother’s health. I believe I have that right.”
“Your bonus?” her mother-in-law laughed theatrically. “My dear, everything you earn in a marriage is community property. It’s my son’s money! He allows you to work, and you…”
“Allows me?” Susan raised an eyebrow. “Forgive me, but it seems I’m the one who has been supporting your son, and our entire family, for the last seven years. While he’s been ‘finding himself’ as an artist.”
A tense silence fell over the room. The guests, forgetting their food, watched the unfolding drama with rapt attention. This was more entertaining than any birthday party they’d ever been to.
“You… you’re lying!” Eleanor gasped, choking on her indignation. “My Mike is a talented artist. He’s just going through a temporary rough patch, and you… instead of supporting your husband, you throw a piece of bread in his face!”
“I’m not throwing anything,” Susan replied evenly. “I’m stating a fact. And the fact is, the money you were so eager to get was earned by me. And I decided to spend it on my mother, not on your garnet earrings.”
“Ah, so you knew about the earrings!” The mother-in-law turned to Mike, who had been standing with his head hung low. “Son, do you hear her? She knew everything and still did it her way! She has no respect for you or for me!”
Mike finally lifted his gaze from the floor.
“Susan, why?” his voice trembled. “Why did you have to pull this stunt with the envelope? You could have just said you wouldn’t give me the money!”
“I did,” Susan reminded him. “But you weren’t listening. You were ready to physically rip my purse from me just to please your mother. So I decided to give you both a practical lesson. A lesson that my boundaries, my money, and my family are not things you can cross without consequences.”
She shifted her gaze to Eleanor…
Comments are closed.