Chelsea had her parents’ help to look after the children and do the school run while Liberty had to become a full-time housewife without any help. Liberty’s dependency on Hank’s income gave the Browns an excuse to put the screws on her. Mrs. Brown and Chelsea waited for a while before Liberty returned with Sonny. Serenity emerged behind the mother and son. Serenity was carrying a bag of seafood bought from the market. Mrs. Brown and Chelsea wanted to have a go at Liberty when she arrived, but the sight of Serenity at the back made them hold their tongues. After the domestic violence incident, Mrs. Brown and Chelsea went to look for Serenity but had to flee from Serenity’s harsh tirade. Since then, they were haunted by Serenity’s presence. “Sonny.” Mrs. Brown quickly put on a smiling face as she went forth to pick Sonny up from his stroller. “Oh, Sonny. I miss you so much.” Holding her grandson up, Mrs. Brown planted kisses on both sides of his cheeks. “Gwanma.” Sonn
Chelsea was about to give Liberty a good dressing-down when her mother secretly tugged the hem of her blouse. Chelsea had to get to grips with her rage. Serenity helped her sister to push the stroller into the house. Having overheard Chelsea’s remark that her sister should fork out three hundred bucks out of her pocket for seafood, Serenity could lose it. These people were unbelievable. “Mom.” Chelsea waited until Serenity and Liberty were inside the house before whispering to her mother, “Why didn’t you let me give her a piece of my mind? She eats, sleeps, and spends at my brother’s expense! We came here for dinner, and she wants to count with Hank to the last dime.”“Your brother’s going halves with Liberty now. We’re Hank’s family. Since we’re here for dinner, Liberty’s only following the system. Do you think she’ll do the school runs and cook for your children if you make her mad?” Chelsea got over her anger now that she remembered the main reason she was here today.
Sonny did not stop with just one box. Soon, his toys were scattered all over the living room floor. Not too pleased with the mess, Chelsea shouted, “Liberty, come out and tidy up the living room. Sonny threw his toys everywhere.” Liberty walked to the kitchen door and checked out the situation in the living room before replying, “Sonny can play for a while more. I’ll clean up later.” She then went back to work in the kitchen. Sonny was at a hyperactive age, going from one thing to the next every few minutes. He turned the living room upside down. Furrowing her brows, Chelsea walked to the kitchen door and leaned against the door frame. She asked, “Liberty, what did you give your sister to take away? It’s a big bag. I hope you’re not giving her the things Hank bought. “Hank works hard for the family, and it’s tiring. Your sister’s married. She has her own family. Get that in your head and don’t just leave all the good stuff to your sister.” Liberty turned back to glare a
Hank gave Liberty the stank eye and questioned, “Didn’t I wire you five hundred bucks?” Chelsea immediately got up and took quick paces over to get a word in after her brother. “Liberty, did you take Hank’s money? You told me that Hank only gave you three hundred bucks, so you can’t afford the bigger shrimps and crabs.” Without lifting her chin, Liberty carried on feeding her son while reminding Hank in a flat tone, “I told you that you should be paying for the groceries and cooking for your mother and sister. You’d have to pay me two hundred bucks for the labor cost if you want me to do it.“I don’t owe you anything. Yet, I have to cook for you and receive nothing but criticisms and lectures in return.” Liberty had to endure the thankless tasks in the past. Hank was speechless. By the looks of Hank, Chelsea knew that Liberty was telling the truth. She shamefully returned to her seat on the sofa. Still, she could not bite her tongue and reproached Liberty, “You and Hank ar
Serenity was a fast eater. She would finish her meal quickly and take over Liberty’s tasks so Liberty could eat. As for the in-laws, they were only concerned about filling their own bellies. They did not care about Liberty. It was as though Liberty would not feel hungry. “Mom, have some shrimp.” Hank helped his mom to a few shrimps before saying to his sister, “Have some more, Chelsea. They’re all your favorites.” Feasting on the crab, Chelsea uttered, “We didn’t get the Alaskan King Crabs this time. These crabs are tiny. They don’t have much meat. I don’t get much taste out of them.” The disdain in her voice was apparent. Hank fell silent for a while before responding, “I’ll take you out to a fancy hotel next time.” “Hotel food is expensive. Your money doesn’t grow on trees. Just wire me the cash next time. I’ll buy the food for Liberty to cook.” Chelsea made it out as if she was doing her brother a favor. “Sounds good.” Since Hank only had to give a bit of money
The vegetables were leftovers from yesterday. Liberty kept them in the fridge, but the vegetables were only enough for one person. Since Liberty bought the vegetables with her money, she was not going to share them with the Browns. Chelsea was stunned. Liberty carried the food out and sat down at the dinner table. She leisurely enjoyed her dinner. Worried that her sister might be picked on, Serenity found the time out of her busy schedule to call Liberty. “Did they gang up on you, Liberty?” “I have a history of chasing Hank down five blocks with a kitchen knife. The worst they can do is get into a tiff with me. When a woman stops caring for her husband, she won't tolerate unreasonable behavior from him or his family.” Serenity was relieved to hear that. “Have you eaten, Liberty?” “I’m having dinner now. How about you?” “I’ll eat after I’m done with work. I should get back to it, Liberty.”“Alright.” Liberty knew that this was one of her sister’s busiest hours. Afte
Although Chelsea had a clear idea of what was going on, she did not do right by Liberty. No matter how highly educated a woman was, she would be bound by marriage and a relationship once she walked down the aisle and had children. Anyone would hate to be in the woman’s shoes. “I have talked to Liberty about it, Chelsea. She refuses to help.” It was not something Hank could promise to make happen. Since the case of domestic violence, the husband and wife had not kissed and made up. Since Hank had Jessica, the only thing on his mind was to keep his lover happy while the hag at home was not worth his time. Liberty seemed to have grown a spine too. She used to back down but refused to do that now. The couple’s marriage came to a standstill. They lived together but slept in separate rooms. They went on with their own lives. The couple did not talk to each other unless it was about the child. “Why can’t she help out on this tiny matter? I’m not asking her to do it for free.
Chelsea lowered her voice even further. “Spend some money to buy a small gift for her. Everything will be solved if you coax her.“In any case, she’s still Sonny’s mother. For Sonny’s sake, and since your niece and nephew need someone to take care of them, bow your head and coax her. You’re a man, so you should be flexible.”Olivia leaned in and picked up where Chelsea left off, whispering to her son, “Hank, for Sonny’s sake, you two still have to continue being together. Listen to your sister and buy some gifts for Liberty to coax her.“Think about how well she took care of you before, and look at how you are now. It’s not like you’ll suffer if you bow your head a little.”When Olivia came over this time and saw that her son could not afford to put on airs as the head of the family to oppress her daughter-in-law, she felt very distressed on behalf of her son.However, this was a result of the instigation by her daughter and her.If they had not instigated her son to split househ