Chapter 1
Chapter 1
On my husband’s thirtieth birthday, I was using my mother-in-law’s phone to transfer the birthday photos she’d taken. My thumb accidentally swiped up, revealing several open apps layered on top of one another in a cluttered mess.
I inadvertently tapped one of them, and a string of spicy, provocative words splashed across my vision.
Good grief!
My mother-in-law was actually reading Stepmother Literature!
I double-tapped the back of the phone to take a screenshot, AirDropped it to my own phone along with the birthday photos, and then thoroughly deleted the screenshot from her device.
In the kitchen, my mother-in-law was humming a Huangmei tune while peeling apples.
She was tall with wide hips and broad shoulders. She wore oversized loungewear, with a deep blue floral apron loosely tied around her waist, naturally accentuating her figure.
My husband was by her side, helping her slice the fruit.
She peeled one.
He sliced one.
They chatted idly back and forth.
“It didn’t break! It didn’t break! Quick, make a wish!”
My mother-in-law carefully peeled off a long, continuous spiral of apple skin.
Like a little girl, she devoutly believed in these small, accidental strokes of luck.
My husband closed his eyes – who knows what he wished for – and the two of them huddled together, giggling.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.
But now, this heartwarming scene of motherly love and filial piety felt somewhat jarring.