My Daughter’s Birthday Gift Was a Death Note

At my daughter's birthday party, someone brought up that she'd just placed first in her grade, and everyone started praising how smart she was.

My mother-in-law let out a cold snort.

What's the point of a girl studying so hard? She's just going to get married off in the end.

And this daughter-in-law of mine has no sense. Throwing this big a party for a girl's birthday, do you know how much that costs?

"Pouring all her energy into that money-loser. She'd do better to learn from Wanda, her brother's wife, and figure out how to have a son."

Anger flared in me, and just as I opened my mouth, my husband quickly grabbed my arm.

"Honey, don't be upset. My mom's got a sharp tongue but a soft heart."

"Don't let the way she talks fool you. She actually got Nina a birthday present ages ago."

Then he shot his mother a look.

Only then did she pull a red envelope out of her bag and hand it to my daughter.

But when Nina opened it, inside was a stack of fake funeral money.

I looked at my husband. His eyes darted away.

"You don't get it. This is a long-term investment."

"Fake money is still money. Nina will find a use for it someday."

I laughed in sheer disbelief, nodded, and pressed the envelope back into my husband's hand.

"No need for a long-term investment. This money, let's keep it for your mom to spend."

...

Vincent James's face went dark on the spot.

"Kay Fox, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Say what you want, my mom's still your elder. Handing her funeral money, are you trying to curse her dead?"

The private dining room, lively a second ago, fell dead silent.

I looked at him, and all I felt was how ridiculous this was.

"So in Nina's hands it's a long-term investment, something she'll use sooner or later."

"But in your mom's hands it's cursing her dead?"

"What, does funeral money pick and choose who it's for?"

My mother-in-law slammed the table.

"Don't you get smart-mouthed with me! You think I'm the same as some little girl?"

"Vincent, look at the wife you married. Cursing me in front of all these relatives. Does she have any respect for her elders at all?"

My daughter was only six, but she knew what funeral money was.

She stood beside me, her small hand clutching a fistful of my clothes, and asked in a tiny voice, "Mommy, did I do something wrong? Why did Grandma give me this?"

Looking at her, all I felt was a heavy ache in my chest.

From the day she was born until now, every time I threw my daughter a birthday, Vincent was never there.

Either his mother had a headache, or he had no time because he was taking his little nephew to the amusement park.

This time my daughter placed first in her grade, and her only wish was for her dad to spend her birthday with her, just once.

He'd agreed to it all, even said he'd bring his mother and his brother's family along to make it festive.

She'd been happy about it for days. Right up to this morning she was still wondering what present she'd get.

Vincent came over and lowered his voice.

"It's the kid's birthday today. Don't blow this up."

"My mom was just joking. Why do you have to take it so seriously?"

Wanda Whitney, my sister-in-law, hurried to chime in too:

"I'm not trying to lecture you, but what Mom gives is her business. Humiliating her in public like this is just unfilial."

"It's one red envelope. Nina isn't short on food or clothes. Is it really worth all this?"

I glanced at Howie, sitting at the table tearing into Nina's birthday presents, and let out a cold laugh.

"Then let's give this envelope to Howie. Want it?"

Wanda's face froze.

"What are you talking about?"

I took the envelope back from Vincent and set it down in front of Howie.

"Something this fine, Nina can't handle it. Let your son have it."

Wanda yanked Howie away.

"How awful, get it away from him!"

I smiled.

"So you know it's bad luck too."

"When it was my daughter's turn, why didn't you say so?"

Wanda had nothing to say to that. She turned and appealed to my mother-in-law.

"Mom, look at her. She clearly came here today to go after our whole family!"

My mother-in-law grabbed the teacup off the table and hurled it hard against the floor.

"Fine, Kay. I told Vincent long ago that a woman like you doesn't know how to keep a home. He said I was overthinking it."

"Well, now look. Spending my son's money to put on a show, and you've got the nerve to make our whole family lose face!"

I looked at the porcelain shards scattered across the floor, and it suddenly struck me as absurd enough to laugh at.

"Seven years of marriage, and I have never seen a single cent of Vincent's salary!"

"So you tell me. How exactly am I spending your son's money?"

When we first got married, my mother-in-law took Vincent's paycheck card, saying he was reckless with money and had no sense for running a household.

I said no.

But Vincent told me, "You're just being petty. You think my own mother would steal from me?"

"She's only holding it for us. We'll get it back whenever we need it."

That holding lasted seven years.

Vincent's salary climbed from eight thousand to seventeen thousand, and the card never once came back into his hands.

Water, electric, gas, HOA fees, groceries. All of it came out of my pocket.

After our daughter was born, so did the formula, the diapers, the early learning classes, the preschool. All of it ran through my account.

The rare times Vincent bought groceries, he'd photograph the receipt and send it to me so I'd reimburse him.

I asked once how much of his salary had been saved.

Every time, my mother-in-law said, "What's the rush? The money's with me. It's not going to sprout legs and run off."

And Vincent backed her up.

"We're family. What's the point of counting every cent?"

Except that family never included me and our daughter.

One year our daughter spiked a high fever, and I spent the whole night at the hospital with her.

The next day, when it was time to pay the admission fee, my phone happened to be dead, so I asked Vincent to front five thousand.

He called his mother for the money.

She cursed at him over the phone for ten minutes.

"A little cold and you're admitting her? Two days of fever won't kill her."

"Girls are just spoiled."

Yet that same month, the nephew wanted twenty thousand for a summer camp.

My mother-in-law didn't even blink. She wired it straight over.

Only later did I learn that money came out of Vincent's paycheck card.

I made a scene once.

Vincent held me and apologized, said he'd get the card back.

I believed him.

The next day, his mother said her chest hurt, and he never brought it up again.

I looked at Vincent. He avoided my eyes.

"It's the kid's birthday. Let's not get into all this."

But my mother-in-law had no shame about it.

"You married into the James family, so you're one of us now, and the money you earn belongs to the James family too."

"Saying you spend my son's money? What's wrong with that?"

My mother couldn't hold back.

"Making my daughter carry the whole family's expenses on her own, that's not right, is it?"

My mother-in-law rolled her eyes.

"Mrs. Fox, I'm saving that money for my future grandson."

"If there's anyone to blame, blame your daughter's own useless womb."

Just then, my daughter, eyes rimmed red, tugged at my sleeve.

"Mom, I'm sorry, it's all Nina's fault."

"Nina won't make Daddy spend her birthday with us anymore, so don't fight with Daddy and Grandma."

I crouched down and wiped away her tears.

"It's not Nina's fault. You don't need to apologize."

"Some people's hearts are just crooked from the start."

Vincent frowned.

"Why are you saying things like that to a child?"

"She's so small, and you're bent on teaching her to resent her elders?"

"I already told you, my mother meant no harm"

I cut him off. "No harm? She put fake funeral money in the kid's hands. Do you have to stick three incense sticks in her cake before you'll admit it?"

My mother-in-law pressed a hand to her chest and slumped back against the chair.

"Son, now I see it clearly."

"Your wife just wants to drive me to my death today."

"I raised you through all that hardship, and now I can't even say a word."

"If I'd known you'd forget your own mother the moment you got a wife, I never should've had you!"

Vincent rushed over to steady her.

"Mom, nobody's driving you anywhere."

Then he turned back to me.

"Kay, just apologize to Mom, and we'll let this go."

I laughed, furious, and walked straight to the door, pulled the private room open, and looked at my mother-in-law.

"This is my daughter's birthday dinner. Only people who truly wish her well are welcome here."

"Since you don't know the meaning of respect, this meal doesn't welcome you either. Please leave. Now."

The mother-in-law froze for a couple of seconds, then slapped the table.

"You're throwing me out?"

"This is a James family dinner. You married in from outside. What right do you have to throw me out?"

I almost laughed.

"I booked the room, I paid for it, and I bought the cake."

"Tell me, which one of those belongs to the Jameses?"

Vincent's face went dark.

"It's one cash gift. Do you really have to blow it up like this?"

"You threw my mother out in front of all these people. Where is she supposed to put her face now?"

I turned to the side.

"If you've got a problem with it, you can walk out with her."

Vincent stared at me like he hadn't understood.

"You're telling me to leave too?"

I looked at him.

"Yes. Anyone who won't let my daughter enjoy her birthday can go."

The mother-in-law perked right up.

"Vincent, you hear that?"

"Since when does she get to run this family?"

"If you still recognize me as your mother, you'll take us out to eat somewhere else today!"

"I'd love to see who she thinks she's throwing this party for without the James family here!"

Vincent looked at me, then at his mother.

In the end, his face rigid, he grabbed the car keys.

"Kay, don't come crying about this later."

Then he took his mother's arm and headed for the door.

His brother's family stood up too.

As she passed me, Wanda bumped into me on purpose.

"Some cheap little birthday party. Who wants to eat here anyway."

"Come on, Vincent, let's go somewhere nice. No need to sit here and take this."

After the door closed, one of the aunts kicked the broken shards of porcelain aside, then suddenly clapped her hands.

"The bad luck's gone. Let's keep going."

"Nina's top of her grade and a year older today. That's double the happiness, so she gets two wishes."

The other relatives joined in to smooth things over.

Someone restarted the birthday song, someone stood the fallen candles back up.

With everyone urging her on, Nina closed her eyes.

After she made her wish, she leaned in and whispered in my ear, "Mom, I want you to be happy forever."

"And if Dad makes you unhappy, then I don't want him anymore."

Something in my chest trembled.

Before I could say anything, my phone buzzed.

A text alert from the bank.

"Your supplementary credit card has been charged 50,000 dollars"

My eyebrow went up.

After Nina's fever, Vincent kept complaining he had no cash on hand for emergencies, so I'd given him the supplementary card on my account.

I hadn't expected him to swipe fifty thousand just like that.

Clearly he'd used it to save face for his mother.

Sure enough, before long Wanda posted to her feed.

In the photo, the mother-in-law wore a brand-new gold bracelet and Howie was clutching a new tablet.

And Vincent sat at the table, picking apart crab for them.

The caption was a single line.

"Some people don't know how to honor their parents. Good thing the older brother knows right from wrong."

Relatives were already commenting under it.

"Vincent's such a good son."

"A gold bracelet that big must have cost a fortune, no?"

Wanda replied at lightning speed.

"Vincent bought it. He said all that matters is Mom being happy."

I let out a cold laugh.

Nina came over and handed me the biggest slice of cake.

"Mom, this one's for you."

"Don't be upset anymore. I don't have to have birthdays from now on, that's fine."

I stroked her head.

"You get a birthday every year."

"And from now on they're only going to get better."

Then I called the bank's customer service line.

"I need to freeze a supplementary card."

The agent confirmed my details, then told me that same card had just started another transaction.

The amount, ninety-nine thousand eight hundred.

"What's the merchant?"

"A luxury goods store."

I laughed coldly to myself.

He'd bought the gifts for his mother and nephew, and now he wanted to play the big spender in front of his brother and sister-in-law too.

"Decline it. Stop the card immediately."

"And that fifty-thousand charge just now, I want to dispute it as unauthorized. It was fraud."

Ten minutes later, Vincent's call came through.

"Kay, you froze my card?"

The background was loud.

Wanda was shouting, "It's all boxed up already, how can it not go through?"

I let out a short laugh.

"Your card?"

"Vincent, get one thing straight. I gave you that card for everyday emergencies, not so you could hand out prizes to your whole family."

Vincent's patience snapped.

"Don't blow this out of proportion."

"My mom and Howie got humiliated. What's wrong with buying them a few things to make it up to them?"

"Besides, a few thousand is nothing to you."

"You make so much a year. Do you really have to count every cent in front of family?"

I asked him, "If it's nothing, then buy it with your own salary."

Vincent had nothing to say to that.

His mother's voice came in at once from beside him.

"Vincent, why are you wasting words on her?"

"The money she earns is marital property. You spending her money is only natural!"

"Tell her to turn the card back on right now, and buy this bag too."

"If she won't back down today, you divorce her!"

Wanda chimed in from the side.

"Your wife just cares more about money than family."

"Your mom's getting on in years. What's the harm in a gold bracelet for her?"

I said, flat and calm.

"You're right, I do care quite a bit about money."

"So please transfer me what the bracelet and the tablet cost."

Wanda shut up immediately.

Vincent ground his teeth.

"Kay, are you set on wrecking this relationship?"

"I'm not the one wrecking it."

"And the fifty thousand you charged today, you have twenty-four hours to pay it back."

"By what right?"

"By the right that large purchases were made without the primary cardholder's consent. I can file a payment dispute, or I can just call the police."

Vincent's bluster dropped a notch on the spot.

"We're all family, why bring the police into it?"

"Turn the card back on first. We'll talk when we're home."

"Too late."

I didn't wait for him to say anything else. I hung up.

After the birthday dinner, my mother came home with me.

She watched Nina, asleep face-down on the couch, and suddenly asked, "How much longer do you plan to put up with it?"

My hands went still.

All these years, I'd rarely told my parents anything about the James family.

Every time my mother asked, I said things were fine.

Not because Vincent was actually any good to me.

It was that I couldn't bring myself to admit that the man I'd married against my parents' wishes couldn't protect me at all.

My mother took a document folder out of her bag.

"Your father had someone look into this. He didn't want me giving it to you today, afraid it'd spoil the mood on the kid's birthday."

"But now I don't see how I can hold it back."

Inside were photocopies of several bank statements.

On the fifteenth of every month, the moment Vincent's salary landed, it was transferred out.

The receiving account belonged to his younger brother, John James.

Seven years. Eighty-four transfers.

More than a million in total.

I stared at the last page, and a chill crept slowly up my back.

When John bought his house last year, my mother-in-law told everyone who'd listen that they'd earned that place through their own hard work.

We'd gone to the housewarming and even given a two-thousand-dollar cash gift.

So that was the hard work. Spending my husband's salary, while I carried every last expense of our own household.

My mother pointed to a few of the larger transfers.

"Now look at the dates."

I followed her finger.

A year ago, four hundred thousand transferred out.

The date was the day after I sold my premarital condo.

That money from the sale, I'd put into the joint account Vincent and I shared, meaning to pay down the mortgage early.

Then he said the bank's wealth manager had recommended an internal product with high returns, so he moved the money.

When it matured, he told me the product had been extended and we'd have to wait a little longer.

I believed him.

Now the statements were right in front of me.

That four hundred thousand had never gone into any investment.

It had gone into John's account, and become the down payment on his house.

Outside the door came the beep of the keypad lock.

Vincent was back, with his mother and his brother's family behind him.

The moment she was through the door, my mother-in-law jabbed a finger at my face and started cursing.

"You've got some nerve, Kay, the world's turned upside down, you actually dared to freeze my son's card!"

"This isn't over today!"

Vincent stood beside her without a trace of guilt on his face.

"Turn the card back on, and apologize to Mom."

"Otherwise, you can forget about staying in this home."

I pushed the statements across to them.

"Fine."

"But first, let's work out where Vincent's million-plus in salary and my four hundred thousand from the house sale actually went."