Daughter-in-Law Made My Pregnant Daughter Wash Feet; I Stopped Allowances

Back from a month of traveling, I walked in just in time to see my daughter-in-law, Melinda Lawrence, pour a basin of scalding footbath water over my daughter, Tracey Johnson.

Are you doing this on purpose? Water that hot, are you trying to boil me alive?

What are you standing there for? Go get me another basin, now!

She had my six-months-pregnant daughter kneeling on the floor washing her feet.

The backs of Tracey's hands were streaked red from the burns.

"Mom, it was my fault. I didn't test the water first. Melinda has every right to be angry."

As my daughter said this, her own brother, Jason Johnson, the boy she'd shared a womb with, sat right there watching it all with cold eyes.

Seeing my son and his wife thick as thieves, I said nothing. I took my daughter and left.

Not long after, I got a call from my son and his wife.

"Mom, did you forget to pay the mortgage and the car loan this month?"

"The property manager's already calling the house about the overdue utilities!"

"And this month's allowance, why hasn't it hit our account yet?"

The moment that basin of footbath water splashed over my daughter, my heart stopped along with it.

The exposed skin on her body flushed red before my eyes.

Melinda sat on the sofa across from her, wearing the look of someone entitled to it all.

"Fine. Wash my feet clean now and I won't hold it against you."

Water that hot poured over my daughter, not a word of apology, and then Melinda actually forced her to kneel down and wash her feet.

Tracey swayed as she lowered herself to her knees, her hands trembling as she took hold of Melinda's foot and eased it carefully into the fresh basin of water.

She rubbed at Melinda's foot so gently, and that humble, degrading sight cut straight through me.

I walked up to them with a hard face, and when Melinda saw me, she actually had the nerve to complain to me first.

"Mom, this is all because you spoiled her rotten. Look, I ask her to draw me a simple basin of water and she can't even do that right."

As she spoke, she lifted her foot and poked it against Tracey's cheek.

"Little sis, tell me I'm not right."

"Melinda!"

My eyes stinging red, I took a step forward. Then a hand shot out and gripped my pant leg, holding fast. It was Tracey.

Her eyes rimmed red, she shook her head at me, begging me without a sound.

"Mom, I'm okay. It's fine."

Looking at my daughter like that, my heart bled.

Seeing me stand there silent, not coming any closer, she let go of me and lifted a smile toward her sister-in-law.

"Melinda, it was my fault. Don't hold it against me. Look, I've got your feet all clean now."

The smile at the corner of her mouth was so painful to see that I couldn't bear to look at it.

Melinda shot me a smug glance, wiped her foot off on Tracey's body, and gave her a critical once-over.

"All right. Since little sis is being so sensible, I'm the older woman here, of course I wouldn't pick on my own husband's little sister."

Wouldn't pick on her own family?

I laughed coldly on the inside and looked over at Jason.

From the moment I walked through the door until now, he hadn't said a single word, cradling his phone, thumbs going happily, blind to Tracey's suffering.

Or maybe he just didn't see anything wrong with it, as if his own sister was meant to wait on Melinda hand and foot.

But she's pregnant!

Was everyone in this house blind? Couldn't they see the slight swell of her belly?

"Enough. It's not that big a deal. Do you really have to look at me like that, Mom?"

"Everything Melinda said is true. Little sis can't just live off you forever, can she? A grown woman, married off and still sponging off her own family, has she got no shame?"

The words were barely out when I saw Tracey's whole body go rigid.

I stared at my son and his utterly unbothered face in disbelief.

The sheer weight of the disappointment and grief nearly took my legs out from under me.

"Mom!"

Tracey startled and quickly reached out to steady me.

I found my footing, and when my head cleared I realized my Tracey was still kneeling there on the floor like a fool.

"Tracey, get up. Your clothes are soaked. Mom will take you to change into something dry, or you'll catch cold."

My nose stung. With only a little effort, I lifted my daughter up off the floor.

Seeing that I hadn't blown up, the smile on my daughter-in-law's face turned a shade more genuine.

"Mom, little sis, go on, both of you. Next time you come over, remember to bring me a crawfish boil. My mouth's had no taste for anything lately."

I didn't answer her. Leaning on each other, my daughter and I walked out the door.

After my son got married, he'd moved into the complex right across from mine.

My daughter, after her divorce, had come to live with me, back in the old house.

When I got home from my trip and found my daughter gone, I asked the housekeeper, and only then learned that while I was away, my daughter-in-law had been finding every excuse to summon her over to wait on her.

"Ma'am, I'll go get a set of clean clothes for the young lady now."

Back home, the housekeeper took one startled look at the state Tracey and I were in.

Her professionalism kept her from asking too much. She quietly poured my daughter a cup of hot water and turned to go into the closet.

You see, even an outsider knows enough to feel for a pregnant woman.

"Mom, are you still angry? I really am fine. Melinda's usually pretty good to me."

I said nothing. I only opened the medicine box, took out the burn ointment, and dressed my daughter's wounds without a word.

Even though I made my movements deliberately soft, she still flinched from the pain.

My hands stilled. Tracey's mouth opened, her voice catching.

"Mom, it doesn't hurt. It just looks frightening. It'll heal soon. Don't worry, and don't let this drive a wedge between you and my brother and Melinda."

Still I said nothing, silently packing the medicine box away.

Just then the housekeeper came in with the clean change of clothes.

While she took my daughter off to change, I pulled out my phone and made a call to my secretary.

"Hello, Nora Chavez. There are two things I need you to handle for me, as fast as you can."

"Yes, Ms. Johnson. Whatever you need."

"First, get me a full accounting of every mortgage and car payment I've covered for Jason and his wife over the years, every utility bill, including the monthly allowance I've never once missed. Second, draw up a divorce agreement for Jason and Melinda."

Nora's voice carried a trace of hesitation.

"Ms. Johnson, are there any terms for the divorce agreement?"

My eyes were sharp, but my voice was as level as ever.

"If they divorce, the marital property gets split down the middle, and Jason gets a thousand dollars a month in living expenses. If they refuse to divorce, then from this day on, the two of them can forget about getting a single cent out of me. Including the house and the car in their names. I'll take all of it back."

"Understood, Ms. Johnson. I'll see to it."

I set down the phone and found Tracey standing off to the side, dazed, tears welling in her eyes.

"Mom, are you making my brother and his wife get a divorce? Is it... because of me?"

I nodded.

"Yes. Since they dared to treat you like that, they're going to pay for it."

Tracey panicked. She came over and grabbed my hand.

"Mom, I'm really fine. It was so hard for my brother to marry her. How can you force them apart over me?"

I pulled my hand back.

"And what about you? Tracey, you were hard for me to have too."

Tracey opened her mouth, but no words came out.

I knew how soft her heart was.

Jason and Melinda's marriage had truly been an uphill battle.

Jason had been idle since he was a boy, and grew into a three-hundred-pound man.

Melinda, on the other hand, was a textbook beauty. What could she possibly see in a man who did nothing all day?

Back then I'd warned Jason that a woman like Melinda would turn the house upside down once she was in it.

But he'd set his heart on her and would marry no one else. What was a mother to do? For my son's happiness, I gave in.

I put up a million in wedding gift money and bought the couple a house to live in.

After the wedding, I paid their car loan and their mortgage. And not only that, every single month, without fail, I gave them a hundred thousand in living expenses. The water and power bills at their place, the two of them never gave a second thought to those either.

I poured everything I had into them, and this was how they treated my daughter.

Fine. Then I'll take back every last thing I gave you.

"All right, Tracey. You've suffered enough these past few days. Get some rest. You're still carrying a baby."

Half coaxing, half soothing, I finally got my daughter off to bed.

Watching her bedroom door close, the smile faded slowly from my face.

"Mom, Melinda had me bring you this pudding. She remembers this is your favorite."

I looked at Jason standing in the doorway and felt nothing at all.

He seemed not to notice the coldness on my face. Still talking, he let himself in, dropped the plastic cup of pudding on the table like it was nothing.

I shut the door calmly, walked to the couch, and sat down.

He came over wearing that grin, fawning, kneading my shoulders and rubbing my back.

"Mom, are you still angry? What happened today, Melinda went a little too far, sure. But you know how she is. That's just her temper."

"I'll have her apologize to Tracey, and we can put the whole thing behind us. We're all family. No need to talk like strangers."

Then he shifted his tone.

"And really, Mom, Melinda feels for you. Tracey's a married woman, and now here she is, back for you to support. It breaks our hearts to see you carry that."

Feels for me?

Spending my hundred thousand a month, spending it with a clear conscience, and never once a word of concern.

Tracey's been home barely six months and hasn't cost even a hundred thousand all together, and already they're aching on my behalf?

I said nothing. I looked at the pudding on the table, and the scale in my mind suddenly tipped.

After my son got married, every time Melinda did or said something that displeased me, he'd come scurrying over with a cup of pudding from the breakfast shop downstairs to make his apologies.

I did like that shop's pudding. In the past, every time Jason did this and rattled off a string of nice things about Melinda, I would give in. Afterward I'd even go out of my way to slip Melinda a little extra spending money.

But today, all at once, I saw it clearly.

A cup of pudding cost five dollars.

All these years, taking a hundred thousand a month, yet only willing to spend five dollars to make things right with me.

Was I really the one who couldn't afford this cup of pudding?

"Mom? Mom? Are you even listening to me?"

Jason waved a hand in front of my face.

"Oh, right, where's Tracey? How's her injury? It can't be that bad, can it?"

"She's asleep."

Hearing that, Jason nodded and asked nothing more.

My heart went colder still. That was his own sister.

"Mom, if there's nothing else, I'll head back. Melinda's waiting on me to bring her a crawfish boil. When I get home I'll tell her you told me to buy it. She'll be thrilled."

Jason left with a smile, and I picked up that cup of pudding and dropped it straight into the trash without a second thought.

My secretary was fast. By the next morning, I had both documents in front of me.

"Ms. Johnson, the bills and the divorce agreement are ready, just as you asked. I've contacted the law firm as well. He can come in whenever you'd like."

I nodded and took the documents. Beside me, Tracey looked torn.

"Mom, my brother and his wife are grown adults. If you stop giving them an allowance from now on, I understand that. But... do you really have to make them divorce?"

"At the end of it, Mom, it's my fault. My sister-in-law said she wanted the water a little hotter, and I didn't think twice about it. Mom, let me go and apologize to her."

"Tracey."

I caught my daughter's hand and stopped her from getting up.

She looked at me, her eyes churning.

"Tracey, you are Jason's blood sister."

She froze. She looked at me, her lips parting to say something, but I kept going.

"You got divorced because that son-in-law of mine is scum, a piece of garbage. Divorce was the only way to pull you out of that."

"You are my daughter. When I brought you home, of course I was prepared to take care of you for the rest of your life. Jason and Melinda go on and on about how they think of me, how they feel for me, but at the end of the day, it's simply that you have no value to them."

"Think about it. The only reason they're even halfway respectful to me is that I hand them a full hundred thousand a month. When I'm old, when I can't do anything anymore, when everything falls into your brother's hands, do you really think they'll still treat me this way? Everything that happened to you yesterday could happen to me tomorrow."

I held my daughter's gaze, ignoring the tears streaming down her face, and made myself say the truth out loud.

I knew she didn't want to face it. But did I?

Before she married, Jason had at least been a decent enough brother. And now?

He and Melinda schemed together, teamed up with an outsider, and ground his own sister into the dirt.

Every last thing they'd done left me cold.

I couldn't put Jason back in my belly and pretend I'd never given birth to him.

So all I could do was cut off his ability to keep doing harm. The pain he'd piled onto his sister, he should get a taste of it himself.

Tracey's eyes went wide, and for a long time she couldn't come back to herself. Her eyes reddened.

"Mom, my brother... would my brother really... do that to you?"

I didn't answer her, but Tracey already had her answer.

"Mom, I was wrong. I shouldn't have been like this. I almost brought harm to you..."

"If something ever happened to you later, I'd never be able to forgive myself!"

I pulled my trembling daughter tight against me, and the two of us clung together and cried.

At some point Nora slipped out the door and left us alone.

"Mom, whatever you decide, I'll stand behind you."

Tracey wiped her tears dry. Right then, my phone suddenly rang.

"Mom, what are you up to right now? Has this month been too busy? The mortgage and the car payment still haven't gone through, and those can't be late."

My son, half teasing, half serious.

"Get out of the way. Do you even know how to talk to people?"

I heard Melinda cursing at him under her breath on the other end, and the next moment her shrill voice came through the phone.

"Mom, the property management already called the house about the overdue water and electricity. If work's got you run ragged, just wire the money straight into Jason's account, and send this month's allowance along with it while you're at it. I'm going home to see my parents in a few days, and I can't very well show up empty-handed, can I?"

My daughter and I exchanged a glance. I lowered my voice and said one thing into the phone.

"Wait at home. I'm coming over now."

After I hung up, I held my daughter's hand tight.

"Tracey, you're pregnant. You stay home and rest. Leave the rest to me."

She hesitated, worried, but in the end she nodded.

"Okay, Mom. I'll listen to you."

I brought Nora with me. When we got to Jason's place, both he and Melinda had a trace of impatience on their faces.

Still, seeing me, the two of them reined it in a little.

"Mom, why'd you come all the way over yourself? It's just wiring some money. A few taps and it's done."

Jason watched me settle onto the couch without waiting to be asked, and still didn't sense anything was off.

Melinda, though, had a sharp eye. Her gaze landed on Nora beside me, and she quickly recognized my secretary. Her eyes lit up.

"Mom, this is your secretary, Nora, isn't it? You brought her along today. Is there something you need to discuss with Jason?"

As she spoke, she kicked Jason.

Nudged by Melinda, Jason belatedly noticed Nora.

"What could there be to discuss? Mom, hurry up and send me the allowance, I've been waiting to go online!"

I gave a cold laugh and took the two documents from Nora.

"The allowance can wait. You two, take a look at these first."

"Oh, Mom, you're right, there's no rush at all. Look at me, my memory's getting so bad, I forgot to even pour you and Secretary Chavez some tea."

"Honey, hurry and get out that premium tea my dad brought over last time. Make a cup for Mom and Secretary Chavez."

Melinda's eyes lit up the moment she saw the two folders, and she couldn't hide her excitement.

Nora and I exchanged a glance, and in each other's eyes we both saw the same speechless contempt.

While Jason brewed the tea, Melinda didn't stay idle either. She dug through the cupboards, washed a big platter of fruit and snacks, and set it in front of us with a fawning smile.

I looked at the steaming cup of tea, and something complicated turned over in my chest.

I'd supported the two of them all these years and never once been handed a cup of tea by their own hands.

Now that I'd decided to stop, suddenly the tea appeared. Life really was unpredictable.

This premium tea was a gift my son's father-in-law had brought, meant as a first-meeting present for me, and Melinda had simply kept it for herself.

"Mom's seen every fine thing there is. She probably wouldn't even think much of tea like this. Better to keep it at home, so we've got something to offer when guests come."

So now, did this count as giving it back to its rightful owner?

"All right, you two don't need to fuss. Take a look at these two folders first."

I wasn't willing to waste any more time. I'd watched their little performance long enough, and it was time to put the real business on the table.

"Oh! Mom, we'll look right now."

Melinda answered fast and cheerful. She picked up the folder of bills, all sweetness and delight, and the second she slid the documents out, the smile froze on her face.

"Babe, what did Mom give us? Is she really leaving us some inheritance? Could it be, could it be shares?"

Jason had been so worked up by his wife's fuss that his head was already in the clouds. When he saw her sitting there frozen, he couldn't wait and snatched the folder from her.

"Mom this what does this mean?"

Once they saw the words on the pages, the two of them were stunned.

I took an unhurried sip of tea.

"Can't you read? These are all the mortgage and car payments I've made for you over the years, plus the utility bills I've paid, and behind those, the hundred thousand dollars I've handed over every single month without fail."

"Mom aren't we one family? Drawing up a bill like this, it feels so cold. How good you've been to me and Jason, we keep it in our hearts."

Melinda was getting flustered. She nudged the fruit platter toward me.

"In your hearts? Hmph, forget that. Put it on the books, where it's nice and clear."

I set my cup down hard, and it hit the table with a clatter, tea splashing out.

"I came today to tell you this. All these years, I'm the one who's paid your car loan and mortgage, and I won't be paying them anymore. If you want to keep the car and the house, first pay me back everything I've covered all these years. The utility bills from before, I won't hold against you. Consider those a gift. As for the allowance, you're both grown adults. I've supported you for nothing all this time, and that's more than fair."

Melinda wasn't having it. She shot to her feet and glared at me.

"What's that supposed to mean? Old woman, is this because of yesterday, because I had your daughter wash my feet? You're getting back at us on purpose, aren't you? Fine, let me tell you, there's no way you're getting a cent out of us. And if you don't give us another dime from now on, I'll divorce your son!"

Hearing Melinda say that, Jason panicked too, and the look he gave me was full of resentment and complaint.

"Mom, everything was fine. What are you even doing this for? Little sis did it because she was willing to. Did you really have to blow this up so big? Now look, Melinda's talking about divorcing me. Are you satisfied?"

I gave a cold laugh.

"Satisfied? Of course I'm satisfied. Perfect timing, since you brought it up yourself. Melinda, I've been your mother-in-law all these years, and I've always been so thoughtful. I've already got the divorce agreement ready for you."

I tossed the second folder down in front of Melinda, and now it was her turn to freeze.

She stared at me in disbelief, as if she hadn't quite understood what I'd said.

Neither of them made a move to touch the second folder. That was fine.

Nora stepped forward and opened it in front of them both.

"Ms. Johnson says that if the two of you agree to divorce, the current marital assets will be split evenly, and she'll pay Jason a thousand dollars a month in support. If you don't agree, Ms. Johnson won't give either of you a single cent from now on."

I looked at my son and daughter-in-law with a smile.

"Talk it over between yourselves and pick one."