Cousin's Wife Framed Me, I Withdrew Funds, She Snapped

The day I went to visit my cousin's place, I teased him into buying me the new Dior lipstick.

Charles Dickerson had just reached for his phone to place the order when his wife slapped me right across the face.

She jabbed a finger at me and snapped, You little slut. Every single day you're hanging on my husband, getting him to buy you things. What are you, a beggar?

After that slap, Uncle Frank Chavez and the whole family froze.

They pointed at her and couldn't get a word out.

Eileen Fox must have taken their silence for agreement, because she stood up even straighter.

She planted her hands on her hips right there in the living room and rattled off another string of insults.

I touched my swollen cheek and smiled faintly.

Then I took out my phone and called my mother. "Mom, Eileen just called me a beggar and slapped me across the face. Go ahead and cancel that order to Charles's company."

When the car pulled up outside my cousin's house, I'd just finished going over the three-million-dollar order for his company with my assistant.

I pushed open the front door and walked in. Uncle Frank and Aunt Rita were sitting on the living room couch watching TV.

When they saw me, they waved me over to sit down.

"Patty's here! Come sit. I just cut some cantaloupe, it's so sweet," Aunt Rita said warmly, pressing a fork into my hand.

I took it with a smile and bit into a piece. "Aunt Rita's cantaloupe really is something else. So sweet!"

Uncle Frank chuckled beside her, drawing on the pipe that never left his hand. "You always know just what to say. Oh, that order you mentioned last time. Charles told me it's already going through. I really have to thank you for this. If it weren't for your help, his company would've been in real trouble..."

I waved him off, still chewing, and mumbled, "Don't be like that, Uncle Frank. We're family. Charles's quote was fair and his company's qualified. The order had to go to someone."

That was what I said. But the truth was, if it hadn't been for family ties, an order like that never would have landed at his little company.

I knew how things had been going for them lately.

Eileen had lost over seven million in the stock market last year. Their finances had collapsed a long time ago.

This order, put plainly, was my mother's way of slipping Uncle Frank money because she felt for him.

I'd barely finished speaking when footsteps came down the stairs.

Charles came down in his loungewear.

He still had a tablet in his hand. He must have just wrapped up work upstairs.

When he saw me, his face lit up and he quickly set the tablet down on the coffee table.

He grinned and greeted me. "Patty, I saw the contract you sent me just now. I really owe you for this one. Once the order pays out, I'm taking you to a nice dinner. Anywhere you want."

I set down the fork and wiped my hands.

To let him save face, I put on a little pout. "Forget the dinner. There's a new Dior lipstick, that seductive shade. A lot of bloggers have been raving about it. Once the order pays out, will you buy me one, Charlie?"

Charles laughed the moment he heard it and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "It's just one lipstick. Why wait for the money to come in? One? I'll buy you the whole set if you want."

I'd only meant to tease him, to make him feel a little better.

We'd grown up together, after all. I knew exactly what kind of person he was.

But the second the words left my mouth, footsteps came pounding down the stairs.

Before I could even react, my left cheek took a slap that cracked across it.

I was stunned, and it took me a while to come back to myself.

I turned my head and saw Eileen standing right beside me, her eyes bulging.

She jabbed a finger at me and started shouting, "You little slut! How many times have I told you to stay away from my husband? Every day you're clinging to him, getting him to buy you this and that. What are you, a beggar?"

The slap came out of nowhere. It wasn't just me. Everyone in the living room froze.

Uncle Frank's pipe hit the carpet with a clatter, tobacco scattering everywhere.

His mouth hung open, one finger pointed at Eileen, and for a long moment he couldn't get out a single word. His face had gone purple with rage.

Aunt Rita shot up off the couch, her hands shaking. "Eileen, are you out of your mind? Why did you hit Patty!"

Charles was the last to catch up, and his face went dark.

He grabbed Eileen's arm and shouted, "What is wrong with you? Apologize to Patty right now!"

Eileen wrenched her arm out of his grip.

Maybe because Uncle Frank and Aunt Rita only sputtered without actually coming after her, she took it as the elders quietly siding with her.

Her spine went straighter, and she started firing off in every direction like a machine gun. "I'm out of my mind? I think your whole family's lost it! A grown woman in her mid-twenties, hanging off my husband every day to buy her things. Last time it was a bag, this time a lipstick, next time is it going to be a house? I'm telling you, Charles, if you don't give me an answer today, we're done. And you!"

She spun and pointed at me, spit practically flying into my face.

"A grown woman clinging to somebody else's husband for handouts every single day. What is it, you short on cash or short on love? If you're that desperate for a man, go hire yourself some male escorts. I'll pay for it myself! Just stop hanging around here trying to seduce my husband!"

I listened to her finish, touched the swollen half of my face, and couldn't help laughing.

With a stupid woman this brainless, I honestly didn't know what there was to say.

I just pulled out my phone and called my mom, right there in front of Uncle Frank's whole family.

Her end was a little noisy in the background. She was probably still in a meeting at the company.

"Patty, what is it? Something wrong?"

I glanced at my smug cousin-in-law and smiled a little, amused. "Mom, Eileen says I'm a beggar. Says I hang off her husband every day to get him to buy me things, and she just slapped me across the face. Cancel that order to Charles's company. From now on we should all mind our boundaries, so nobody gets the wrong idea."

The second I finished, the living room went dead silent.

Eileen, mouth still open, ready to keep cursing, froze right where she stood.

She knew about that lifeline order, of course.

What she hadn't figured was that the order came from me.

But for the sake of her pride, she stiffened her neck and blustered on. "So cancel it, cancel it. Who do you think you're scaring"

She didn't get to finish before Uncle Frank cut her off with a roar.

"Eileen, shut your mouth and get back to your room this instant!"

Charles panicked too. He let go of Eileen's arm and came over to grab mine. "Patty, Patty, don't be angry. Eileen's lost it, she's talking nonsense, don't lower yourself to her level. The order... you can't cancel the order. Our whole company is running on it. If it's canceled, we're finished!"

I didn't shake Charles's hand off, and I didn't say anything. I just held the phone and waited for my mom to answer.

A couple of seconds passed before her voice came through.

"Who hit you? How's your face? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"Eileen hit me. My face is fine, just a little swollen," I said into the phone.

"She also called me a slut, said I'm starved for love and offered to find me male escorts."

"Ha. This Eileen really is a piece of work." My mom let out a scornful little laugh.

"Fine. I'll have HR cancel the order right away. Tell your cousin to return that fifty-thousand deposit within a week, or I'll take it to court. And stop staying at your uncle's house. They look down on us, so there's no need to keep pushing ourselves on them. I'm sending Cliff to come pick you up right now."

"Okay. Thanks, Mom."

After hanging up, I slipped my phone back into my pocket.

I looked up at the whole family frozen in front of me.

Every trace of Eileen's swagger was gone now, her face gone bone-white in an instant.

Her lips trembling, she pointed at me and said, "You... how can you be so vicious? I only slapped you once, on impulse. Do you really have to cut off my family's whole livelihood over it?"

"I'm vicious?" I let out a cold laugh.

"Whether or not I seduced my cousin, you know perfectly well in your own heart. We share blood. How could we ever do something that filthy? Do you think this is still the ancient days? And another thing. Since you married my cousin, have I ever asked him for anything worth more than three hundred dollars? That bag last time was because I'd picked up your kid for him, and he insisted on buying it for me. It was only two thousand or so. And I turned right around and bought your kid a three-thousand-dollar Lego set to make up for it. How does that turn into me clinging to him for gifts every single day?"

I got it all out in one breath, everything I'd been holding in, and Eileen couldn't string together a single reply. I turned to go.

Seeing this, Uncle Frank hurried to his feet to block me, forcing a smile.

"Patty, Patty, don't be angry... It's my fault, I didn't raise my son's wife right. She's the one in the wrong, don't stoop to her level. This order really can't be canceled, you know that. Your cousin's company still owes money to the bank, and it's due next month. If this order falls through, his company is truly finished."

Aunt Rita ran over too, grabbing my hand, snot and tears running down her face. "Patty, just forgive your cousin's wife this once. She's been under so much pressure lately, her head's all muddled. I promise you, there won't be a next time. Let me have her apologize to you right now, all right?"

Watching his parents lower themselves like that, Charles finally lost it.

He turned and slapped Eileen across the face. A sharp crack.

Louder than the slap she'd given me.

Eileen reeled to the side, covering her cheek, sobbing. "You hit me? Charles, you hit me over this little slut?"

"So what if I hit you!" Charles roared, his eyes red.

"Do you have any idea how much damage you've done? You're going to get this whole family killed! Now apologize to Patty!"

Eileen was the kind who'd never back down even when she was dead wrong.

She'd caused the disaster, but admitting fault was out of the question.

She just kept shouting, refusing to give an inch. "I won't! Why should I apologize to her? It's just one order! What, we can't survive without an order from her? Charles, say there's nothing between you two! If there's nothing, would you protect her like this and hit my own mother?"

Watching this circus, I felt worn out.

I pulled my hand free from Aunt Rita's and said, "Uncle... Aunt... it isn't that I won't give you face. It's that the things she said are just too vile to be wiped away with a simple sorry. So... whether this order happens or not, don't beg me anymore. Take it up with my mother. If she agrees, it's fine. And I won't be coming to your home again. Take care of yourselves."

With that, I stepped around Uncle Frank, pulled open the door, and left.

The wind at the villa gate hit my face, and the sting got sharper.

I pulled out my phone and checked. Half my face was red.

Five clear finger marks. It was frightening just to look at.

Honestly, I felt wronged.

In all my years, my parents had never once raised a hand to me.

And now, of all people, I'd been beaten for no reason by my cousin's wife.

Over what, seducing her husband?

I didn't wait for Cliff to come pick me up. I sent him a message and took a car home myself.

I'd barely gotten in when Charles called.

He kept apologizing on the other end, saying it was all Eileen's fault, begging me not to be angry.

He said he'd bring Eileen to my house that evening to apologize in person.

I cut him off flatly. "Charles, no need to apologize. I can't stand that mouth of hers. And don't come either. Even if you do, my mom won't see you. You know how she is when it comes to me." Then I hung up and switched my phone to silent.

When I got home, my mom was already sitting on the sofa, waiting for me.

The moment she saw my swollen face, tears sprang up and her heart broke for me.

She hurried to press an ice pack to my cheek, cursing as she held it there. "That Eileen, she's really lost it! I knew back then she wasn't right in the head. I told Charles not to marry her. But your Uncle Frank insisted she was honest and steady, the kind who'd settle down and build a life. Look at her now. What honest, steady woman accuses cousins of an affair and starts swinging the second something doesn't go her way? She's insane!"

I held the ice to my face and let out a soft sigh. "Actually, it's partly my fault. I shouldn't have asked Charles for that lipstick right in front of her. But I really didn't think a little thing like that would get in her head..."

"You've got it wrong," my mom said, sitting down and taking a sip of water.

"Eileen isn't overthinking. She's insecure, sick in the head. Ever since Charles lost money in the stock market, she's been suspicious of everything, terrified he'll divorce her, terrified some woman out there will lure him away. Last time she went at your Aunt Rita, said the cleaning lady in the neighborhood was making eyes at Charles. Did you forget? That's just who she is. If it wasn't the lipstick today, she'd find some other reason to come after you tomorrow. So with a lunatic like her, you're better off keeping your distance. This one's on me. I never should have gone soft and helped your Uncle Frank!"

I thought about it.

My mom was right.

Eileen really hadn't been normal ever since the money was lost.

There was that one time before, over a work email from a female coworker of Charles's.

She fought with him for three days and three nights, cursing the woman until she quit.

Pulling something like this now was actually not that surprising.

Still, so what if she really was sick?

I wasn't her mother. Why should I coddle her?

She said something was going on between me and Charles?

Fine. From now on I'd stay far away from them.

I wanted to see whether, once Charles's company went bankrupt, she'd still be watching him like he was some precious treasure.

The ice pack sat on my face for over half an hour before the burning eased even a little.

The finger marks were still clear on my skin, shocking to look at.

My mom wanted to call the police, but I stopped her.

If it really went to the station, in the end the ones humiliated and worse off would be Uncle Frank and his family.

We were still family, after all. I didn't want to push it to the point where they couldn't hold their heads up in their circle again.

The angrier my mom got, the more she wanted done, and she had the company's legal department send a letter right away.

They froze the contract and moved to reclaim the five-hundred-thousand-dollar deposit.

I thought that would be the end of it.

At most, Charles's company would go bankrupt, Uncle Frank and Aunt Rita would sell the villa to pay off the debt, and our two families would cut ties.

But I hadn't expected it. Eileen really was sick, and badly.

She actually showed up at my mom's company to make a scene.