Mother-in-Law Brought Relatives to Split My Savings, So I Canceled the Wedding

1: 1

When the wedding car reached the edge of town, I saw my future mother-in-law standing there, with my husband's relatives gathered around her.

The moment she saw me, she flagged the car down.

At the same time, she pulled out a document and held it out to me.

Lavinia Dickerson, you've married into my family now, so let me lay out the rules of this house for you!

"Around here we have a custom. The savings you bring into the marriage have to be handed over and split among the relatives!"

"Keith Henson told me you brought a million dollars!"

"That's two hundred thousand per family!"

"And this is a document you need to sign!"

"You're our daughter-in-law now, so every cent you earn belongs to this family!"

"That's not up for discussion!"

I looked at the document she was holding out. It didn't just require me to handle three meals a day for the whole family, it listed every obligation I was supposed to fulfill.

The real point was this: if I fell short in anything, they could fine me for it.

Even the company shares my father had handed to me before the marriage were supposed to go to my husband's family.

I turned to look at Keith, hoping he'd say something for me, but he just kept his head down and said nothing.

Looking at him, I knew this so-called document was something the whole family had planned out long ago.

"There's no reason for me to hand my money out to anyone. And what is this, has your family gone broke? Demanding money from me right to my face!"

"Lavinia, my mom's only teasing you. Why say something so harsh?"

The words had barely left my mouth when Keith, beside me, jumped in quickly: "Everyone's just joking with you!"

"This is just a little ritual we have around here!"

"Every new bride has to get through it!"

He looked at me and hurried on: "Just apologize to my mom now, then take out your savings and split it among my relatives, that's all!"

"And this agreement, all you have to do is sign it!"

"I'm your husband. Don't you know me by now?"

He looked at me and said, "How could I ever be scheming for your money?"

"Signing this agreement won't affect you at all!"

His words came out rushed and frantic, but listening to Keith, I laughed in anger.

I hadn't imagined Keith could actually say these things.

I looked at him now, my eyes full of disappointment.

"Keith, this is not something I'll ever agree to!"

I fixed my cold gaze on him. "And besides, who takes a wife and blocks her at the edge of town, then forces her to sign an agreement like this!"

The moment he heard that, his face changed.

"Lavinia, I already explained it to you!"

"It's just going through the motions. Once you sign it, my parents can hold their heads up in front of relatives, friends, and the whole town!"

"It takes you a second to sign your name. Why won't you do it?"

As he said it, his eyes went stern, fixed on me. "Hurry, sign it!"

"If we miss the auspicious hour, that'll look even worse!"

And with that, he moved to yank me down out of the car.

Feeling the force of his grip pulling at me, along with the way he looked right now, I already understood everything.

Keith had no idea, but he was a bad liar. Whenever he lied, his face went red to the ears in front of me.

Just like now.

"Keith, there's no way I'm signing this. And that money I brought into this marriage, there's no way I'm splitting it among those relatives of yours!"

2: 2

My voice was ice, and my eyes carried something angrier still as I looked at Keith.

In all the years I'd known Keith, he had treated me with nothing but care. I really had believed I was marrying for love.

So even when his family told me there wouldn't be much of a bride price, I could accept that.

After all, my own family's circumstances spoke for themselves.

My father had given me a good number of shares in the company, and the dividends alone came to a great deal every year.

I wasn't short of money at all.

All I wanted was for Keith to treat me well.

And yet my willingness to compromise had only made this whole family think I was easy to push around.

They'd even started calculating how to get their hands on my wedding savings.

Everyone knows that money belongs to the bride herself.

But this family actually wanted me to divide up my own money right here at the edge of town.

Not only that, they wanted me to sign an agreement too.

That agreement was so outrageous it turned my whole sense of right and wrong upside down.

"Keith, why are you still explaining anything to her!"

Seeing Keith still trying to pull me out of the car, his mother's eyes went cold at once as she looked at me. "Lavinia, let me tell you something!"

"You and my son are legally husband and wife now!"

"My son is your husband!"

"You don't understand that a wife obeys her husband?"

"Whatever my son tells you to do, you do it!"

Her voice was cold, laced with threat. "You're one of our family now. What are you putting on airs for?"

"This money belongs to our family!"

She pointed at the trunk. "Right now, it's not up to you whether you agree or not!"

"Somebody get the case down here. We're splitting the money now!"

The words were barely out before Kate rushed straight for the trunk, ready to haul out my dowry.

I watched it happen, my eyes going wide.

Then I turned to Keith.

"Keith, this is what you told me was just going through the motions?"

"Your mother is splitting up my dowry right now!"

I stared at him, a chill sliding into my voice.

At the same time, I turned to look behind us.

I'd married into this family, and this was the lead car, but behind the lead car were the people from the wedding planning company.

They were still filming, and this family already dared to rob me this openly, before the marriage was even done?

I looked at Keith. He chose that moment to grab hold of me and say, "Lavinia, this is how we do things around here!"

"And to you, this bit of money is nothing anyway!"

When those words landed, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Keith, this is robbery!"

My voice was ice as I looked at him. "If you keep this up, my only choice is to call the police!"

The moment I said it, Keith's face changed.

His eyes fixed on me, hard, and his voice took on an edge of impatience.

"Lavinia, I'm your husband!"

"I have the right to dispose of your money too!"

"Calling the police won't get you anywhere!"

"And besides, my mother is your elder!"

"So you give a little ground to my mother. What's wrong with that?"

The moment he said it, something in me died.

I knew that if I gave in today, this family would have me trapped in their schemes for the rest of my life.

"Keith, in that case, this marriage doesn't have to happen at all!"

"I'm going home right now!"

3: 3

The words had barely left my mouth when Keith's eyes went wide.

He stared at me, fury bleeding into his gaze. "Lavinia, what did you just say?"

"You're not getting married?"

"My whole family's been busting our backs all this time, and now, at this exact moment, you tell me you're not getting married?"

His face was ugly, his voice ice-cold, his eyes glaring at me with real venom. "Do you even know what you're saying?"

"And so what if my mom took a cut of your money?"

I let out a cold laugh. I couldn't be bothered to keep talking to Keith.

I'd seen through all of it now.

From beginning to end, Keith had been scheming to use me.

Every kindness he'd ever shown me was only because he'd thought I was easy to handle.

If that was how it was, then I had nothing left to say to him.

"Keith. Tell your mother to put that money down right now, or I'm calling the police."

They'd already popped the trunk and pulled out my dowry. I grabbed my phone and looked straight at Keith as I spoke.

The instant the words were out, Keith snatched the phone from my hand.

The moment he had it, he hurled it out the window.

I watched the phone shatter to pieces in front of me, and my mind went blank.

I hadn't thought he'd actually dare to grab my phone at a time like this.

I lifted my head and saw Keith's furious face.

"Lavinia, let me tell you something!"

"The banquet's already set up back in the village!"

"You think you can call off the wedding on me now? You really think that's possible?"

"Get out of this car. Right now!"

His voice was ice. "And another thing. My mom already said it. You have to sign this document!"

He jabbed a finger at the papers in his hand. "You sign it, and we go ahead with the wedding!"

I stared blankly at Keith, and then a faint laugh slipped out of me.

He seemed to have forgotten. My phone was smashed, sure, but the photographer and the wedding planning company were still here.

And on top of that, the man driving this car was still my father's driver.

I turned and shot the driver a look, and he caught it at once.

He had his phone in his hand, and a message had already gone out.

At the same time, he shoved himself up, threw open the car door, and yanked Keith out fast.

The next second, Keith was hauled out of the car by the driver.

Before Keith could react, the driver slammed the door and locked it.

Then he climbed back in himself.

"Miss, I've already alerted the master. They'll be here any minute!"

The driver sat in the car and looked at me as he spoke.

His eyes kept drifting outside on their own.

Right now the wedding cars were bunched up at the mouth of the village. Even if he wanted to back out, there was no room to do it.

But I let out a breath.

I was the only one in the car now.

And with things already gone this far, I wasn't panicking anymore.

I turned and looked at Keith, face gone gray-green, standing outside the car. He was staring at me, eyes cold, pounding on the door.

"Lavinia, get out of this car!"

His voice was loud, thick with a fury that left no room for argument.

And I just sat there in the car and watched.

The driver had locked the doors. For now, I was safe.

Hearing the noise, Kate came rushing over. She wanted to pull the door open and drag me out too, only to find it locked tight.

She started slamming on the door in a panic.

"Lavinia, get out of this car right now! You'll miss the auspicious hour, and that's on you!"

4: 4

I just sat there in the car, watching them coldly.

And at the same time, I let out a breath.

Keith's relatives had already surrounded my car, but since the driver had locked the trunk, they hadn't been able to get at my wedding savings.

Besides, after all this, I had no intention whatsoever of marrying Keith.

They'd hemmed the car in on every side, so there was no way for us to leave either.

I'd thought all I had to do was sit tight and wait for my father to come.

But it never crossed my mind that they'd grab rocks from the roadside and start smashing at the car windows.

Watching it happen, I froze for a moment, then turned to look at Keith and the crazed look on his face.

Looking at him, all I felt was a bitter ache.

I'd thought he was the man who would be my support, who would take care of me. I never imagined he'd turn out to be someone like this.

By now, whatever I'd once felt for Keith was long gone.

"Lavinia, get out of this car right now!"

"You came here to marry me, and now you're saying you won't?"

"My family went to all this trouble, the whole town is watching, and now you're telling me you don't want to go through with it?"

Kate pounded at the window with a rock in her hand, screaming at me the whole time.

The driver told me the windows were made of specially reinforced glass, that they wouldn't break easily, so I should stay calm.

He also told me my father was already on his way with bodyguards.

Listening to him, I let out a breath.

But this family still wouldn't give up. Keith kept slamming away at my window.

Looking at him, I said flatly, "Keith, we're finished."

"There's no way I'm marrying you now."

I looked at Keith as I said it.

The moment he heard me, his face changed.

Keith stared at me, hard.

His eyes were full of rage.

Then he burst out, "Lavinia, you'd better think this through!"

"We've both come this far, and now you're saying you won't marry me?"

"You think I'm going to let you walk away?"

His voice went cold. "My village is right here. You're already at the edge of town, and now you're telling me you won't marry me?"

"There's no way I'm letting you leave."

When he said that, I couldn't help but smile.

His half-threat meant nothing to me.

He couldn't even get the wedding car's window open.

Seeing that I wouldn't budge, the crowd of family behind Keith suddenly shouted, "Flip the car over!"

"Flip it over and see if she comes out then!"

At that, a good number of the villagers started trying to tip our car.

There were so many of them that the car rocked back and forth.

Sitting there, my face had already changed.

I understood that once the car was flipped over, I'd have no choice but to come out.

And this family would never let me go if I did.

I quickly grabbed the driver's phone and called my father.

"Dad, they're about to flip the whole car over!"

On the other end came his steady voice. "Lavinia, don't worry. I'm almost there."

He hung up as soon as he'd said it, and I let out a breath.

Even with the car already being hoisted up by a mob of reckless villagers, I still wasn't afraid.

Because my father would be here any second.

Just as my car was about to go over, several cars screeched to a stop at the edge of town, and a group of men climbed out with clubs in hand and charged straight at the villagers.

I heard my father's voice too.

"Hit them hard, every last one who dares to bully my daughter!"