She lowered herself in the message, and soon, others in the family group chat, including the cousins who had been silent for a long time, started apologizing as well.
My frustration eased a little. All I had wanted from the beginning was for their family to take a stand. Anyone would feel uncomfortable if they were treated like this.
I had just typed a bunch of words to indicate that it was alright when I saw that Charles’ uncle also apologized to me. [Whatever happened today was all Georgie’s fault, but we, as elders, have also failed to properly educate our child.]
Then, he tagged Selene and told her to apologize to me.
The group chat immediately fell silent. For five whole minutes, no one responded. Selene’s silence clearly showed that she did not want to apologize to me.
My anger flared up again, and I immediately deleted the message I had typed out about “everyone getting along peacefully”.
Another five minutes passed before Selene finally sent a message: [Sorry, Miss White. Please forgive me for my ignorance.]
Then, she sent a few photos. They were all photos of me with a guy. In one of them, I was wearing a Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet, smiling brightly.
I instantly felt the blood rush to my head. These photos were ones I had posted a long time ago on various social media platforms. How did she find them?!
I felt humiliated, as if I had been stripped and watched in secret.
She continued: [Miss White, you’ve dined with this man multiple times, which proves you have a close relationship. The bracelet you’re wearing in these photos was also a gift from him, right? I’ve been looking into you, and with your and Charles’ salaries, you wouldn’t be able to afford this bracelet. So, my question is—are you his mistress?]
They said a woman became foolish during pregnancy, but I felt like her foolishness knew no bounds.
For her to bring something entirely baseless into the family group chat and speak with such a smug tone, it was as if she wanted everyone to praise her for being some kind of great detective.
At that moment, all I could do was send a smiling emoji because I had nothing else to say in response. Charles, however, was even angrier than I was. He snapped: [What are you talking about?! This man is Celia’s cousin. The photos were taken after a rare family gathering that happens each year. He was the one who bought that bracelet. What are you even babbling about?! Are you crazy?!]
Charles and I had been together for ten years, and it was the first time I had ever seen him this furious. I figured he was so mad that his blood was boiling.
Selene quickly retracted the message, but the photos she had sent could not be retracted. They remained in the chat, standing out like a sore thumb.
Everyone in the group chat began to pretend to chat casually, trying to push those photos up and out of sight. I just stared at those photos as it had became clear to me that Selene had been stalking me for more than just a month or two.
I posted a lot of random thoughts on Facebook, and I set my posts to be visible only for the past six months. For her to find these photos, she had to have been stalking me for at least a year.
She had been lurking for so long, and yet the only photos she saved were the ones of me dining with another man and wearing an expensive bracelet. She saved them just to accuse me of being a mistress.
I was disgusted to the point of being speechless, and at the same time, my anger was burning inside me.
At that moment, Charles sent me a message, trying to comfort me. He told me not to let this matter ruin my health.
[She’s about to drive my entire family crazy. We don’t even know what she’s up to… Baby, don’t be angry. My mom said that when you come over in a few days, she’ll apologize to you in person. Today was really too much, and we’ll handle it. You should tell your parents about this.]
I felt a sense of relief wash over me. I sighed.
[I’d rather not say anything. It’ll just make them angry again.]
Charles had nothing to do with his cousin’s actions, and I could not just redirect my frustration at him. So, I decided to give them one more chance.
…
The next time I visited their house was on the weekend.
Charles’ parents and his uncle and aunt all lived together. The house was not big, but it was crammed with people, making it feel even smaller. The air was thick and suffocating.
Luckily, his uncle and aunt were at work today, so there were only six people in the house.
Selene was sitting upright on the couch in the living room, watching TV. Next to her was Georgie, who immediately frowned and glared at me when he saw me. He must have received a warning, however, as he did not do anything other than stare at me.
I sat down next to her.
Selene rubbed her large belly, looked at me, and asked, “Why aren’t you helping out? Why are you just sitting here?”
“I’m a guest. What am I supposed to help with?”
She lazed around at home all the time, but when it came to others, she had double standards.
Beside us, Georgie saw a new transforming toy on the TV and pulled on Selene’s hand as he yelled, “Mom, Mom, I want this! I want this 388-dollar toy! Buy it for me, buy it for me!”
“Wait a minute. We’ll get Uncle Charles to buy it for you, okay?” Selene said calmly as if this was something that happened often.
Charles seemed to be at her beck and call, but I wasn’t angry. I kept scrolling through my phone without changing my expression.
Seeing that I was not upset, Selene said softly to Georgie, “Georgie, you need to be more considerate. When you have an aunt, your uncle won’t spoil you so much anymore.”
