During the Christmas holidays, my niece cut up my new dress. She looked at me with innocent eyes and said, “Aunt Rachel, I just wanted to make clothes for my doll. You won’t be mad at me, will you?” I handed her a gift: “Good girl, you did well. This is your reward.” Later, she destroyed a dress worth $30,000 at the mall. I hadn’t been back to my parents’ house for two years, not for any other reason, but because I was afraid of my spoiled and domineering little niece. I still remember the last time, when my eight-year-old niece destroyed all my makeup. She used lipstick as a paintbrush, smearing foundation and face cream everywhere. Not only that, but she also grabbed my phone and snatched my collectible figurines from the cabinet. Unable to bear it any longer, I shouted at the child. To my surprise, at such a young age, she played the victim, saying I bullied her. When my brother and sister-in-law found out, they didn’t do anything about it, just saying, “Rachel, your niece is still young, don’t take it personally.” My mom also sided with her little granddaughter: “Instead of buying all that makeup, you should give your niece some pocket money.” That day, I was furious. I didn’t go home for two years out of anger. Before the holidays this year, my mom made several FaceTime calls, promising that she wouldn’t let my niece touch any of my things again. Most importantly, she said she hadn’t been feeling well these past two years and wanted me to keep her company. My heart softened, and I bought a ticket home, taking a two-day train ride to get there.
Having learned from past experience, I locked all my expensive items in a suitcase and kept my phone with me at all times. After my brother and sister-in-law came in with their child, they let her run wild. My niece, who was already ten years old, showed no manners at all. Her first words to my mom weren’t a greeting, but rather she stretched out her hand, looking like she was demanding payment. My mom still smiled and took out some money, praising her: “My little Lily has grown up and become more beautiful.” Lily made a face, stuck out her tongue, and ran away. Sitting nearby, I felt very uncomfortable and said a few words. “Mom, you’re spoiling her too much. Look at her arrogant attitude, it’s clearly a lack of manners!” My mom waved her hand dismissively: “Lily is still young, she’ll get better as she grows up.” “She’s already ten years old, how is that still young? Besides, this is a basic education issue. If you don’t manage it now, it’ll be even harder to manage later.” “We’re all family, why do we need so many rules?” Just then, my sister-in-law Karen came out of the bathroom and heard our conversation. She took a couple of tissues to wipe her hands, then crumpled them into a ball and threw it in front of me. “Rachel, you’re not still holding a grudge about Lily ruining your lipstick last time, are you?” I cleared my throat and said, “Karen, I’m not dwelling on what happened last time. It’s just that Lily is so big now, and she’s a girl. She should be taught manners.” Karen frowned, the lines on her recently treated eyebrows not fully faded, making her look somewhat comical. “What does being a girl have to do with it? You’re a girl too. The internet says those old-fashioned rules are not good. Don’t tell me you’ve become foolish from too much studying.” “Karen, that’s not what I meant. Lily’s behavior really needs to be restrained.” “Our Lily is a good student in her class. We don’t need you to tell us how to educate her.” With that, she grabbed a bag of chips and started eating, giving me a side-eye. I wasn’t annoyed. I took out my chat history with a friend and showed it to my mom: “Mom, my friend is actually Lily’s math teacher. She told me that every child in the class gets a ‘good student’ award.” My mom held back a laugh and patted my thigh: “Well, that proves our Lily is no worse than other kids.” Karen quickly agreed: “That’s right, Rachel, don’t make trouble out of nothing.” What a joke, speaking the truth is making trouble? I was about to say something when my mom patted my thigh again. Fine, there’s no point talking to them. Since that’s the case, I’ll keep quiet.
At the dinner table, my parents, brother and sister-in-law, and a few other relatives were all present. Lily was poking around her plate with her fork, and soon a plate of salad was covered in her saliva. She pouted and threw down her fork: “Hmph, I don’t like salad. I want to eat barbecue.” Karen gave her a piece of barbecue, smiling and coaxing: “Sweetie, try the beef your grandma grilled.” Lily took one bite and immediately spat it out, complaining: “Yuck, it tastes awful. It’s not as good as what you make, Mom.” You should know that my mom and I had been busy in the kitchen all morning, with no one coming to help. Karen sat in the living room eating chips and watching TV, doing nothing, claiming she couldn’t touch water because of her newly done nails. I smiled and moved the plate of barbecue to my side. “Since Lily doesn’t like it, Aunt Rachel will eat it.” Saying that, I distributed the barbecue to the elders. They all praised: “It’s really good.” “Even better than what you get in restaurants.” Karen’s face instantly darkened, and she kept quiet, eating her food. Not long after, Lily insisted on taking my brother’s phone to play games. My brother angrily scolded: “I told you not to play with my phone, why don’t you ever listen!” Karen pounded on my brother’s chest, yelling: “You play on your phone all day, who knows what kind of floozy you’re hooking up with!” “Karen, you’re asking for a beating…” “Come on then, hit me. If you have the guts, hit me to death.” My brother was about to hit her, and seeing the situation was getting out of hand, everyone rushed to mediate. As the two of them argued, hurling insults back and forth, Lily had disappeared. Maybe the little girl was hiding somewhere to play. Anyway, my makeup and phone were all locked up, she wouldn’t be able to find them. The two eventually backed down under the persuasion of the relatives to “talk it out,” and finally quieted down. In the afternoon, after the guests left, I wanted to go back to my room for a nap. When I opened the door, I felt like I was about to explode with anger!
Lily was holding scissors in her hand, and next to her was my new dress, which had been cut beyond recognition. It was originally hanging in the closet, and I was planning to wear it to a friend’s gathering tomorrow. Now it had been cut into a sieve by this little devil. I was so angry I could have ground my teeth to dust. This dress cost me nearly three hundred dollars, and now she had cut it into rags. I clenched my fists, my body shaking with anger. Just as I was about to burst out in a rage, I met Lily’s pair of innocent, bright eyes. She looked up and called me for the first time since coming in: “Aunt Rachel, I wanted to make clothes for my doll. You won’t be mad at me, will you?” As she spoke, she held up the doll she had clumsily stitched together. The fabric of my poor dress had suffered such a cruel fate. I wasn’t resigned, really not resigned. This child, though young, was very manipulative. If I shouted now that she had cut up my dress, not only would I not get compensation and an apology from my brother and sister-in-law, but my parents would also side with her. Seeing that I didn’t speak, Lily tugged at my pant leg, tears welling up in her eyes: “Aunt Rachel, are you angry?” “It’s just a dress, I’ll pay you back when I grow up.” “Aunt Rachel, Mom says you earn a lot of money at work. You wouldn’t make things difficult for a little kid like me, would you?” I smiled. This child was quite good at emotional blackmail. What kind of thoughts had her mother been instilling in her? Since family education couldn’t teach her, let society do it then. Sooner or later, she would pay the price she deserved. I shook my head, picked her up and put her on the bed, took the crooked doll she had sewn, and only praised: “Lily is so clever, this doll is very beautiful, a thousand times better than me.” Saying this, I took out a bill from my pocket. “Lily, your doll is so beautiful, Aunt Rachel wants to reward you with some pocket money.” “Thank you, Aunt Rachel!” Lily snatched the money and ran to the living room, abandoning the doll. “Mom, look!” Lily proudly handed the bill to Karen. Karen was delighted when she saw it. She stroked Lily’s head: “It’s all because Lily is so likable that your Aunt Rachel gave you so much pocket money.” I stood in place, smiling imperceptibly, clutching the doll tightly in my hand.
Two days later, Karen came home crying, followed by my dejected brother and a bewildered Lily. “Karen, what’s wrong? Didn’t you go out shopping?” my mom asked. “Mom, we can’t go on living like this,” Karen sobbed, barely able to catch her breath. “Lily cut up more than a dozen dresses at the mall, and they’re asking us to pay $30,000 in compensation.” As she spoke, she took out a sales receipt from her bag. The price of each dress was over a thousand dollars. I was so shocked I covered my mouth, though actually, my smile was reaching the sky. Serves them right. Let them face the consequences of not disciplining their daughter properly. My mom nearly fainted, at a loss for what to do. She grabbed my hand: “Rachel, what should we do now?” “Sigh,” I said helplessly, “It’s reasonable for the mall to ask for compensation when their clothes are damaged.” “How could you let the child cut up the clothes in the mall?” I frowned, adding a bit of fuel to the fire. My brother was already furious about this incident, and Karen was crying loudly beside him. Unable to contain his temper, he smashed a teacup: “All you know is how to cry! You didn’t watch the child properly, just chatting with others. Now look what’s happened, they want you to pay $30,000!” Karen, unwilling to back down, also smashed a teacup: “You have the nerve to blame me? As soon as we entered the mall, you disappeared. I called you ten times when the incident happened, and you were always on the phone. What exactly were you doing? You know very well!” “I was contacting clients for business. How else do you think we make money to support the family!” “Stop using work as an excuse to fool me. You were just hooking up with that floozy. Don’t think I don’t know.” The two were about to get physical again. I had to pull my mom away to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Lily, completely unaware that she had done anything wrong, grabbed some cookies from my room and started eating. In the end, I had to step in to resolve this war. Karen had been slapped, her hairstyle was a mess, and her newly done nails were all ruined. My brother was more severely injured, his face covered in bruises, with a black eye and a bleeding nose. I took the sales receipt and said, “Why don’t we ask the police to mediate?” My brother held his head in his hands, his face full of worry: “This is the price they gave after negotiation. The mediation document is right here.” According to my brother, when Lily was caught in the act by the mall staff, Karen immediately threw a tantrum, pulling out several strands of the saleswoman’s hair. After the mall manager called the police, Karen initially refused to admit it was Lily who did it. The police checked the surveillance footage, and the evidence was conclusive. The mall manager took a firm stance, demanding compensation at the original price. I asked Lily, “Why did you cut up their dresses?” Lily raised her little face defiantly and said, “The girls in my class said I have a talent for design. The dresses in the mall were too ugly, so I wanted to improve them.”
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294657”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring #重生Reborn #校园School #惊悚Thriller #魔幻Magic
Leave a Reply