My mom was obsessed with doing stand-up. At my wedding reception, she snatched the mic and unleashed a barrage of jokes. “Honestly, I admire my new son-in-law. He’s a quiet, honest man. He knew my daughter wasn’t a virgin, yet he still agreed to marry her!” “I wonder if he’ll be so understanding when he finds out my daughter gives birth to a baby that looks nothing like him?” Immediately, a ripple of shock spread through the hall. My fiancé and his family broke off the engagement on the spot, storming out in a rage. I became the target of everyone’s scrutiny, and no amount of explanation helped. Seeing that she’d completely ruined the happy occasion, my mom grumbled, “Honestly, how narrow-minded! They just don’t understand the art of offense!” My dad, Richard, and my brother, Noah, both nodded in agreement. “Exactly, how can someone with such a narrow mind achieve anything great?” “Good riddance! But we’re not returning the wedding money; it’s for Noah’s future wife.” Only I was left shattered. Under the accusing stares of the crowd, I jumped to my death. When I opened my eyes again, watching my mom, Brenda, spew her nonsense, I gave a cold laugh. The art of offense, huh? I could play that game too!
“First, let me share a little secret with everyone: my daughter hasn’t been a virgin for a long time.” “She’s had more boyfriends than she has fingers!” As I opened my eyes, I heard my mom’s excited, booming voice amplified by the speakers. I suddenly realized I had been reborn, back to the very day of my wedding reception with David! In my previous life, on this exact day, my mom had rushed onto the stage, grabbed the mic, First declaring to hundreds of people that I wasn’t a virgin, Then following up with a dramatic sigh, “Thank goodness she managed to find an honest, simple man to marry her!” Seeing the shocked faces in the audience, she grew more smug and escalated her attacks. She continued to spread rumors that I was pregnant out of wedlock, mocking my fiancé for being a naive man taking on someone else’s baggage. She even hinted that I was promiscuous and had contracted syphilis! I was furious. I stormed onto the stage, telling her to stop her nonsense. But she just widened her eyes and said, with a straight face: “Maya, if you did it, own it. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.” “But these things need to be made clear to your in-laws first, so they don’t accuse our family of tricking them into marriage later!” With those baseless lies, she nailed me to the cross of shame. Just like that, my fiancé and his family were enraged. They broke off the engagement on the spot and stormed off. I crumbled to the floor amidst the gossip, completely broken. After causing all that trouble, my mom still cried innocence. My dad and brother also accused me of making a mountain out of a molehill. Finally, consumed by despair and pain, I couldn’t take it anymore. I rushed out to the balcony and jumped… Reborn, I wouldn’t be so weak this time. I’d make my mom feel the sting of her own words! On stage, my mom was still talking with great animation. All the guests’ complex stares were now on me. Last time, listening to those vile slanders, I wished I could crawl into a hole and die. I frantically rushed onto the stage, desperate to drag her down. But I couldn’t. My struggles only confirmed that what she said must have been true, making me look even more guilty and agitated. Thinking of this. This time, with a calm expression, I asked the emcee for a mic and walked onto the stage.
Seeing my reaction, so different from before, my mom looked surprised, even forgetting to continue her “act.” As the guests saw how composed I was, the buzzing gradually died down. My fiancé David and his family, whose faces had been stiff, slowly relaxed. Just as my mom frowned, realizing this wasn’t going according to her plan, and raised the mic to say something else, I spoke first. ” Brenda Johnson, thanks for trying to liven things up, but this ‘act’ isn’t funny at all.” “How about I be your partner instead?” In her astonished gaze, I turned to the audience and said, unhurriedly, “Actually, the charming person with 99 ex-boyfriends that she just mentioned, is my mom herself.” “My mom, even though she’s almost sixty, still has endless charisma!” “Who knows, maybe some of those uncles she’s charmed are sitting right here in the audience!” As I spoke, I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my mom’s TikTok account, listing off several IDs that had frequently liked her posts and left flirty comments, along with the names of a few older men from her regular dance group who were very close to her. “‘LoveNoTrace,’ ‘FatedLover,’ ‘BigPotential,’ are you here for the wedding today?” “And Mr. Peterson, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Johnson from the dance group, are you all here?!” Suddenly, all eyes turned to the table where the dance group sat. Those older men, who usually loved to chime in with my mom and gossip about me, hastily lowered their heads. Meanwhile, my dad, Richard, sitting below, had a face as dark as thunder. My mom was dumbfounded. It took her a while to snap out of it, her face burning red as she snatched my phone, yelling, “You brat, what nonsense are you spewing?!” I smiled. “Mom, and you said you love stand-up! Now you understand, don’t you?” “Stand-up, you see, it’s an ‘art of offense’!” It was the first time she’d been shut down by me. My mom forced a smile, seething with anger, and stepped down. Her murky eyes fixed ominously on my face, she gnashed her teeth, “Well, Maya, you’ve really grown up, haven’t you? You’ve grown wings and become defiant!” See? Some lessons you only learn the hard way. But when the knife falls on them, they’ll know the pain. For as long as I could remember, my mom loved putting on a “stand-up routine.” Whenever inspiration struck, whether it was in the neighborhood, the park, or the square, as long as there was an audience, anywhere became her stage. The only constant was that her target was always me. The more sensational the effect, the more excited she got. The more publicly humiliated I was, the more triumphant she became. At parent-teacher conferences, she spread rumors that I badmouthed teachers behind their backs. When I accidentally fell and bruised my legs, she said my private life was too wild. When David and I planned to get our marriage license a bit later, she said my in-laws disliked me. When I was taking medication for my health, she said I was treating infertility. She even boasted to relatives that I couldn’t have children because I’d had too many abortions… One shocking declaration after another left me mortified and scorned. I couldn’t even stand up straight from the shame. After countless breakdowns, I finally exploded, screaming and smashing everything I could get my hands on at home! But my mom just widened her eyes, fiercely poking my forehead, absolutely furious. “Why are you always so dramatic?!” “If you’re so sensitive, then what about all the comedians who make fun of their partners? Do you think they’d still be alive? Go ask any professional comedian if they’d mind!” My dad and brother looked impatient, chiming in to criticize me. “You’re just too precious. Does being talked about a little make you lose weight or something?” “Yeah, wait until Mom makes it big on a national comedy show, then you’ll regret it!” And so, insecurity and hypersensitivity accompanied my entire childhood. It wasn’t until later, when I went thousands of miles away for college and met my emotionally stable husband, That I could finally hide my scars and live somewhat like a normal person…
Back to reality. Knowing my mom, she wouldn’t let things go easily after being outmaneuvered. Sure enough, during the toast, she spoke to my in-laws, her voice as loud as a bell, “Oh, I truly have nothing but good things to say about David!” “Although I don’t approve of getting pregnant before marriage, or having to rush a wedding…” “But for you to accept that Maya contracted syphilis, that truly shows responsibility!” Whoosh. The surroundings fell silent. Everyone’s ears perked up, their expressions a mix of gossip and surprise as they stared. My in-laws, who had been smiling warmly, instantly changed their expressions. My fiancé David stared at my flat stomach in disbelief! I took a deep breath. ” Brenda, the stand-up portion is over. Please stop making such jokes.” David also snapped back to reality, shielding me. “That’s right, Brenda. Even if you’re trying to rush us to have kids, don’t joke like that.” “Maya and I aren’t in a hurry to have a baby.” “You didn’t know she was pregnant?” My mom didn’t take the hint. Instead, realizing David’s “ignorance,” she brightened, instantly raising her voice excitedly. “Could it be that the child isn’t even yours?!” Seeing David’s face stiffen, the buzzing around us growing louder, and my in-laws’ expressions becoming increasingly grim, her eyes lit up even more, her mood soaring. “My goodness! My poor David, aren’t you being a naive man taking on someone else’s baggage?!” “That’s enough, Brenda Johnson!” I couldn’t hold back anymore, sharply shouting, “How can you say such things?!” “First pregnancy, then syphilis! What kind of mother spreads rumors about her own child?!” At that, my dad immediately bristled. “Maya, how dare you talk to your mother like that?! Show some respect!” At this point, many relatives who had watched me grow up began to speak up for me, interjecting with advice. “Brenda, it’s Maya’s big day today. Stop talking nonsense.” “That’s right, you can eat anything you want, but you can’t just spread rumors about someone having a disease!” This really got my mom riled up. She yelled at the top of her lungs, stomping her foot, “Look at what you’re all saying! I’m her mother; would I ever wrongly accuse her?!” “Fine, then let me show you all what these are!” Saying that, she frantically pulled out several photos from her phone! Everyone craned their necks to see. She had captured me frequently entering and exiting the hospital’s obstetrics department. She had photographed a stack of appointment slips and a tube of syphilis medication in my drawer. She had images of my phone, showing my online inquiries about syphilis. She had even hastily taken pictures of a pregnancy test result and a syphilis diagnosis report on my phone! At this point, my mom stood with her hands on her hips, looking triumphantly at me. I stood there, dazed, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over me. I never thought she would secretly follow me, or even go through my drawer and phone!
With undeniable evidence laid out, everyone exchanged glances, forced to believe the facts. “This… you really never know someone’s true nature!” “Her private life is so messy… this is truly disgraceful!” “If it were my daughter, I would have disowned her by now!” “The most pitiful ones are the groom’s family; they almost got tricked!” Amidst the murmuring. David’s face was livid, his eyes full of disappointment and suppressed anger, his voice trembling. “Maya, is all of this true?!” But I desperately clung to his hand, refusing to admit anything. Seeing this, the old witch urgently added more fuel to the fire. “It’s too late to argue now, I have witnesses!” “The entire dance team saw you leaving the hospital that day, carrying a folder.” “And Dr. Miller, you’re a doctor, tell them, did I fake these reports?” The older men and women from the dance team hastily nodded their heads in confirmation. Dr. Miller also gave me a troubled look. “The reports… they are genuine.” With this irrefutable evidence, Brenda spoke with even more conviction. “See? She really is that kind of person! I haven’t wronged her one bit!” I became the target of everyone’s scrutiny, enduring their pointing fingers. At this moment, I clenched my fists and looked at Richard and Noah, who had been mostly silent, asking in a trembling voice, ” Richard, Noah, you know me well. What do you say?” The two exchanged a glance, then quickly looked away. “I don’t understand all this nonsense between you and your mother.” Richard spoke first, his tone impatient. “But Maya, if you want to argue, argue. If the wedding can proceed, fine. If not, then just cancel it.” “There’s no need to argue with your mother here and make a spectacle for everyone!” As soon as he finished, Noah also gave a strange look around the room. Seeing Chloe’s family present, and clearly not wanting to escalate things further, he quickly chimed in, ill-temperedly, “That’s right, Maya, stop causing trouble!” “These aren’t big deals. You can talk about whatever you need to with David behind closed doors.” “Why do you have to pick a fight with Mom here?” Suddenly, a massive sense of absurdity washed over me from head to toe. I laughed humorlessly. “Small matters? She’s practically trying to kill me, and you call that a small matter?!” “All these years, you two knew full well who was right and who was wrong, yet you always pretended to be ignorant, even helping her bully me.” “If she’s the murderer who killed me, then you two are her blatant accomplices!” Those words hit a nerve with Richard. He slammed his hand down on the table and stood up. “You’ve gone too far!” He glared at me, raising his hand to strike! Brenda, watching from the side, looked utterly gleeful, practically clapping her hands. I covered my burning cheek, my heart sinking in despair. My last shred of hope for my so-called family was completely shattered. If that’s how it was, then let’s all go to hell together! Taking a deep breath, I slowly calmed my racing chest, and nodded peacefully. “You’re right, things need to be cleared up.” “But the pictures Brenda just showed aren’t complete. Let me do it.” With that, I took out my own phone and projected the stored files onto the large screens placed throughout the banquet hall!
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