Natalie, my boyfriend’s cousin, moved in with him after her divorce. She was heavily pregnant and had a 5-year-old son. She took it for granted that my boyfriend Liam was her support and was unhappy with me. She thought I had stolen her cousin from her. At a family dinner, her son Noah threw his drink at me and shouted: “You can’t steal my daddy!” The sudden incident left everyone stunned. My parents and Liam rushed over to help me wipe the sticky orange juice off my dress. I was still in shock, silently staring at the angry child. He was only five, but his features resembled his mother’s – proper and cute. At that moment, however, his eyes were filled with rage, as if he was a little hero fighting injustice. Natalie came over and pulled him away, casually saying, “Noah, that’s not your dad. That’s your uncle.” She didn’t scold or even reprimand him, just tried to lead him away. My mom was furious. She yelled at Natalie, “Stop right there! Apologize to my daughter! Is this how you raise your child?!” Natalie still wore an indifferent expression, frowning as if we were making a fuss over nothing. “He’s just a little kid. What does he know?” “He may not know better, but surely you do?” I said sternly, my anger ignited. Liam’s parents started trying to smooth things over. But instead of asking them to apologize, they were asking me to be understanding. “Aria, don’t take it so seriously. It’s just a child. Let’s all have a nice time today.” That statement made it sound like I was the one making a scene. This dinner was the first formal meeting between our families, with important relatives from both sides attending. I had even worn a dress I usually saved for special occasions. But Noah’s drink had ruined my $200 dress in an instant. I was really heated up. He hadn’t even apologized. The atmosphere grew tense. At that moment, my nephew grabbed a drink and poured it on Noah. The whole place erupted. Natalie cried out in shock, frantically wiping Noah with napkins while glaring at us. My brother patted his son’s head and threw their words back at them: “He’s just a kid and doesn’t know better. Don’t take it so seriously.” It was a blatant counter-attack. But since it was their own words, they couldn’t argue against it now. Some of my frustration dissipated. Liam pulled Noah over and said sternly: “Apologize to Aria.” “No way!” Seeing even his favorite uncle scolding him, Noah became more convinced I was a bad woman. He ran up and shoved me hard, screaming: “Get out! Get out! I don’t want you as my aunt!!” In my mind, 5-year-olds should be innocent and lively. Why would he harbor such hatred towards others? I couldn’t believe this wasn’t due to his environment. I looked up at Natalie standing nearby. She was still standing there nonchalantly, as if nothing mattered. My parents lost their patience. They got up to leave, saying: “I think it’s better if this relationship ends here!” Liam panicked when he saw us leaving. He grabbed Noah, trying to make him apologize to me. “Liam, is this woman more important than your nephew?!” Natalie hadn’t seemed anxious before, but seeing her son treated roughly, she immediately came over to protect him. Liam’s parents also came to persuade us not to be so harsh on the child. Seeing their attitude, my parents got even angrier. They strode out of the restaurant, pulling me along. This was the first meeting between our families, and it ended so unpleasantly. My parents were still fuming when we got home. But a 10-year relationship isn’t something you can just end on a whim. As adults, we had more to consider, more concerns in our hearts. “Talk to Liam properly and see what happened today.” “I think this boy is quite good, how did he end up with such a problematic family?” Dad nodded in agreement: “And that cousin of his, stirring up trouble while heavily pregnant. I was worried she’d fake an injury if a fight broke out.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Mom poked my forehead: “You still have the heart to laugh? I really think his cousin is strange. Why is she living with them after getting divorced?” “And I got the feeling she really dislikes you, like you’ve stolen something from her.” That was true. I didn’t know much about Liam’s cousin Natalie. I only knew that Liam’s mom adored her younger brother, who had a daughter late in life. So she also doted on her brother’s daughter – Liam’s cousin. I heard from Liam that his cousin grew up with him since childhood, and they were very close. You could say they were like real siblings. That’s why he allowed his cousin to move in after her divorce. Even though Natalie had lost her source of income, she could still live comfortably largely because five people were supporting her. Liam’s uncle and aunt, Liam’s parents, and Liam himself. Perhaps in her mind, she felt that if Liam and I got married, she might suddenly lose four sources of financial support? She still had a 5-year-old son and an unborn child to raise. School and formula – everything costs money. Her ex-husband was useless and loved to fool around, so he wouldn’t give her any money. She could only pin her hopes on her dear cousin’s family. This explanation made sense. No wonder she felt like I had stolen something from her. My phone vibrated with a new message. I opened it to see a long apology from Liam’s mom. She said she was sorry that the first family meeting had gone so badly and felt terrible about it. The message lowered her own stance, and other family members who had been quiet in the family group chat, including Liam’s siblings, also started apologizing. My resentment eased a little. After all, from start to finish, I just wanted his family to show some attitude. Who could feel comfortable with their first visit to the boyfriend’s family going like this? I had just started typing a response saying it was okay when I saw Liam’s uncle apologizing to me too. “Today’s incident was all Noah’s fault, but it’s also our failure as parents for not teaching our child properly.” Then he tagged Natalie, asking her to apologize to me. The group chat suddenly went quiet. A full five minutes passed with no response. I couldn’t believe they couldn’t see each other’s messages while living together. Clearly, their attitude was that they didn’t want to apologize to me. My anger flared up again. I deleted the “let’s all get along” message I had typed in the chat. Another five minutes passed before Natalie finally sent a message: “Sorry about that, Miss Aria. Please be magnanimous.” Then she posted several photos. Without exception, they were all photos of me with a guy, including one where I was smiling radiantly while wearing a Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet. I felt like all the blood in my body had rushed to my head. These photos were ones I had posted on various social media platforms a long time ago. How did she find them?! I felt a sense of shame, as if I had been stripped naked and peeked at. “Miss Aria, you’ve had multiple meals with this man, proving you maintain an intimate relationship. That bracelet on your wrist was given by him too, right? I’ve observed for a long time, and with yours and Liam’s salaries, you couldn’t afford such a bracelet. Based on this evidence, I want to ask – are you this man’s mistress?” People say pregnancy makes you stupid for three years, but I feel she could be stupid for ten years. Bringing unfounded accusations into the family group chat, with such a smug tone. As if she wanted everyone to praise her detective skills. At this point, all I could do was send a smiley face. I had no words to reply. Liam was even more furious than me. He scolded: “What nonsense are you spouting?! This guy is Aria’s cousin. They only meet once a year at family gatherings, which is why she posted the photos. The bracelet was bought by him too. What on earth are you rambling about?! Have you gone mad?!” This was the first time I had seen Liam so angry in our 10 years of dating. He must have been infuriated to the point of spitting blood. Natalie quickly retracted her messages, but the photos couldn’t be deleted and remained in the chat, looking particularly glaring. Everyone in the group started chatting casually, trying to push those images up and out of view. But looking at those photos, I realized Natalie must have been stalking me for more than just a month or two. I post a lot of random thoughts on Twitter. To find these photos, she must have been watching since a year ago. After stalking for so long, she specifically saved these few photos of me dining with another man and wearing an expensive bracelet. Just to accuse me of being a mistress. I was too disgusted to speak, and at the same time, my anger was making me feel physically ill. Liam messaged me at this moment, comforting me not to let this upset me too much. “Our whole family is furious with her. We don’t know what she’s trying to do…” “Babe, don’t be angry. My mom says you should come over in a few days and she’ll apologize to you in person. We really went too far today. Please explain this to your parents first.” I suddenly felt relieved again and sighed: “Let’s not talk about it anymore. It’ll just make them angry again.” Liam had nothing to do with his cousin’s actions. I couldn’t take out my anger at his cousin on him. So I decided to give them one more chance. The next time I went to their house was on a weekend. Liam’s parents lived with his uncle and aunt. The house wasn’t big, but it was crowded with people, making it seem even smaller. Fortunately, his uncle and aunt were at work today, so there were only six people in the house. His cousin sat on the living room sofa watching TV, with Noah beside her. As soon as he saw me, Noah frowned and looked hostile. But he must have been warned, as he just glared at me without any other action. I sat down next to him. Natalie stroked her pregnant belly and questioned me when she saw me sit down: “Why aren’t you helping out? What are you doing sitting here?” “I’m a guest. Why should I help?” She was usually idle at home, but now she had double standards for others. Noah, seeing a new Transformers toy on TV, screamed and pulled his mom’s hand: “Mom, mom, I want to buy this! I want the $38 one!! Buy it for me, buy it for me!!” “Let’s ask uncle to buy it for you later, okay?” Natalie said it so naturally, as if this scene had played out countless times. So Liam was supposed to serve the three of them, huh? But I didn’t get angry. I just continued scrolling on my phone, my expression unchanged. Seeing that I wasn’t reacting, Natalie gently said to Noah: “Noah, you need to be sensible. When your uncle gets a wife someday, he won’t dote on you as much.”
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