Chapter 765: Daughter-In-Law
Chapter 765: Chapter 765: Daughter-In-Law
Hearing those words, Ron simply closed his eyes and pretended that he hadn’t heard anything at all.
His breathing became steady as though he had already fallen asleep. Seeing that obvious act, Asher gritted his teeth in frustration.
‘This little brat…’
After staring at Ron for several seconds, he finally snorted before turning around and leaving the room.
Meanwhile, Danielle was in an exceptionally good mood.
The generous bonus she had just earned made her feel as though even the gloomy sky looked brighter.
A faint smile remained on her face all the way back home.
However, the moment she arrived outside her house, that smile disappeared instantly.
Standing near the entrance were Mason’s parents.
Margaret and Jonah. Both of them were already elderly.
Margaret was around sixty-five years old, while Jonah was nearly seventy.
The two old people stood outside her home with pitiful expressions, occasionally pacing back and forth as if they had been waiting for quite some time.
Their clothes were torn, and if one didn’t know better, they would think that these two people were beggars.
Danielle instinctively frowned. ‘Why are they here?’
She tried to walk past them without paying any attention.
Unfortunately, Margaret quickly stepped forward and blocked her path.
“Oh, Danielle!”
Her face immediately lit up with what appeared to be excitement.
“My dear Danielle!”
She clasped both of Danielle’s hands. “I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to find you today.”
Danielle calmly pulled her hands back. “What is it, Margaret?”
Her voice remained completely indifferent. “I don’t understand why you’re here.”
She glanced at both of them. “Shouldn’t you two be staying at your own house?”
Margaret’s expression instantly became sorrowful. She even forced a few tears into her eyes. “Danielle…”
Her voice trembled pitifully. “How can you speak to your mother-in-law like that?”
Danielle paused. Then she frowned. “Mother-in-law?”
Margaret nodded repeatedly. “That’s right.”
Beside her, Jonah immediately joined in. “Yes. You are still our daughter-in-law.”
He looked at her with an expression full of disappointment.
“What happened between you and Mason was entirely his fault.”
He slowly lowered his head.
“But that doesn’t change the fact that you’ve spent so many years taking care of us.”
Margaret immediately continued, “We’ve thought about everything carefully.”
She reached into the cloth bag she was carrying.
“We’re here because we want to make amends.”
She slowly took out a beautifully wrapped wooden box and handed it toward Danielle.
“This…” Her voice became softer. “…contains all of our life’s savings. We know how much you’ve sacrificed for us. We’re truly grateful. So how about this?”
She tightly held the box with trembling hands.
“We’ll come live with you. We’ll work like servants. We’ll spend the rest of our lives making up for everything our son did to you.”
Hearing those words, Danielle couldn’t help but laugh. The sound wasn’t warm; it was cold, almost mocking.
‘If I didn’t know these two old foxes…’
She looked at them quietly. ‘…I might have actually fallen into their trap.’
Nobody knew them better than she did.
They had always been experts at painting beautiful pictures with sweet words.
In reality, they only wanted someone they could continue exploiting.
Taking a slow breath, Danielle looked at them expressionlessly. “Please leave.”
Her voice became colder. “Before I have to resort to violence.”
The instant those words were spoken, both Margaret and Jonah looked terrified.
“What are you talking about?”
Margaret covered her mouth dramatically; her entire body trembled. “Child…”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“We’re your father-in-law and mother-in-law. How could you threaten us like this?”
Because Margaret deliberately spoke loudly, many nearby residents gradually gathered around.
Soon, a small crowd had formed. People began whispering among themselves.
“What happened?”
“It looks like her in-laws came here to apologize.”
“But why is she treating them like this?”
Someone else frowned.
“Didn’t they mention repaying the wrongs they committed?”
“What exactly happened?”
Listening to all those whispers, Danielle immediately realized something.
‘If I don’t explain everything now…’
She narrowed her eyes. ‘…these two old foxes will climb onto my head and dance.’
She slowly turned toward the crowd. “Please. I hope all of you can be my witnesses.”
With that, she calmly explained everything from beginning to end. She hid nothing.
By the time she finished speaking, the entire area had become strangely quiet.
Margaret, however, merely smiled bitterly. “So, child…”
She gently pushed the wooden box toward Danielle again.
“We’re here precisely because we want to make up for those mistakes. Please accept this money. We’ll return again tomorrow.”
Hearing those words, Danielle suddenly laughed.
The next second… Bang!
She smashed the wooden box onto the ground with all her strength. The loud crash startled everyone.
The box burst open. Its contents scattered across the dusty road.
For a brief moment, the crowd became completely stunned.
A few people even stared at Danielle in disbelief.
Just moments ago, they had thought she was calm and reasonable.
Now, she had suddenly exploded like this.
Some couldn’t help but wonder whether years of mistreatment had completely broken her.
Margaret instantly seized the opportunity. She immediately threw herself onto the ground.
Then she tightly hugged Danielle’s leg. “Daughter-in-law!”
Her cries became louder and louder.
“Please don’t treat us like this! I’m scared! I’m truly sorry! We were wrong! We’re begging you!”
The pitiful sight softened many people’s hearts.
However, no one dared step forward. After all, they had already heard Danielle’s side of the story.
Danielle looked down at Margaret. Then she chuckled coldly.
“If you’re so good at acting…”
She looked directly into Margaret’s eyes. “…then why don’t you tell everyone how you’re trying to morally blackmail me?”
Without waiting for an answer, she turned back toward the crowd.
“I know many of you are wondering why I’m being so heartless.”
She pointed toward Margaret and Jonah. “So let me tell you exactly what kind of people they are.”
Her expression gradually became colder.
“When I was living with them, they constantly pretended to be the victims in front of the neighbors.”
She clenched her fists.
“Behind closed doors, they made my life a living hell. They deliberately made everyone believe that I was an unfilial daughter-in-law.”
Her voice remained steady. “After the apocalypse began, they suddenly became kind and gentle.”
She laughed bitterly.
“They were only afraid that I would abandon them. I was foolish. I still believed they were family. So I stayed.”
She pointed toward the broken wooden box.
“And now they’ve come here carrying fake kindness and fake money.”
She sneered.
“They want me to take them back. Once I do…”
Her eyes became icy. “…they’ll immediately return to acting like emperors and empresses. They’ll order me around exactly as before.”
Looking around at everyone present, Danielle continued,
“Do any of you know what kind of life I lived while taking care of them?”
She took a slow breath.
“Every single morning, I woke up at five o’clock. I washed their clothes. I prepared breakfast. I went outside risking my life to hunt for food. I returned home just to cook for them again. I cleaned them. I bathed them. If they became sick, I personally helped them with physiotherapy. If medicine was unavailable…”
She smiled bitterly.
“…I searched everywhere until I found it. I didn’t even earn enough money. So every evening, after finishing all the housework, I still had to work part-time jobs just to support the family.”
Her voice gradually became heavier.
“And despite all of that, when I came home late, they cursed me. They insulted me. They deliberately cried in front of the neighbors. They made everyone believe that I was abusing them.”
She slowly lowered her head.
“I never defended myself. I thought they were old. I thought they were pitiful. So I endured everything.”
Her eyes slowly became red. “But they only continued exploiting my kindness.”
Finally, she looked toward everyone again.
“In the end, I had no choice but to go find Mason. The rest…”
She let out a tired sigh. “…all of you already know.”
After hearing everything, the expressions of everyone in the crowd completely changed.
Many people looked at Danielle with sympathy.
One elderly woman quietly wiped the corner of her eyes.
“What a difficult life this poor girl has lived…”
Someone else shook his head. “She sacrificed everything for them.”
Another person glared at Margaret and Jonah.
“How shameless.”
Seeing the crowd gradually turning against them, Margaret and Jonah silently gritted their teeth.
Their carefully crafted plan had begun falling apart right before their eyes.
The very next second, Margaret suddenly threw herself onto the ground.
Without caring about the dirt covering her clothes, she began rolling around dramatically while crying at the top of her lungs.
“I don’t care!”
Tears streamed down her wrinkled face.
“I won’t be able to survive in this apocalypse if you don’t take me with you!”
She tightly clutched Daniela’s ankle.
“So either kill me right here…”
Her voice cracked.
“…or take me in and take care of me!”
She sniffled loudly before continuing,
“I promise I won’t make things difficult for you anymore.”
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