Chapter 1 My mother-in-law's phone has some weird power. Anyone who looks at it ends up hating my guts. This is the eighth time she's kicked me out. A neighbor tried to help, but my MIL showed her the phone. Instantly: 'Good! She had it coming!' I called the cops. Same thing. One look at that phone and they bailed. 'Family business, not our problem.' I was freaking out, so I called my best friend. But my MIL whipped out that damn phone again. No! Don't look! You'll hate me!' My friend grabbed my hand. 'Never. I'd have your back even if you killed someone.' Next second? She went pale, ran out, and blocked me everywhere. What the hell is on that phone? stared at my MIL's nasty smirk. A plan formed in my head. Tonight, I'm stealing that phone. Whatever it takes! When I first married into the Vaughn family, I'd voluntarily handed over my entire twenty-thousand-dollar savings to help renovate he house. After the wedding, when I learned my mother-in-law had health issues, I was constantly taking time off work to drive her to doctor's ppointments and pick up her prescriptions, taking care of her like it was my full-time job. But she still wasn't satisfied. In fact, she got worse. For a while, I thought she was one of those mothers with creepy, unhealthy attachment to their sons-the kind you read about on Reddit. But that wasn't it. My mother-in-law was warm and friendly to everyone else in the family. It was only me she treated like garbage. honestly had no clue why she hated me so much. After getting kicked out this time, I'd barely made it to the parking lot when I ran into my husband Callum Vaughn's uncle and aunt. They were coming over for dinner. Seeing me barefoot, hair a mess, looking like I'd been through hell, they asked in shock: "Did Linda kick you out again? Why does she always pick on you like this? This is nuts." "Exactly. We're here now, and we're gonna set this straight." My heart swelled with hope. Maybe today my mother-in-law would realize she was wrong, apologize, or at least explain why she hated me so much. Chapter 1 But she didn't say a word. She just pulled out her phone and showed her brother and sister something on the screen. After they looked at it, their expressions changed completely. The way they looked at me turned ice-cold: "She was right to kick you out. A daughter-in-law like you is nothing but trouble. You don't deserve to be part of this family!" I stood there, frozen in shock. It reminded me of something that had happened before. My mother-in-law's book club friend had stopped by and happened to see her screaming at me. The older woman had kindly stepped in to calm things down. Then my mother-in-law showed her the phone. The woman's face changed instantly. She sat down on the couch and didn't say another word. What the hell was on that phone? Thankfully, aside from my mother-in-law, my husband and father-in-law were reasonable people. They had my back. The only problem was that my father-in-law had retired and joined a bunch of hobby groups. Every other day he was out cycling or fishing with his buddies, barely home. And my husband worked late most nights, so he had no idea about the hellish treatment I was enduring. I wanted to leave this house so many times. But whenever I thought about how caring my husband was, how my father-in-law treated me like his own daughter, I gritted my eeth and took it.