Chapter 5 My daughter opened the door . When she saw my mom standing there , her little face just dropped . " Grandma ? What are you doing here ? " she asked . Mom rolled her eyes . " What , I need permission to visit now ? " Then she shoved my daughter aside and planted her butt on our couch like she owned the damn place . My baby girl looked ready to burst into tears , giving me this heartbroken look . Her little chin was trembling when she choked out , " I'm sorry , Mommy … " I scooped her up and put her at the table , telling her to eat her dinner . I ruffled her hair and whispered , " Not your fault , sweetie . If Grandma wants to barge in , there's not much I can do . She is your grandma , after all . " Mom heard that and got this smug - ass look on her face . When she realized I wasn't asking her to join us for dinner , she gave me the stink eye. " You haven't sent me my money this month . " I knew exactly what " money " she meant , but I played dumb anyway . " What money ? " She snapped back , " My allowance , obviously . Two thousand bucks . " I couldn't help laughing in her face . " Do my big sis and little sis pay you an ' allowance ' too ? " Mom started hemming and hawing , couldn't get her story straight . Finally she doubled down : " Of course they do ! Think they're ungrateful brats like you ? I don't have to hunt them down for it . " I nodded real slow . " That right ? Show me the transfers then . And just so we're clear - even if they are paying you , which I seriously doubt , it's got nothing to do with me . I'm done . Not giving you another penny . " " Go ahead and sue me if you want . Court won't give you much , and I can always ghost on paying anyway . Not a damn thing you can do about it . " Mom's face turned straight - up purple . Her whole body started shaking as she jabbed her finger at me , sputtering " You … you … " before letting out this dramatic sigh . Cue the waterworks as she dragged up ancient history . " How'd I end up with such a worthless daughter ? When you had your baby with no in - laws around , who dropped everything to take care of you ? Who made sure you weren't starving ? " " Since we're talking receipts , let's go there , " I fired back . " Forget everything else - hiring a baby nurse costs money , right? If you're so hung up on your ' allowance , maybe you should pay me for the days you supposedly ' helped ' after I gave birth . " I just stared her down , not saying another word . 20.4 % Innad It All Down ! Chapter 5 Back in my past life , yeah , she did come over for a few days since my in - laws weren't around . But " taking care of me " my ass - I was the one babysitting her . From day one , all I heard was how her back was killing her . She claimed she was " helping " with the baby , but every time Zoe made a peep , she'd holler for me . She even made formula with boiling water despite me telling her a million times not to . If I hadn't been watching her like a hawk , she probably would've burned my baby's mouth . When I called her out , she played the victim card : " Guess I'm just too old and useless to do anything right . " On top of that , she couldn't even handle basic stuff like laundry or cooking - always with the " I can't do it " excuses . For seven straight days , I was taking care of her while I was supposed to be recovering from childbirth . I finally hit my breaking point and had Mark take time off to look after me , and we shipped her back to my sister's . Just thinking about it made my blood boil . I wiped away a tear and snapped back : " Were you really taking care of me ? Who was bitching about her back non - stop , who kept saying she couldn't handle the baby , who couldn't even cook a damn meal ? " " Your memory going in your old age , Mom ? Want me to give you the blow - by - blow of what actually went down ? " " And for five whole years , I've handed you two grand every month , bought you clothes , jewelry , and had you over just so I could wait on you hand and foot . If I ever owed you for raising me , that tab is beyond paid off . " Mom's face fell as she realized she was losing this fight . She glanced between me and Mark , then muttered , " Fine , keep your money . Why you gotta dig up old dirt ? Always been so petty - no wonder nobody likes you . " " Let me tell you something , " she pushed on , " I'm still your mother , period . I came to crash here for a while because I miss my grandbaby . " I shot her the deadest look and said flatly , " Whatever . " Missing my daughter ? Yeah right . I'd believe that when pigs fly . So my mom just set up camp in our house , shameless enough to sleep on the floor when we had no bed for her . I let it slide , didn't make a big deal out of it . To make sure history didn't repeat itself , I slapped up some hidden cameras around the house . After all that , we pretty much stuck to our normal routine , except for one big change - the three of us made damn sure to grab dinner out every single night . Until we came home one day and found yet another uninvited asshole in our house .