She sighed and said, "I know. You just want to leave all your money for your precious grandson, right? I get it. I'm just the daughter who married out."
I swore to her that this was not the case.
She gave me a small, bitter smile, looking helpless.
After a few moments of silence, she brought up the issue of the demolition property again. I made it clear to her, as I had with her brother, that the property would be split evenly between my two children.
She pouted, looking like she did not believe me.
"Mom, it's easy for you to say that now. But you won't even let us touch a little of your money without making a fuss. Do you think you'll be able to give me a fair share of your assets when the time comes? Empty words mean nothing if you haven't written a will."
I told her that I would write a will, but the time had not come yet.
Gracie smiled and said, "Mom, just make sure you are fair when the time comes. We are both your children, so I should have my share of your things. If you leave everything to my brother, I will take it to court if I have to, just to get what is rightfully mine."
She went on to say that in today's world, I couldn't trust anyone; only what you held in your own hands was truly reliable.
I could only sigh, left speechless.
I thought that my children had grown up and developed their own opinions, but all I felt was a deep sadness.
Here I was, taking care of her out of love, only to receive such cold remarks. I felt somewhat hurt.
Over the past few days, I have been buying groceries and household items, always using my own money.
Buying small groceries was one thing, but my son-in-law had a lot of friends, and it seemed like every few days there was a small get-together, and every few weeks a larger one. Every time, I ended up hauling home bags of food, and just the cost of the good wine alone was significant.
One day, my son-in-law announced that he was hosting another dinner.
As usual, he reminded me to buy some more expensive dishes and not to worry about saving money.
He handed me a carefully prepared menu.
I was surprised by it. There was chicken, duck, fish, seafood, and so on. It looked like it would cost well over a thousand dollars.
"Kenya, today I'm hosting my superiors, so we can't cut corners. Don't worry about the money; you cover it for now, and I'll repay you later."
I grabbed my bag and headed out the door.