“Your mother is gone. Tears won’t bring her back—so wipe your face, make dinner, and don’t look like a grieving child when my guests arrive.” That was what my husband said.

“You underestimated your mother-in-law. You thought she was just some ordinary person. She is not. Mr. Harrison smiled with disdain. A terrible smile. There’s something you should know, Mark. Everyone who’s anyone in this town knows perfectly well who your mother-in-law was. The one who just passed away. He paused dramatically, letting fear coarse through every nerve in Mark’s body. Everyone knows and respects her except you, her stupid son-in-law. Mark lifted his head. His eyes were wide with confusion and fear. He didn’t understand Mr. Harrison’s words. “My mother-in-law was just a retired teacher,” he thought. “What does she have to do with the business world?” But seeing Mr.

Harrison’s expression, Mark realized he had made a much bigger mistake than throwing an ill-timed party, a mistake he would regret for the rest of his life. Mr. Harrison’s last words hung in the air like a recent thunderclap, leaving a terrifying echo in the ears of everyone present. Mark, his mouth slightly a gape and blinking rapidly, seemed to be trying to process the information that had just entered his brain, but his arrogant logic refused to accept it. His face, previously pale, now showed an expression of pathetic confusion. He tried to force a small laugh, a dry sound that was extremely inappropriate amidst the suffocating tension. Gathering the last vestiges of his arrogance, Mark attempted to deny the reality presented to him.

He slowly shook his head and looked at Mr. Harrison with a foolish, condescending gaze, as if the president had just told a bad joke. Mark took a small step forward, an incredibly presumptuous act, as if trying to place himself on the same level as Mr. Harrison. With a voice that tried to sound as indifferent as possible, Mark said that Mr. Harrison must be mistaken or misinformed. Mark explained confidently that his mother-in-law, Mrs. Eleanor Vance, was just an ordinary old woman who lived off her late father’s modest pension. Mark even added with a mocking tone that Mrs. Vance used to grow vegetables in the backyard, wore old clothes, and often asked him for more money for her expenses.