Unreliable sister-in-law

Chapter 1

My sister-in-law, Britney, wouldn’t hurt a fly herself, but she had no problem judging me for swatting mosquitoes or spraying for roaches.

And get this – she was dead set on keeping the baby she was carrying, even though it was the result of a homeless guy assaulting her. Total train wreck.

I tried to talk some sense into her, you know, about her future and all.

She wouldn’t hear it.

Then, she pulls the ultimate move: drops her month-old baby on my doorstep and takes off to study abroad! Like, what the actual…?

I poured my heart and soul into raising that kid, only to have him turn around and be the reason I fell off a boat and drowned.

After I died, Britney, shedding crocodile tears, swooped in, claimed her genius son, and inherited my house and my savings.

At my freakin’ funeral, she had the nerve to preach about her beliefs:

“Taking a life sends you straight to hell, reincarnated as a beast or a hungry ghost!”

She said I had too much blood on my hands and was destined for the fiery depths.

But guess what? Hell didn’t want me! Instead, the universe decided to be a real jokester and send me back to the day Britney was throwing up morning sickness…

…

1.

Britney was back from college for the summer, dragging in even more ‘poor little critters’ and setting them up camp in our house. Seriously?

My husband, Chad, bless his heart, couldn’t get through to his stubborn, bleeding-heart sister. He just kept telling me to let it go.

“She’s my only sister, babe. Just roll with it.”

He promised me that whatever Britney brought in, he’d quietly get rid of it.

Said I shouldn’t stress about it. Easy for him to say! He’d act all mysterious and Britney, of course, blamed me for every “evil,” “life-ending” thing that happened to her precious animals.

Last time around, when I saw the nest of baby mice Britney had just brought in, I almost fainted. I begged Chad to stop her at the door.

But no. Wimp Chad let her raise those rodents.

Before we knew it, the whole place was infested.

You couldn’t see the mice, but you could sure see the damage they caused. Chewed-up furniture, gnawed-on wires – the works.

This time, though, I was way calmer. Been there, died that.

“Well, well, well,” I said, with a little smirk. “Britney’s playing Mother Teresa again, huh?”

I shot a look at Chad on the couch.

“Brit, what did you bring home this time?” Chad asked, walking over. He looked as horrified as I’d expected when he saw the nest of pinkies. “Seriously? Is this necessary?”

Britney glared at her brother, but her words were meant for me.

“I’ve been drawn to Buddhism since I was a little girl, Chad, you know that. Did someone tell you to ask that question?”

I crossed my arms, enjoying the show.

Chad looked flustered and threw me a glance. “No, I asked that myself! Look, if you wanna keep them, I’m not stopping you. But you’re taking care of them!”

That’s the sound of someone in charge!

Keeping mice as pets?

I snorted inwardly, but didn’t say anything.

Chad wasn’t exactly a prince charming either.

He hadn’t done anything unforgivable, but my death was definitely linked to his favoritism towards his sister.

This wasn’t a second chance to fall back into his arms.

If he was going to keep enabling her, I wouldn’t stick around.

I suggested, with a sweet smile, “The cats and dogs are on the porch. These little guys don’t have any fur yet – they’ll catch a cold! Why don’t you keep them in your room?”

Britney wasn’t happy.

“Chad, look at her! Heaven cares for all life. I’m doing this to bring good karma to the family.”

“You have to help me take care of them! My summer vacation is almost over, then I have to go back to school…”

Britney got worked up, and suddenly started gagging.

She shoved the nest of mice into Chad’s hands and ran to the bathroom.

“Uh-oh…” Chad looked worried and knocked on the bathroom door. “Britney, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

I rolled my eyes.

It wasn’t just a stomach bug.

It was morning sickness!

2.

Chad’s dad died young, and his mom remarried, so Chad and Britney basically raised each other.

Later, his mom got divorced again and moved back in with Chad.

Being the older sister-in-law, I had always treated Britney well.

Too bad this family was a bunch of weirdos who saw kindness as weakness.

Chad’s mom was mostly normal, but when it came to Britney, she was blind, deaf, and dumb. I was expected to always give in to her.

I didn’t want to cause drama, but over time, they saw that as a green light to walk all over me.

Before today, this house was already a zoo.

Three stray dogs and eight cats lived on the porch, all rescued by Britney’s big heart.

And then there were the rabbits and turtles she’d seen at the farmer’s market and felt sorry for.

When she was home, the whole family had to eat vegetarian.

If a mosquito dared to bite you, you had to use a net or try to shoo it away.

If you even thought about swatting one, Britney would throw a fit, cry her eyes out, and then write some sob story online.

And the crazy thing was, people agreed with her!

I tried to respect her beliefs.

I only killed bugs in secret.

When she wasn’t home, she even made her precious brother an honorary inspector and told him to keep an eye on the heathens.

Which, you know, really meant keeping an eye on me, the outsider.

But my moron of a husband couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

So, Britney, instead of staying at school, moved back home to watch me like a hawk and stop me from “murdering” anything.

Here she was, a young woman with her whole life ahead of her, wasting her time on some extreme belief.

If she really wanted to do good, she should be protesting at a slaughterhouse every day.

Not stopping normal people from eating meat!

I wasn’t against people having their own beliefs.

But forcing them on others was just rude.

Every time I told her that, she’d tune me out.

But I’m too soft-hearted, so I let it go when she said something like, “I can only start with my own family, hoping that someday, through my actions, I can get more people to respect all life.”

After all, she considered me family! What could I say?

Now, I realize I’d been heavily manipulated.

…

Chad put the mice down and frantically called his mom, who was out playing mahjong.

“Mom! Britney’s sick! You need to come home! You know about these things!”

I didn’t stop him.

A pregnancy was big news, and the whole family needed to hear about it together.

3.

Chad’s mom rushed back from the mahjong game.

As soon as she walked in, she asked, “Where’s Britney? Did she eat something bad with her friends? I told her…”

Before she could start lecturing, I cut her off. “Mom, Britney’s fine. She’s resting in her room!”

A few minutes later, Britney came out, looking like she’d seen a ghost.

She must have just used the pregnancy test.

“Mom, Chad, I need to talk to you about something.”

“What’s up? What’s wrong?” Chad asked, feeding the mice with a syringe.

“I was thinking of staying at a friend’s house for a few days… is that okay?”

Chad and his mom thought Britney was nineteen and could make her own decisions.

They didn’t see anything wrong with it.

But I knew that Britney was trying to find someone dumb enough to take the role of a father.

Last time, after she found out she was pregnant, she immediately said yes to some guy who had been chasing her. Then, she tricked him to be the father of her child.

The two of them couldn’t even take care of themselves, and Britney was planning to study abroad, while the guy had his own plans.

If they had a kid, all their plans would be ruined.

So, both families wanted her to get an abortion.

Chad even told me to talk to Britney, from a woman’s perspective.

But my words were useless. She told me that I was ‘encouraging murder.’

If Britney’s curses meant anything, I was going straight to hell after I died.

And the guy was even more blunt than me.

He didn’t want to be a dad so early in life, so he told Britney to get rid of the baby.

Britney freaked out and broke up with him.

In the end, she had the baby.

Most people thought that the guy was a jerk and that Britney was weak, pitiful, and helpless.

Only I knew that Britney got pregnant after a homeless man assaulted her.

I had seen the footage from a security camera and figured out the timing.

But I didn’t want to ruin her reputation, so I kept it a secret.

And let the guy take the blame.

…

Thinking about the betrayal from my past life, I couldn’t help but say, “Britney, the family has mouths to feed. If you’re not here, what will happen to these little mice?”

I pointed at the mice.

Britney frowned. “You don’t have a job, do you?”

“Actually, I do! I just got one, and I’m starting tomorrow.”

Britney became even more angry. She yelled, “These animals are so vulnerable! How can you be so cruel?”

Me?

Cruel?

Yeah, last time, I had been at home, ‘ordered’ to take care of her cats and dogs.

But what was my reward?

She gets all the good karma?

Forget that noise.

“Britney, you have to see that school costs money, Mom gambles, and Chad is the only one working.”

I said what was really going on with these women and their expensive habits.

I had always been quiet, but to keep the family together, I had kept these things to myself.

Now, I couldn’t be manipulated by moral pressure.

“I don’t care!” Britney said. “Chad is my only brother. It’s his job to spend his money on me! Since you married into this family, you have to work for your money. You can’t spend Chad’s money for free.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

She lived in my house, but she didn’t respect me and acted like she was the woman of the house?

I turned to Chad, who was silently feeding the mice.

He looked helpless, but he didn’t say anything.

Of course not.

“Then why did your brother get married? If he wants affection, he can talk to you. If he wants sex, he can hire a prostitute.”

“You!!!”

“Britney, you’re in college! You should know what marital property means! If you don’t, then maybe you shouldn’t study abroad. You don’t have the money, and you’re not smart enough.”

“What? Chad promised to pay for my studies! What does it have to do with you?” Britney said.

“We’re not doing so well.”

I pointed to the porch. “We didn’t know that we’d have a zoo after we got married. So, we’ve spent all our savings!”

Chad couldn’t stay silent any longer.

He walked over and said, “Honey, what’s wrong with you? Why are you talking about these things?”

“Britney needs to go to school. I’ll beg if I have to. Just stop worrying about it.”

In my past life, Chad had taken out a huge loan without telling me.

“I won’t worry if we get divorced.”

4.

As soon as I said the word “divorce,” Chad got scared.

“Why are you saying this?”

Britney said, “Just get divorced. Who would want a cold person like you?”

“Chad works hard so I can have a good life.”

“Since you married into this family, you need to obey us and do what you’re told.”

I snapped.

I slapped Britney across the face, leaving her confused.

My fingers hurt from the force.

But it felt good.

“I didn’t marry into your family. I married Chad to start a family. I’m not Chad’s slave, and I’m not yours!”

Britney was so surprised by my anger.

“How dare you hit me! Mom, Chad, kick her out!”

Chad’s mom saw that her daughter was hit, so she wanted to say something, but I glared at her.

“What goes around comes around. You’ve been divorced, so you should know.”

“What? You can get divorced, but I can’t?”

“This house was my property before I got married. You didn’t think I’d be the one who’d be kicked out after the divorce, did you?”

The old sayings are true, the house is the most important thing.

My parents only cared about my brother, so I had to work hard to buy this house.

They said it was my wedding gift, so Chad’s family wouldn’t think the wedding gifts were too small.

If they wanted to add their names to the house, I could say that my parents didn’t want it.

It was good that I had planned ahead.

Chad knew I was serious.

He said to his mom and Britney, “Okay, that’s enough.”

He never told off his mom and sister.

The worst he could say was “that’s enough.”

I ignored them and walked into Britney’s room.

“What are you doing? You can’t go in there!”

Britney tried to punch me, but Chad stopped her.

“Go play outside!

“I got this with your sister.”

Chad’s mom said, “He’s right, go get ready to leave.”

Britney said, “Mom, you’re too old to take care of baby mice!”

“If they die, then we’re all doomed.”

I was about to die laughing.

I calmly looked around and found a piece of paper in Britney’s trash can.

I opened it and found a pregnancy test.

She was being very careful.

If I didn’t know what was going on, I would have never guessed.

I walked back to the living room and sat on the couch.

“You need to apologize to me. You can do it now!”