Fighting off My Stepmother's Slandering by Making Meatball

He yanked my hair and slapped me over a dozen times before tying me up and selling me to an old bachelor in the village.

It wasn't until I was tortured to death that I learned the truth that my stepmother and my fiancé, Finn Collin, had been having an affair all along. The baby Olivia lost wasn’t even my father’s, it was Finn's.

The two of them had been careless in their affair and forgot to use protection. Since they were so afraid of being exposed and condemned by many people, they had conspired to frame me.

Their scheming was almost admirable if only it hadn't cost me my life. This time around, I wouldn’t let those two scumbags have their way!

A cold smirk curled on my lips as I decided not to step outside. Instead, I had two hundred and fifty kilograms of ground pork delivered straight to our doorstep.

As for work, I sent my boss a quick message requesting to work from home during the New Year’s holiday. Being a key employee, my boss valued me highly and approved my request without hesitation.

With everything settled, I leisurely got out of bed and washed up. When my family and I sat to eat breakfast, the doorbell rang. It was the butcher. He hauled two hundred and fifty kilograms of minced meat before quickly departing.

My father, grandfather and grandmother all gawked at the sheer amount of meat. They immediately bombarded me with questions.

I casually shifted the blame to my boss. "The company we collaborate with had trouble settling their accounts by year-end and my boss was pressing for payments. They decided to settle with goods instead."

Since they’re in the pork business, my boss just turned this year’s bonuses into mince meat for employees to take home and make meatballs."

Grandma was stunned. "This much meat? It’s got to be at least two hundred and fifty kilograms of meat! At this rate, it will take a long time to make meatballs!

Grandpa sighed. "Well, I guess I’m stuck here today. I was planning to meet my old pals for a chess game, but it looks like that's off the table."

After sending the butcher away, I turned to my father. "Dad, we can’t let all this meat go to waste. Grandma and Grandpa have spoken, so you’d better get to work and make meatballs with us. Wash your hands and start working."

Grumbling under his breath about how unreliable the company was, Dad rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Within moments of chopping vegetables and herbs, he was sweating heavily from them.

On New Year’s Eve, while other families were busy putting up decorations and setting off fireworks while adults and children were playing together, ours was working hard in making the meatballs.

As the strongest person in the house, my father ended up handling most of the work. He chopped the vegetables and herbs and mixed the mixture. He spent the entire morning working while sweating.

By noon, we were all starving and that’s when my father remembered my stepmother, who was supposed to be out shopping.

"It’s already twelve-thirty and your mother still hasn’t come home to cook. What’s she doing out there?"

Feigning innocence, I shrugged. "I don’t know. I called her five or six times this morning, but she blocked me."

"Maybe she’s mad at me. Why don’t you try calling her, Dad?"

My father frowned and pulled out his phone to call Olivia.

"Ring... Ring ... Ring ..."

He had made three consecutive calls but Olivia still did not answer.

His face darkened with frustration and anger and he then turned to ask me. "Did you argue with your mother? Otherwise, why wouldn’t she answer my calls?"

"Megan, you’re twenty-five years old already! How can you still be acting like a child and upsetting your mother?!"

I pouted and pretended to be upset then pulled out my phone and played back a recorded all.

"Dad, you’re blaming me unfairly again. This time, it’s clearly you who made Mom refuse to come home."

I played the recording in front of the entire family and my stepmother's voice rang clearly from my phone. The moment my father heard her say she didn’t want him to find her, his expression turned grim.

Silently, he lit a cigarette and smoked for a long time with a sullen face before finally calming down.

Grandpa and Grandma stepped in to console him, while I took the opportunity to order four sets of takeout.

"Dad, Grandpa, Grandma ... since Mom isn’t coming home to cook and we’re all busy making meatballs, let’s just eat some takeout for now."