The Evil Family Covets My Property

The day before I was supposed to leave for my trip, I got a call from my daughter Gracie Payne.

On the phone, she told me she was pregnant.

This news brought a bit of sunshine to my otherwise gloomy mood.

But I also knew right away that my travel plans were ruined.

Gracie said she could not stomach her mother-in-law's cooking. In the early stages of her pregnancy, she had been dealing with constant nausea and cravings. She insisted I come over to take care of her for a while.

So, I had to cancel my plans with my best friend, pack my things, and head over to Gracie's place to take care of her.

By the time I got to her house, I felt much better in my mood.

My health was still relatively good, and all I had to do at her place was some cooking and grocery shopping.

I could manage that just fine.

After meals, I would accompany her on walks, and we would chat about life. Gradually, my spirits lifted.

Deep down, I felt grateful that Gracie was still so considerate.

But after a while, things started to feel a bit off.

Paying for groceries and fruit was fine. I loved Gracie, and it was my choice to spoil her.

However, her husband kept coming to me every few days to borrow a bit of "small change", saying that Gracie kept a tight grip on their money. That started to raise some questions in my mind.

One day, he approached me again, explaining that his car had accidentally scraped someone else's. Since he wanted to settle it privately, he needed some money to pay for the damages. He promised to return the money as soon as he got his next paycheck.

I hesitated for a moment, but then I figured that everyone ran into trouble sometimes, so without a second thought, I withdrew a few thousand dollars and handed it to him.

That evening, during our walk, I told Gracie not to be so tight with money. After all, a man had his pride, and it was hard for him to feel confident if his pockets were empty.

Gracie just smiled, seemingly unbothered.

I kept going, but eventually, she grew impatient and snapped back.

"What's wrong with spending a little money on your son-in-law? Is it only okay for my brother to get money but not for us?"

Her words left me speechless for a good while.

So, my children both thought I was secretly funneling money to the other's family behind their backs.

After that, Gracie started hinting that I should just give her my bank card to manage, so her cunning sister-in-law would not get any bright ideas.

I refused firmly, saying I would be careful about it.

Gracie promised she would not touch a cent of my money, only keep it safe for me. I could access it anytime I wanted.

Still, I did not agree.

Her tone grew sharp. "What do you need all that money for at your age? If you keep it with me, at least it'll be secure.

"Besides, I know how to invest! By the time I'm done, you'll have more money, not less."

I held my ground. I told her that I would spend my own money, and neither my son nor daughter would get a penny from me.

I also expressed my strong opposition to her talk of investing. I told her I was just grateful to hold onto my principal and had no interest in chasing dreams of making more.

Not giving up, she started telling me stories of elderly people living alone who got scammed out of their savings by health supplement salespeople or tricked by phone scammers.

But I remained resolute.

Seeing I would not budge, Gracie seemed a bit saddened.

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."