People whose lives had been touched by Ethan’s generosity.
Everyone spoke about his kindness.
His intelligence.
His determination.
No one mentioned the fortune he had built.
At least not out loud.
But someone was thinking about it.
Someone who couldn’t even wait until the funeral was over.
My mother-in-law.
The Woman Who Never Accepted Me
To say that Evelyn disliked me would be an understatement.
From the moment Ethan introduced us, she treated me as though I were an unwelcome guest in her son’s life.
Nothing I did was ever good enough.
I was too young.
Too ambitious.
Too independent.
Too ordinary.
When Ethan proposed, she cried—not from happiness, but disappointment.
When we married, she barely smiled in a single wedding photo.
When our daughter Emma was born, she congratulated Ethan before reluctantly acknowledging me.
Over the years, I tried everything.
Kindness.
Patience.
Compromise.
Nothing worked.
Because Evelyn had already decided who I was.
An outsider.
A threat.
A temporary inconvenience.
