Indifferent to My Mother-in-Law’s Car Accident

The day my husband was away on a business trip, I received a notification for a hotel charge.

As I watched the video on my phone of him kissing his secretary on their way to the room, I dialed his number.

“Honey, you need to come home right away. Mom was in a serious car accident,” I said.

Before I could finish, Xavier Smith cut me off. “It’s just a car accident. We’ll deal with it if she dies.”

He hung up without a hint of concern and went back to his cozy time with his secretary in their hotel room.

He was completely unaware that the woman in critical condition at the hospital wasn’t my mom.

It was his.

After renovating our new house, I spent my days picking out the new furniture the designer had sent over. Just as I finalized the style for the bed in the master bedroom, a call came in from the hospital.

“Hello, is this Ms. Lily Carson, daughter-in-law of Wendy Wilson?”

“Your mother-in-law was in a severe car accident at the Emerald intersection. We can’t reach her other family members. Could you please come to Lichfield Hospital right away?”

I hung up the phone and rushed to the parking lot, asking the driver to take me there immediately. Along the way, I kept trying to call my husband, who was away on a business trip, but every time I called, all I got was the same automated message: “The phone is currently turned off.”

Wendy had only moved to Jasper City from her hometown two months ago. Her only next of kin here was Xavier Smith, my husband.

If she didn’t make it through the surgery, I had to ensure Xavier could see his mother one last time. To do that, I contacted a friend who worked as a private investigator.

While my friend was looking into Xavier’s whereabouts, I received a payment notification on my phone. It showed that a reservation had been made for three days in the presidential suite of a five-star hotel in the New City area.

With this clue, my friend quickly used their connections to obtain surveillance footage of Xavier checking into the hotel, along with a phone number I hadn’t seen before.

I had no idea what Xavier was doing with a second phone number behind my back. I opened the surveillance video, and the first thing I saw was Xavier holding our company’s newly hired secretary in his arms.

From the moment they checked in, the two couldn’t keep their hands off each other, kissing all the way up to the 23rd floor, where their room was located.

My friend kept sending me messages, trying to comfort me. “Don’t be upset. Xavier’s just a freeloader anyway. He’s not worth it.”

When I didn’t respond, my friend shifted their tone. “I know a lot of great lawyers. Let me recommend someone to you.”

As I was about to reach the hospital, I collected myself and