Chapter 3 - The Skeptics
The fragile peace of the morning was shattered by the arrival of the extended family. It was Sunday, the day of the weekly brunch—a tradition Mrs. Lan had enforced with military precision.
In the living room, the aunts and cousins gathered, their voices rising in impatient cadence. "Where is she?" Aunt Huong asked, her sharp eyes scanning the room. "The tea isn't poured, and the fruit hasn't been cut. This is exactly what I warned you about, Lan. A modern girl, too pampered to handle a real household."
Mrs. Lan stood at the top of the stairs, watching them. The echoes of their criticisms, once the music she played along to, now sounded like nails on a chalkboard. She felt a surge of protectiveness she hadn't known she possessed.
She descended the stairs slowly. "There will be no tea today," she announced, her voice calm but commanding.
Aunt Huong blinked, stunned. "Excuse me? Because of the girl? You’re going to let her dictate the household schedule?"
"She isn't dictating anything," Mrs. Lan said, stepping into the middle of the room. "She is ill. Very ill."
The room fell silent, but it was a silence filled with doubt. "Ill?" one of the cousins scoffed. "She looks fine to me, just lazy. Maybe she’s tired from all those late nights out?"
The whispers grew—vicious, dismissive, and cruel. They labeled Mai’s illness as an excuse, a way to gain sympathy and shirk her duties. Mrs. Lan watched the faces of the people she had known for decades. She realized they were mirrors of her own past self—judgmental, rigid, and deeply insecure.
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"Enough," Mrs. Lan said, her voice rising to a sharp bark. "I am the mistress of this house, and I will not have such talk under my roof. If you cannot offer compassion, you are welcome to leave."
The room went deathly quiet. The shock of seeing the stern, traditional matriarch defend the 'lazy' daughter-in-law was too much for them to process. They stared at her, waiting for a punchline that never came.
