Chapter 1Right before my MIL's birthday party, my husband's assistant sent me a photo—his mom was shoved in a dog cage, teeth ripped out, blood everywhere.
In an extreme shock, I called her, hands shaking. "Sloane! What the FUCK did you do?!"
And she? She just laughed—cold as ice. "Oh, now you wanna ask? Boss just opened the restaurant, and you sent that old hag there to freeload? Is your family that broke?"
"I run that place now. And I don't tolerate bitchs like her."
I couldn't believe her. "Are you insane? You know who is she, right?"
Rhodes was a total mama's boy. Everyone knew that.
How dare she did that?!
Sloane didn't even flinch. "Boss told me himself—YOUR mom isn't HIS family. He doesn't give a shit about her."
Huh. Turns out... she'd thought who she tortured was MY mom.
Well. Looks like we're about to have our own Maury moment.
In the next second, I forwarded this photo to my husband—her dear Boss.
---
Sloane hung up before I could say anything else.
I didn't waste a second. Called Rhodes immediately.
"Rhodes, your mom's hurt bad. Sloane fuckin' beat her up. You gotta get over there—"
"Stop. I know what you're about to say."
He cut me off. Voice went dead cold. "Sloane did what she had to do."
I went numb. "What?"
He let out this annoyed breath like I was the biggest pain in his ass.
"Demi. Look. Yeah, we're married. But your mom? She's gotta learn when to back off. Can't just keep showing up wherever trying to grab free shit."
My heart started racing. "You have no idea what you're—"
"ENOUGH!"
Now he was pissed.
"Who cares if she's my mother-in-law? I don't owe her jack just 'cause she wants a handout."
"Today she crashes the restaurant looking for free food. Tomorrow she'll show up at my office with her hand out asking for money."
"Sloane put her in her place. Honestly? She did her a favor. Someone needed to."
His words hit me like ice water.
My mom grew up poor, yeah. But she's spent her whole life being kind and honest. She's never taken advantage of anyone—especially not Rhodes. She's been nothing but good to him.
When Rhodes was starting his business and barely scraping by, my mom didn't hesitate. She gave him every penny she'd saved her whole life—money she was supposed to retire on.
When she found out he had stomach problems, she'd make special meals for him no matter how busy she was, then drive hours into the city just to bring them to him.
And this woman—this sweet, simple woman who treated him like her own son—was now some "greedy freeloader" in Rhodes's eyes?
I felt sick. My voice went flat.
"Rhodes. Go to that restaurant and check on your mom. She raised you—that's gotta mean something."
Rhodes fuckin' exploded.
"Demi! Have you lost your goddamn mind? YOUR mom never raised ME!"
"You know what? I get why Sloane lost her shit on her now. With a daughter like you? Yeah, she had it coming!"
"It's my mom's fiftieth birthday TODAY. I'm busting my ass getting her party ready. I don't have time for this crap."
"You wanna be smart? Stay the hell out of it and let your mom figure her shit out."
Then he hung up on me.
Couple seconds later, my phone buzzed:
[Party's in an hour. Ritz downtown. Pull yourself together and show up. And don't embarrass the fuck outta me like your mom just did.]
I typed back: [K.]
So that's how it is. Her own son's telling me to stay out of it?
Then why the hell should I care?
Chapter 2
An hour later, I changed and headed to the Ritz.
The whole place was decked out—flowers, balloons, fancy gift boxes everywhere.
Rhodes had put real money into this. He clearly gave a damn about his mom's birthday.
Family, friends, every business partner his company worked with—they were all there.
Rhodes was working the room, shaking hands, checking his watch every few minutes, glancing at the entrance. Obviously waiting for his mom.
Meanwhile, Sloane was standing there in some tight dress, laughing it up with Rhodes's younger sister, Maren.
When they saw me walk in, they looked at each other and came right over.
Sloane's voice was dripping with attitude.
"Well well well. Look who showed up—the girl whose mom goes around begging for free food."
"So what're you gonna steal tonight? Gonna stuff some shrimp in your purse for mommy?"
Maren literally rolled her eyes so hard I thought they'd get stuck.
"Demi. You're married to Rhodes now. Can you PLEASE stop bringing your trashy-ass family around? You're making us look like shit."
"People are gonna think we run a soup kitchen or something."
The guests nearby weren't even trying to whisper anymore.
"Oh my god, I heard some lady was mooching free food at that new spot earlier. I was like, who the hell is that shameless? Turns out it's Demi's mom."
"Dude, I heard Sloane literally locked her in a cage and pulled out all her teeth."
"Good. Bitch deserved it. You can't act like trash and then cry when someone checks you. Getting her teeth knocked out? That's honestly light."
"For real. You don't teach people like that a lesson, they'll just keep pulling the same crap."
Rhodes's face went dark hearing all this.
He walked over and looked down at me like I was dirt.
"Demi. It's my mom's birthday TODAY. If your mom's bullshit ruins this for her, I swear to god I'm not letting it go—not for you, and sure as hell not for her."
His words cut deep. I almost laughed in his face.
"Rhodes. If you gave a shit about your mom, you'd be at that restaurant right now."
Rhodes's face twisted. "Go check on WHAT?"
"Watch her make a scene?"
"Watch her embarrass herself even more?"
"Demi, drop it with your mom's drama already. You're killing the whole vibe here."
Maren tilted her head back, all smug as hell.
"Right? It's OUR mom's birthday. Your mom throwing a fit? That's worth Rhodes driving all the way across town?"
"Honestly? Someone should've kept her locked up in that restaurant and let her starve for a couple days. Maybe then she'd learn what the fuck boundaries are."
"You married into this family. That doesn't mean your whole broke-ass crew gets to mooch off us."
Sloane gave me this fake-sweet smile.
"Demi, I know you're freaking out. Relax. I just put her in her place a little so she'd remember how shit works. I'm not gonna actually hurt her."
Right then, some guy—Greg, the manager from that restaurant—came running into the ballroom like his ass was on fire.
"Sloane! We got a problem!"
"That old lady we locked up? She's dead."
Chapter 3
The second Greg said that, the whole room exploded.
Sloane's face went white. "What? What the hell happened?"
Greg was still trying to catch his breath.
"We did exactly what you said—ripped out every single tooth, threw her ass in that cage, left her there."
"But I guess she had like a heart thing or whatever. Right after you bailed, she started clutching her chest, couldn't catch her breath. Next thing we know... she's dead."
Sloane's knees buckled. She almost ate shit right there.
Rhodes grabbed her before she went down. "Sloane, hey. Look at me."
"This ain't on you. That woman had issues. That's her problem, not yours."
Maren jumped in quick as hell.
"Yeah, Sloane. You didn't do jack wrong. If anyone's to blame, it's that old bitch for having a busted heart and still going out starting shit."
"Honestly? She probably had it coming. At least now she can't embarrass us anymore."
Once Rhodes and Maren made it crystal clear whose side they were on, everyone else started dogpiling.
"Exactly. People like that are leeches anyway. World's better off without her."
"Sloane was doing everyone a favor. Zero reason to feel bad."
"For real. Lady's got a fucked-up heart but still out here begging for handouts. That's basically asking for it. How's that Sloane's fault?"
Watching everyone comfort her—the person who literally killed someone—I felt sick.
It was like the victim didn't matter at all.
Sloane's eyes flicked with something smug for just a second.
But then she put on this scared little-girl act and grabbed Rhodes's arm.
"But Rhodes... the person who died is still Demi's mom. What if she comes after me?"
Rhodes looked at her like she was the only person in the world.
"You're good. I got you. Nobody's laying a finger on you."
Then he snapped his fingers at someone to write up some settlement thing right there and basically threw it in my face.
"Demi. Your mom fucked up first. She died 'cause she got unlucky—that's not on Sloane."
"I'll throw your mom a decent funeral. That's me being nice 'cause we're married."
"But you're signing this shit. You're gonna drop it and leave Sloane the hell alone."
Maren crossed her arms, acting like she was queen of the fucking world.
"Demi. Your mom killed herself. Don't even think about pinning this on Sloane. Sign the paper and get over it."
They both just stood there staring me down. Like I was gonna fold.
But I shoved the paper right back at them.
"You two are the ones who need to sign. Not me."
