Part 3: Family TensionsReborn to Slap the Face of My Vicious Sister-in-law and Biased Mother

My mom glared at me and played peacemaker, "Nora, Ryan is your own nephew. He's so young, why are you scolding him? What's wrong with him being curious and wanting to look at your bedroom?"

"What kind of guest goes into someone's bedroom without permission? Mom, I'm not just saying this to you. It's fine since it's my house, but if this happened at someone else's place, wouldn't people say you have poor manners? He's five or six years old, just starting to understand things. You need to teach him properly."

As soon as I said this, my brother, sister-in-law, and mom's faces fell.

"Nora, what do you mean?" My brother, always quick-tempered despite his lack of ability, said, "You think you're so great because you bought a house? You're putting on airs now?"

"What airs? Can't you tell right from wrong? I'm trying to reason with you, but you won't listen. Forget it, pretend I didn't say anything."

In my previous life, I was too weak and easily manipulated. Whenever my brother yelled at me, I would get so nervous I couldn't speak, letting him have his way.

Living this life again, I understood that my brother was a bully who only preyed on the weak. If he was fierce, I just needed to be fiercer.

Seeing my impatience, he and my sister-in-law looked surprised.

They exchanged a glance, and finally, my mom spoke up: "We're all family, what's there to argue about? Nora is also saying this for Ryan's good, and she's not wrong."

My mom patted my brother, clearly meaning that they were the ones asking for a favor from me, so they should hold their tempers.

My mom was always like this, always taking my brother's side.

Although I already knew their true colors from my previous life, at this moment, I still felt hurt.

After all, she was the mother who gave birth to me and raised me.

Blood is thicker than water, as they say.

I originally thought that if I was good to them, they would be good to me and treat me like family.

But some people are born selfish and will never treat you as family.

"It's getting late. Nora, you haven't been home for days. I brought half a chicken and bought some pork tripe. I'll make some chicken soup with tripe, your favorite."

I did love chicken soup with tripe, but every time the soup was ready, my mom would take out the tripe and give almost all of it to my brother and grandson, along with the chicken legs...

She would always tell me: "Nora, drink more soup. The soup is the most nutritious."

Bull***t, the meat is the most nutritious.

As she spoke, my mom headed towards the kitchen with the groceries.

"Mom, don't bother. My kitchen can't be used for cooking right now. The range hood isn't installed properly and leaks smoke. The repairman said he won't have time to fix it until after the Lantern Festival."

This was true, though in my previous life, they only discovered it after cooking for a while.

By the time they noticed, my cabinets had already been blackened by smoke.

Afraid they wouldn't believe me, I opened the cabinet and shook the loose range hood, saying, "See? If we don't fix this, it could fall and kill someone while cooking."

"Oh?" My mom clearly hadn't expected this problem. "Then what about this chicken and tripe? They're fresh."

"You can take them back tonight." By saying this, I made it clear I didn't want them staying at my place.

Jessica's face darkened even more.

"Mom, are you going back tonight? I'm not planning to. I have dinner plans with my girlfriends tonight."

My brother chimed in, "I'm not going back either. I have plans to play cards tonight."

Seeing the situation, my mom immediately said, "If you both have plans tonight, then I have to stay and look after Ryan. Who else will take care of him if you go out?"

It was obvious they had already planned to sleep at my place.

Jessica pouted, all her previous anger gone, looking at me with a hint of pleading in her eyes.

"Nora, your new house is newly renovated, and we haven't stayed here before. You don't mind if we sleep here for one night, right?"

After saying this, Jessica brought in the things from the doorway.

"Although we're family, we can't come empty-handed the first time we stay at your place. I bought you some cherries, your favorite."

"Oh, and this set of skincare products. I saved it for you when I transferred my shop. The set costs several thousand dollars."

My mom patted my hand and said, "See how good your sister-in-law is to you."

How good to me...

I closed my eyes, the pain of losing two lives in my previous life still sharp and stinging.

"Since we can't cook at home, why don't we go out for lunch? Nora, what do you want to eat? It's my treat," my brother offered.

"Dad, I want to eat steak," Ryan chimed in.

"Alright, let's have steak then."

"Yay! We get to eat steak today and stay at Aunt Nora's new house."

I opened my eyes, looking at their happy faces, and said coldly, "Who said I agreed to let you stay?"