Stay Away from That Mama's Boy.

After two years of marriage, I finally got a clear understanding of my husband. I still recall asking him during our courtship, "What's your favorite dish?" He replied, "The ones my mom makes."

I was deeply impressed by such a warm and filial answer back then. After his mother, Emily Ryan, came to stay, I finally grasped the implication behind those five words.

What he wanted from our marriage wasn't to spend a lifetime with me. Instead, he intended to use my money and live a cozy life with his mother for the rest of their lives.

I was willful when I was a little kid, and this trait was even more pronounced when it came to love.

As an only daughter from Mist Harbor City, I was firmly convinced that love was simply love. I didn't buy into what my mom said about families being well-matched in social and economic status, nor did I acknowledge what my dad proposed about having the same aspirations. I only trusted my feelings.

When my husband paid his first visit to our home, my parents exchanged meaningful glances and shook their heads slightly. Because on that day, he was constantly breaking off to answer his mother's calls, and the two of them were chatting away in a dialect that no one else could make sense of.

My dad quietly told me that city girls shouldn't marry an ugly duckling man.

At the time, I told my dad not to judge people with prejudice. I had believed that he was my prince charming and that he would love me, safeguard me and show consideration for me all my life. Therefore, even if he didn't have any money for the wedding, nor a car, nor a house, nor a job, I was determined to marry him.

Unexpectedly, being an ugly duckling was just the tip of the iceberg. He turned out to be a mama's boy as well. Guided by his mother, he married me without spending a dime and got a wife for free.

I was in a relationship with Kyle for three years and we've been married for two years. At present, I've been pregnant for more than four months. We got to know each other at university, which was a story from wearing school uniforms to donning wedding gowns.

Whenever this story was mentioned, the most common comment I heard was "romantic."

But when I looked within myself and posed the question, were we actually romantic? The answer was that perhaps we had had some romantic moments.

However, romance was really delicate and couldn't bear the slightest bit of trouble.

The romance between Kyle and me eventually faded away in the midst of trivial life. And it all started when I added his name to the property deed.

I had only met Emily once, at our wedding.

I could still recall that on the day we got married, she went up on the stage wearing a red floral cotton-padded coat and started her speech like this. "I'm so happy today. I'm extremely happy. I've got a great son. He did a good job in school. He was the only one in our village to be admitted to a good university. After graduating, he worked hard alone in the city, got a stable job and brought me a city daughter-in-law. I'm proud, I'm very proud."

All of her remarks were centered on how wonderful her son was, without even a single word about me.

Due to this incident, neither my family nor I had a favorable impression of her. My parents even brought old issues to the fore again, urging me to stay vigilant after marriage to avoid being exploited without realizing it.

However, throughout the two years of our married life, I hadn't noticed the slightest sign that Kyle was different from how he was when we were in a relationship.

Knowing I didn't like cooking, he quietly took on the whole process of buying groceries, cooking, and washing dishes. Upon realizing that I was not feeling well while on my period, he was all over the place taking care of me. He purchased painkillers, massaged my tummy and stuck on warm patches. When I faced difficulties at work, he would patiently and gently comfort me.

The special thoughtfulness that belongs only to a married man made my colleagues and female friends around me extremely envious. They said that this was what could be called a perfect love.

Women could be easily touched. I was aware that the job he had was found by my family. Moreover, both the car and the house were purchased by my family. Due to his reserved personality, he was often ostracized at work. Some colleagues even secretly referred to him as a "kept man", which really made me feel bad. So, on my own initiative, I added his name to the property deed as a birthday present for him.

I naively asked Kyle, "Aren't you excited, honey?" For some reason, I didn't see surprise in his eyes, just a long sigh of relief.

"Excited, I'm really excited." Kyle kissed me, and before cutting the cake, he rushed into the room with his phone to call his mom in their dialect.

After my parents got to know about this matter, they both scolded me severely, and it seemed they were on the verge of disowning me.

My mom even predicted, "Zoe, stupid Zoe, Emily didn't spend a penny but brought the whole village to your wedding. I bet your life will be full of hustle and bustle. Mark my words, your world with Kyle will soon become a trio."

After that, I was informed by Kyle that Emily had been feeling discomfort in her heart recently and intended to come here for a medical check-up.

Back then, I didn't give much thought to what my mom had said. That's because I considered it quite normal for the elderly to experience some physical discomforts. Moreover, Kyle had always been eager to take his mother to the hospital for a comprehensive physical examination.

Although Emily hadn't made a good impression on me, she was, after all, my husband's mother. Therefore, I still intended to try my best to build a good relationship with her. While waiting for the train to pull into the station, I said to my husband, "Honey, let's buy mom a bouquet of flowers." Considering her age, I chose a bouquet of carnations and asked the florist to wrap them nicely.

"My good boy." After hugging Kyle, Emily pushed me aside.

As I listened to Emily affectionately asking after Kyle's well-being, I felt as if I were an outsider. In the end, it was Kyle who noticed me and said, "Zoe, didn't you get a gift ready for mom?"

I eagerly handed the flowers to Emily, "Mom, welcome to my home."

I made a blunder once again. Emily didn't just refuse to take the flowers from me; her face also darkened right away. She said, "Your home? I'm coming to my son's home, not as if I were a visitor."

Kyle hurriedly stepped in to ease the situation, "There's no such thing as your home or my home. It's the home for all of us."

I chimed in, saying it's our home, thinking we could finally go home happily. But I was naive.

Emily took a look at the flowers in my hand, with a sullen look on her face. She said, "Zoe, what's the price of these flowers?"

I didn't get Kyle's signal and blurted out the price directly. Emily seemed to be in great pain, as if I had snatched something valuable from her.. She complained, "Zoe, you are so bad at handling money. I know your family is rich, but you've got to cut down on expenses. After all, our family will be relying on you and Kyle to support it in the future."

What was the meaning of "our family "counting on Kyle and me? It took me quite a long time to figure out that sentence.