My mom frowned, handed me her phone, yanked off her corsage, and said angrily.
"Listen for yourself. If, after listening, you still insist on going through with this, then I'll consider myself no longer your mother!"
What could have possibly happened to make my usually calm and composed mother this furious? I wondered.
I hit play on the recording curiously. The sharp, grating voice of Sylvia immediately blared from the phone, scaring me into quickly turning down the volume.
Disgusting remarks filtered through in fragmented sentences.
"She acts so high and mighty. Look at her, acting like she's a queen.
"If it weren't for her wealthy family, who would ever bow and scrape before her?
"Just wait. This is only temporary. Once her parents are dead, won't all the inheritance go to my son?
"When her family's gone, she'll be at our mercy. I'll make her kneel every day to serve me."
I didn't even finish the recording before my blood was boiling.
How could this old woman be so vile and shameless?
She had always presented herself as gentle and kind, but it turned out she was plotting to rob me of everything. And worse, she was cursing my parents to die.