The next day when I arrived at the company, I saw Sun Ran sitting at his desk.

His hair was messy, he hadn't changed his clothes, and as I got closer, I could smell alcohol on him.

When he saw me come in, he gave me a disgusted look, then turned back to fiddle with his phone.

As I reached my seat, a message notification sounded on my phone.

【I didn't go back last night, hoping you would consider how to manage our relationship in the future. After all, in marriage, women should be the ones to give more.】

On the table was a book he had placed there early in the morning - "How Women Should Manage Marriage."

The book emphasized throughout that women need to give without thinking, full of typical patriarchal teachings.

After flipping through a few pages, I almost felt sick.

I casually tossed it aside, preparing to text him about breaking up, when suddenly the office door was forcefully pushed open.

The metal door handle slammed against the wall, making a loud noise that startled me.

Before I could see who it was, I felt a gust of wind rush towards me.

To the surprise of my colleagues, Sun Ran's mother hurried over and slapped me hard across the face.

“Smack!”

“Lin Xinyue!” She pointed at me, shouting hoarsely:

“Give my son back his money!”

She used all her strength, as if she wanted to slap me away.

I was dazed by that slap.

Some colleagues quickly stepped forward to restrain her.

But she wasn't satisfied, glaring at me and shouting to everyone:

“It's her! Freeloading and scamming my son's money, does your company not care!”

In an instant, everyone's gaze fell on me.

My heart skipped a beat, my head felt like it was exploding.

I hadn't been with Sun Ran for long when I discovered his mother was an unreasonable rural woman who only knew how to cause trouble.

Back then, Sun Ran comforted me, saying with him around, there would be no conflicts between me and his mother.

But now?

I don't know how he exaggerated things to his mother yesterday, causing her to rush over from their hometown early in the morning.

Sun Ran wasn't far from my seat, and upon hearing the commotion, he looked over, his face turning red as if about to bleed. He hurriedly came over, pulling his mother aside in a panic:

“Mom, why are you here? Go back quickly.”

“If this isn't resolved, no one can make me leave today.”

His mother was furious.

She glared fiercely at me, as if I were some enemy:

“It's her! Making my son spend over a thousand yuan on ice cream and drinks. Daring to pressure my son in a relationship, what about after marriage.

“Back then, I borrowed money from door to door to pay for Xiao Ran's school fees, and now he's been foolish, spending over a thousand yuan on this girl.

“Poor son of mine, so honest and simple, she asks for something and he gives it, and he's been swindled out of a large sum of money.”

She grew more and more agitated as she spoke.

By the end, foam was forming at the corners of her mouth.

I turned cold.

It was obvious, even to a child, that to paint me as materialistic and superficial, he distorted the facts and threw all the blame on me.

One colleague burst into laughter after listening.

She glanced at Sun Ran and said:

“That cola from yesterday? You should have said earlier, if you can't bear to treat everyone, why pretend to be generous.”

“Exactly.”

On the other side, someone chimed in:

“Sun Ran, we all drank the cola you treated us to, are you now asking for a refund?”

The person sneered coldly, then turned to the others behind them:

“If you don't want to treat us, then let's all return the money to Sun Ran.”