Chapter 1 — When the Law Fails the Family

A cold shiver ran down my spine, and my heart clenched tightly in my chest.

Mom, please do not panic.

While trying to soothe my mother, I reached out for my second phone and immediately dialed the police. As soon as the call connected, I turned on the speakerphone and held it close to her.

Hello officer, I suspect a fraud case may be underway right now. My mother is in another province and unable to report this in person. May I put her on speaker so she can explain the situation directly?

The officer responded without hesitation.

Please go ahead.

Ma'am, please read out the bank account number used for the transaction first, and then describe the situation step by step.

My mother hurriedly complied, reading the account numbers while her voice still trembled noticeably.

Just now, barely five minutes ago, my son-in-law's mother sent me a message saying that a terrible crisis had struck her family. She claimed she was hospitalized, and the mounting surgical and medical bills had pushed her to the absolute brink of suffocation.

She told me she had never begged anyone for help in her entire life, but now she was truly trapped in a dead end.

Hearing this, my hand froze mid-air.

My mother-in-law said she had access to a reliable internal financial project, and that a short-term loan would be fully refunded in just a few days. She asked to borrow some money from me, promising to share the profits once she earned them.

My mother offered a bitter smile.

I am just a simple farmer who only knows that you reap what you sow. She is educated, and I could not understand those high-flown terms she used.

I did not care about sharing any profits; I simply thought we were family, and if I could help, I should.

And so, I transferred the money. It was only after the transfer went through that I realized the recipient's name on the account did not belong to her.

At that exact moment, my heart plummeted.

I frantically texted her to ask if she had received it and what was going on, but she did not reply. She never answered again.

My mother finally broke down, her voice choking as she burst into tears.

That was when I realized... I had probably been scammed.

After gathering the details, the police instructed me to stay on the line while I continued comforting my mother over the phone. Less than twenty minutes later, my phone rang again.

The funds have been intercepted.

The account has been frozen, and the money has not yet been transferred out.

My mother burst into tears of relief right then and there. Yet, the ordeal was far from over. The voice of the officer on the other end grew grave.

Miss Xue, this case is rather unusual.

It cannot even be classified as a standard acquaintance scam.

I was startled.

Who is it?

The other end fell silent for a second, as if choosing the right words.

It is the mother of Xv Yi. She actively initiated contact with the scam syndicate.

I froze in absolute disbelief.

She suffered heavy losses in a previous scam, and after the truth came to light, her psychological state turned extreme, showing clear signs of deep resentment.

After being discharged from the hospital, she proactively used the scammers' old contact details to reach out to them again.

She proposed a collaboration to scam others together.

Her only condition was that they return a portion of her own lost money.

My mother wept bitterly.

I trusted her so much... I did not even care about getting the money back immediately, as long as she could overcome her hardship... How could she bear to scam me?

A memory suddenly flashed through my mind—in the hospital corridor, after her desperate, harrowing wails, the venomous look in my former mother-in-law's eyes. There was not a shred of remorse or self-blame, only pure malice. She resented the fact that she had lost all five million, and so she wanted to drag my mother down into the mud with her.

I was not merely frightened. Initially, I had been afraid my mother would worry about my divorce, intending to wait a while before breaking the news gently. Therefore, I had kept quiet about Xv Yi's family matters, and as a result... I fell silent for a few seconds before finally speaking up.

Mom, there is something... I originally planned to wait until you had recovered and your spirits were stable before telling you.

But right now, keeping it a secret from you is even worse.

I took a deep breath.

Xv Yi and I are going through a divorce.

We are currently in the mandatory cooling-off period.

Afterward, I told her everything that had happened over the past few months. My mother, who had been sobbing just moments before, suddenly stopped crying.

Yuan Yuan.

You were entirely right to divorce him.

Do not carry everything on your own shoulders alone.

Your mother is still here.

That night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep, consumed by the fear that my mother might be too traumatized. Thinking back and forth, I decided to book a late-night ticket to bring her to stay with me. As it turned out, the two of us unexpectedly ran into each other right at the high-speed railway station. She was pulling her old, battered suitcase, and when I spotted her amidst the bustling crowd, a profound sorrow welled up inside me, instantly replaced by an overwhelming sense of peace. Just a few days later, the police delivered the news: my former mother-in-law had been arrested. Her attempt to collaborate with the scammers had been far too crude. She had not even bothered to change her IP address. Tracing her digital footprint, the police quickly pinpointed her location. Every single chat log she thought she had permanently deleted was completely recovered by technicians, message by message. The evidence was irrefutable, leaving her with no room to deny the charges. On the day of the trial, my mother and I sat on the back bench of the courtroom. When the defendant was led up to the podium, she still showed no signs of repentance. Mid-trial, she suddenly lost control of her emotions.

Do you police officers think you are so smart?!

If you had retrieved my five million sooner, would I have been driven to do any of this?!

The judge repeatedly struck the gavel, but she continued to scream at the top of her lungs.

I just want to ask one question—why?!

Her venomous gaze locked fixedly onto me and my mother.

Why is her family completely unscathed?!