Chapter1

When I followed the call and arrived at the dark alley, my daughters-in-law were lying in a pool of blood, barely hanging on. They were completely unconscious. The attacker had fled, but their deep wounds left no doubt. He meant to kill them. Zoe's phone screen was still lit, showing dozens of missed calls from my older son. Rachel clutched her phone tightly, and I could still hear my younger son's voice on the other end. "Stop calling to get my attention! This is the first time Rory let us celebrate her birthday, and you've ruined it. I'm divorcing you!" His words echoed in my head as anger overtook me. My breath caught, and my hands started trembling uncontrollably. Those two fools!

Hearing no response, my son must have assumed she was sulking. His voice dripped with mockery. "What, you're silent now? Scared? You can't compare to even one of Rory's fingers!"

A woman's voice giggled in the background. "Who are you talking to, Ryan?"

Ryan quickly switched his tone. "No one, babe. Just some telemarketer."

Fighting back my fury, I calmly dialed 911, though my hands were still shaking. Soon enough, my daughters-in-law were rushed to the hospital. The doctors worked tirelessly all night, issuing several critical condition warnings. Meanwhile, online, people were celebrating Rory's birthday, envious of the attention she was getting.

While Zoe was undergoing an emergency transfusion for massive blood loss, my older son was making headlines for setting off massive fireworks for Rory. At midnight, Rachel's chest infection took a turn for the worse, leaving her on the brink of death. But Ryan was too busy plastering the city with birthday billboards for Rory. The internet buzzed with envy.

"Wow, Rory is so lucky. She's being loved like a princess!" "I wish I had a man like that!" "I'd marry him in a heartbeat!"

Would they still want him if they knew their bodies wouldn't even be cold before he moved on to someone else?

Chapter2

I waited anxiously outside the operating room. Zoe, unconscious and pale, was calling out Ryan. When they first got married, Ryan was head over heels for her. No wonder she couldn't let go.

A doctor rushed out, looking serious. "Ma'am, is there any way we can contact Ryan? Her will to live is very low. If we can find him, it might give her a fighting chance."

The once vibrant young woman now looked like a rag doll tossed aside, and my heart twisted in pain. I pulled out my phone and quickly called Ryan. The phone barely rang twice before he picked up.

"You need to get back here right now! Zoe..." I started, but Ryan cut me off with a dismissive snort.

"Mom, did Zoe put you up to this? We're just celebrating Rory's birthday. Don't make a big deal out of nothing!" His tone was dripping with irritation.

I wanted to reach through the phone and throttle him. Instead, I lowered my voice and growled, "Zoe is in the hospital. She needs you now."

He scoffed again. "She? In the hospital? Yeah right, she's perfectly fine. Mom, you've always had it out for Rory. Stop making such a big deal out of things. Rory needs me more right now."

As I watched Zoe's heart monitor become more erratic, my patience ran out. "Zoe is bleeding out! She's dying! If you don't come back now, she could be dead by morning!"

There was a long pause on the other end, as if he thought I was joking. "Bleeding out? Why don't you say she got stabbed too? I don't have time for this, Mom. Rory's calling me. Bye." He hung up.

My chest tightened with anger, and I couldn't stop shaking. How could I have raised such monsters? Zoe's condition continued to deteriorate, and I was about to suit up and go into the operating room myself to try and encourage her to hold on when I heard a commotion.

Rachel, freshly out of surgery, had climbed out of her hospital bed and was now gripping Zoe's hand as tightly as she could.

"Zoe! Zoe, wake up! You have to wake up! We promised to go see the snow together, remember? We're going to see the snow up north. You can't leave me alone…"

Rachel sobbed harder and harder until she collapsed, unconscious once more.

Chapter3

I was blinded by tears. I remembered when they had first married my sons. They were two vibrant young women, one so bubbly and outgoing, the other glowing with sunshine. On their wedding night, they whispered conspiratorially about how to deal with me, their so-called "wicked mother-in-law." In the end, my sons had to carry them back to their rooms, unable to keep them from giggling.

They had been so full of life, the very essence of youth. But now, here they were—one barely alive, the other hanging on by a thread. When dawn finally broke, their conditions stabilized, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Just as I began to relax, I saw Rory's latest social media post pop up.

"I'm back from abroad! Thank you to my two favorite people for making my birthday so special. I'll always be their one and only!"

And my foolish sons were grinning like idiots, fawning over her. They had no idea their wives had just escaped death while they spent the night celebrating with another woman.

Those girls had been the ones my sons had begged me to let them marry. They had knelt at my feet, promising they would cherish them forever.

The first time Ryan and Josh came to me, telling me they wanted to get married, my initial reaction wasn't happiness, but concern. I was worried they wouldn't be able to forget Rory, the girl they had grown up with. That's why I didn't agree to the marriages at first. But my sons had knelt before me, swearing they would never betray those girls.

"Mom, you don't have to worry. I truly love Zoe. I don't know how I'd live without her," Ryan had assured me.

"Yeah, Mom, Rachel is like my sunshine. I can't imagine my life without her!" Josh had added.

And like a fool, I had believed them. Now, I knew I had made a mistake.