Having received a slap from her mother-in-law in front of the guests for a poorly set table, Margaret began pulling some things out of the cabinet, and the guests were STUNNED by what they saw…

However, at corporate parties, which Nicholas sometimes took Margaret to, she often noticed what piercing looks Lena sometimes threw at her husband. But the scariest thing was that she saw how his gaze almost constantly followed Lena too. Not to mention what happened at those parties where Margaret wasn’t present.

In general, Margaret had a weighty reason for jealousy. She pondered long and painfully why Lena needed her husband Nicholas now. And she came to the conclusion that she still loved him…

However, she couldn’t be with him because she lived with the much more valuable Victor. With him, she had no financial problems and could afford a lot. So why would she trade down for some supply clerk Nicholas? Immersed in these unpleasant thoughts, Margaret barely dragged herself home.

She had a gigantic cake in her hands, which Zelda Patterson had ordered to bring for her sonny. Approaching the entrance, she started figuring out how to open the door most conveniently without dropping the cake. And at that moment, the entrance door swung open, making Margaret flinch from surprise.

Out of the entrance jumped Margaret’s neighbor, bug-eyed red-haired Veronica. Margaret almost dropped the cake from surprise and almost fell herself. But Veronica managed to catch the girl in the nick of time.

— Where are you rushing like that, Veronica? Open your eyes when you burst out of the entrance. — Sorry, Margo, sorry, sunshine, — Veronica chirped. — Why so angry? Margaret paused for a second, drifting off in thought.

And Veronica, not hearing answers to her questions, hurried to ask new ones: — You still cutting hair? Haven’t left the salon yet? Judging by everything, Veronica wanted to chat. — Yes, cutting.

— Why would I leave? Well, Zelda Patterson told me that lately you’ve been cutting hair poorly. She says last time you butchered her like a mutt. Probably just burnout time.

— Or your eye got jaded. They say that happens often when you do the same thing for a long time. Red-haired Veronica smiled with all her teeth.

And, realizing that she probably shouldn’t have said all that to Margaret, she ran off as quickly as she appeared. And Margaret, feeling tired from the heavy box, barely climbed to the third floor. Zelda Patterson never approved of her son’s choice, not understanding how one could do that.

Dump a super cool accountant and marry an ordinary hairdresser. However, having such a radical opinion about her daughter-in-law, she got haircuts exclusively from her. Not only did Margaret never take money from her for haircuts or styling.

She also did everything super-super, so you couldn’t find fault with anything. And how could it happen that this time she butchered her dear mother-in-law like a mutt, she couldn’t understand. Entering the empty apartment, Margaret carefully placed the heavy box with the cake on the nightstand and sat down next to it herself.

She decided to chase away all the burdensome thoughts and tune into the birthday. Today is Nicholas’s holiday, which means it’s hers too, and therefore there’s no reason to be sad, she needs to rejoice and have fun. Great that yesterday evening and this morning she had already prepared everything to start setting the festive table.

Margaret put the main dish, pork with potatoes, in the oven, and then started laying out the salads prepared the day before. Right after the last sprig of dill was placed on the Mimosa, the front door slammed. Margaret was sure it was Zelda Patterson…