«Thanks to your parents for buying us this apartment! But we’ll give it to my sister, and save up for a new one!» declared the husband during the housewarming…

Emily waited for when it would get easier. But her parents, seeing that with such a son-in-law you couldn’t make progress, nothing was accumulating for the young couple, took matters into their own hands. They hustled, gathered all their savings, took out a loan, and helped the kids with money.

«That’s what it means—they wanted to get rid of extra mouths!» giggled the mother-in-law. Regina Johnson thought the in-laws were stingy. She knew they could help.

Good thing she convinced the young couple to live with them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have given anything. The mother-in-law got so inspired that she called her son several times a day to ask if they’d found an apartment yet.

«Don’t buy without me!» she insisted. «I have a sharp eye, I’ll spot all the problems right away!» But the daughter-in-law refused the help. Said they’d manage themselves.

Emily didn’t want Regina Johnson hanging around them. What sharp eye, if she only worked at the property management office before? She went around checking meters in apartments. And that was long ago.

Back then, people would fudge things and pay her to look the other way. And that was the happiest time in her life. She didn’t need money.

But when they tightened the screws, and shady schemes became risky, she switched to the city hall office and sat there on minimum wage. And she sat until her husband left her. He stopped having enough for booze.

After that, like she’d been stung, she started running around for side jobs to feed the kids. The husband, the scoundrel, didn’t pay child support. Disappeared without a trace.

Maybe he died altogether. Other men of the same type came along. They liked to hit the bottle.

In the end, she never settled with anyone else. Apparently, the daughter took after her mother, since her chosen ones were about the same. Fun, but deadbeats.

Didn’t like to work, but drank a lot. Katie didn’t like to work either. She dreamed of a rich husband, so she could sit at home and do nothing.

As soon as she finished school, she started searching. Didn’t rush to enroll anywhere. Thought such a beauty as her would be spotted by a billionaire right away and offered to be the keeper of his home and wealth.

But Katie herself wasn’t too smart. She’d see a guy with the latest model phone and cool clothes. And she’d fall for it.

And he only had that phone as expensive property. And he himself was broke as a joke. Of course, this could be figured out after a few dates…