[Isla, that unfilial, heartless daughter! Her dad and I have nowhere to live and she won't even give us a room! She kicked us out!]
[Her mother-in-law is an outsider, but she treats her like a treasure and disregards her own parents. We've wasted our time raising her!]
Several uninformed relatives then chimed in.
[How could you do this, Isla? They're still your parents. It's your duty to be filial!]
[That's right, no matter how hard things are, you can't abandon your parents! It's so inconsiderate!]
[Hurry up and bring your parents home right now, don't let people laugh at you!]
I bluntly told them they had given the entire seven hundred thousand dollars in demolished compensation to Viola, yet still expected me to serve them.
I couldn't be that saintly.
The group fell silent for a few seconds and then my uncle, Dieter Reinhart, came out to mediate.
[Isla, you can't say that. They are your own parents and money is just an external asset. Be generous.]
My aunt and other female relatives chimed in too, telling me not to hold a grudge—we were family, after all. Blood was thicker than water.