My Sister-In-Law? Not Without My Permission

I return home from studying abroad and find a new future sister-in-law waiting for me. Sandra Zimmer acts like she's already the lady of the house and the Slater family's daughter-in-law. She even vows to put me, her sister-in-law-to-be, whom she's never met, in my place. But no one tells her that my older brother, Wallace Slater, is adopted. I'm the Slater family's only heir, and even Wallace has to answer to me. Chapter 1 When my brother, Wallace Slater, brought me home from the airport, Mom and Dad were eagerly waiting for me. Because of the pandemic, I hadn't been home in a long time. Everyone was thrilled to see me. After we caught up and told each other how much we had missed each other, Wallace brought a woman I didn't know over to me. He shyly introduced her. "This is my girlfriend and your future sister-in-law, Sandra Zimmer." Then he nodded toward me. "This is my sister, Madison Slater. I told you about her. You can call her Maddie." "Hi." Sandra gave me a polite smile and held out both hands. I was still caught up in the excitement of being home. I greeted her, then turned back to Mom and Dad and kept chatting with them. That night, I stayed close to Mom. She told me that Wallace met Sandra at one of the branches he managed. She was an intern there. Sandra was sweet and gentle, and Wallace liked her a lot. So after dating for a short time, he brought her home and said he wanted to marry her. I was dying to hear more. "What happened next? Is Wallace really getting married?" "Your dad and I would prefer he marry someone from a family of equal standing, but if he really wants to marry her, we can't stop him. If he truly loves her, we'll let him make his own choice," Mom replied. Mom had always been open-minded, so I wasn't worried about Wallace. But when I saw Sandra the next day, I realized I had really underestimated her. Because of the jet lag, I didn't wake up until mid-afternoon. I went downstairs to find something to eat. As I sat at the dining table having my meal, I heard a voice behind me. "You're just waking up now, Maddie? Wallace has already been at work for half a day." Was she serious? I was completely caught off guard. I turned around and saw that it was Sandra. "Oh. Are you talking to me?" I could hardly believe it. She rolled her eyes at me. Then she folded her arms and slowly walked down the stairs. Well, damn. She already looked like she owned the place. Sandra had acted normal in front of Mom and Dad yesterday, but the moment we were alone, she couldn't wait to show me who was in charge. "Who else would I be talking to? Is there anyone else in this house?" There was no hiding the hostility in her voice. I knew I hadn't misunderstood her. I was shocked, but then I found it funny. "I thought you were talking to someone else. Also, I don't know you, and we're not close, so don't call me Maddie." After putting her in her place, I turned back to my food. What was Wallace thinking? He must have been blind to fall for someone like her. She walked up to me, ready to argue, but then we heard the front door open. Sandra instantly changed her attitude. She looked weak and upset, and her voice was nothing like her earlier snide tone. "Don't be mad. If you don't want me to call you Maddie, I won't anymore." Chapter 2 I couldn't believe someone could still be this fake in this day and age. Didn't she realize how obvious she was? Just then, Mom and Wallace walked in. They looked confused when they saw how upset Sandra was and hurried over to her. "What's wrong? What happened?" The moment Sandra saw Wallace, she really got into the act. She even managed to shed a couple of tears, looking absolutely pitiful. "It's nothing. Maddie… I mean, Madison doesn't like me calling her that. I won't do it anymore," she said. "I was only trying to be friendly, but she got upset. I didn't mean to. I won't call her that again." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had lived for over 20 years without ever meeting someone who could put on an act like this. I had definitely seen it all now. Mom stepped in to smooth things over. "Oh, come on. It's such a small matter. There's no need to get upset." Wallace chimed in. "Maddie's probably just cranky because she just woke up. She hasn't adjusted to the time difference yet. Don't take it personally." He shot me a look, then put an arm around the pitiful-looking Sandra and took her back to his room to comfort her. I was too angry to eat another bite. Mom looked at me and asked what had happened, but I told her it was nothing. I was curious to see what Sandra would pull next. I had just come back home, and I was craving all the local food I had missed. I went out with my old friends every day and ate to my heart's content, determined to make up for everything I had missed over the years. With all that going on, I barely had time to think about Sandra. Unexpectedly, one of my friends brought her up. "How are things with your future sister-in-law? She's quite a character, isn't she?" It was my childhood friend, Keith Culver. He had that smug look that said he knew something and was just waiting for me to ask. He had been like that since we were kids. I shot him a look and gave him exactly what he wanted. "If you've got something to say, spit it out." His grin grew even more mischievous. "Sandra's an intern at your family's company. She hadn't even been there for long before she had Wallace, that idiot, completely wrapped around her finger." I scoffed. "That's it? Who doesn't know that? Tell me something I don't know." Keith wasn't fazed and continued, "Then did you know she joined the company with only one goal, which was to seduce Wallace? "Now she goes around acting like they're married and throwing her weight around." That finally got my attention. I turned to him, and Keith proudly pulled out his phone. He showed me several screenshots of a chat between Sandra and her friends. "I've got Wallace wrapped around my finger. It doesn't matter how rich or privileged he is. He'll do exactly what I say." "Wallace took me home to meet his parents. Their house is huge, and they even have a housekeeper. I have to make sure I don't lose this." "Wallace's sister is coming home soon. She could spell trouble for me, so I'll have to put her in her place as soon as she gets here." Sandra had to be an idiot to brag about something like this. She couldn't even keep it to herself. I kept my thoughts to myself and turned to Keith. "So how do you know the person who gave you those screenshots?" Keith grinned sheepishly. I looked at him with disgust, but he didn't seem the least bit embarrassed. "What's the big deal? We both wanted something from each other and got what we needed. At least I'm not like Wallace." Chapter 3 Still, I knew I had to keep an eye on Sandra. From what I had seen, she might've been tiny in stature, but her ambitions were anything but small. She looked sweet and innocent, as if she wanted nothing for herself. In reality, she never let herself miss out on a thing. She got Wallace to make her a full-time employee, give her a promotion, and move her into an easy position in the department. What started as the occasional stay at our house had almost turned into her moving in for good. She was good at playing the victim and even better at winning people over. Everyone in the house got a smile from her except me and Wilma Brown, the housekeeper. To her, winning over Mom and Dad meant winning over her future in-laws. She buttered Wallace up just so she could marry him as soon as possible and become the real Mrs. Wallace Slater. I was the only one she didn't even bother pretending to be nice to. One night, she saw Wilma bringing me a late-night snack and insisted on having some too. But it was already late, and the stew had been simmering for many hours. There wasn't enough time to make another batch, and Wilma was already going to bed. When Wilma said no, Sandra put her hands on her hips and started acting like she owned the place. "What? I can't even ask you to make me some stew? Are you the housekeeper or some pampered lady? Can't I even ask you to do something for me?" Wilma had no choice but to make it for her. She was bossy and demanding when no one was watching, yet she always gave in to me in front of Mom and Dad. I couldn't be bothered to play along with her pathetic little act, so I never gave her the time of day. Next to her, I ended up looking like the unreasonable one. I once tried asking Wallace if he was really planning to marry Sandra. Did he even know what she was really like? He brushed me off as if I were just throwing a childish fit. He said he planned to marry Sandra and wanted me to get along with her. Mom and Dad grew increasingly fond of Sandra too. She would go shopping with Mom and help her pick out bags. Whatever Mom liked, Sandra would praise her taste, and Mom loved every bit of it. Of course, Mom often showered Sandra with gifts. Sandra gave her the emotional comfort she wanted, and in return, Sandra got plenty of material benefits. They both got what they wanted. Wallace was happy to see them getting along so well. I was the only person in the family who didn't like Sandra. That difference became more and more obvious, and I was starting to look like the villainous sister-in-law. That only made Sandra bolder. Whenever Mom and Dad weren't around, she treated me even worse. "Madison, your room is really nice," she said. "Once Wallace and I get married, can we move in here? You'll be moving out eventually anyway. "This room has the best light and the most space. It'd be such a waste to leave it empty." She made it sound like a question, but her tone said otherwise. So she'd had her eye on my room from the start. I glanced at Wallace, who was standing to the side. He didn't say a word. I was so angry that I actually laughed. "Seriously? You don't even know if you'll marry into this family, and you're already trying to take my room? "You've already bagged Wallace. When you get married, isn't he going to buy you a place of your own? Why do you still have to mooch off my family?" "Maddie, don't be rude!" Mom heard me and came over. "Sandra, don't take what she said personally." Mom actually comforted Sandra, then turned to me. "How could you say something like that? Apologize to Wallace and Sandra." I refused to. I knew I shouldn't have said those things, but I wasn't about to apologize in front of Sandra. Seeing Mom take her side only made Sandra more smug. "It's okay, Martha. Madison's just upset. Wallace and I aren't going anywhere. We'll stay here and keep you company. I'll even take care of you when you get old." She shot me a challenging look, then turned around and started sucking up to Mom. Wallace tried to smooth things over too. "Don't blame Maddie. Sandra was only joking about switching rooms, and Maddie took her seriously." Then he turned to me like I was a child throwing a tantrum. "Sandra was only teasing you. Don't be mad, okay?" Mom kept saying how understanding Sandra was and asked why I had become so petty. She dismissed it as a joke, then scolded me for being unreasonable. When I saw that the wedding plans were really moving forward, I finally started to worry. I couldn't let Sandra marry into my family. There was no way I could actually live with someone who was this good at putting on an act. … One day, when Sandra wasn't at our house, I called a family meeting with Mom, Dad, and Wallace. "I don't want Sandra marrying into our family," I said. The moment I said that, everyone looked at me. Mom said, "Maddie, don't start." Wallace didn't look surprised at all. "It's just as Sandra predicted. She knew you would object." I had to give her credit. She actually saw it coming. Wallace looked frustrated. "Why do you have such a problem with Sandra? You just have to find fault with everything she does. "When she told me, I didn't believe her. I wasn't expecting you to actually make things difficult for her at a time like this."