When Julia’s Mom dies, she leaves a modest inheritance for her beloved daughter. While Julia and David, her husband, have plans for the money, her in-laws have a different agenda altogether.

All through my life, my Mom has always had my back. She’s been my biggest support throughout everything — including the fact that she accepted me dropping out of law school because the pressure was too much at the time.

You see, my Mom wasn’t rich, but when she passed away, she left me everything she had — all the savings that she had put away for me.

Rather than squandering it, I decided to be responsible. I told my husband David that we should put some of it away for our dream house. I also decided to use some of it to continue my studies — it was a long-time shared dream of Mom and mine that I would be a lawyer.

The best part about it all was that I had David’s support. He didn’t expect me to use all of my inheritance. Instead, he played a vital role in everything, contributing almost all his salary to our shared dreams.

Now for the plot twist.

While David and I are saving up for our home, we’ve been renting a place with David’s parents. And they had a very different interpretation of the situation — somehow, they were convinced that I had become a millionaire overnight, yet they never explicitly mentioned the money.

Nonetheless, they found a cunning way to take advantage of me.

Our family loves dining out — we enjoy eating at different places and experiencing different cuisines.

“Restaurant hopping will be our thing until we can travel to places,” David always joked.

Since the inheritance came in, every restaurant outing has turned into a game of “wallet roulette.” Guess who always ends up footing the bill?

Yours truly — usually because my in-laws would purposely leave their wallets at home.

Tired of being the perpetual dinner sponsor, I decided to turn the tables.

Come Friday, we went out to dinner as usual. As luck would have it, my in-laws went to the car first, and I spotted their wallets casually resting on the table next to the door.

I put on my shoes while waiting for David to come downstairs so we could leave.

“I think your parents forgot their wallets,” I said, standing up.

“Don’t they always?” he asked. “Here, put them into your bag.”

So, we got to the restaurant and enjoyed the Chinese food I craved the entire week. David probably ate his weight in spring rolls.

Then, as the bill arrived, I, with a feigned innocence, claimed that I had forgotten my bank card at home. The in-laws, with their trademark smiles put in place, mirrored by forgetfulness and looked to David.

But just as they thought they had won another round, David intervened.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I put your wallets in Julia’s bag as we left the house. You can cover dinner this time.”

The shift in the room was palpable. You could almost hear the gears grinding to a halt as the reality of the situation sank in for my in-laws.

Don’t get us wrong, we weren’t trying to take advantage of them — it was so much more than that. See, my in-laws knew we were saving up for our dream home — a home they were also moving into because David felt responsible for them. But despite knowing this, they never tried to help us save up.

The silence took over for a while, and David glanced at me.

Eventually, my father-in-law stretched out his arm and asked for his wallet.

“Thanks, Son,” he said. “I’ve got this one.”

He even left a big tip for the waiter, which we knew was just an attempt to save face.

“Thanks, Dad,” David said. “You know, we’ve got to share the responsibility of family dinner. Surely, you cannot expect to cash in on Julia’s inheritance every time we go out. She has plans for that money, and you must respect it.”

I grabbed David’s hand beneath the table, feeling seen and appreciated.

“I’ve got it next time,” my mother-in-law chirped, breaking open a fortune cookie.

Over the following weeks, the in-laws would take out their wallets first whenever we went to a restaurant. But as David said, we all needed to share the responsibility and take turns.

It’s been a while now, and the in-laws have yet to revert to old ways. They have begun to appreciate the significance of financial responsibility and respect myself and David.

It hasn’t been a complete transformation because David and I still have to cover all the other expenses at home, but it is a step in the right direction. My mother-in-law also opts to cook without me asking now because she knows I study after work.

What about you? Have your in-laws tried to take advantage of you?