When Martha returned home from a perfect weekend, something felt off. Her daughter Amy’s beloved flowerbed was gone, replaced by an army of creepy garden gnomes. The flowers Amy had nurtured were destroyed.

Martha knew it was Gloria, her mother-in-law, who had always despised Amy. She didn’t scream; instead, she calmly devised a plan. Gloria smugly dismissed the flowers as temporary and boasted about the $500 gnomes she’d bought. Martha smiled and played along, agreeing to pay for them at dinner.

The next evening, Martha handed Gloria an invoice for $1,500—itemizing the cost of restoring the garden. Gloria, furious, paid up the next day and took the gnomes with her.

Martha told Amy that Gloria had “accidentally” damaged the garden and gave them money to fix it. Amy was thrilled, and over the next few weeks, the garden was rebuilt even better than before. Gloria never touched it again, and Martha enjoyed the thriving, colorful garden as a reminder that love and patience always win.