Chap 1
During Christmas dinner, I was struck three times by my mother-in-law, who called me “trash” before gesturing toward my three-year-old daughter and snapping, “Take her and get out of my house.”
No shouting came from my husband.
He refrained from arguing.
Grabbing my hand after lifting our daughter into his arms, Ethan simply said, “We’re done here.”
His father called us two hours later.
With just one sentence, my mother-in-law’s entire Christmas was turned completely upside down.
From the moment we walked through the door at Patricia’s house, dinner had been filled with tension. Most of the evening was spent with Madison, my sister-in-law, criticizing every single thing I did.
Madison finally got the perfect excuse she was looking for when Lily accidentally spilled some milk during dinner.
“Maybe people who can’t control their children shouldn’t be giving anyone parenting advice,” she said.
My fork was set down.
“Lily is three, Madison. It was an accident.”
A smirk crossed her face.
“I’m only saying Ethan could have chosen better.”
Patricia suddenly pushed her chair back before I could even formulate a response. She made her way toward me. Her hand then struck my cheek.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
A complete silence fell over the entire table. Madison herself looked startled by this.
Patricia leaned over me.
“You have never been good enough for my son,” she hissed. “You’re trash.”
She then gestured toward Lily. My daughter sat completely motionless.
“And take that little trash with you when you leave.”
At that moment, Ethan stood up. Behind him, his chair slammed onto the floor.
Patricia turned to face him immediately.
“Ethan—”
He walked right past her, however, and reached out to take my hand.
“We’re leaving.”
Madison’s eyes rolled.
“Oh, please. Mom got angry. Everyone needs to calm down.”
Ethan directed his gaze toward his sister.
“She hit my wife while my daughter watched.”
He then gathered Lily up into his arms.
“There’s nothing to calm down about.”
The confidence Patricia had shown began to crack.
“You are not walking out of this house on Christmas because of her.”
Reaching for our coats, Ethan grabbed them.
“No, Mom. I’m walking out because of you.”
Without saying another word, we walked out.
Lily sat in the back seat silently during the drive home. She asked after a few minutes:
“Daddy, does Grandma hate Mommy?”
Around the steering wheel,
Ethan’s hands grew tighter.
“No, sweetheart. Grandma behaved very badly.”
“Are we going back?”
Turning his head slightly, Ethan glanced at me.
“No.”
A sense of finality carried in his voice.
Once Lily had fallen asleep later on, Ethan sat down on the couch next to me, holding an ice pack.
“I should’ve stopped this years ago,” he said.
“Stopped what?”
A brief hesitation came over him. Then, the truth was finally told to me. Ethan had been sending his parents $2,500 every month in secret for the past six years.
My eyes stared at him.
“Every month?”
A nod was his response.
Their mortgage, taxes, medical expenses, credit-card bills, home repairs, and even some of Madison’s expenses were being covered with the help of his money. This totaled thirty thousand dollars a year.
Over a span of six years.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I kept thinking it was temporary.”
An expression of shame came over him.
“And because Mom always made me feel guilty whenever I tried to reduce it.”
Handing me his phone, Ethan showed me the screen. A message had already been sent by him to Patricia:
After what happened tonight, the financial support ends immediately. Do not contact Claire or Lily.
I looked over at him.
“You stopped everything?”
“Yes.”
“What about their mortgage?”
A change came over Ethan’s expression.
“They don’t have one.”
My brow furrowed.
“What?”
His phone began to ring before he could explain further. It was his father. Richard.
Ethan put the call on speaker.
“Dad?”
There was nervousness in Richard’s voice.
“Son, your mother just found out what you did.”
“What exactly did she find out?”
A long pause followed. Richard then spoke:
“She found the paperwork.”
Ethan grew extremely still.
“What paperwork?” I asked.
A hesitation came from Richard.
“The documents concerning the house.”
Out of nowhere, the background exploded with Patricia’s voice.
“Give me the phone!”
Only seconds later, Ethan was being shouted at directly by her.
“You cannot do this! This is my home!”
The calm on Ethan’s face did not waver.
“No, Mom.”
Patricia went quiet.
“What?”
“You told my wife to take my daughter and get out of your house tonight.”
“It IS my house!”
“No.”
Just one word. And nothing else.
The tone of Patricia’s voice dropped.
“What are you talking about?”
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