Daniel looked helpless, caught between his mother’s authority and his loyalty to me.
“Just bear with it for a while,” he whispered. “They’re family.”
By the third night, my patience snapped. Steven barked at me for being late with dinner, banging his fork against the table like a king demanding a servant.
Something inside me broke.
I looked around at the mess, the noise, the three lazy men sprawled on my couch, and my mother-in-law watching me with smug satisfaction.
And in that moment, I realized—this wasn’t my home anymore. It was hers.
The Night I Left Everything Behind
When everyone finally went to bed, I stood in the quiet of the kitchen and made my decision.
I packed my suitcase slowly, folding each shirt with trembling hands. Every piece of clothing felt like a memory—of who I had been before this house swallowed me whole.
Before I zipped the bag, I wrote a note and placed it on Daniel’s pillow.
“I married you, not the entire countryside.
If you can’t protect our home, I will protect myself.”
