Chapter 2

Mildred marched into our room, her words hitting hard. "I told you not to marry her, didn't I? And now look—it's barely been any time since the wedding, and she's already trying to walk all over me."

Owen shoved her out and said, "Enough, Mom. You've said enough. I'll take care of it."

Then, he grabbed a tissue and wiped my tears away, saying, "You know Mom's getting up there in age, Paige, and with her heart condition, she can't handle all this stress. You're always understanding—shouldn't you be the bigger person here? Go apologize to her, okay?"

He took advantage of my softer side, knowing I wouldn't stay mad at Mildred. With his smooth talking, he had me going to apologize to her.

What he didn't see was that the more I gave in, the more Mildred trampled over me.

…

One night, my period started in the middle of the night, leaving stains on the sheets and my pajamas.

I got up, stripped off my pajamas, and tossed them and the sheets in the bathroom, figuring it was too late to deal with it. I decided to wash them in the morning.

But the next morning, I was yanked out of sleep by Mildred's yelling. She didn't even knock. She barged in and threw the stained sheets right at my head.

"Get up and clean this! How can you be this gross?" she barked.

A sharp pain twisted in my stomach, and I explained, "I've got bad cramps, Mildred. Let me rest for a bit, and I'll take care of it."

But she was relentless, pulling me like she'd completely lost it. "You're talking about cramps? Seriously? You've been married forever and still aren't pregnant!"

Mildred ripped my blanket off the bed and tossed it on the floor. I only had one set of pajamas, which were stained, so I was left with nothing on.

I crossed my arm over my chest and grabbed my blanket, feeling like she'd just crushed whatever dignity I had left.

My voice turned cold as I said, "I'll get dressed and wash them, but please get out. Now!"

Luckily, Mildred's phone happened to ring from her room, interrupting what could've turned into a full-blown argument. She had invited her relatives and friends over again for a card game.

I was out on the balcony, hanging up laundry, but I could still hear their chatter buzzing like a swarm of bees.

"Your daughter-in-law still hasn't gotten pregnant?"

"Who knows? Nothing's happened."

"Maybe she's infertile?"

"Exactly. My daughter got pregnant right after she married, and her baby's over a year old now."

"Maybe you should try some remedies or something?"

Mildred rolled her eyes at me and taunted, "Well, looks like she's just some barren woman with nothing to offer."

What kind of mother-in-law would crack such jokes?

I couldn't take it anymore. I went into my room and tried calling Owen, but he didn't answer, no matter how many times I tried.

When he finally came home that evening, Mildred dragged him into her room, muttering about who-knows-what.

Later, Owen came into our room. I wanted to talk to him, but he was glued to his phone, typing away non-stop.

I reached for his phone.

"Quit being ridiculous. I'm working," he muttered, looking flustered.

I was taken aback. "What kind of work has you this busy, even after you get home?"

"Do you think money just falls from the sky? Every penny in this house comes from the hard work I put in. And you? All you do is spend money. You can't even take care of my mom properly."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What money of yours have I spent? Other than the groceries and the essentials, what else is there? Mildred picks on me every single day, and now you're saying I didn't look after her?"

"I'm done. I'm not arguing with you," Owen said, turning his back and going to sleep.

I cried quietly, not getting a single wink of sleep that night.

…

After that, I pretended not to hear it whenever Mildred gave me a hard time. I stopped complaining to Owen, too. It wasn't worth it since he never had my back.

I put up with it for over six months, all just to have a place to call home.

But something about Owen started to feel off. His late nights away from home became the norm, even when work wasn't the real reason.

And every time he returned, he'd be glued to his phone, his face lighting up with such a soft smile. Whenever he saw me catch it, he'd quickly cover it up.

That day, I left the house and quietly flagged down a cab to follow Owen. He pulled up to a fancy residential complex. I couldn't get in, so I just waited outside.

It didn't take long before Owen finally showed up. But to my surprise, he had his arm around a woman with a small baby bump. They looked so cozy as they got into the car together.

I quickly hopped into another cab and tailed them. In the end, their car pulled up outside a hospital.