Chapter 3

"I'm not going back. I'm getting a divorce," I said.

Dad's face darkened immediately. "Don't be ridiculous. You were the one who insisted on marrying him, and now you're the one demanding a divorce? Is this how you treat marriage? Like it's some kind of joke?"

"Honey, this is all my fault. I didn't mean what I said yesterday—I was just upset," Troy said sincerely. "If you don't want me to stay in contact with Stacy, then I won't. Okay?"

I kept my head down, focused on eating, not looking at him. "You make it sound like I'm some jealous woman tearing apart star-crossed lovers."

He raised his hand and swore, "I'll love you and only you for the rest of my life! If I ever stray, may I get hit by a ca—"

A sudden phone call cut his vow short. After answering, he looked at me with hesitation. "My dad wants us to go to his place."

"Let me guess—did Stacy go there and tattle?"

He didn't respond.

I dabbed the corner of my mouth with a napkin. "Let's go."

I had been waiting for this day for a long time.

The moment we stepped through the door, a vase smashed at my feet. My cheek stung. I reached up and touched it—my fingertips were tainted red with blood.

Troy pulled me into his arms, distressed. "Mom, what are you doing? You hurt Diane!"

Stacy sat on the sofa holding Jude, her shoulders trembling with suppressed sobs.

Sharon Mullen, my mother-in-law, was so furious her chest was heaving. She jabbed at me and snapped at Troy, "I told you not to marry her, but you wouldn't listen. Now look! Your brother's gone and she's bullying Stacy! It's not easy for Stacy to raise Jude all by herself, you know!

"She already has depression to begin with, and just when she was starting to move on from your brother's death, this happens. Diane just can't stand to see us happy, can she?"

Jim just sat silently on the side, looking at me with a face full of disappointment.

Troy quickly explained, "It's not like that. Diane has always helped Stacy."

I pulled him back and asked Sharon emphatically, "Sharon, just tell me—what exactly makes Stacy's life so hard? Is the family starving her? Is she lacking anything?

"I, too, was devastated when Jerry died. You forced Troy to mourn for him and refused to let us have a wedding. I put up with all of that.

"Then when Jude started kindergarten, he said the other kids teased him for not having a dad. So Troy pretended to be his dad—picking him up and dropping him off every day, having him call him 'Dad.' Again, I bit my tongue and let it slide.

"Whenever I bought anything, I'd always buy extra to send to Stacy. Ask yourself honestly, Sharon, haven't I done enough as her sister-in-law? I've been married to Troy for three years, but he's spent more time at her house than at his own."

I gave a self-deprecating smile. "Sometimes, I can't even tell whose husband died."

Sharon screamed, "You witch! How dare you curse my son?"

She lunged at me, trying to hit me, but Troy held her back. "Mom! Don't be like her. She's just saying all this because she's upset with me," he pleaded.

But Sharon didn't find herself in the wrong. She stood with hands on her hips and snapped, "Jerry's gone, and Jude needs someone to look after him! So what's wrong with Troy helping out?"

Stacy stood up timidly, eyes brimming with tears. "Sharon, Troy, please don't fight because of me. If Diane doesn't like me, I'll leave. I won't get in anyone's way. It's all my fault.

"I was too used to being taken care of by Jerry. Now that he's gone, I really don't know how to live anymore. If it weren't for Jude, I might've gone to be with Jerry already."

Sharon stroked her head, her expression soft and warm—completely unlike the way she looked at me.

"It's all my fault for not seeing how malicious she is sooner, and now you've suffered because of it. I'll take care of it right now—I'll make sure they get divorced!"

Troy panicked. "Mom, I'm not getting a divorce!"

I asked coldly, "So, to make sure Stacy has it easy, you pushed for a divorce between me and Troy? Really playing the role of the perfect, self-sacrificing mother and son, huh?"