The motherinlaw suggested that we move in with her and rent out our flat. With virtually no other option, we agreed. While my husband was home, everyone was pleasant to me, but the moment he left, everything changed. I was instantly put back in my place and wasnt even allowed near the refrigerator.
I often wept in front of my husband, trying to tell him what was happening, but he didnt believe me. He said his mother and sister would never do something like that. He was especially skeptical when I mentioned they had coated my hairbrush with a sticky substance. I dont know how much longer I could have endured if a decisive incident hadnt occurred.
Usually we left together in the morninghim for work, me to drop the kids at kindergarten. That morning, Paul felt ill and decided to stay home. I went out to run some errands and, on returning, I ran straight into Marc, my sisterinlaw Claires boyfriend, in the hallway.
Hey, you, go grab some beer quickly!
Are you crazy? I asked, stunned.
What, you didnt get it? I said quickly! Do I need to repeat it?
My motherinlaw emerged from the kitchen:
Thats right! Let her at least do something useful, you goodfornothing! And take out the trash too!
Just then, our bedroom door opened and Paul appeared. A heavy silence fell over the room. My motherinlaw fled back to the kitchen, while my husband walked over to Marc, seized him by the collar and shoved him down the stairs, shouting that he was never to set foot here again.
Claire tried to speak but only shrugged. My motherinlaw tried to spark a fight, but Paul cut her off before she could finish. He immediately called the tenants and told them this would be their last month in our flat. Then he turned to his mother and sister and declared firmly:
If, before the end of the month, you utter even one more insulting word toward my wife, consider that you no longer have a son.
A month later we moved back into our own apartment. Yet the nightmare lingered for a long time. My motherinlaw and fatherinlaw disowned Paul, but it didnt affect him. He even said he never wanted to see or hear from them again.


