**Diary Entry**
My mother-in-law, Margaret, would never forget that awful conversation with the girl who married her son, William. Shed tried so hard to talk him out of it, but in the end, he went ahead with it anyway. And this provincial nobody had the nerve to be disrespectful from the start.
*”Listen, Margaret,” shed said, with that insufferable confidence. “Lets not pretend youre some wise matriarch. I know you cant stand mebecause I see right through you. I wont bend to your whims. What gives you the right to waltz into our flat every evening without asking? We dont live off your money.”*
*”Excuse me? You dare lecture me?” Margarets carefully maintained veneer of politeness shattered. “Wait till youve lived as long as I have”*
And just like that, the mask slipped. The respectable facade melted away, revealing the small-minded, bitter woman beneathone who lived only for comfort, no matter who she crushed to get it.
*”Margaret, William and I love each other,” the girlEmilycontinued, relentless. “And Ive noticed how your little chats poison him. First, you drove out his father and swindled his share of the flat. Now you wont even let your own son breathe. Cant you spare him? If you wont love him, at least let someone else try.”*
Margaret exploded. *”Oh, now were singing that tune, are we? You little guttersnipe! Who even are you? Some no-name from some backwater town? If you lost your job tomorrow, youd be on the streets. And you dare tell me what to do?”*
Emily didnt flinch. *”So this is how you measure decency? If you scheme and steal, youre a ladybut if I earn my living honestly, Im trash? Not all of us latch onto men with property. And for the record, I know *you* werent born in London either.”*
That stung. Decades ago, Margaret *had* arrived from some forgotten village with nothingno education, no prospects.
*”Youll *never* be with my son! A mothers love is sacredget out!”* Defeated, she fell back on the one card she had left.
Emily just smirked and walked away.
But the argument changed nothing. William married her anyway.
That didnt stop Margaret. When Emily had their son, Oliver, she poisoned William against her. The divorce came quicklyOliver was only four.
Still, Margaret lived in fear that William might crawl back to that shameless actress. She knew they met sometimes, that he paid child support.
What she *didnt* know was that William and Emily had never truly split. They still lived together, raising Oliver, while Margaret believed he worked in Manchester.
The ruse wasnt just about her. Years before the wedding, William had made reckless choicestangled with the wrong man, fallen into debt. Emily had warned him.
*”Will, dont. That Daniel is a shark. Youre too trustinghell chew you up and spit you out.”*
*”Youre overreacting. Dans solid. Men stick togetherthats how we survive.”*
*”Grow up. Decency isnt about gender. Hes using you.”*
He ignored her. Daniel made him director of a shell company, then vanished with the money, leaving William drowning in debt.
They crafted their plan thena way to protect themselves from creditors *and* Margaret. Officially, William lived in company housing, returning to his “real” life each night.
But they were barely scraping by. Most of his wages went to debts. Emily took odd jobs. They were nearly destitute.
Emilys mother, Margaret *thought* shed won when they divorced.
She was wrong.
Years later, at Olivers eighteenth birthday, the family gatheredreconciled, remarried. Even Williams estranged father, Richard, was there, holding hands with Emilys mother, Helen.
Then the doorbell rang.
Oliver dashed to answerand there stood Margaret, hesitant.
*”You invited her?” Emily whispered sharply.*
*”Mum, she kept calling She sounded so lonely.”*
Helen sighed. *”Took her long enough to apologise.”*
William frowned. *”Was this necessary?”*
Margaret faltered. *”I just I thought youd beg for my help. But no one came.”*
Silence. Then someone poured her tea. Passed a plate.
No one in that family used proper cutlery. But they knew love. Forgiveness.
And that, in the end, was enough.
