Margaret vividly remembered her conversation with that unpleasant woman who had become Liams wife. She had, of course, tried her best to dissuade her beloved son from marrying her. But it hadnt workedat least not at first. And to make matters worse, this provincial simpleton had the nerve to act as if she belonged.
“Listen, Margaret,” the girl had said with unbearable boldness. “Why do you pretend to be the wise mother? I can see you despise me, and its because I see right through you. I wont bend to your whims. What gives you the right to barge into our flat every evening uninvited? We arent living off your money.”
Margarets composure shattered. “How dare you lecture me? Wait until youve lived as long as I have” Her veneer of gentility slipped, revealing the petty, grasping woman beneath. All her life, shed cared only for comfort and sweetness, no matter who she had to trample to get it. Everyone was out for themselves in this world.
“Margaret, Liam and I love each other,” the girlEmilycontinued. “And Ive noticed how your words poison him. Wasnt it enough that you drove out his father and convinced him to sign over his share of the flat? Must you ruin your sons life too? If you cant love him, at least let someone else try.”
Margaret exploded. “Oh, so thats your tune now? Who do you think you are? Some nobody from godforsaken Yorkshire! Youre a penniless actressone missed paycheck from the streets! And you dare tell *me* what to do?”
Emily didnt back down. “So decency and dignity are measured by wealth in your eyes? You swindle a flat, and suddenly youre a lady? But if I earn my keep honestly, thats shameful? Not all of us marry for property and then bleed men dry. And for the recordI know you werent born in London either.”
That struck a nerve. Margaret *had* come from a tiny village decades ago, with no education or prospects.
“Youll *never* have my son! A mothers love is sacred! Get out!” Margaret shrieked, falling back on the one argument no one could challenge.
Emily merely smirked and left. The argument changed nothingshe and Liam married anyway.
But Margaret wasnt done. When Emily gave birth to their son, Thomas, she began poisoning Liam against his wife. Eventually, they divorcedthough Thomas was only four.
Margaret still seethed, fearing Liam might return to that brazen actress. She knew he sometimes saw Emily and even paid child support.
What she *didnt* know was that Liam and Emily still lived together, raising Thomas in secret while Margaret believed he worked in Manchester.
This ruse wasnt just because of Margaret. Years before the wedding, Liam had fallen into debt after reckless business dealings with a supposed friend.
Emily had warned him. “Liam, dont trust Simon. Hes a shark, and youre out of your depth. The moment I met him, I knew hed use you.”
Liam dismissed her. “Simons solid. Men have to stick togetherthats how we survive.”
“Hes playing you! When will you learn decency isnt about gender?”
Liam ignored her. Simon made him director of a shell company, then vanished with the money, leaving Liam drowning in debt.
Theyd have been better off on his modest civil service salary. So they devised their plankilling two birds with one stone. Margaret gloated over the divorce, and creditors left Emily and Thomas alone.
Officially, Liam lived in company housing. But every evening, he returned to the warm flat where his wife and son waited.
He was happythough he still visited Margaret monthly, enduring her matchmaking.
“Should we tell her the truth?” Emily sometimes asked.
Liam sighed. “It would crush her. There has to be another way.”
But there wasnt. Emily scraped by with odd jobs; Liams wages vanished into debts. They were barely afloat. Sometimes he begged her to leave him. She never would.
Emilys mother, Helen, a schoolteacher, despaired. “You cant support him forever! Youve nothing but strugglesrenting a room, feeding him. Why endure this? Youre not even married!”
She offered to take Emily and Thomas into her tiny flatbut without Liam.
“Mum, I love him. We have a son. I wont abandon him.”
Helen had raised Emily alone. Shed hoped an ultimatum would break the spell. When it failed, she hatched her own plan.
She confronted Margaret. “Your sons in debt. Hes still with Emilylying to you all this time.”
Margaret was livid. “That wretch! And my sonliving like a common criminal!”
Helen pressed on. “Were the older generation. We must help them.”
Margaret scoffed. “Hes a grown man. I raised himthats enough! No help from me!”
So Helen took them in. “Come live with me. Its cramped, but better than nothing.”
Emily agreed. Liam, humbled, apologized. “Im sorry, Helen. I was awful at the wedding.”
He remembered mocking her provincial waysher clumsy table manners. Now he knew none of that mattered.
Helen even phoned Emilys estranged father, Robert, a successful builder.
“You havent needed me in years,” she said. “But Emilys in trouble.”
Robert didnt hesitate. “Shes my daughter. What does she need?”
Helen named the debt.
Robert agreedon one condition. “I want to see you. Just once.”
Helen laughed nervously. “If you behave.”
Years later, Thomas turned eighteen. The family gatheredRobert and Helen, now remarried after his patient courtship. Liam and Emily had wed again, though only after Robert bought her a flat. Liam had straightened out, working steadily.
As they celebrated, the doorbell rang. Thomas answeredand there stood Margaret.
Emily frowned. “You invited her?”
Thomas flushed. “She kept calling. Shes lonely.”
Helen eyed Margaret. “Took you long enough to apologize.”
Robert chuckled. “Easy, love. Without her, we wouldnt be here. Nobodys perfect.”
Liam sighed. “Mum, whats this about?”
Margaret faltered. “I just wanted to say sorry.”
Shed waited years for them to beg. When they didnt, the loneliness grew unbearable.
“I thought youd plead for my help. But Im not as heartless as you think.”
Silence fell. Then someone poured her tea. Passed the sandwiches.
No one in this family used the right cutlery. But they had something betterkindness, happiness, and forgiveness.
