28October2025
I took Mum into my flat, and my wife gave me an ultimatum.
I thought I knew her inside out. We shared joys and sorrows, plotted a future together, and I believed that, no matter what, she would always stand by my side. Then fate tested me, and I realised the person Id taken for my soulmate was, in reality, someone completely different.
**Love, family and a home that wasnt ours**
When I met Evelyn, I was convinced she was the woman of my life. She was caring, attentive and full of energy. With her I felt happy and fulfilled. Our romance blossomed quickly a year later we were married.
After the wedding we faced a big decision: where to live? Renting in central London was expensive, and buying a house seemed a distant dream. We searched for the best option until Mum made a proposition that felt like a gift from the heavens.
She owned a flat in Notting Hill, inherited from her parents. She offered us to live there rentfree, which would let us save for the future.
It was perfect. Evelyn and I were thrilled. Mum even handed over her savings so we could refurbish the flat and decorate it to our taste. She asked for nothing in return she only wanted us to be happy.
For a while everything fell into place.
Until the day our world collapsed.
**My fathers betrayal and my mothers tragedy**
My parents had been married for almost forty years. As a child I looked at my father as the model of a responsible, loyal man. I was sure he would never abandon his family.
Then the day came.
Father sat opposite Mum, his face flat, and told her, simply, that he was leaving.
He had found someone else younger, more attractive, full of life.
I will never forget the expression on Mums face. Her hands trembled, her mouth tried to speak, but the words caught in her throat. The man she had loved all her life had just tossed their decades together into the rubbish bin.
She could not bear it.
A few weeks later she suffered a stroke.
I still see that night vividly the phone ringing in the dead of night, the urgent voice of the doctor, the wail of an ambulance echoing off the streets. Then the hospital: white walls, Mum lying on the bed, helpless, terrified, eyes pleading for help.
I knew I had no choice.
I had to bring her to my flat.
**I wont live with your mother!**
That evening I returned home convinced Evelyn would understand. After all, she was my motherinlaw the woman who had given us everything: a roof over our heads, her savings, all her love. How could we now turn away from her?
But Evelyns reaction shocked me.
I wont live with your mother! she snapped, crossing her arms.
I stared at her, stunned.
Evelyn she has nowhere to go. Shes ill. She needs us.
Then find her a care home! I never signed up for a life with an old, sick woman.
Her words hit me like a punch to the stomach.
I searched her face for even a flicker of compassion, a hint of doubt, but there was none.
Evelyn, shes not a stranger. Shes my mum the woman without whom we wouldnt have this flat. Do you really want to leave her alone?
She didnt even blink.
I married you, not her. If you bring her here, Im out.
It wasnt a request. It was an ultimatum.
**The decision that changed everything**
For three nights I lay awake, weighing every option, looking for a compromise. The truth was simple.
Evelyn had already made her choice. And if she could turn her back on my mother so easily, what would she do if I ever needed help?
So I decided.
The day before Mums discharge, I packed Evelyns belongings and left them by the door.
When she came home and saw the bags, she laughed cruelly.
Really? You choose your mother over your own wife?
I met her eyetoeye and said calmly,
I choose the person who has never left me.
There was surprise in her face, as if she expected me to beg, to plead for her to stay. I didnt.
That night Evelyn slammed the front door and left the flat.
The next morning I went to the hospital, collected Mum, and brought her home.
**He who cheats once will cheat again**
The first months were hard. Doctor appointments, physiotherapy, sleepless nights worrying about the future.
But you know what? I have never, not for a single moment, regretted my decision.
Because I learned one thing: anyone who can walk away from you once will do it again.
My father abandoned my mother.
My wife wanted me to abandon hers.
Today I live with Mum. She is slowly regaining strength, and each day she shows a little more life.
I know I made the right choice.
Family isnt just the person you share a bed with. Family is the one who never abandons you no matter how hard things get.
What do you think? Did I do the right thing, or should I have fought for my marriage even if it meant leaving Mum alone?
