“Go and apologize to your husband right now! Beg him to take you back! My reputation is ruined because of you! Do you ever stop causing me trouble?”

I stared at her in a daze.

This was the woman I had loved for so long.

She had once been gentle, or at least pretended to be. She had given me clothes to wear, food to eat, and books to read—the bare minimum, yes.

But because of those small things, I tried so hard to be a responsible daughter.

Yet to her, my dignity and my happiness—none of it mattered as much as her reputation.

“It was he who cheated,” I said quietly. “Not me.”

The next second, her hand came down hard across my cheek, the sound echoing. Her furious face loomed before me, every wrinkle twisted in rage.

“So what if he cheated?” she shouted. “It’s not the end of the world! If he cheated, that just means he’s capable!”

Her words struck me harder than her slap ever could.

She jabbed a finger at me, her voice shaking with anger. “You went and divorced him. Did you even think about your sister-in-law?”

She huffed. “He promised last month to help your sister-in-law find an easy job! Now that you’ve divorced him, how is she supposed to get it? How could you do this to her?”

And just like that, I understood. All of this—her fury, her slap, her humiliation—was just for her beloved daughter-in-law.

In other words, my happiness was worth less to her than Ethel’s job.

Something in me snapped. I no longer cared about anyone’s disapproving stares or gasps.

I shouted, accusing her of being a bad mother.

“For your daughter-in-law’s sake, my happiness doesn’t matter?

“You’re a wonderful mother-in-law—the best in the world, even. But to me, you’re a terrible mother!

“You’re just like every mother who only values her sons—a parasite, sucking the life out of her daughter to feed her precious son’s family!

“When you were in the hospital, who paid your bills? Who stayed by your side day and night? It was me!

“When you needed living expenses or someone to check on you, who was always there? It was me!”

“You think your son and daughter-in-law have done anything for you! You don’t even know how to be a mother, so who are you to scold me, your daughter?”

She cut me off with a slap, then said something that hit me straight in the chest.

“If I’d known you’d turn out like this, I’d have strangled you to death! You’re completely inconsiderate! You don’t know how to care about your maternal family!”