Dominic knew about the inheritance in a roundabout way, but he never asked for details because he assumed everything fell under his control. Legally, the property was solely in my name, and he found that out in front of twenty people.
“No, that cannot be,” he stammered while his brother and mother took the papers to read them. Dominic looked like a man who had been evicted while the silence grew even thicker in the room.
The pizzas arrived and the delivery man rang the doorbell with an absurd cheerfulness that contrasted with the tension. I almost laughed because I felt the end of a shame I had swallowed for years.
Mrs. Miller put the papers on the table and looked at her son with a contempt I had never seen before. “You spoke to her as if she were a freeloader when it turns out the house is hers, and you embarrass me, Dominic,” she said.
He tried to approach me and told me that the situation was getting out of control, but I took a step back. I told him not to call me love now because I recognized his tactic of trying to elicit pity when he could no longer command.
“An apology will not fix this because it was a habit of how you treated me for years,” I said firmly. I turned to his family and told them they could have dinner, but I declared that Dominic was not staying tonight.
He was incredulous and asked if I was kicking him out, but I told him I was just taking him at his word. I reminded him that he said anyone who was not happy should leave, and I finally agreed with him.
His older brother approached and put a hand on his shoulder to tell him that they should go. Dominic looked at me one last time as if he expected me to give in, but I stood my ground until he left with a makeshift suitcase.
When the door closed, the house was at peace for the first time in a long time. Two months later, I started the separation process and was able to sleep peacefully and cook without feeling like a servant.
I learned that love should never be begged for and home should never feel like a debt. When someone truly loves you, they take care of you instead of trying to hold power over you.
