That afternoon, I arrived on time at my mother-in-law's house. However, this time, I did not bring over packages of what she wanted to her house just to get into the good graces of Henry's family.
When I stepped into the living room, I caught Henry peeling a grape and feeding it to Ivy. Ivy was smiling coquettishly as she leaned into Henry's arms. A look of delight flashed in her eye when she saw me coming inside. "Henry, I want to have a bite of the tip of that strawberry."
Henry picked up the sweetest part of the strawberry and fed it to her without hesitation. In return, he kept the sourest part of the berry for himself.
I lowered my head. I was suffocating from how hurt I felt about this.
"Tessa, where are the things I asked you to bring?" My mother-in-law stared at me while asking me the question.
I shrugged stoically and replied, "I didn't bring anything, and I won't be bringing anything from now on."
My mother-in-law lost her temper right away as she went off on me. "What you did is unacceptable! How did your parents raise you?! How dare you lose your temper like this in our house? I must have been cursed with seven years of bad luck for having a daughter-in-law like you! Get out right now and buy what I wanted back here. Otherwise, don't even bother coming back!"
It chilled me to the bone to hear what my mother-in-law was saying to me. Henry's company would have gone bankrupt long ago if I had not helped him out financially, and their entire family would have ended up homeless. Yet, they found it acceptable to degrade and yell at me, while Henry would always allow his parents to push me around this way.
I took out the divorce papers from my bag without hesitation. "In that case, we should get a divorce. I don't really want to come back here, anyway."
My mother-in-law was shocked, while Henry forgot about Ivy as he frowned and stared at me. He came up to me and tore up the divorce papers right in front of me. He looked quite upset about it. "What are you trying to pull, Tessa?"
Ivy came over to my mother-in-law and Henry's side right away to comfort them. "Mom, Henry, don't be mad. I have no idea why Tessa would be so upset about me, and always allowing her imagination to run wild, thinking that there is something between Henry and me.”
"But for the sake of peace in our family, I'll leave. I shouldn't continue to stay in this world after my husband died." Tears streamed down Ivy's face as she said all this.
My mother-in-law pointed at me and started yelling, "Do you really need to cause all this trouble at home?! Ivy has been taking care of me since she married into this family. I'd be grateful if you were even a fraction as understanding as she is. She is Henry's sister-in-law, and it's only right that he takes care of her. Stop being ridiculous about this!"
Henry wiped away the tears from Ivy's face tenderly as he cajoled her softly, "This isn't your fault, Ivy. Stop crying. It hurts to see you cry."
It felt like a bucket of icy water had been dumped on me, making me shiver to the core. Since marrying Henry, I had been working hard at his company to network and build connections, which helped with his company's success, while all Ivy did was be a freeloader at home as everyone doted on her.
"This family can only have one of us. It's either her or me." Henry slapped me hard right after I declared this. My eyes turned red as I held my hand to my swollen cheek.
"You're getting brazen, Tessa! I never should have let you have your way all the time and pampered you into becoming such an incorrigible person. What's wrong with me taking care of my sister-in-law? Stop filling your head with dirty thoughts!"
I retorted stubbornly, "Does taking care of your sister-in-law consist of helping her put on her heels and kissing her foot? You know very well if your relationship is innocent or dirty!"
Henry was so mad that he kicked me to the ground, and his tone with me got even more vicious. "Kneel and apologize right now, Tessa, or get out of here!"
It felt like a knife to my stomach. I did not apologize, and I dragged myself heavily out of there. Henry's voice continued coming from behind me as his yelling hurt my eardrums, "If you think you're so great, don't ever step foot here again, Tessa!"
