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Ivan's eyes flickered, and he lowered his voice to coax me.
"Mom, it's just a signature. Do you really have to make such an ugly scene in front of everyone?"
"I'm begging you, all right? Just do it for me. Sign it. And I'll tell you straight, I'm not marrying anyone but Tracey in this life. You don't want me to stay single forever, do you?"
By the end, the threat in his voice was out in the open.
It was like a rusted, blunt knife driven deep into my heart and twisted hard.
And with it, the last shred of hope and warmth I had for Ivan was shredded to pieces too.
For twenty years I'd scrimped and saved, working myself half to death, three jobs some days if I could manage it.
All so he could go to the best schools.
Even after he started working, I kept taking odd jobs, just to scrape together his down payment and buy the wedding car.
I'd thought my sacrifice would earn me a grateful, good son.
But it turned out that, in his eyes,
I was nothing but a tool to be squeezed dry whenever he needed to please his wife.
In that instant, my heart went cold all the way through.
I looked at Ivan and said, one word at a time,
"I won't sign."
The smugness on Tracey's face froze over in an instant.
Ivan stared at me too, his eyes full of shock.
"Mom! How long are you going to keep this up?"
His voice shot up, and the look he gave me was pure accusation.
I met his eyes coldly.
"You're sure I'm the one making a scene?"
Ivan's brows knotted. "Am I wrong, though?"
"Today's my big day, and you won't rest until you've turned the whole family upside down, is that it?"
His face went red as he jabbed a finger at me and shouted.
I looked at the man in front of me and didn't look away.
That boy who once held me, eyes red, and said, "Mom, I'll take good care of you when I grow up," seemed to have died somewhere along the way without my ever knowing when.
The air in the room grew stiffer by the second.
Tracey's mother, who hadn't said a word until now, rose slowly to her feet, giving me a look of disapproval.
"Wanda, I don't mean to lecture you, but you really are being unreasonable."
"Like they say, there's no order without rules. The children are only doing this for the sake of a harmonious family down the road, aren't they?"
She paused, then went on.
"If you ask me, if you really love your son, just sign it now, admit you were wrong, and the whole thing's behind us. There's no need to ruin everyone's mood on a happy day like this."
"And stop looking so miserable. Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd been terribly wronged."
That little speech of hers nearly made me laugh out of sheer anger.
Since the beginning of time, I'd only ever heard of a mother-in-law laying down the rules for a new daughter-in-law.
A daughter-in-law laying down the rules for her mother-in-law was something I'd never heard of and never seen.
I looked at Tracey's mother coldly.
"So by your logic, I deserve to grovel like some servant and lay my own dignity on the floor for them to trample?"
