Emily was over the moon with happiness. For seven months, she had been dating James, and yesterday he proposed to her. She was already dreaming about building their life together, no matter where, as long as they were together. They would decide what to cook for dinner, which curtains to hang, and how to spend their evenings. And they could start thinking about children.
Preparations for the big ceremony were underway. James proposed that Emily move in with him. He lived in a house with his mother. Emily agreed, thinking that while they were busy planning the wedding, they could live together, and later, as a married couple, they would find their own place. She wasn’t too worried about it; her mind was occupied with pleasant preparations.
Her future mother-in-law was reserved. Emily tried hard to please Eleanor, afraid to make a wrong move, always trying to gauge her mood and adapt to it.
They made it to the wedding day. Emily’s parents came from their small hometown, and Eleanor seemed to get along with them warmly, laughing and talking a lot. As they left, Emily’s parents told her how lucky she was to have such a wonderful husband and mother-in-law, such a lovely family. Emily was thrilled herself.
Her colleagues, however, kept warning her. They said living with a mother-in-law could be tough, that she might make life unbearable for her daughter-in-law while protecting her son. Especially since James was Eleanor’s only child, born late in her life. Eleanor had no husband and had always dreamed of having children. She struggled to conceive for years, and at 48, when she had nearly given up hope, she became pregnant. James was her pride and joy, raised with all her love. Naturally, she would only entrust her son to someone truly worthy.
But a month passed after the wedding, then another, and James didn’t even mention moving out. Emily couldn’t even have a proper conversation with him. In the mornings, they went to work in opposite directions. In the evenings, Emily got home first, followed by James a bit later. They ate dinner with Eleanor, and the rest of the evening, she stayed with them—watching TV or asking for help with something. Then the exhausted couple went to bed. James was stressed at work after being promoted to a new position, dealing with pressure all day. Weekends brought their own tasks: either going to the market with Eleanor or staying by her side when she complained of high blood pressure.
Emily started to worry that she and James were hardly ever alone. She decided it was time to bring up the issue. One day, she called James, told him she’d be staying late at work, and suggested they meet afterward to walk home together.
James met her in a good mood. He’d been assigned an assistant at work, which would ease his stress. Emily told him she wanted them to live separately.
— Are you kidding? — James tensed, and Emily faltered. — I don’t want to leave Mom. I grew up here. I can’t abandon my childhood home.
— You’re not abandoning her, — Emily reassured him. — But we have our own family now.
— You see how her health is, — James countered.
— We could rent something nearby. We’d help if she needs us, — Emily pressed.
— What if she gets sick at night and can’t even call?
— But how do other people manage? — Emily asked, puzzled.
— Maybe others don’t care about their parents, but I won’t abandon Mom!
Emily dropped the subject. But something didn’t add up in her mind. It felt like she was the bad one for leaving her own parents, and so were countless others, while James was the good one. Still, she wasn’t angry at him or Eleanor. She worried about Eleanor’s health and was ready to sacrifice her dream of a separate home if needed.
So they stayed with Eleanor. The older woman often complained about feeling unwell. Emily felt sorry for her and worried about James, seeing how much he cared for his mother.
Emily’s vacation from work was approaching. Everything was planned, and it couldn’t be rescheduled. They had hoped to take a trip, but James’s promotion meant his vacation was canceled. Emily had no choice but to take her leave as scheduled. She decided to use the time to tackle household chores and maybe convince Eleanor to visit a doctor for a checkup.
While on leave, Emily experienced the full extent of the challenges her colleagues had warned her about regarding Eleanor’s personality.
Eleanor, always smiling and kind when James was around, turned into a different person the moment he left for work. She shouted and belittled Emily. On the first day, as soon as James stepped out, Eleanor snapped at her.
— What are you standing there for, dear daughter-in-law? Your whole vacation will be spent idling, while there’s a ton of work around the house. You’re not a guest here. You live in this house, so pitch in. The basement needs cleaning. I’m too old to deal with that. You’re a spry young thing who charmed my son—you can handle some mold.
Emily was stunned but got to work cleaning. Eleanor didn’t let up, pointing out every flaw. Yet in the evening, when James returned, she was all sweetness again. Emily tried to brush off the day’s events, thinking Eleanor must have just been in a bad mood.
But Eleanor’s bad mood struck every time James wasn’t around. She bustled around the house all day, showing no signs of the ailments she claimed to have. You wouldn’t guess she was nearly 70. Yet by evening, she’d complain of heart trouble, high blood pressure, or shortness of breath.
Emily started to think Eleanor was simply exhausted from her daytime activity. Nerves could cause her blood pressure to spike. Sometimes Eleanor yelled so fiercely that Emily thought she herself might have a heart attack from the stress.
Cooking became a nightmare. Eleanor criticized Emily’s skills relentlessly.
— Who cooks like that? — was her most frequent remark. — I’m not eating this garbage. Don’t you dare put that in the pot! — she’d threaten when Emily reached for a spice jar. Emily was baffled, especially since Eleanor used those same spices herself but scolded her for it.
Sometimes, when Emily tried to prepare dinner before James got home, Eleanor would shoo her out of the kitchen, complaining about the awful meal Emily had made last time—though she praised it in front of her son.
Once, Emily started making soup. Eleanor, as usual, hovered over her, supervising. The potatoes weren’t cut into the right-sized cubes and were added too early. Salt should go in at the end. Those spices didn’t belong in soup. Too little grain, too much carrot. Finally, Eleanor pushed Emily aside, tasted the soup, grimaced, and spat it back into the pot.
— Are you trying to send us all to the grave? — Eleanor fumed. — This is poison!
— Everything’s fresh. Why is it poison? — Emily asked, nearly in tears.
— It’s so salty it’s inedible, — Eleanor declared.
Emily bit her tongue and dumped the soup. Eleanor quickly whipped up some pasta with her own sauce. By the time James came home, she was brewing tea.
Emily didn’t tell James about his mother’s behavior, not wanting to drive a wedge between them. She knew how much he loved his mother. He might not believe her, or if he did, he’d be heartbroken. She didn’t want to force him to choose between the two women he loved. She only had to endure a little longer—once her vacation ended and she returned to work, the problem would fade.
When she went back to work, it was like a weight lifted off her shoulders. She breathed easier. But she started staying late at work to come home at the same time as James. Still, Eleanor found ways to make trouble.
One day, Emily had an important meeting at work and needed to look professional. She had an expensive dress for such occasions, which she laid out the night before. In the morning, she couldn’t believe her eyes: there was a huge burn hole in her dress.
— How did this happen? — Emily rushed to the kitchen, where James and Eleanor were having breakfast.
— Oh, I’m so sorry, dear, — Eleanor jumped up and took Emily’s hand. — I was ironing some clothes and left the iron on by mistake. I went to put the kettle on. Good thing I noticed in time, or we could’ve had a fire, — she said, looking at Emily with innocent eyes and a smile.
— You never iron in the morning, — Emily said, nearly crying.
— Don’t worry, — James soothed her. — We can buy a new one this weekend if you want.
Emily brushed it off and rushed to find something else to wear, iron it, and pick out accessories. She was running out of time and ended up late.
— Good thing it got burned, — Eleanor sneered at Emily the moment James left. — You’re a married woman. You shouldn’t wear dresses like that to work.
That day, Emily was late for work and got a reprimand. Her colleagues had noticed she’d been acting differently since her vacation. They pressed her with questions, and she broke down, telling them everything about Eleanor.
— The worst part is, we’re barely living as husband and wife, — Emily sobbed. — As soon as we go to bed, she calls from the next room, saying her heart hurts. James rushes to her and stays by her side all night. It happens almost every day. I don’t understand why she always gets sick at the same time, right before bed.
— You’re too naive, Emily, — one colleague shook her head. — Too kind. You’ll end up an old maid, childless, with a living husband.
Emily was starting to fear that herself. She didn’t want that future. She asked for advice on what to do. Of course, her experienced colleagues offered all sorts of tips for marital happiness, some quite drastic. Emily resisted, but fed up with Eleanor’s interference, she decided on a desperate move to spend a quiet night with her husband.
Determined, Emily came home early. While James was still at work, she suggested to Eleanor that they have tea together. Eleanor agreed.
Emily asked Eleanor to grab a box of chocolates she’d supposedly left in the hallway. As soon as Eleanor stepped out, Emily pulled a small packet from her pocket.
Eleanor headed to the hallway but something made her peek through the door crack. She froze at what she saw: Emily was sprinkling some powder into one of the teacups.
When Eleanor returned, the cups of tea were on the table. She didn’t let on that she’d seen anything and simply asked Emily to add some milk to her tea. While Emily went to the fridge, Eleanor swiftly swapped the cups.
They drank their tea. Eleanor was unusually quiet, watching Emily closely, wondering what the girl had dared to slip into her cup. Emily was nervous, struggling to find words to fill the silence. Soon, Emily complained of tiredness, put her head on the table, and fell asleep.
Eleanor shook her, realizing that Emily had likely slipped her a sleeping pill. James would be home soon, and dinner needed to be prepared. She put water on to boil for pasta and glanced at Emily again. The girl was breathing calmly, seemingly sound asleep. James called to say he’d be late at work.
Eleanor sighed, feeling uneasy. She sat on the soft couch in the living room, pondering why Emily would resort to sleeping pills. Lost in thought, she forgot about the pasta water. The water boiled over, dousing the gas stove’s flame. Slowly, gas filled the house, and unnoticed, Eleanor drifted into a deep sleep.
She woke up in the hospital’s intensive care unit. She recovered quickly; the gas poisoning wasn’t severe. James had come home not too late, smelled the gas, and acted fast. It could have ended much worse, not just for the women but for him and the neighbors.
A few days later, Eleanor was better, but Emily had been hit harder, having been in the kitchen and inhaled more gas.
James was beside himself, barely sleeping, talking to his mother about how wonderful his wife was and how he couldn’t bear to lose her.
Eleanor didn’t tell James what had happened between her and Emily. She saw how much he worried about his wife. If something happened to Emily, he’d blame himself or his mother. Eleanor realized she’d been unfair to her daughter-in-law, that James was happy with her, and she’d been wrong to treat her so harshly.
After the incident, Eleanor reflected and prayed that Emily would recover and be okay.
Soon, Emily was moved to a regular ward, but she hadn’t regained consciousness. The hospital staff wasn’t particularly attentive, and James worried that without close supervision, they might lose her. He and Eleanor took turns watching over Emily.
A week passed. It was Eleanor’s turn to sit by Emily’s bed. She prayed silently. Emily opened her eyes and looked at Eleanor, confused.
She didn’t understand what had happened or where she was. The last thing she remembered was the tea. Suddenly, she realized the terrible mistake she’d made, all out of foolish jealousy to spend time with James. But he was important to his mother too—her only joy. And Eleanor was such a remarkable woman for raising such a good man.
— I’m so sorry, — Emily whispered, looking at Eleanor.
Eleanor burst into tears, hugging and kissing her.
— No, you forgive me, you silly old woman, — Eleanor said through tears, and both women cried.
Emily soon recovered. From then on, things between her and Eleanor improved. Eleanor insisted the couple move out, saying she wasn’t that old yet. They began living separately, free of resentment.
James never learned of the conflicts between the two women he loved. It was for the best that they kept it between themselves. They faced their struggles together and left them in the past.
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