I returned from my fifteen-day trip expecting to collapse into my own bed, but when I opened the door to my bedroom, the bed was gone. In its place stood a modern white bed with decorative pillows that looked like they belonged in a magazine. The walls I’d painted soft peach were now cold gray.
My photographs—my wedding to Lewis, my children as babies, my husband’s warm smile—had been removed from the walls and replaced with abstract art I’d never seen before. My daughter-in-law Valerie appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She wore a wine-colored dress, her hair freshly styled, nails perfectly manicured.
She looked victorious. “Do you like how it turned out, Mother-in-law? We redecorated.
The house needed something more modern, more functional.” She walked closer, running her hand along the gray wall. “And this room is perfect for me. Better light, more space.
Robert and I really needed it.”
My hands began to shake. I clenched them into fists. “Where are my things?
Where is my bed?”
Valerie sighed as if I were a child throwing a tantrum. “In the garage, stored safely. We thought you could stay in the guest room.
It’s smaller, yes, but at your age you don’t need that much space. Besides, this way you don’t have to climb stairs every day.”
Every word was a slap. I didn’t scream.
I didn’t cry. I looked her straight in the eyes—eyes that now shone with contempt—and understood something that broke my soul. To her, I wasn’t a person.
I was an obstacle, an old piece of furniture that needed moving. I took a deep breath. “You want a space just for yourself?”
She smiled wider, thinking she’d won.
“Perfect,” I continued with a calmness I didn’t know I possessed. “Today you’re going to start looking for a new house to live in.”
Her smile froze. The color drained from her face.
“What did you say?”
“You heard me, Valerie. If you need your own space so badly, get your own house. This one is mine.”
But I couldn’t have imagined what I would discover in the coming days—a betrayal so calculated, so methodical, that it would destroy me in ways I never anticipated.
Because when you trust the people you love, you never expect them to stab you in the back, especially when those people are your own blood. Valerie looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. She let out a nervous laugh.
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