Mother-in-law from hell
1153 Words
Sabrina’s POV
“Sabrina,” my mother-in-law began, “You should not have made a scene. A wife of standing never disgraces her husband in public. It is uncivilized.”
Across from me, on the velvet sofa, sat them. Phillip, lips pressed into a self-righteous line, and beside him, Freya. Her ankle crossed delicately over the other like she owned the place.
Even her chin titled with that annoying coyness I once mistook for innocence.
I laughed bitterly. “Uncivilized? Forgive me, should I have applauded while my husband and sister…” My voice cracked. “While they betrayed me?”
Her eyes filled again, but not with compassion. With disappointment. “You could have spoken to him at home. Like a lady. Like a wife. Do you not think of your baby’s health?”
Phillip flinched at the mention, muttering, “Mother, please…”
But then he turned to me. “You humiliated me, Sabrima. Mother is right, you embarrassed me back there yesterday, ruined my name.”
And if not that I passed out, I should've split your skull.
Disgusting piece of—
"Sabrina," my mother in-law, Darla, yelled. "Your husband is speaking to you, look him in the eye and give him a corresponding response."
I stared at her, feeling repulsed, then at the man I had built my entire foolish hope around. “Your name? Phillip, I saw you. On your knees, hunched over. Begging her like a starving dog to stick it up your arse. And you dare talk about your name?”
Freya’s laugh cut through the air.
“Don’t be dramatic, Elena. Phillip is just a man. A man who craves….more. I simply gave him what you could not.”
My hands itched to claw at her smug face.
“You are my sister,” I whispered. My voice shook, but the venom was steady. “How could you Freya, a million and one unfaithful sisters in the world but I would never have taken you for the backstabbing-wenched sibling.”
Her lips curved into a mocking smile, her eyes flicking deliberately to my flat stomach. “And yet, in three years, you couldn’t even give him a child until now. Why wait for that long, why deny him fatherhood for that long, sister.”
I gasped, a sharp pain clawing at my chest. Talks of my fertility have always been a sore topic for me.
"The audacity of you to speak like I have control over my womb."
Freya couldn't help but bite back.
"But you do over your legs, and even if Phillip painted your cunt white all night, your womb would still refuse him like it did for three whole years."
I moved to thwack her face in.
“Enough,” my mother-in-law hissed, though her gaze was still locked on me. Always me. “Sabrina, you will compose yourself. You will remember you are a wife, and wives endure. Do not think about leaving this house with your wild accusations. Think about how you will keep your husband. And your baby.”
I pressed a hand to my abdomen instinctively,my tears threatening to pour.
Freya leaned into Phillip’s side, resting her head against his shoulder like it belonged there. He didn’t push her away, instead, right before me, unremorsefully, his fingers crawled under skirt.
"You know what Sabrina , maybe we should all have breakfast and then talk things over a pancake." Mother in law whispered. "We are a family and as such we should settle things in-house, between ourselves, as family."
I forced myself upright, ignoring the way my knees trembled. “No. No, Darla. There will be no pancakes, no smiles plastered over this like you tend to sweep everything Phillip does under the rug. I will not sit at this table like a beaten dog while my sister warms my husband’s lap.”
Darla clutched her rosary tighter, “You will do as a wife does. You will endure his actions and live your life out in devotion. It is what keeps families intact.”
“I am the wronged wife, the one you treat like dirt while you coddle your whoring son and his mistress. His mistress who just happens to share my blood.”
Freya lifted her head, that same smirk painted across her lips. “Not mistress,” she said coolly, “future wife.”
My heart twisted. “What did you just say?”
Phillip finally lifted his gaze to mine. “Freya wants to marry me. If you would accept it… it could work.”
The words stuck in my brain awkwardly. “Polygamy?” I spat. “Never. I will not share my husband. I will not share my home, my vows, my marital bed. I won't share you Phillip. Not with my sister, not even with anyone.”
We were all standing on our feet now.
“Don’t be dramatic,” Freya said, rising to her feet too, her hand curling possessively around Phillip’s wrist. “This is what he craves. You can keep your title, your pretty little wife role, and I’ll keep him satisfied. Everyone wins that way.”
I lunged at her before I knew it, my hand swinging, connecting with her cheek. Freya stumbled gasping, before launching back at me with her acrylic nails like claws. We collided against the armrest, Darla screaming our names as though she hadn’t lit the match for this fire long ago.
Hands were flying, mine, hers, Phillip dragging her back, not me though, he never cared about me. His arm shielded her, his body placing between us like I was the intruder.
My chest heaved as I glared at them “You owe me an apology. Both of you. A vow sworn before God that you’ll end this unfaithfulness Phillip, cut ties with her, today. Or I swear, Phillip, I will show you true madness.”
“And what can you do? What will you do?” Darla interjected, clutching her rosary as though the beads could force me into silence.
“What will I do? I will reclaim my dignity, Darla. I will walk out of this sham marriage and I will not raise my child in a home like this with a faulty screw for a husband.”
Her face crunched up as if I had spat blasphemy. “You dare threaten to leave? Sabrina, think! Where will you go? You have no family, no wealth of your own. All you are, all you have, comes from Phillip’s name.”
I swallowed, forcing my tears back with all my might.
"Darla, how—"
“Enough, Sabrina!” Phillip snapped. “I will not send Freya away."
“Why?” I yelled. “Why can’t you?”
Freya’s hand slid down to her stomach, her eyes locking on mine with a predator’s smile. “Because, sister… I’m pregnant too.”
- Writer
