He gave me a very good mother, and after we got married, my mother-in-law treated me like her own daughter.
I experienced motherly love for the first time in my life.
I couldn't let go of the man I once loved deeply. I thought if I just waited a little longer, if we had a child, if enough time passed, he would come back to the family and become the husband who once treasured me.
I clung to the love Jeff had given me, praying that he would return to my side.
But I waited and waited, and all I got in the end was my mother-in-law's corpse and the news that Jeff was appearing on a dating show with Ida.
Now, the last person in this world who loved me had been killed by her own son!
Jeff's chest heaved as his eyes, bloodshot, locked onto mine.
Suddenly, he grabbed my throat. "I used to think you were just manipulative," he growled.
"But now, you dare put my mom's picture on an urn."
Breathing became more and more difficult, and tears—this time from the lack of oxygen—streamed from my eyes.
After several years of marriage, my husband, whom I loved deeply, was now full of doubts about me.