**Diary Entry**
Ill never forget the day my mother-in-law, Margaret Whitmore, had that dreadful row with my wife, Emily. Margaret had tried her hardest to talk her beloved son, William, out of marrying Emilya girl she called “common” and “insolent.” But William wouldnt listen. And Emily? Well, she refused to bow to Margarets whims.
*”Listen, Margaret,”* Emily had said coolly, *”I know you cant stand me. But I see right through you, and I wont play along with your little games. Why do you keep turning up uninvited at our flat? We dont live off your money, you know.”*
Margarets face twisted. *”How dare you lecture me? Wait till youve lived as long as I have!”* All her polished manners vanished, revealing the petty, small-minded woman beneathsomeone who lived only for comfort, no matter who she had to crush to get it.
*”William loves me,”* Emily pressed on, unshaken. *”And Ive seen how your meddling affects him. Wasnt it enough that you drove his father away and talked him into signing over his share of the house? Now you wont let him live his own life. If you dont love him, at least let someone else try.”*
Margaret exploded. *”You little gutter rat! Who do you think you are? Some nobody from godforsaken Leeds, scraping by on acting gigs. One missed paycheck, and youd be on the streets! And you dare tell me what to do?”*
Emily smirked. *”So thats how you measure worth? If you swindle people out of their homes, youre respectable, but if I earn my own way, Im trash? Not all of us marry into property just to bleed men dry. And lets not forgetyou werent born in London either.”*
That hit a nerve. Margaret had clawed her way up from nothinga village girl with no education, no prospects.
*”Youll never be with my son! A mothers love is sacred! Get out!”* she shrieked, out of arguments.
Emily just scoffed. In the end, it didnt matter. She and William married anyway.
But Margaret didnt give up. When Emily had their son, little Thomas, Margaret poisoned William against her. By the time Thomas was four, theyd divorcedor so Margaret thought.
She didnt know William still lived with Emily, raising their son together while she believed hed moved to Manchester for work.
The whole plan had started because of Williams stupid mistakes. Years before, hed gone into business with a man named Richarda shark in a suit. Emily had warned him.
*”Will, dont trust him. Hell chew you up and spit you out.”*
But William, ever the optimist, insisted. *”Rich is solid. Men have to stick together.”*
Richard made him director of a sham company, drained the accounts, and vanished, leaving William drowning in debt.
So they faked the divorceto keep Margaret happy and the debt collectors off their backs. Officially, William lived in company digs, returning to his “ex-wife” and son each night.
Margaret, smug in her victory, kept pushing him toward “suitable” women.
*”Why not just tell her the truth?”* Emily would ask.
*”It would destroy her,”* William sighed.
But their life was a struggle. Emily scraped together odd jobs; Williams wages vanished into repayments. They were barely getting by.
Emilys mother, Helen, a retired schoolteacher, begged her to leave. *”Youre wasting your life! Come home with Thomas.”*
But Emily refused. *”I love him, Mum. Were a family.”*
Then Helen hatched her own plan. She visited Margaret.
*”Your sons in trouble. Hes still with Emilyhiding from his debts.”*
Margaret was livid. *”That lying worm! After everything Ive done!”*
*”We should help them,”* Helen urged.
*”Not a penny!”* Margaret snapped.
So Helen took them incramped but together. William, humbled, remembered how hed once sneered at her “provincial” ways. Now he saw what really mattered.
Then Helen called her ex-husband, Roberta successful builder. *”Emily needs help.”*
To her shock, he agreedon one condition: *”Have dinner with me.”*
Years later, at Thomass eighteenth birthday, the family gatheredRobert and Helen remarried, William and Emily back in wedding rings (after hed proven himself).
Then the doorbell rang.
Thomas answeredand there stood Margaret, frail and alone.
*”You invited her?”* Emily frowned.
*”Mum, shes been calling Shes sorry,”* Thomas mumbled.
Helen folded her arms. *”Took her long enough.”*
Robert chuckled. *”Easy, love. If not for her, we wouldnt be here.”*
William sighed. *”Whats the game this time, Mum?”*
Margarets voice trembled. *”I thought youd beg for my help but you didnt. And I I couldnt stand being alone.”*
Silence. Then someone poured her tea, passed the sandwiches.
No one in that house cared about fancy cutlery. But they knew forgiveness. And that was enough.
