**Diary Entry**
When my partner threw me out, I felt utterly hopeless. In time, I realised it had been a blessing in disguise.
The day my husband forced me to leave, I couldnt see any reason to go on. Years later, I understood it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
Id married for love, never imagining the trials ahead. After my daughters birth, I gained three stone, and everything changed.
My husband began belittling me, calling me cow or pig, refusing to see me as a woman anymore. He constantly compared me to his colleagues wives, claiming they were elegant while I, in his eyes, had become an animal.
His words shattered me. Later, I discovered he had a mistresssome younger woman he barely bothered to hide. Hed call her in front of me, send her messages, as though my daughter and I meant nothing.
At night, I cried silently with no one to turn to. Orphaned, with no family, my friends had drifted away after I married. Sensing his power, my husband began raising his hand to me. My daughters crying enraged him; hed scream at me to silence her, threatening to throw us out.
Ill never forget that day. He came home from work and ordered me out immediately. Outside, snow was falling, night creeping in. With just one suitcase and my daughter in my arms, I stood in the courtyard, lost. He hadnt even let us gather our things. As I stood there, a taxi pulled up. His mistress stepped out, suitcase in hand, and walked inside. All I had left in my pocket was a few pounds.
My only refuge was the hospital where Id once worked. By luck, a nurse I knew was on duty. She took us in, and we stayed the night.
The next day, I went to a pawnshop and sold a thin gold chain with a crossthe only keepsake from my motheralong with the earrings my husband had given me before we married and my wedding ring. I found an ad for a room in the suburbs, rented by an elderly woman, Granny Edith. She became like family. With her looking after my daughter, I found work.
No qualifications meant gruelling jobsfirst at a slaughterhouse, then as a nighttime cleaner. Later, a client whose home I cleaned offered me an assistant role at her company, with decent pay. Thanks to her, I went to university, earned my degree, and became a solicitor.
Now, my daughter studies at Oxford. We have a flat in London, a car, and take holidays abroad every year. My law practice thrives, and Im grateful fate forced me out that day. Without it, Id never have succeeded.
Recently, while house-hunting in the countryside, we found a place near the Cotswolds. Imagine my shock when the door opened to my ex-husband, his now rather plump mistress behind him. I nearly told him exactly what I thoughtbut I just stared in silence. There stood a drunk, paunchy man drowning in debt. Thats why they were selling. After a heavy pause, I called my daughter, and we left.
I still visit Granny Edith, bringing cakes and whatever help I can. Ill never forget her kindness. And neither will I forget Eleanor, my former employerthe woman who rebuilt my confidence and made this life possible.
