Chapter 1
Ten days after giving birth, I found myself crying over a sink full of dishes while my mother-in-law held a fistful of my hair and threatened to throw me out of my own home.
My body still hurt every time I stood up.
I had barely slept since bringing baby Noah home.
That afternoon, Linda walked into the bedroom and pointed toward the kitchen.
“Those dishes aren’t going to wash themselves.”
I stared at her.
“Linda, I really need to lie down.”
She folded her arms.
“You’ve been lying around for ten days.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“I just had a baby.”
“So did millions of other women.”
I forced myself to the kitchen because I was too exhausted to argue.
My hands shook under the running water.
Noah started crying from his bassinet in the living room.
“I need to get him,” I whispered.
Linda stepped in front of me.
“Finish the dishes first.”
“Please, he’s hungry.”
I reached for the towel.
That was when Linda grabbed the back of my hair.
I cried out.
“You listen to me,” she hissed.
“If you can’t do your share, you can get out of this house.”
Tears ran down my face as I gripped the counter.
“This is my house too.”
Linda tightened her hand.
“Not if I convince my son otherwise.”
Then the front door opened.
Neither of us heard Ethan come in until his work bag hit the floor.
“Mom?”
Linda immediately released my hair.
Ethan stared at my swollen eyes, then at the mountain of dirty plates in the sink.
“What are you doing to her?”
“She’s being dramatic,” Linda said.
“She refuses to help around the house.”
I whispered, “She said she’d throw me and Noah out.”
Ethan’s face changed.
Linda laughed nervously.
“Oh, come on. She’s twisting everything.”
Ethan walked straight to the sink.
He grabbed the entire plastic dish rack loaded with plates and bowls.
Then he dumped everything onto the kitchen floor.
The crash made Linda scream and jump backward.
“There,” Ethan said, breathing hard. “Now there are no dishes for my wife to wash.”
Linda stared at him in disbelief.
“You’re choosing her over your own mother?”
Ethan stepped between us.
“She gave birth ten days ago.”
Then his eyes dropped to something sticking out of Linda’s purse.
A folded document with my name printed across the top.
Ethan pulled it free.
Linda’s face instantly went white.
“Give me that.”
He opened the first page.
May you like
Then he slowly looked at his mother.
“Why do you have papers transferring Emily’s house into your name?”
