“You’ve brought misery upon our family!” the mother shrieked at her teenage daughter.
“Mummy, you’re back! I’ve missed you so much! Will we be together now?” the girl cried, her voice trembling with hope as she rushed forward.
“No! You’re staying with your grandmother!” Anna snapped, pushing her away as if she were a stranger.
Anna had returned to the small town of Blackwood for the first time in two years. Her voice was icy, her gaze filled with loathing. She had left her daughter in the care of her mother-in-law, and now this reunion shattered the child’s heart, which had yearned for a mother’s love.
“Why?” the girl whispered, fighting back tears.
“Because sorrow came with your birth! You took your father from me!” Anna spat, her words like a knife to her daughter’s heart.
Anna and Peter had been inseparable since their school days. Their love seemed eternal—they dreamed of the future, made plans, and could not bear to be apart. Straight after university, they married. Peter took on a well-paying job on the rigs, and soon they bought a cottage in Blackwood. When Anna discovered she was expecting, Peter was radiant with joy. He doted on her, chose the finest maternity hospital, and prepared the nursery. Their lives brimmed with hope.
But fate was cruel. Days after the birth, as Anna prepared to leave the hospital, Peter—beaming with pride—decorated the nursery, bought flowers, and set off to collect his wife and newborn daughter. He never arrived. A horrific crash stole his life. Rescuers and doctors could do nothing. Anna was left alone with a child in her arms.
Her closest friend arrived at the hospital, trying to soften the blow. She spun absurd tales to distract Anna, but the truth found her at home. The mother-in-law, Margaret, wept as she revealed the tragedy. Mad with grief, Anna stormed into the nursery Peter had so lovingly prepared, tearing down curtains, scattering toys, screaming in agony. Her world had crumbled.
After the funeral, Anna could not bear to look at her daughter. Margaret took over the child’s care. Anna forced herself to tend to the baby, but her heart held no love—only emptiness and rage. She blamed the girl for her husband’s death, as though her birth had been a curse.
One day, when Margaret came to visit, Anna snapped.
“She’s the reason!” she sobbed, choking on tears. “She ruined everything! I hate her!”
“Anna, come to your senses!” Margaret pleaded. “We must live for her sake. The child is innocent!”
But the words fell on deaf ears. Anna shut herself away in grief, walling off her daughter with hatred.
Two years later, Anna found work. Margaret helped as best she could, but soon Anna was promoted and began traveling for business. She asked her mother-in-law to take the girl. Margaret, who adored her granddaughter, gladly agreed. At first, Anna visited, taking the child on weekends, but gradually, the visits grew rare. Then she vanished altogether.
Anna sent money to Margaret’s account but cut all contact. The girl, aching for her mother, wept and begged for her, but Margaret invented excuses: “Mummy’s away for work. She’ll be back soon.” She even went to Anna’s home, but the door was slammed in her face.
Years passed. Anna appeared at Margaret’s house on the girl’s birthday. She walked in, coldly handed over a gift, then froze as her daughter, Emily, rushed to her with hope shining in her eyes.
“Mum, you’re back! Will I live with you now?” Emily cried.
“Nothing’s changed,” Anna cut in, recoiling. “You’re staying here.”
“Why?” Emily’s voice wavered, tears welling up.
“Because you brought ruin! Your father died because of you!” Anna shouted, the words echoing through the room.
Margaret could bear no more.
“Anna, hold your tongue! How can you say such things to a child?”
Anna turned to her mother-in-law with icy calm.
“I’ve remarried,” she said. “And I’m expecting. I came to sign the papers—Emily is no longer mine.”
“You’d abandon your own flesh and blood?” Margaret gasped. “Have you no shame?”
“I could never love her,” Anna murmured. “Forgive me.”
She turned and left. Soon, the legal papers arrived. Emily remained with Margaret, who became her guardian. When the girl asked about her mother, Margaret stayed silent, unable to speak the truth. Only years later did Emily learn her mother had blamed her for her father’s death. She wept for hours but never asked again. Her heart, once so full of love for her mother, broke forever.
