**Diary Entry**
“If Mum doesnt live with us, Ill divorce you!” And he did
“If you wont let my mother stay with usIm filing for divorce.” And he did.
A man who once swore love and loyalty can turn into a stranger in an instant. Especially when youre forced to choosekeep your family or save yourself from utter ruin. Ive lived through it.
When I married Edward, we didnt have a place of our own. We lived with his parents in a cramped two-bed flatsmall but bearable. Until one day, his stepfather came home and found his wife, Margaret, with a lover. Younger, bolder, full of grand promises. He whispered about new horizons and “streets paved with gold,” but there was a catch: “Sell the flat. Were moving to another citystarting fresh.”
We tried to talk sense into Margaret. I told her, “Hes fooling you. Youll end up with nothing.” But she scoffed, “Youre just jealous. Stay out of it.”
A week later, we were on the street with our baby in my arms. The flat was sold, and we were thrown out. Edward took on two jobs; I was on maternity leave, writing essays at night to scrape by. Rent was a struggle, but we enduredfor the future.
We wanted a mortgage, but fate intervened. My aunt passedalone, childlessand left me a flat in another town. Spacious, bright, windows facing a quiet garden. With our savings, we fixed it up. For the first time in ages, I breathed easy.
But peace never lasts.
One evening, as I washed dishes after supper, there was a knock at the door. There stood Margaret, face swollen from crying, eyes like a beaten dogs. “Love Edward hes thrown me out. Everythings gone. Just this suitcase left. Please help me.”
Edward and I exchanged a glance. I saw his face soften. He pulled her inside, sat her at the kitchen table, poured her tea. And there I stood, numb with a dull, throbbing ache. Id warned her, begged her not to be reckless. Not only had she ignored usshed tossed us out with our child when we were barely getting by.
Edward turned to me. “She cant be on her own. We cant leave her. Shes my mother.”
I pressed my lips together. “She threw us away like rubbish. And now you want her here? In this flat? Where weve barely started to breathe again?”
Margaret didnt stay quiet. “Edward, I cant sleep rough Help me Ive learned my lesson”
Then came the words that split me in two: “If you wont let Mum stay with usI want a divorce.”
For a moment, the world went dark. I answered calmly, though my heart bled: “Then divorce it is. Because I wont live with someone who puts conditions on our love.”
