**Diary Entry**
When Emily stepped into the flat, she spotted her mother-in-laws shoes right in the middle of the hallway. So much for a quiet evening.
Margaret appeared from the kitchen, wearing the stern expression of a prosecutor.
Been with that daft old woman again, have you? she snapped. Leaving your home, husband, and child to fend for themselves. Good thing I stopped bywho knows how long theyd have gone hungry otherwise.
Margaret, Nicholas knew Id be late, Emily replied calmly. Ive already made dinner readyhe just needs to heat it up. Hed have managed perfectly fine without your interference.
After a decade of marriage to Nicholas, Emily had grown accustomed to Margarets constant disapproval. She hardly reacted anymore, treating the womans complaints like background noise from a radio left on all day.
But it hadnt always been so easy. Margaret was her second mother-in-law. The firstEleanorhad been a tactful woman. She never meddled in her sons marriage, never offered unsolicited advice, never forced her presence on them.
Yet when help was needed, Eleanor was always there. Emily remembered how shed stayed up nights with three-month-old Charlotte when the baby had her days and nights mixed up. How shed take her granddaughter for walks, telling Emily, Dont lift a fingerjust sleep. When Alex gets home, hell sort dinner himself.
Then, when Charlotte turned five, an accident at the factory took Alexs life, leaving Emily a widow.
Even in her griefhaving lost her only sonEleanor never abandoned Emily or her granddaughter. For the first three months, they even lived together, leaning on one another. Emily had begged Eleanor to stay, but shed refused.
Emily, youre only twenty-eight. Youre still youngyoull find happiness again. I wont be underfoot when you do.
Three years later, Emily married Nicholas. But she never abandoned Eleanor. With her own parents living far away, her first mother-in-law had become like a second mother, and Charlotte adored her grandmother beyond measure.
Thats why Margarets behaviouracting as though she had the right to dictate how Emily ran her own homecame as such a shock.
After the first visit, Emily asked Nicholas to make it clear to his mother that she was a guest in their home, not the mistress of it. She needed to call ahead and mind her manners.
When Margaret protested that she only meant to help, Emily cut in:
Im not eighteen. I was independent long before I left home, and after seven years of marriage, I hardly need lessons in cooking or cleaning. Frankly, I could teach *you* a thing or two.
Nicholas, to his credit, backed his wife. Whenever his mother overstepped, he stepped in. Over time, Emily trained Margaret to keep her opinions on household matters to herself.
Still, the woman seethed. She had a friend who boasted about training her own daughter-in-law, and Margaret longed to share similar triumphs. But she had none. The only grievance she could air was Emilys continued closeness with Eleanor.
Sending Charlotte to her in the summers was one thing, shed grumble. But now the girls at university, and Emily still visits Eleanor twice a week! Its been yearswhy cling to the past?
In truth, Emily *had* visited more often this past year. Margaret called Eleanor that old woman, though she was only seven years her senior. But grief and illness had aged Eleanor terribly, and Emily made sure she wasnt alonewhether in hospital or at home.
Wasting family money on a stranger, Margaret scoffed.
Dont fret, Emily replied. Eleanor sold her cottage when she fell illshes got plenty for treatment. She wont come begging to *you*.
When Eleanors condition worsened, Emily hired a carer and took leave to spend afternoons with her while Nicholas was at work and their son at school.
But even that wasnt enough. Soon, Eleanor was gone.
Suddenly, Margaret took a keen interest in the will.
She sold the cottage, but surely she hadnt spent *all* the money. And her pension wasnt badthere must be savings. That two-bed flat will go to someone, wont it?
She didnt dare ask Emily directly. Instead, she probed Nicholasand the answer disappointed her.
Whos the beneficiary? Charlotte, of course. Shes Eleanors own granddaughter.
And Emily got *nothing*? Margaret gasped. After all that running about? I bet shes *devastated*.
Dont waste your pity, Emily said later. I knew Eleanors wishes a year agoI took her to the solicitor myself.
Margaret gaped. Then why bother with her if you knew youd get nothing?
Id explain, Emily said coolly, but I doubt youd understand.
In time, the estate was settled. Charlotte inherited the flat and savings. They agreed to rent it out while she studied, sending the income to her account. After graduation, shed decide whether to return home, settle in the city, or sell the flat to buy elsewhere.
When Margaret heard of the rental plan, she pounced.
Why let strangers ruin it? Let Kiera stay there.
Kiera, her thirty-five-year-old daughter, still lived at home. Pretty, educated, and employed, shed had her share of romancesbut marriage eluded her.
If only she had a flat of her own, Margaret lamented. *Emily*a widow with a childlanded my Nicholas! Surely Kiera could do the same.
She even entertained the idea of convincing Charlotte to *gift* the flat to Kiera someday. But she kept that plan to herself.
Her disappointment was palpable when Charlotte refused.
She wont pay like a proper tenant, Charlotte said firmly. Ill need savings for a mortgagemaybe even a place in London. The rent stays.
Greedy, just like her mother, Margaret spat. Only ever thinking of yourselves.
Nicholas sighed. Mum, youve got a three-bed house. Downsizebuy a one-bed for yourself and one for Kiera.
How *dare* you! Margaret spluttered. That house is *mine*youve no claim to it. Why should I cram myself into some box in my old age? Im not moving!
Then dont complain, Emily said flatly. You wont sacrifice for your own daughter, yet youd snatch someone elses property?
So Kiera stayed put. Charlotte rented the flat until she sold it, buying anew in the city.
She even visited London oncejust for a week. As they say, the grass is always greener
**Lesson learned:** Blood doesnt make familykindness does. And no amount of meddling can replace it.
