After Mother-in-Law Faked Illness Eighteen Years, She Regretted Madly

Right after my wife gave birth, her mother took off back to their hometown, claiming her back hurt.

My own mother quit her job on the spot and came to handle the postpartum care and help raise the baby.

For a full eighteen years, she never took a single day off.

Then, the moment our son started college, my wife brought her mother straight back from the hometown and threw my mother's luggage out the door.

She said to me:

"Our son's in college now, he doesn't need looking after anymore. Send your mother back home today. My mom's moving in."

"She's getting on in years. It's time she got to enjoy life. From now on you need to pay her more attention, treat her well, be good to her."

I looked at my mother, gray all over from half a lifetime of hard work, then at my mother-in-law, pampered and glowing with health.

I nodded and said, "Fine."

Seeing how readily I agreed, a satisfied smile spread across Lesley Pruitt's face.

"I'm so glad you're being sensible about this, honey."

My mother-in-law crossed her arms too, looking smug, and turned to my mother.

"Well, Sophia Dickerson, since Tony Dickerson's agreed, you'd better get moving now."

"And don't bother coming around after this. I like peace and quiet. I don't like having extra people in the house."

At those words, my mother's body went rigid.

She stared blankly at the luggage scattered across the doorway, and her eyes reddened before she could stop them.

I knew how wronged she felt.

After Lesley and I got married, her mother had lived with us the whole time.

Lesley wanted her mother close by, and her mother always said moving in would make it easier to look after our meals and daily needs.

But in three years of marriage, she spent every day either off at her group dance classes at the park or scrolling on her phone. She never once cooked us a single meal.

I put up with all of it.

Then came the day Lesley gave birth. Her mother only stopped by the hospital long enough to glance at the baby, then propped a hand on her back and sighed at me.

"Tony, my back's hurting so bad I can't take it. If I stay here I'll just be a burden to you two. I'm going to head home first and rest up."

And with that, one hand on her back, she walked out of the hospital without a backward glance.

I stood there watching her go, and it took me a long time to shake it off.

Because after Lesley and I married, her mother had been in my ear every single day pushing us to have a child, telling us to hurry up and have one while we were young.

My career was at a critical point back then, all overtime, run ragged every day. I worried a child would split my focus, so I kept hesitating.

It was her mother who thumped her own chest and swore to me:

"Tony, you just focus on your work. The baby's not your concern. I'm in great health, I'll handle all the childcare. You two just go on living your lives."

I believed her.

And then the baby was barely born before she took off back home, using her back as the excuse.

This time, it lasted eighteen years.

A full eighteen years, and she vanished like she'd been wiped off the face of the earth, never came to help with the baby for a single day.

It was my mother who deliberately quit her job and rushed over overnight to take care of Lesley and the baby.

In those early days after the birth, Lesley was so weak she couldn't even get out of bed.

It was my mother who tended to her day and night, wiped her down, cooked broth to build her strength back up.

When the baby cried at night, it was my mother getting up again and again to hold him, soothe him, feed him, change him. For three straight years, she never slept a full night.

For all this, Lesley never once said thank you. Instead she wired her mother eight thousand a month in living expenses like clockwork, and even hired her a maid on top of it.

She said, "My mom's back is bad. Living alone in the hometown isn't easy for her."

But I could plainly see her mother posting her life all over the short-video platforms every day.

Back in the hometown she was living it up nonstop, either at her group dance classes or off traveling and hiking the mountains.

She lived softer than anyone, and she was tougher and healthier than a young man like me.

My mother, meanwhile, worked herself to the bone every day keeping house and raising the child, until she'd turned herself into a little old woman, hair gone white, hands covered in calluses.

And in the end, all it got her was being treated as excess baggage and swept out the door.

Nobody could accept that.

Seeing my mother still hadn't moved, my mother-in-law frowned, a trace of displeasure in her face.

"Sophia, my grandson's in college already, he doesn't need looking after. You staying on here does nothing but take up space."

"For the sake of us being in-laws, I've said nothing all this time about you hogging my spot, living in such a nice house for eighteen years."

"But you can't just keep sponging off us here forever, can you?"

My mother's whole face went red.

She'd been honest and decent her entire life, her skin thin as paper.

Driven out so bluntly by her son-in-law's mother, she ducked her head in shame, her hands worrying at the hem of her shirt, her voice small as a mosquito's:

"You're right. I'll go now"

With that, my mother walked slowly to the door and picked up the luggage on the floor.

Lesley didn't spare her another glance. She looked at me instead and said, as if it were only natural:

"Tony, my mom's getting old. It's time she got to enjoy some comfort."

"From today on, you take care of everything in this house, and you look after my mom. Don't let her lift a finger."

At those words, my mother stopped short.

She turned back to Lesley, her tone humble and full of worry:

"My son works so hard every day. Half the time he's too worn out to even eat or sleep. Where's he going to find the time or the energy to do housework and wait on an elderly woman"

Cast aside the moment she was no longer useful, thrown out on the spot, and my mother hadn't said one word for herself.

But the instant she saw me being wronged, her eyes went red with heartache.

Tabitha gave a cold snort.

"Country people always make such a fuss."

"What son-in-law doesn't honor his mother-in-law? All I'm asking is that he provide for me in my old age. Isn't that only right?"

Lesley nodded along.

"Exactly. A man who settles down and starts a family, waiting on his mother-in-law is only natural."

"These eighteen years, my mom was being generous. For the child's sake, she let it slide."

"Now the kid's in college and hardly comes home. It's about time Tony did his part. We can't keep coddling him."

My mother opened her mouth, wanting to say something more for me.

But I cut in ahead of her, nodding to Lesley and Tabitha.

"You're both right."

"I really should do my part."

Seeing how readily I agreed, Lesley looked at me the way you'd look at a child who'd finally learned some sense.

Tabitha crossed her arms and smiled, satisfied.

"Good that you understand."

Only my mother stared at me, disbelieving, her eyes full of confusion.

I explained nothing. I just quietly took the luggage from her hands and walked her out the door.

For eighteen years, my mother had carried this family on her back, never resting a single day.

She really did deserve to go home and rest.

After I saw her off at the train station, she looked at me with tears in her eyes, worry pooling there.

"Tony, you can barely keep up with your own career as it is. How are you going to manage from now on"

I smiled. "Don't worry, Mom. I can handle it."

The tears spilled down her cheeks.

"It's all my fault, being useless, no help to you"

I wiped them away for her.

"Mom, you've helped me more than enough."

"The rest of the road, I'll walk on my own."

I've never been a man who goes looking for trouble.

But I'm sure as hell not a pushover to be trampled on either.

I knew my mother-in-law had faked that back pain for eighteen years for one reason: she didn't want to handle Lesley's postpartum care, didn't want to raise the child, didn't want to tire herself out for one second.

Eighteen years of scheming. I would collect on every bit of it, with interest.

After I watched my mother walk into the train station, I turned and went home.

When I pushed the door open, my mother-in-law was on the phone, her whole face lit up, looking full of energy.

Lesley glanced at me and said, offhand, "You sent your mom off?"

"She's gone."

Lesley nodded. "Good, that's one less worry. One fewer idle mouth in the house, and it's peaceful again."

Hah.

A woman who'd been waited on hand and foot for eighteen years, all thanks to my mother, was calling my mother an idle mouth. My mother, who'd worked her back crooked for this family.

Truly laughable.

Before I could say anything, my mother-in-law hung up, squared her shoulders like the head of the house, and delivered her orders down at me from on high.

"Tony, I talked it over with Lesley. Tomorrow I'm inviting all the relatives over to the house for a get-together."

"To celebrate the official start of my retirement."

"I've already called every one of them just now. Everyone's coming to eat here tomorrow."

"Remember to give the house a good cleaning, then cook a nice big spread to host them all."

As if worried I'd refuse, Lesley quickly soothed me in a soft voice.

"Tony, I know you're busy with work and short on time, so I already went ahead and called your boss to get you the day off."

"Tomorrow I'll take my mom out first and show the relatives around, so you'll have plenty of time to get everything ready."

"My mom's back has only just started to recover. She really can't overexert herself, so it'll have to fall to you."

Watching Lesley put on that fake show of reluctance and helplessness, I smiled and said, giving nothing away, "It's no trouble."

"I'll make sure everyone's well looked after."

Seeing that I hadn't refused, my mother-in-law and Lesley looked at me the way you'd look at prey that had finally been tamed.

Early the next morning, at first light.

My mother-in-law was already up, dressing and doing her hair.

Then, brimming with energy, she reminded me, "Tony, Lesley and I are going to pick up the relatives. You're home alone, so remember to clean the place well and make plenty of food."

"Don't you slack off and make the Pruitt family lose face."

I nodded obediently. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you're both satisfied."

Seeing me so meek, Lesley and my mother-in-law traded a smile.

I smiled too.

They were laughing at how stupid I was.

I was laughing at how naive they were.

And so, thoroughly pleased with themselves, mother and daughter set off for the train station to fetch the relatives.

On the drive back with everyone in tow, Lesley's aunt was the first to speak up.

"Lesley, I hear your husband graduated from one of the top schools back in the day?"

Before Lesley could answer, Tabitha jumped in, her voice thick with pride.

"That's right, top of his class at a big-name university!"

"But so what?"

"Haven't I got him trained to heel like a dog anyway? I tell him to cook for the whole family, and he doesn't dare so much as frown."

Hearing that, Lesley's aunt spoke again.

"But there's so many of us today. Can he really manage a whole table of food all by himself?"

Tabitha waved a hand as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Manage or not, he'll do it. I want him to know that when our family comes over, a son-in-law's job is to wait on us, plain and simple."

"From today on, he's the one earning the money and keeping the house, he's the one doing the chores and waiting on people, while my daughter and I just sit back and enjoy the good life."

Lesley's uncle picked it right up.

"Well, since he's so obedient, that works out perfectly. My boy's in eighth grade this year, and his grades are terrible. Since Tony graduated from a top school, how about he swings by every day after work and tutors my boy for free?"

Tabitha patted her chest and answered for me without a second thought.

"No problem. I'll tell him later. He'll report to your place every night."

"If he dares say one word against it, you just watch me straighten him out."

Lesley's aunt perked up at that too.

"Then send my Yuki along while you're at it. She just started seventh grade and her foundation's shaky. Let Tony tutor her at the same time."

Tabitha nodded at once.

"Sure, leave it all to me."

"He's so meek these days, I tell him east and he wouldn't dare go west. Never mind tutoring a couple of kids. If I told him to go to your house and wash your clothes, cook your meals, and carry your wash water for your feet, he'd do it without a peep."

Lesley chimed in, just as smug.

"It's true. I used to worry Tony would get angry, but who knew he'd be this easy to handle."

"My mom faked being sick and ran back to our hometown to live it up, sent his mother over to slave away for eighteen years, then the moment she came back she threw his mother out the door, and he didn't dare make a sound."

"Now, whatever we ask of him, Tony does it, no dragging his feet at all."

The relatives burst out laughing and piled on with jokes from every direction.

"You two really know what you're doing. Marrying off your daughter got you a free workhorse, one who earns money and does the housework both."

"Tabitha, with a son-in-law as obedient as Tony, you're set for life."

Flushed with all the flattery, Tabitha grinned so wide she couldn't close her mouth.

"Of course. I just want him to know who the master of this house really is."

The more she talked, the more worked up she got, holding forth endlessly on her "art of training a son-in-law."

From standing in the family to who controlled the purse strings, she went on and on, all the way home.

Around noon they reached the complex. Tabitha climbed out of the car and swept her arm forward.

"Come on! Let's go home and inspect the results!"

At the front door, Tabitha was still swearing up and down.

"Just train your sons-in-law the way I taught you, and I guarantee you'll all end up like me, with a son-in-law as obedient as a dog!"

With that, she couldn't wait to pull out her keys, and, brimming with confidence, opened the door, ready to show everyone her docile son-in-law.

But when the door swung open and they saw the scene inside, every one of them froze