Just Three Months After My Wedding, My Face Was in a Horrible Condition. My Husband No Longer Kissed Me, and My Mother-in-Law Changed My Pillowcase Every Day, Saying, “With a Face Like That, You Won’t Stay by My Son’s Side for Long.” One Night, I Accidentally Overheard Her Telling My Husband, “If You Can’t Get Rid of Her, I’ll Do It Myself.”

Once, while I was at work, Mike had said,

“I don’t want to spend the rest of my life explaining to people what happened to my wife’s face.”

Martha had replied,

“You married a human being, Mike. Not a photograph.”

From that day on, their relationship had become increasingly tense.

Mike didn’t want to move into our own apartment. He was comfortable living in his mother’s house, where Martha took care of most of the household chores.

Meanwhile, I was slowly becoming a stranger in the family.

That night, when I overheard their argument, my mother-in-law had actually been demanding that Mike finally move out with me and stop hiding behind his mother.

When she said, “If you can’t get rid of her,” she had been referring to ending the situation in which Mike was keeping me trapped emotionally, without having an honest conversation about our marriage.