My Daughter-in-Law Is Trying to Teach Me Lessons? In My Own House That I Paid For? I Told My Son.
The Lawyer’s Warning
Five days passed without news from Lucas. Five days of silence that felt like an eternity.
I continued with my routine. I cleaned, I cooked little, I slept less.
But something had changed in me. I was no longer sad; I was no longer confused.
I was awake. Awake in a way I had not been in years.
I realized that I had spent so much time justifying my son, protecting him, believing in him, that I stopped protecting myself. I stopped seeing things as they were.
I let them make me feel guilty for wanting love, for wanting respect, for wanting what any mother deserves. But no more.
One morning, while I was drinking coffee in the kitchen, I heard a car stop in front of my house. I looked out the window.
It was Lucas. He came alone, without Victoria.
That surprised me. I thought that after what happened, he would not come back, or that if he came back, it would be with her, with reinforcements.
But no, he was alone. He got out of the car slowly.
He closed the door carefully. He walked toward the entrance of the house as if he were walking on broken glass.
He rang the doorbell. That also surprised me.
He had a key; he always used his key. But this time he rang the doorbell like a stranger.
I opened the door. We looked at each other in silence for a few seconds.
He had dark circles under his eyes. He looked tired, nervous.
He put his hands in his pockets and looked down.
“Hello, Mom.”
“Hello, Lucas.”
Another silence, uncomfortable, heavy. I was not going to make things easy for him, not anymore.
“Can I come in?”
“It is your decision.”
He entered slowly. He looked around as if it were the first time he was seeing the house.
He sat on the sofa without me inviting him. I remained standing, waiting.
I was not going to sit down until I knew what he wanted.
“Mom, I need to talk to you.”
“I am here.”
He ran his hands over his face. He took a deep breath.
It seemed he was looking for the right words, or maybe he was remembering the speech Victoria had prepared for him.
“What happened the other day… it was wrong.”
“What part exactly?”
I stared at him. I wanted him to say it; I wanted to hear it from his mouth.
“Everything. Victoria crossed the line. She should not have spoken to you like that, and I should not have allowed it.”
“But you allowed it, Lucas.”
“You stayed silent while your wife disrespected me in my own home, while she told me I do not know how to take care of the place I built myself.”
He lowered his gaze again. He always did that when he did not want to face the truth.
“I know, and I am sorry.”
“Are you sorry, or did Victoria send you to say you are sorry?”
He looked up quickly, surprised, as if he did not expect me to say that.
“No, Mom, I am saying this. Victoria does not even know I am here.”
That made me doubt a little. Maybe it was true; maybe he had come on his own.
Maybe there was something left of the son I raised. But I could not trust yet, not after everything.
“And what do you want, Lucas? What do you expect me to do? Act as if nothing happened?”
“No, I just want us to talk, to fix this.”
I finally sat down, but not on the sofa with him. I sat on the chair on the other side, keeping distance, keeping control.
“That is fine, let us talk. Tell me one thing, Lucas. Why did you bring Victoria that day? Why did you tell me she was going to teach me to take care of my house?”
He shifted uncomfortably on the sofa.
“I… I thought you needed help. Since Dad died, you have been alone. I thought it would be good for you to have company, someone to help you with things around the house.”
“Someone to teach me, you said.”
“Not someone to help me. You told me she was going to teach me, as if I did not know, as if I were incapable.”
“I did not mean to say it like that.”
“But that is how you said it, Lucas.”
“And Victoria made it very clear. She did not come to help me. She came to take control, to tell me how I should live in my own house.”
The silence returned. He looked small now, shrunk on the sofa like a scolded child.
But I did not feel pity, not anymore.
“Mom, I know things have been weird between us. I know I have not been present as I should, but I want to fix it. I want us to be a family again.”
“Family? When was the last time you acted like family, Lucas? When was the last time you called me just to know how I was? When was the last time you came to visit me without me asking you?”
He did not answer because he had no answer.
“Do you remember my birthday two years ago? I made your favorite meal. I waited all day. You did not arrive. You did not even call until the night.”
“That was a long time ago, Mom.”
“Do you remember the last Christmas with your father? You asked him to come. I begged you. He was dying, Lucas, and you did not arrive. You preferred to go to dinner with Victoria’s family.”
His face changed. It turned red.
He clenched his fists.
“It is not fair for you to throw that in my face now. It is not fair.”
“Do you know what is not fair, son? That your father died waiting for you. That I was left a widow, and three weeks later you showed up here with your wife to tell me I do not know how to take care of my own house. That is not fair.”
He got up from the sofa. He started walking in circles.
He was nervous, angry, but not with me. He was angry because he knew I was right.
“I did not come here to fight, Mom.”
“I do not want to fight either, Lucas, but I am also not going to keep pretending everything is okay. Not anymore.”
He stopped in front of me. He looked at me with those eyes that were once those of a sweet boy, but now they were the eyes of a confused man, lost.
“What do you want me to do? Tell me what you want and I will do it.”
“I want you to tell me the truth.”
“Why have you been pulling away from me? Why did you stop visiting me? Why did you stop calling me? Was it your idea, or was it Victoria’s idea?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He stayed there quiet, searching for words he could not find.
And right there, I knew the answer.
“Victoria,”
I whispered.
