‘Enough, Marianne,’ he replied. ‘You’ve already scared off enough good women from our sons.’
‘If they’re not right for my boys, I’ll do what I have to do,’ she said coldly. ‘I know what’s best for them.’
My stomach churned. I ended the conversation feeling numb, replaying her words in my head. All these strange things—the flat tyre, the bad reviews—were her doing. There was no curse. It was all a lie, a twisted ploy to control her sons and their wives.
That evening, I sat across from Michael, clutching my phone with trembling hands. ‘Michael,’ I began, ‘I need you to hear something.’
He looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed with concern. ‘What’s wrong?’
I pressed play, and his mother’s voice filled the room.
Michael looked stunned, his eyes darting between the phone and me as he tried to process what he was hearing. ‘This… this must be a mistake,’ he stammered, his voice filled with disbelief. ‘She wouldn’t… my mother would never…’
I took his hand. ‘Michael, I heard everything. She was trying to break us up.’
Finally, he looked at me, his face filled with determination. ‘I need to hear it from her. I need to hear the truth from both of them.’
We arrived at his parents’ house late in the evening. Michael’s father opened the door, looking at us in surprise. ‘Michael, is everything all right?’
Michael pushed past him, his face pale with anger. ‘Where’s Mum?’
His father’s face fell, and he took a step back. ‘Michael, please calm down.’
‘I am calm,’ he said, his voice tense. ‘But I need answers, Dad.’
Marianne looked confused and glanced at her husband, who avoided her gaze. ‘What are you talking about?’
Michael picked up the phone. “I heard you, Mum. You and Dad were talking about the curse. Talking about how you… interfere. Scaring women away, making them think they’re cursed.”
Her face changed from feigned confusion to a hard, calculating expression. ‘Michael, I don’t know what you think you heard, but…’
‘You know what you said, Marianne,’ her father interrupted calmly, leaning forward. ‘There’s no point in denying it.’
She lunged at him, her eyes flashing. ‘Don’t you dare!’
‘Am I not allowed to?’ Her father shook his head, looking tired and worn out. “I kept my mouth shut for years. I watched you drive away every woman Michael or his brothers loved. Watched you lie, sabotage, play with other people’s lives just because you think you know what’s best. It’s been going on long enough.”
Michael’s face crumpled as he looked from his father to his mother. ‘So it’s true?’ he whispered. ‘All of it?’
Tears began to stream down her face. ‘I did it because I love you, Michael.’
He took a step back, shaking his head. ‘That’s not love. That’s control.’
A heavy silence fell over the room. His father spoke next, his voice tired. ‘Michael, I tried to reason with her, believe me. But she… she believes she’s doing the right thing.’
Michael turned to his father, his voice full of pain. ‘And you let her do it? All these years?’
His father lowered his eyes. ‘I was afraid of losing my family. I thought she would stop one day. That you would be strong enough to… break free from it.’
Michael fell silent. Taking my hand, he led me to the door. Outside, he looked up at the stars, his shoulders slumped in defeat. He glanced at me, his voice a barely audible whisper. ‘I’m so sorry. For all of this.’
I squeezed his hand. ‘We’re free now, Michael. That’s all that matters.’
But as we walked to the car, I felt the weight of the past, the sadness of a family torn apart by secrets and my mother’s misguided attempts at love. Michael’s heart would take time to heal, but we were leaving the curse and his mother behind.