I believed him.
And then, five months into our marriage, another mysterious envelope arrived.
This time I didn’t open it right away, already anticipating its contents.
My hands trembled as I looked at it, my stomach twisted in knots.
When I finally forced myself to look inside, my heart dropped.
It was Mark, sitting at the hotel bar with a woman in a red dress, his arm around her waist!
I wanted to scream, to cry, to demand an explanation as to why the universe was doing this to me!
But instead I confronted him that night, tossing the envelope on the kitchen table. ‘Explain this.’
My fourth husband’s face went pale as he pulled out the photos, his hands shaking. ‘What the hell, it’s not what it looks like!’
I folded my arms across my chest. “Really? Because it looks exactly like what happened in my last two marriages.”
He swore he didn’t know who the woman was.
That she was a family friend, that nothing had happened.
But I had seen too much, experienced too much.
And so, as soon as it happened, my third marriage fell apart.
I lost all faith in love.
But then everything changed when I visited Margaret, Michael’s mother.
She was always kind to me, even after Michael’s death.
Unlike many mother-in-laws, she never blamed me for the loss of her son.
We kept in touch, and I often helped her with chores.
One afternoon I stopped by to help her with the cleaning. While I was dusting the shelves, a thick, worn book fell from the top shelf.
When I bent down to pick it up, something fell out of its pages.
Photographs.
The same photographs I’d received in those anonymous envelopes!
My breath caught!
I flicked through them, my fingers icy cold.
I turned to go look for Margaret in another part of the house.
When I found her, she was cleaning the kitchen worktop, humming something to herself as she worked.
I stood holding the photos in my hands and pondered how my mother-in-law could have been in those pictures that had helped ruin three of my weddings.
When she turned and spotted me, I held out the pictures, my voice barely audible when I asked: ‘Where did you get these?’
She sighed, rubbing her hands together as if gathering her thoughts.
‘I made them.’
I felt like the ground was leaving under my feet.
‘You…what?’
Margaret met my gaze, her expression serious.
“I watched them. I was watching them. I needed to make sure the men in your life were worthy of you.”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
She held out her hands to me.
“You were the whole world to Michael, darling. He would want you to have a man who truly deserves you.”
Tears stung my eyes.
I should have been furious.
I should have felt violated.
But instead…relief swept over me.
It wasn’t just me.
I’m not cursed.
I’m not unloved.
Instead of anger, I felt gratitude.
I hugged her tightly, whispering: ‘Thank you.’
Then a thought occurred to me.
‘But if you’re so good at keeping track of me and the men in my life, why is your house such a mess?’
My mother-in-law let out a shocked laugh as she replied, “Honey, I’ve been so busy helping you that I’m never home! When I’m here, I’m too tired to clean and tidy! Looking out for your best interests has been my full-time job!”
I couldn’t contain my laughter, finally realising the sacrifices my mother-in-law had made for my happiness.
It’s been two years since that day.
I’m married again.
Wait, before you shake your head in dissatisfaction, trust me, I definitely found the right man this time.
Listen to me before you go!
I wasted my time on this one.
I really got to know him, and with the help of my mother-in-law’s private investigator, I made sure he was loyal and honest.
One day, as I settled on the couch next to my husband, Daniel, he drew me to him.
His warmth, his calm presence-it wasn’t like it was with the others.
I glanced over at Margaret, who was visiting for a few days and was drinking tea with a smile, knowing what it was all about.
With a chuckle I whispered: ‘Well, he passed all my mother-in-law’s tests, ha!’
And for the first time in years, I truly believed I had found my ‘forever’.
Fortunately, Daniel’s wife is not the only woman with an incredible mother-in-law who is willing to do anything for her daughter-in-law and son.
In the next story, the mother-in-law intervenes in a most unusual way when she learns that her son and his wife are having trouble getting pregnant.
When the truth comes out, the mother-in-law must right her wrong.