Victoria’s face instantly lit up with a triumphant smile.
She didn’t bother to ask what I meant by that. She didn’t ask where I was going, what Jordan was doing, or what the logistics were.
In her mind, she had pushed me out of my own home, and that was all that mattered.
“Great.”
Victoria clapped her hands together joyfully.
“Then leave the key under the front porch mat by 2:00 on Thursday. Make sure the fridge is stocked with milk, eggs, and breakfast items before you leave. I’ll see you after the holiday.”
She turned around, picked up her handbag, and strutdded out the front door, feeling completely victorious.
Jordan looked up at me from the couch, his face pale with anxiety.
“Sandra, what did you mean by I’m away?”
“Are we actually going to rent a hotel room for New Year’s?”
I looked at my husband, picked up my tea mug, and smiled faintly.
“You can do whatever you want, Jordan,” I said softly. “But as for me, I am taking my vacation.”
My name is Sandra Vance. I am 33 years old and I work as a principal software architect for a national medical technology firm.
To understand how my New Year’s weekend turned into an absolute disaster for my mother-in-law, you have to understand the dynamic that had existed in our family for the past 3 years.
When I met Jordan, he was a kind, hard-working accountant who had one massive flaw.
He was completely incapable of saying the word no to his mother, Victoria.
Toriia was a woman who believed that because she had raised three children as a single mother, her adult kids owed her endless financial and personal compensation for the rest of her life.
But while her other two children had moved across the country and limited their contact with her, Jordan had stayed in town.