My MIL Kept Insulting Me for Being ‘Just a Teacher’ Until My Father-in-Law Spoke Out

Karen’s the type of woman who wears silk robes at breakfast and calls her facialist “a lifesaver.” Her nails are always manicured; her lipstick is always perfect.

She plays tennis twice a week, drinks wine that costs more than my monthly car payment, and somehow always smells like money and Chanel.

From the very first moment I met her, she made it clear that I wasn’t what she wanted for her son.

I remember that first introduction vividly. Ethan and I had been dating about a year when he brought me to his parents’ house for dinner. It was one of those homes where the couches were white; the table set even when no one was eating, and the air smelled faintly of lemon polish and judgment.

Karen looked me up and down like she was appraising a piece of furniture she hadn’t ordered.

“So,” she said, crossing her long legs and folding her hands over her knee, “you…

teach? How adorable.”

“Yeah,” I replied, trying to stay pleasant, “English. High school.”

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