My MIL Needed Chemotherapy – A Year Later, I Learned Where the Money Really Went

And for a long time, I truly believed it was. My mother-in-law, Gail, was always more of a shadow than a presence. I met her twice: once after our wedding, when she flew in for a short visit, and again during a rushed holiday layover the following year.

She was pleasant, polite, soft-spoken, and always complimented the little things, like my earrings or the flowers on our kitchen table. But there was a certain sense of distance and coldness to her. Even when she smiled, it felt like she was holding something back, like her warmth had a limit and we weren’t meant to get too close.

“Mom really values her privacy, honey,” Ethan told me once when I asked if she ever FaceTimed or called. “She’s sweet and kind, but she’s… guarded.”

That answer became the final word on her. I accepted it, of course.

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