\n
\u201cMom just wanted to organize something nice for us, so stop overthinking everything,\u201d he said weakly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNice?\u201d I asked him incredulously.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just ordered me to come inside and cook for them in my own house.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of his aunts decided to intervene, stepping closer to me with an insincere expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, honey, you really shouldn\u2019t exaggerate so much,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is just how mothers-in-law operate, and if you start asserting your rights now, your marriage will not last long at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen it is a very good thing that I am not married to him yet,\u201d I replied, and the words hung in the air like a heavy weight.<\/p>\n
Lucas grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the hallway, his grip tighter than it needed to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you losing your mind?\u201d he whispered harshly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would you say that in front of my family?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I desperately need to know exactly who I am about to marry,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are just letting your anger get the better of you, Felicity,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Lucas, I am not angry, I am finally realizing the truth,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
I asked him if he knew his mother had invited this entire group to my house, and he nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
I asked him if he knew they were going through my private rooms, and he stared at the floor in shame.<\/p>\n
I asked him if he knew his family genuinely thought this house belonged to them, and he said absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n
That silence was far worse than any confession he could have made.<\/p>\n
I walked back upstairs, but this time I went down the second-floor hallway to check the other rooms.<\/p>\n
The guest room door was wide open, and inside, there was a massive bag of clothes, a folded blanket, and a suitcase waiting against the wall.<\/p>\n
In the other room, I found sandals kicked under the bed, confirming that this was not a temporary gathering, but a full-scale relocation.<\/p>\n
I went back downstairs with my heart hammering against my ribs, and when I reached the main entrance, I noticed something new.<\/p>\n
There was a shiny, new deadbolt installed right over the original lock.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho put that there?\u201d I asked the room at large.<\/p>\n
Beatrice didn\u2019t even flinch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had it changed for security reasons, because this is a big house with many people coming and going, and things easily get lost,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I felt the floor drop out from under me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you change the lock on my house without telling me?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, don\u2019t start with the drama, because it was just to protect everyone\u2019s belongings,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no \u2018everyone\u2019s\u2019 here, this is my home,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Lucas chimed in with a tired, pathetic voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew about it, but it really wasn\u2019t that big of a deal, and my mom just wanted to help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That was the moment the door of doubt finally closed for good.<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp whom?\u201d I asked, but he remained silent.<\/p>\n
Beatrice crossed her arms and looked at me with pure calculation.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, Felicity, I am going to be very clear with you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the wedding, it is best that this house be managed by someone with actual experience,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are young, you do not know how these things work, and Lucas has his own financial commitments, so his family needs support too,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly does \u2018managed\u2019 mean?\u201d I asked, even though the answer was sickeningly clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s just get things in order and see if it is better to transfer the deed to another name to simplify the paperwork,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I felt nauseous as I realized they weren\u2019t just invading; they were preparing to steal my property.<\/p>\n
I looked at Lucas.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know your mother wanted to transfer the legal paperwork?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
He clenched his jaw, refusing to look at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t say it like that, because nobody is trying to take anything from you,\u201d he lied.<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated with a message from an unknown number.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am Uncle Dante,\u201d the message read.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not trust them, as they are desperate because of a massive debt, and your house is their primary target.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked up, and I saw that Lucas had turned completely pale.<\/p>\n
Before I could ask him about the debt, Beatrice spoke up again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is enough, because either you fall in line starting today, or this wedding is going to get off to a very bad start,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n
I understood then that the full truth was still hidden, but it was already knocking at the door.<\/p>\n
I put my phone into my bag and looked at every single person in the room with absolute silence.<\/p>\n
For the first time all night, I didn\u2019t feel afraid, I felt a wave of complete clarity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want all of you to leave right now,\u201d I said calmly.<\/p>\n
Nobody moved an inch, and Beatrice looked at me as if I had just blasphemed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean, leave?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly what I said, because this is my house,\u201d I stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not invite you, I did not authorize you to bring suitcases, I did not allow you to change my locks, and I am not going to let you stay here,\u201d I finished.<\/p>\n
Lucas stepped forward to intervene.<\/p>\n
\u201cFelicity, calm down and we will talk about this tomorrow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, because tomorrow would be way too late,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n
One of his cousins laughed nervously.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo way, Lucas, you have to say something to her, because how is she going to just kick us all out?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Lucas looked at me with a pathetic mix of embarrassment and genuine anger.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t do this, because they are my family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I was supposed to be your wife,\u201d I replied, a sentence that left him completely speechless.<\/p>\n
I took out my phone and dialed the local emergency number, explaining firmly that there were unauthorized people in my home and I needed assistance to remove them.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom just wanted to organize something nice for us, so stop overthinking everything,\u201d he said weakly. \u201cNice?\u201d I asked him incredulously. \u201cThey just ordered me to come inside and cook … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amomama-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2340,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337\/revisions\/2340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}