George yanked the blanket off Emily and barked, “Up!” Emily shielded herself with her arms and blinked in confusion
Then George made Emily polish shoes and iron clothes repeatedly until he was satisfied.
Next came cooking, overseen by her quiet, submissive mother-in-law, Linda Marie.
“Cut potatoes for soup bigger, carrots smaller, or George won’t eat it,” Linda explained. “No, that’s too big—two millimeters smaller.”
“What nonsense, he won’t notice potato size in soup,” Emily thought.
But George noticed. He poured the soup from everyone’s bowls back into the pot, took it to the bathroom, and flushed it. He returned, handed Emily the empty pot, and said, “Redo it.”
Another time, Emily slipped up by snacking. She was heading to her room with a sandwich when George caught her.
“Emily, remember the rule about food?” he asked sternly.
“But I’m hungry.”
“If you’re not full, your portions will increase. Now throw out that sandwich.”
“That’s wasteful,” Emily argued.
“Exactly. Wasting food is a crime, and it’s on you. You need to be responsible if you want to live with my son and bear my grandchildren.”
“I’m not bearing you anything,” Emily thought bitterly.
One morning, she overslept. Seeing the clock, Emily realized she was late for breakfast and rushed to the hall in her nightgown.
George was waiting in the kitchen. “Emily, two violations: you overslept and left your room undressed.”
Anger surged. “So what? The world won’t end if I skip your crazy rules for one day.”
“You agreed to them when you moved in. If you don’t like it, leave.”
“You know I have nowhere to go. What, you’ll kick me out?”
“No, I’ll punish you,” George said calmly.
He grabbed her arm, dragged her through the house, shoved her into her and Matt’s room, took her phone, and locked the door from outside…
