28May2024
Ive been turning over the tangled affairs of my inlaws in my mind again, and I cant help but feel a cold knot in my stomach. My motherinlaw, Susan Archer, has long since transferred all her assets to her only daughter, Olivia. So that dear Olivia wont have to fight over the inheritance later, she declared some years ago, beaming at her new daughterinlaw as if she were handing down a crown. Now, however, Susan seems oddly unsettled, and Nataliemy dear wifehas quickly realized that any warmth from her motherinlaw is a mirage.
It isnt surprising. Susan has always loved only herself and Olivia, the younger sister of my husband, Andrew. She never held much affection for her late husbands family, who passed away a couple of years before Andrew and Natalie first met. Andrew once told me, halfjoking, that his mother saw him merely as a source of income. He adored her, and the entire estatea threebedroom house in a quiet suburb, a modest but comfortable holiday cottage, a car and its garagebelongs wholly to Susan.
She even seemed pleased when Andrew, at twentysix, announced his engagement. It meant he would finally leave the family home and stop crowding her and Olivias lives. Yet Susan never offered any help to the young couple. Youre a man, you must earn everything yourself, she told me loudly, my property is for Olivia. Shell take care of me when Im old. I felt no offense toward her, only pity for Andrew, whose face showed the sting of being reminded who the family favorite was.
Natalies own mother, Margaret Yvonne, comforted us. Dont worry, well sort something out, she said, offering us a place to stay. Margaret is incredibly kind; remembering how harsh life had been when she lived with her own husbands parents, she sold her own onebedroom flat and their countryside cottage to give us a mortgage deposit. She moved into a tiny studio, joking, Why would I want a palace when theres nothing to clean? while we tried to protest.
Andrew has always called his motherinlaw simply Mum, and he does everything he can for hervisiting doctors, fetching medicines when she broke her leg, finding her a parttime job at a warmclimate health centre, paying for her yearly spa retreat. All this happened long after Andrew rose from a modest engineer to the production manager of a large firm. From the day they were married, Margaret never once chastised them.
I had hoped Susan might at least praise Andrews career, but she never did. At least hes not a burden on Olivias neck, she waved off any compliment. Olivias husband, a prosperous businessman, lives a life of ease, like butter on toast, Susan would say. Olivia herself, however, has been drifting for three years, never truly married, and now finds herself tangled with a smoothtalking swindler who vanished the moment she learned she was pregnant. She gave birth to little Charlotte, then resumed the futile search for love.
Susan never ceases to marvel at her daughters golden granddaughter. Yet shes only seen Charlotte a couple of times in five years and sometimes forgets to wish her a happy birthday. Oddly, Susan never asks us for money, even though she never worked a day in her life and Olivia lives on a token wage from the archives. Andrew once mentioned that after his fathers death there were some savings, which Susan cleverly turned into a steady dividend income. How much she receives, I never asked.
Later it emerged that Susan had left Olivia a centralLondon flat in her will, which they rent out at a good price. Thus, for fifteen years, two families have been running parallel lives. Andrew visits his mother on her birthday and at New Year, but never stays longer than half an hour.
Darling, you cant be so careless, Margaret gently scolds me. Were familyshow some respect for your husbands mother. I shrug it off, replying, Mum doesnt even look at us or my sisterinlaw. Shes always bragging about Olivia and Charlotte. I doubt shed recognise us on the street. Its trueSusan shows no interest in her sons family at all.
Our town isnt huge, so news still reaches us. Olivia once married, receiving Grandmothers inherited twobedroom flat as a wedding gift. When Susan was asked to congratulate, she dismissed it, No point spending moneyOlivia and Peter are off on an expensive holiday and need to refurbish their flat. Eventually Olivia and Peter split, and that flat was oddly divided between them. Olivia spent her share on a getaway to recover from the stress.
Throughout all this, Charlotte lived on her grandmothers full support, a fact Susan proudly displayed. When my own mother fell ill, Andrew and I did everything we couldtrips abroad, endless treatmentsyet Susan never called to offer condolences. I even asked if our son might help sell an old car for Olivias urgent cash, and that was the first time I heard Andrew swear. After that, he stopped speaking to his mother for months, only reappearing when neighbours rang about a flood.
The flat was empty; the mother, sister, and niece had gone to a seaside resort and ignored the calls. That holiday changed everything for Olivia, her mother, and Charlotte. There Olivia met the love of her life, Victor, an investor with no real assets and a reckless lifestyle. He made it clear he had no use for Olivias mother or daughter, but the flat would be handy for his ventures.
Now Susan, having already transferred her house to Olivia, called me one afternoon, Andrew, talk to your sister. Victor is a charming man and loves Olivia, but I fear shes too easily swayed. Andrew replied, Mum, Olivia and I havent spoken in years. What am I supposed to say? Susan snapped, I knew there was no hope in you! and hung up. The call left me uneasy.
Should we find out whats happening with them? I asked. I have no desire, Andrew replied sharply. As long as theyre alive and well, thats enough.
Six months later Susan appeared at our door, looking frail, eyes hollow. Olivia sold our flat, she gasped, and I dont know where she is now. Please, find my daughter. She didnt even glance at me.
Where are you living now? Andrew asked. Not me, but usOlivia and Charlotteat the cottage, Susan sobbed. I have no idea what Victor has done, but he seems to have bewitched Olivia. According to Susan, the swindler (who never married Olivia) vanished with her and the money. She believed our son could track them down, though Andrew sighed, Even the police wont take a statement.
Now Susan clings to the hope of taking Charlotte in, but her pension is barely enough to support a child. While we hesitate, Andrew still brings her groceries and a few pounds each week. Olivia never calls.
All of this feels like a knot of endless obligations, love that never quite reaches, and the strange comfort of trying to do the right thing even when the right thing feels like a distant, impossible dream.
