I always knew my mother-in-law, Denise, didn’t like me. She wasn’t outright cruel, but she had this way of making me feel… temporary. Like I was just a phase in her son’s life.
So when my husband, Julian, invited her over for dinner, I wasn’t surprised when she suddenly got a “work call” right before we started eating.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she sighed dramatically, holding up her phone. “It’s my manager—I have to take this.”
Julian looked disappointed, but he nodded. “Of course, Mom.”
She stepped away from the table, pressing the phone to her ear. “Yes, I understand. No, that’s totally fine. I can leave now if you need me to.” She glanced at us with a fake grimace, like she was so sorry to be ditching us.
I wasn’t buying it.
She tapped the screen to hang up and lowered the phone. That’s when I saw it.
No call screen. No timer running. No missed call notifications.
Instead, her
I’ve always known my mother-in-law, Denise, didn’t like me. She wasn’t outright mean but made me feel temporary in Julian’s life. So when she “had to take a work call” during dinner, I wasn’t surprised. But when I saw her front camera open instead of a call, I realized she was faking it.
I didn’t call her out right away but mentioned it to Julian later. He wasn’t angry and suggested we invite her again. The next dinner, she tried the same trick, but this time, we didn’t let her off the hook. After a tense moment, she admitted she faked the call because she feared losing Julian to me.
We had a real conversation that night. I reassured her that she’s always welcome, and for the first time, it felt like she saw me as more than a phase. It turns out, Denise wasn’t being cruel—she was afraid of being left behind. With patience and understanding, our relationship started to change.
