My MIL Kept Insulting Me for Being ‘Just a Teacher’ Until My Father-in-Law Spoke Out

And somehow, I didn’t feel angry. I didn’t even feel smug or vindicated.

I just felt… sad.

Ethan tried to offer help, but Karen kept looking down, avoiding me like I was the reminder of everything she’d said and done.

Later that week, I sat at my desk at home, staring at my tutoring account. Over the years, I’d put away some extra savings from private tutoring gigs.

Just a little emergency cushion.

I transferred $2,000 and wrote “for a new start” in the memo line.

That night, Karen called me. Her voice cracked as soon as she spoke.

“Why would you help me after how I treated you?”

I paused. Then said, “Because teachers don’t stop helping people just because they’re mean.”

There was a beat of silence.

Then, there was a small, broken laugh that turned into a sob. She didn’t say anything else. She didn’t need to.

*****

Months passed.

Slowly, the space between us shrank.

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