My Mother-in-law Doesn't Trust Me

I had been married for a year. Every time I came home late, my mother-in-law, Ebony Herrera, would call me right away.

I thought she was being caring, until one day, while getting my car serviced, the mechanic found a GPS tracker under my car.

My scalp tingled, and a chill ran down my spine. I didn't know why that thing was on my car.

Fuming, I drove home. As soon as I walked in, my husband, Grady Diaz, came up to hug me. I shoved him away and threw the tracker on the table. "Grady, did you do this?"

He looked at me, realizing something was wrong. He quickly picked up the tracker and examined it. "What is this?"

I thought he was pretending. Sarcastically, I said, "Oh, who else would know better than you?"

Before he could respond, I launched into what happened at the service center. Grady was stunned.

After a long pause, he pulled me to sit on the couch and mumbled, "This must be something Mom did."

"What?" I jumped up.

If Grady had put it there, I might understand. But if it was Ebony, I couldn't comprehend it at all.

I remembered how every time I worked late, she would call me, asking, "Katie, where are you?

"How many people are there? Are there any male colleagues?"

"Send me a photo. I'm worried about you."

I used to think she was just concerned about me and felt quite touched.

Now, thinking back, I felt chilling.

"What does your mom mean by this? Does she think I'm cheating? Is she spying on me?"

Grady silently hung his head, which only fueled my anger.

"Fine, if you won't tell me, I'll ask her."

Grady panicked and quickly held me back, explaining the reason.

"Honey, she didn't mean any harm."

I slapped him lightly, urging him to get to the point.

It turned out Ebony wasn't widowed, and Grady had a father.

Ebony Herrera came from a rural background with little education. When she was young, she worked as a maid for Grady's father. The family, impressed by her diligence, arranged for their widowed eldest son to marry her.

They had a brief period of happiness, but as Grady's father climbed the social ladder, he grew disdainful of his uneducated wife.

He even fell for a young colleague and wanted a divorce.

He offered to leave everything to her, including the child, but she refused.

Angered, he moved in with his mistress.

The two had never divorced, and he had never returned to see her. When Ebony found out I earned much more than Grady, she feared he might repeat his father's mistakes.

I was stunned after hearing all this.

When we were dating, Grady told me he came from a single-parent family and that his father had died.

My mom strongly opposed our marriage because she worried that the single mother might be overbearing. But I persisted.

After we got married, I boasted to my mom about how gentle and caring Ebony was. Little did I know, I would be proven wrong so quickly.

"Honey, mom has had a hard life. She did this for our sake. I'm begging you, please don't confront her for my sake."