Daniel, Emily, the kids, Emily’s mom, her sister, her brother-in-law, and two other people I didn’t recognize—friends, probably.
Nine people celebrating, laughing, toasting.
And me eating instant soup in a kitchen I helped pay for.
I looked at the comments.
One hundred and eighty-four in the first hour.
“Congratulations, Queen. You deserve it.”
“Cheers to successful women.”
“What a beautiful family.”
No one asked about me.
No one noticed someone was missing.
Because I had been invisible for a long time.
I closed the app, washed my bowl, dried the table.
And then my phone vibrated.
Emily’s text.
“Mother-in-law, remember to heat up the leftovers in the fridge. Don’t waste them.”
I read those words and something inside me died.
But at the same time, something else woke up.
I opened the fridge.
There they were.
A half-eaten rotisserie chicken from yesterday.
Rice from Monday.
