“Now you’ll never marry my son!” my mother-in-law laughed, setting my wedding dress on fire. I wiped my tears, smiled coldly, and said, “Enjoy destroying that dress, because the wedding was never the real trap.” Her face went completely pale when I made one quick phone call…

son,” she announced, her voice pitched high, thrumming with an adrenaline I had never seen her display at country club luncheons. “Jason requires a partner from our echelon. Not some nobody crawling up from the wrong side of the tracks.”

My name is Valerie Mitchell. I am twenty-five years old. I dragged myself through a community college curriculum continue reading …