Returning to my hometown with my husband, while eating, my sister-in-law threw my bowl away: “Don’t eat, run away!”, from which my mother-in-law’s terrible secret was accidentally revealed…
My name is Mara, and I have been married for almost a year. My husband – Nico – is the second son in a family of three brothers. On our wedding day, everyone said I was lucky to have married a gentle man who loved his wife. But I always felt heavy every time I followed my husband to the province, because the atmosphere in the house was always as tense as a bowstring.

During the last holiday, Nico begged me to return to my hometown for a few days. I was hesitant because I had heard that my eldest sister-in-law was very difficult, and my parents-in-law were strict. But thinking of my husband, I nodded. His hometown is in a quiet barangay in Cavite province, an old wooden house with a typical capiz glass door, and a front yard planted with coconuts and star fruit.

That afternoon, the whole family gathered around a long narra wooden table. It was the first time I had a meal with everyone like that. On the table were all sorts of dishes: sour sinigang na isda, fragrant adobo, golden pancit… The atmosphere seemed peaceful at first. I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to myself that I must have been worrying too much.

But just as I was about to put a piece of fish in my bowl, bang! – my eldest sister-in-law, whom everyone called Ate Lani, threw my bowl of rice straight onto the tiled floor. The soup and rice grains splattered everywhere. The whole family was stunned, and I was speechless, not understanding what was happening.

Ate Lani looked at me, her face pale, breathing heavily:
– Don’t eat! Run away!

My heart was pounding. My mother-in-law – whom everyone called Mama Luz – slammed her hand on the table and shouted:
– Lani, what are you doing?

My sister-in-law trembled, her eyes filled with tears, pointing at the bowl of sinigang placed in front of me:
– There’s… medicine in there!

The whole table fell silent. I was struck by lightning, my limbs went limp. I looked around: some eyes were bewildered, some were avoiding.

Mama Luz’s face changed color:
– What nonsense are you talking about? – she argued, but her hands were still shaking, the spoon fell with a “clang”.

The atmosphere was chaotic. Nico hugged me tightly, his voice urgent:
– What is this? Why did you put the medicine in?

Ate Lani burst into tears. It turned out that a few days ago she had accidentally overheard a conversation between Mama Luz and a strange woman. They were discussing how to “eliminate” me because they thought I married Nico to target the family land in Cavite. That strange woman was Tita Mercy – Nico’s aunt, who had long wanted to marry her daughter to him to keep the land in the family. They said: “Give her that to drink, so she won’t be entangled.”

Ate Lani was terrified but didn’t dare to say anything for fear of being suspected. When she saw me about to eat the soup, she threw the bowl and screamed.

I trembled in disbelief. The mother-in-law whom I had respectfully bowed to for so long… could be so cruel?

All eyes turned to Mama Luz. She neither admitted nor denied it.

Immediately afterwards, Nico called the PNP station near the Barangay Hall. When the police arrived, they took the remaining soup for testing. The results showed that there was indeed a high dose of a sleeping drug in it; if I had finished the bowl, I would have fainted right there at the table.

Mama Luz was called in to investigate. The story broke out, and the whole barangay was in an uproar. It turned out that Tita Mercy had convinced her that I was “unworthy”, that letting her daughter marry Nico was “the right person, the right place”. Blinded by family honor and instigation, Mama Luz committed a cruel act.

I sat in the living room, looking through the capiz door, tears streaming down my face. My trust in my husband’s family collapsed.

A few days later, when everything was confirmed, Mama Luz had to bow her head and apologize. But the wound in my heart was too deep. I looked at Ate Lani – who had risked everything to save me – with gratitude overflowing.

She held my hand and said softly:

– Don’t be afraid. Not everyone in this house is evil. As for me, I’m here, I will protect you.

Those words made me cry. I understood: in the darkness of cruelty, there is still the light of humanity.

I decided to move with Nico to Quezon City and rent a small room. We started over; hard work but with peace of mind. Occasionally, Ate Lani secretly sent me rice and vegetables from Cavite – as a way to silently accompany me.

As for Mama Luz, after the incident where she was criticized by the neighbors, she lived in torment. I no longer hated her, but I could no longer call her “mother” with the same respect as before.

Every time I recall the scene of the bowl of rice being thrown down and the shout of “Run away!”, I still shudder. It was not only a life-and-death moment, but also a milestone that helped me see the true faces of some people in my husband’s family – to appreciate more those who truly loved me.

And most of all, I understand that sometimes a seemingly cruel act is a life-saving grace. If it weren’t for Ate Lani that day, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here telling this story.