Humiliated at My Own Wedding, My Father Burned Them All Down

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At the wedding banquet, my mother-in-law suddenly set a bowl of foul-smelling pig slop down in front of me.

I stared at her, stunned.

She just smiled and said, "It's tradition. When a new bride comes into the family, she eats pig slop. It means she'll be like a big fat sow, not picky about her food, easy to breed, nine to a litter, all fat little boys."

My face went hard with fury.

But my husband, Gabriel Henson, leaned in and coaxed me. "Just take one little bite, that's all. When in Rome. It's a happy day, don't spoil the mood for everyone."

I said coldly, "It's disgusting. I'm not eating it."

My mother-in-law's face dropped at once. "Who are you calling disgusting? Every woman in our village has done this. Every single one."

"Don't think that because you're a city girl you can put on airs here."

My father-in-law slapped the table too. "You marry into this family, the first thing you do is obey. You'll eat it whether you want to or not. You think you're going to turn this house upside down?"

Gabriel's relatives were all around me, some cursing me, some coaxing me, some just enjoying the show.

I looked around at all of them and said softly, "Not picky about food, easy to raise, is that it? Then nobody here gets to be picky either."

I picked up the slop and flung it across their tables, one after another.

……

"Renata Swanson, what are you doing?"

My mother-in-law's furious shout hit my ear, and her hand came up and cracked across my face.

On instinct I moved to hit her back, but Gabriel stopped me.

He said in a low, heavy voice, "Renata, she's my mother, she's your elder. You want to hit her?"

I cupped my cheek, tears rising, choking me. "So what if she's my elder? Since when does being an elder give her the right to hit people?"

"No one has laid a finger on me my whole life. I marry into your family and get slapped on the very first day?"

Gabriel sighed. "Would it have killed you to eat one bite of the slop? If you weren't so stubborn, none of this would be happening."

All at once Gabriel felt like a stranger to me.

I looked him in the eyes. "Aren't you on my side?"

Gabriel said, irritated now, "Renata, it's not that I'm not on your side. It's that you're putting me in an impossible spot."

"On one side there's my parents, on the other there's you. I always thought you were sensible, so why are you the one squeezing me in the middle today?"

The banquet guests had started jeering.

"Gabriel, can't you keep your wife in line?"

"City brides are nothing but trouble. One look and you can tell she's loose, not the kind who's in it for the long haul."

"Won't even eat one bite of slop. When your parents get old, you think she'll wait on them, clean up their mess when they can't? Not a chance."

"Gabriel, give her a beating. One beating and she'll behave."

"That's right. A woman from the city needs to be broken in, so she learns who runs this house."

Gabriel leaned close to my ear and murmured, "You hear all that? If you don't eat the slop today, you make me lose all my face."

"If you love me, then give me this. Don't leave me unable to hold my head up in front of my own people."

I shook my head, firm. "Gabriel, I love you. But I won't degrade myself."

Displeasure flickered across Gabriel's face.

He sighed. "Renata, respect goes both ways. You don't give other people face, how are they supposed to give you any? Listen to me. I'm not trying to hurt you."

He seized my shoulders and shoved me down hard into my seat.

Then he called out, loud, "Bring the slop over. Renata's willing to eat it now!"