The message flashed on my screen, jarring me out of a dark humour moment. Just seconds before, I’d been joking about sending my mother to ‘Sim hell’ – a morbid thought, perhaps, but a coping mechanism for a relationship that was anything but nurturing. Then came the ping from an unknown number, a message from my ex-husband, the man who had inflicted horrific abuse bordering on torture on me. He wrote, “I hope you can forgive me for what I did,” followed by a demand to unblock him if I wanted to know what happened. My blood ran cold. This had my mother’s fingerprints all over it.
My Mother’s Death Wasn’t a Tragedy, But My Hard-Won Freedom After 14 Years
Published Anonymously
Submitted by a real person and published with their consent. Identity is never revealed.