Rebecca, completely defeated by my mother’s scolding, sank back onto the sofa and started wailing again. “Oh, my life is so miserable! My son’s not home and my daughter-in-law and in-law team up to bully an old woman like me…”
My temples were throbbing. On one side was Rebecca, wailing pitifully and on the other was Elise, trembling with anger.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I was the younger one, so I had to calm down the argument first.
I walked over to Rebecca and tried to persuade her gently, “Mom, please don’t cry. If I’ve done something wrong, please tell me and I’ll be more careful in the future. There’s no need to ruin the family harmony over such a small matter.”
I continued, “Sebastian hasn’t returned from his business trip yet. If you go back to your hometown without saying anything, I won’t be able to explain to him. Can you please forgive me and wait until Sebastian comes back and then we can talk about it?”
Rebecca’s crying quieted down a bit after I said that and it seemed like she was trying to use my offer to save her temper.