On the wedding night I had to give up my bed to my mother-in-law because she was “drunk” — the next morning I found something stuck on the bedsheet that made me speechless… On the wedding night, I was exhausted after a long day of entertaining guests, therefore I retreated to my room, hoping to hug my husband and sleep soundly.

However as soon as I finished removing my makeup, the door opened: “Mom is too drunk, let her lie down for a bit, it’s too noisy downstairs.” My mother-in-law – a controlling, notoriously strict woman – staggered in, hugging a pillow, her breath reeking of alcohol, her shirt low-cut, her face red.

I was about to help her to the living room, but my husband stopped me: “Let Mom lie here, it’s only one night. One night. The wedding night.”

I bitterly carried the pillow down to the sofa, not daring to react because I feared of being branded “a new wife already rude”.

All night I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. The shadow of someone upstairs walked back and forth, the sound of wood creaking, then silence. It was almost morning when I finally fell asleep.

As I woke up, it was almost 6 o’clock. I went upstairs, intending to wake my husband up and go down to greet my maternal relatives. I gently pushed the door open… and stood frozen. My husband was lying with his back facing out. My mother-in-law was lying very close to him, on the same bed I had given up. I approached, intending to wake him up. But as my eyes swept across the bedsheet, I suddenly stopped. On the pure white sheet…