Layla’s husband, Tom, has an annual tradition involving a family vacation that she isn’t invited to. After years of being excluded, Layla finally asks why she isn’t allowed to join, only for Tom to lie and blame his mother.

But when Layla does her own digging, she and her mother-in-law discover a family secret that breaks the family apart. My husband, Tom, has been going on an annual island vacation with his family since we had gotten married. That’s twelve years of family trips without me.

Every year, he’d pack his bags and leave our two kids and me behind. “My mom doesn’t want in-laws on the trip, Layla,” he said. “You know this. It’s the same story every year. But still, you continue to ask about it.”

My husband rolled his eyes and sat on the couch, his hands wrapped tightly around his phone. “Why don’t you just cancel this one, and we can take the kids on holiday instead?” I asked, tossing a salad to go with our dinner. “Why would I do that?” he retorted. “The kids are too young and it will be chaotic. When they’re older, we can start talking about holidays with them.”

“And me?” I asked. “Are you sure your mom will mind?” “She doesn’t want you there, Layla,” Tom said. “And if you come with, you will just embarrass yourself.”

I swallowed that excuse for twelve long years, trying not to let it get to me. There were only so many battles that I wanted to fight, and this wasn’t one of them. But then, a few days before Tom was scheduled to leave for his trip, I was sitting on the couch scrolling through socials. And that was when something snapped in me.

There, right on social media for everyone to see, was a carousel of photos from last year’s vacation. There was Tom, smiling widely next to his brother and sister-in-law. There were other photos of their sister and her husband, too. But I was told that Tom’s mother didn’t want any in-laws on the trip?

“It’s clear that she just didn’t want you there,” I said to myself. I needed to know more information before I blew up at my mother-in-law. As much as Denise seemed to have an issue with me, I knew that if I asked her straight up, she would give me an answer. So, I decided to call Sadie, Tom’s brother’s wife. She was fairly new to the family, with them having only been married for about a year now.

“Hey, Layla,” she said, answering the phone immediately. “Hi!” I replied, trying to pick up my energy so that she wouldn’t immediately think that something was wrong or that I was trying to attack her. “What’s up?” she asked.

“I was just scrolling through socials,” I said slowly. “And I saw your photos from last year’s vacation. Everything looked amazing!” Sadie giggled. “Thank you,” she said. “I was living my island life. I’m still so sad that you couldn’t end up coming because you didn’t have anyone to take care of the kids.”

So that’s what they thought. That I hadn’t been able to make their trip because of my children. “Listen, Layla,” she said. “I’ve got to go, I’m getting another call. I’ll call you this evening!”

She hung up immediately.

I knew that my next move would be going to my mother-in-law. If anyone was at the root of this lie, it would be Denise.

“Why don’t you allow Tom to take us on vacation? Don’t you consider us your family?” I asked as my mother-in-law opened the door and let me in.

“Darling, what are you talking about?” my mother-in-law asked, genuinely perplexed. “My husband and sons go on vacation every year, but they’ve never taken me with. Roger said that none of the females go on these trips. It’s just the boys.”