When my husband brought his boss home without warning, I never expected to become the butt of their jokes. But I wasn’t going to take that quietly, and the ultimatum I gave him next changed our marriage forever. I stood in my kitchen, hair piled in a messy bun, wearing my oldest leggings and a t-shirt with mysterious stains, perfect for a day of deep cleaning but disastrous for guests. The house smelled of chili and cornbread, the kids were doing homework amid a glitter explosion, and everything was typical — until the front door flew open.
Adrian waltzed in with a stiff, suited man and a polished woman in a designer dress: Preston, his boss, and Vera, Preston’s wife. Feeling humiliated by my appearance, I hurried Adrian into the pantry where he told me this chaos was “part of the plan” to impress his boss with our “authentic, average” life. But back at the table, the snide comments about my cooking, my clothes, and my messy house started flying — disguised as jokes, but cutting deep nonetheless. Adrian laughed along with them, leaving me humiliated and alone at a dinner table that once felt like home. Later, when I stepped outside to throw out the trash, I overheard Preston and Vera mocking me openly, revealing it had all been a sick game for their amusement — and worse, Adrian had unknowingly served up his own family as the punchline.