I got married after 6 years of being in love.
During that time,
I found out he was cheating on me with the live-in maid,
Who took care of his mother.
I confronted him at first,
but he denied it.
Then he confessed,
And promised me that he would end it,
But he said that he will not be able to fire her until we got married,
Because she was the one who took care of his mother.
He told me that she was a sexworker.

We started planning our wedding,
And he asked me if we could live with his mother,
After we get married,
Because she had no one but him,
And I agreed.
As we were planning the wedding,
I would see him making advances on the maid,
Which caused problems between us.
He’d end up apologizing, then we’d make up.

A few days after we got married,
The problems started.
He and his mother refused to fire the maid.
I was told she’s the lady of the house.
My husband refused to let me cook for him,
And he would only eat her food.
She started controlling me too.
She would come into our bedroom at any time,
And if I objected,
I would get beaten.

I complained to his family.
They told me,
“Put up with it, and when you get pregnant and he sees his son,
He’ll get back to his senses.”
That didn’t happen, of course.
It reached a point where I actually caught them having sex.
When I complained to my mother-in-law, she said,
“He loves her,
And only married you to maintain a public facade.”
I was pregnant,
And had only been married for a few months,
When I told my parents that I wanted to get divorced,
They refused.

The problems kept getting worse,
As well as the cursing and humiliation.
I had no privacy even in my bedroom.
One day, he grabbed me,
And he and the maid beat me up,
And tried to make me miscarry.
I called my parents,
And they took me to the hospital.
The doctor recommended I rest so my condition stabilizes.
I stayed with my parents.

I was surprised when my husband sent my belongings in a trash bags to my parents’ house.
They took all my furniture and my gold.
He refused to meet anyone from my family so we could get divorced.
When we took it to court,
He agreed to the divorce on condition
That I waive all my matrimonial rights,
And that I terminate the pregnancy.

In the end, he agreed to the divorce,
But he took everything.
In exchange, he let me keep the baby,
On the condition that I don’t ask for child support,
And he threatened to kidnap the baby if I do.