Mom, please come quickly… I have 39°C fever, I feel really bad. Bring some fever medicine and take me away from here, — I whispered. — And one more thing… call our lawyer. Let him prepare the divorce papers.

On the other end there was silence, then my mother said firmly:

— My daughter, stay strong. I’m already on my way. No one has the right to treat you like this.

At that moment my husband started grumbling again that I was “overdramatizing everything,” but his words no longer mattered. I stared at the ceiling and, for the first time in a long while, felt relief.

Yes, the future won’t be easy: divorce, changes, a new life. But most importantly — I finally stopped tolerating humiliation.