My Husband Left Me for Another Woman, and When He Had an Accident, My Mother-in-Law Insisted I Must Take Him Back into the Family.

My husband walked out on me for another woman, and when he crashed his car, my motherinlaw told me I had to take him back into the family.

John left our family a year ago. He simply announced that hed met someone else he loved, that hed had enough of me and probably never truly loved me at all. Now, he claimed, hes feeling real emotions and wants a proper family.

He didnt even consider that I couldnt get back to work because our youngest, Max, was only eighteen months old. Our older boy, Oliver, was at nursery, and we were scraping the bottom of the barrel. The only relative I had was my sister, who lives in London.

Dont worry, youll manage, my motherinlaw said. The flat is yours, so youll at least have a roof over your head. Be glad my son is still paying you maintenance.

Yes, he really was a tidy onequarter of his declared salary.

John never filed for divorce, and I simply didnt have the time. Two toddlers, a freelance gig just to keep the lights on it was all a massive strain.

My motherinlaw popped round to see the grandchildren once a month, sometimes bringing over a bag of apples.

Their father stayed out of the daytoday. He explained that hed now have his own children to look after.

So we survived a whole year, me and the kids, fighting for the next meal.

At the end of that year a place opened up at the nursery and Max got in. I could finally go back to work and things eased a touch.

My John will be a dad soon, my motherinlaw chirped one day over the phone, adding, File the divorce quickly I dont want my grandchild born out of wedlock.

I later learned that Johns new partner was already eight weeks pregnant, so I filed the divorce papers.

A week after that, John got into a car crash. He loved speed and risky overtakes and this time fate turned its back on him.

The car wed bought together during the marriage was written off, and John ended up in hospital with a slew of injuries. Doctors were grim: they didnt expect him to walk again.

My motherinlaw was weeping on the phone. I felt a pang of pity for her; after all, John was still my husband. Then she dropped a bombshell:

You have to collect John from the hospital and look after him, she said.

Me? Why me? I asked, stunned.

Youre his wife; you havent finalised the divorce yet, she replied. His girlfriend aborted the pregnancy yesterday she doesnt want a child with a disabled dad. And you, as his wife, are responsible!

The divorce wasnt final because the court date had been postponed while he was in the hospital.

I told my motherinlaw that my duties as a wife ended the moment her son walked out on us without a hint of remorse. Hed spent a year ignoring me and the kids.

He left me, betrayed me and the children, I said. That were not divorced yet is an unlucky coincidence Ill sort out soon. John still has his mother, who dotes on him.

You expect me to look after my son now? she snapped. I stopped caring when he was a child. Its the wifes job! Youre heartless and ungrateful. Ill tell my grandchildren that their mother dumped their father when he became disabled.

Now it looks as if Im the one who abandoned him not he who left a year ago!

Eventually my motherinlaw fetched John from the hospital. Hes recovering slowly, and the doctors have become a bit more hopeful. Our divorce finally went through.

These days my former motherinlaw is telling anyone in Bristol who will listen: Now I have to care for my sick son in my old age! His wife left him, the kids too! What kind of women are we dealing with these days? As long as a man is healthy and brings home a wage, hes welcome. The moment hes disabled, hes cast aside!

And you know what? Plenty of people nod in agreement, shaking their heads with feigned sympathy. Yet it was John who walked out on me and the children while he was still fit as a fiddle.

A mate of mine suggests I sell the flat and move far away. My sister in London has offered me a room. I think Ill take her up on that.

What would you advise me to do?