I Married a Waitress in Spite of My Demanding Parents

I knew the woman instantly.

Martha.

The housekeeper my parents barely acknowledged—but the only person in that house who ever treated me like I mattered.

She used to bring me cookies quietly. Sit with me when I was sick. Speak to me like I wasn’t something to manage.

One day, she was gone.

I was told she had stolen something.

No one spoke her name again.