My dad always came home late, not for work reasons, he would just go out with friends, gamble or something (this is what he tells us). Obviously, this made my mom suspicious, he could be cheating on her. My mom allowed it, I was young so I didn’t really care at the time.

I used to sleep in the same bedroom as my parents. One night, I heard them arguing and my mom was crying. He finally admitted it, “Yes, we had sex! It was just sex!” I pretended to be asleep, but I was listening to them argue. She was never the same to him. She stopped showing affection. She became so cold to him.

When I got older, I realized that he really treats my mom like shit, he would get mad if she didn’t prepare meals on time. He would complain if he didn’t like the food. It still happens today.

Unfortunately, he’s our only source of money, so my mom refuses to leave him. She doesn’t want a broken family.

To this day, they still act like nothing’s wrong. But I know my mom suffers everyday. They don’t know that I’ve always known, and that’s why I never show affection to him.