A. The Introduction of Madame Celeste
The moment Madame Celeste entered the room, the atmosphere shifted. With her flowing purple gown and long, dark hair, she commanded attention the instant she crossed the threshold. Her entrance was nothing short of theatrical, and she carried with her an air of mystery that immediately intrigued the group. The room fell quiet, as if everyone knew they were about to witness something extraordinary.

She introduced herself in a voice that was both soothing and strangely commanding. “I am Madame Celeste,” she said, her eyes twinkling as she scanned the room. “Tonight, we will journey through the mists of time and space, uncovering the truths hidden from the naked eye.” Her words sent a thrill of excitement through my veins—this was exactly what I needed. The guests were eager to be entertained, and I felt a sense of satisfaction knowing that Ellen would soon be the focal point of my carefully planned moment of revelation.

As Madame Celeste made her way through the room, offering playful and lighthearted readings to some of my friends, I could hardly contain my excitement. This was the moment I had been waiting for—the moment when I would expose Ellen’s pretensions and finally get the upper hand. Little did I know, fate had its own plans for that night.

B. The Reading for Ellen – What Was Meant to Be a Joke
Finally, it was time for the “prank” to unfold. I signaled to Madame Celeste to make her way over to Ellen, who was seated on a plush armchair in the corner of the room. Ellen looked less than amused, her usual icy demeanor still intact. She had always viewed these kinds of things as frivolous, beneath her standards. But I was confident that tonight, she would finally get a taste of what it felt like to be on the receiving end of something unexpected.

Madame Celeste approached Ellen with a dramatic pause, her hands hovering over the air as if sensing something powerful. “Ah, I see something,” she said, her voice low and mysterious. “You are carrying a secret. A secret that weighs heavily upon your soul.” The guests fell silent, their eyes trained on the interaction. I watched, anticipating Ellen’s reaction as the fortune teller continued. “It is a secret that you have kept hidden for many years. But the time has come for this secret to be revealed.”

Ellen’s face flickered with annoyance, but there was something else there—something darker, as if she had just been struck by an unwelcome truth. She leaned forward, her eyes narrowing as she regarded Madame Celeste. “I don’t believe in this nonsense,” she said with a hint of bitterness in her voice, trying to regain control of the situation.

But Madame Celeste wasn’t deterred. She pressed on. “You may not believe, but the truth doesn’t require belief. It simply exists.” The fortune teller then closed her eyes, as if communing with a hidden force. “I see a conflict with a daughter-in-law, one who is standing right here in this room.” She gestured toward me, and I felt my stomach twist with a mixture of nerves and exhilaration. “This conflict is old, and it has roots deep in your past. It is not the only secret, but it is the one that has been the hardest for you to keep hidden.”

At that moment, the entire room seemed to hold its breath. Ellen’s eyes locked onto mine with a gaze so sharp, so filled with resentment, that I could feel the weight of her anger pressing against me. The fortune teller was not done. “You have kept this secret because you fear the consequences. But now, it is time for it to be revealed.” She paused dramatically before looking directly at Ellen. “The secret is not just about your relationship with her,” Madame Celeste said, her voice dripping with gravity. “It is about the truth of your heart. You are afraid to love because you are afraid of losing again.”

The room erupted in shocked murmurs. I sat frozen in my seat, my heart racing. This was not the prank I had envisioned. This wasn’t about exposing petty faults or petty grievances—it was deeper, more personal than I could have ever anticipated. Madame Celeste’s words hung in the air like an unspoken truth, piercing through the tension that had always existed between Ellen and me. For the first time, it felt as if I was seeing her—really seeing her—for who she was, and it shook me to my core.

Chapter III: The Unforeseen Revelation – A New Understanding
A. Ellen’s Hidden Pain
In the silence that followed Madame Celeste’s words, Ellen’s face softened for a brief moment. It was as if a mask had slipped, revealing something vulnerable beneath. She didn’t speak immediately, but her eyes, usually so cold and calculated, reflected a mixture of surprise, fear, and something more fragile—something human. She had never once shown this side of herself to me, and I couldn’t help but feel a surge of empathy for the woman who had been so distant, so critical.

“I—I don’t know what you mean,” Ellen finally stammered, her composure faltering for the first time. “There’s nothing to reveal. I have no secrets.”

But even in her denial, there was something in her voice that spoke volumes. She had never been honest with me about why she had always kept me at arm’s length, and now it seemed that this unspoken truth was being forced to the surface.

Madame Celeste’s gaze softened as she addressed Ellen. “You have always feared that others would think you incapable of love because of past losses. Your walls are so high that no one can see the pain inside. But you don’t have to carry it alone.”

For the first time, Ellen didn’t respond with a sharp retort. Instead, her eyes misted over, and she looked away, as if fighting an internal battle. The guests, too, seemed to be absorbing the shift in atmosphere. What had started as a playful prank had turned into a moment of profound revelation—not just for me, but for Ellen as well. This wasn’t just about me and her. It was about the grief she had been holding onto, the love she had lost, and the vulnerability she had hidden beneath her pride.

B. A New Perspective on the Relationship
The evening that had begun with a prank and a desire to put Ellen in her place had unexpectedly become a turning point in my understanding of her. The secret that Madame Celeste had spoken of wasn’t the kind of secret I had imagined—it wasn’t a scandal or a revelation about past wrongdoings. It was a deeper truth about Ellen’s struggle to let love in, to trust again after heartbreak.

As the night drew to a close, I found myself reflecting on everything that had unfolded. What had started as a harmless joke had unveiled a truth that I hadn’t expected. For the first time, I felt a glimmer of understanding and empathy toward Ellen—an understanding that had eluded me for so long. The walls she had built around herself weren’t just to protect her from me—they were to protect her from the possibility of feeling that kind of hurt again.

When I spoke to her privately later that evening, I didn’t confront her about the things she had said or done to me. Instead, I told her that I understood how hard it must have been for her to accept me into her family. And, surprisingly, she acknowledged it.

“I never wanted to push you away,” Ellen confessed, her voice quieter than I had ever heard it. “But I was scared. Scared of losing more people I love.”

That night, I walked away with a new perspective. The tension between us didn’t vanish overnight, but for the first time, I saw my future mother-in-law not as an adversary, but as a woman who had carried her own burdens, just as I had. It didn’t make everything better, but it was a start—a new beginning, in more ways than one.