My husband threatened to kick me out of the house if I didn’t lose weight and stopped buying groceries. I wanted to get revenge on him . I originally thought our marriage was a partnership of love and support. Everything changed one day when he looked at me with scorn and said: — You’ve become as fat as a cow. If you don’t get it together, I’ll boot you out of the house. I am tired of being with such a woman.

Those words burned me from within. I did not work because I stayed at home, cared for the house and the children, cooked and cleaned, and was present when he was sick. There wasn’t time to care for myself or lose weight. Then my spouse stopped purchasing groceries. He just stopped. Silently. I opened the refrigerator, and it was empty. Every day felt like torment. I requested him to buy some buckwheat, but he demanded that I lose weight.

I sat in the kitchen, drinking water to satiate my appetite. I glanced through the cupboards for something tasty. I lost weight through hunger and agony, not because of a diet. He ate elsewhere, returned home full and satisfied, and did not even glance at me. I spent a long time thinking about how to escape free. It was embarrassing to seek assistance. But one day I realized: he believes I am broken.

He’s certain I’ll stay in this misery. And so I decided to exact retribution. I made a phony social media account and began messaging him under a different name. I expressed how much I liked successful men and adored domineering, strong males. He took the bait. We “flirted,” he disclosed private details, and whined about the “fat wife” he maintained out of sympathy.

Then I printed out the entire conversation and placed it in an envelope. I sent a courier to his job to deliver the envelope. The envelope bore a big inscription: “The truth about your employee.” He was fired the following day. His reputation in the company fell like a house of cards. And me? I rose up, opened the window, took a long breath, and felt revitalized. He departed.

The house is now mine. I was able to demonstrate that even in the darkest pit, one may find the strength to rise. The most important thing is to remember that no guy has the right to reduce a woman to a shadow of herself.