\u201cStarting tomorrow, your paycheck gets deposited into an account that I oversee. Any property you buy together must be titled in my son\u2019s name alone. And if your family and ours ever need you on the exact same day, your husband\u2019s family comes first.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother-in-law, Beatrice, laid out those exact words right in the middle of my wedding reception, just as several guests at nearby tables began turning around to stare.<\/p>\n
I sat there looking at her for a few silent seconds, genuinely convinced she was playing an exceptionally tasteless joke.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you out of your mind?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
The silverware in one of her sister\u2019s hands clattered loudly against a porcelain plate.<\/p>\n
My name is Valeria. I was thirty years old, working as a senior financial analyst for a major investment firm in Chicago. I lived modestly and almost never talked about my family\u2019s wealth.<\/p>\n
My father, Arthur, had taught me a simple lesson growing up:\u00a0\u201cWatch how people treat you before they know what you have.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0Because of that, my fianc\u00e9, Marcus, only knew that my father \u201cworked in finance.\u201d I had never bothered to mention that he chaired one of the largest private equity funds in the Midwest.<\/p>\n
Beatrice, his mother, had always dropped uncomfortable hints about my salary, my apartment, and my parents\u2019 assets. Marcus constantly brushed it off with the same tired excuse:<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom is just very practical, babe. Don\u2019t take it personally.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
I had believed him.<\/p>\n
Our reception was hosted at a high-end hotel downtown. The formal civil signing was scheduled for a few days later, so I was still wearing my white gown and the engagement ring Marcus had placed on my finger just hours ago.<\/p>\n
Beatrice had summoned me over to her table to present what she called \u201cthe three family rules.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first: my salary, annual performance bonuses, and any steady income streams would go directly into an account she controlled \u201cuntil we proved we knew how to manage a home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second: any house, land, or vehicle bought during our marriage had to be registered under Marcus\u2019s name alone.<\/p>\n
The third: I was expected to prioritize her family over mine at all times\u2014taking care of her house, cooking, attending to her when she was sick, and never using my career as an excuse.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo,\u201d I asked, my voice dropping an octave, \u201cis Marcus going to hand his paycheck over to my mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s entirely different,\u201d Beatrice scoffed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we buy a house together, can my name be on the deed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd is Marcus expected to put my parents ahead of you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Beatrice pursed her lips into a thin, bitter line. \u201cA married woman needs to understand what sacrifice means.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked around for Marcus. He was standing just a few feet away, sipping a drink.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know about these rules, Marcus?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer immediately.<\/p>\n
Beatrice answered for him. \u201cOf course he knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt something fundamental snap inside me.<\/p>\n
Marcus walked over, grabbed my wrist in a tight grip, and whispered urgently, \u201cValeria, stop. Apologize to my mother right now, and we can discuss this when we get home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApologize to her? For asking who\u2019s going to control my money?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor disrespecting her in front of everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the moment I realized the core problem wasn\u2019t just my mother-in-law. It was the coward standing beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI married you, Marcus,\u201d I said clearly. \u201cI didn\u2019t sign a contract to become an unpaid servant for your family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beatrice slammed her hand onto the table.<\/p>\n
Marcus panicked, begging me to lower my voice because his corporate colleagues and several senior executives from his firm were sitting nearby.<\/p>\n
Right at that exact second, one of those senior executives stood up from his table.<\/p>\n
He walked straight past Marcus, stepped over to my parents\u2019 table, and extended a hand to my father with a level of deep deference that instantly silenced the entire room.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Arthur Vance!\u201d the executive beamed. \u201cWhat an absolute honor to see you here!\u201d<\/p>\n
My father offered a polite smile. \u201cIt\u2019s my daughter\u2019s wedding. I\u2019d be in trouble if I wasn\u2019t here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus went ghost-white.<\/p>\n
Beatrice did, too.<\/p>\n
What neither of them knew yet was far worse: months ago, when Marcus\u2019s company was on the brink of missing a massive funding round, the person who had quietly placed his firm\u2019s proposal onto my father\u2019s private investment review desk was me.<\/p>\n
And the truth was about to detonate in their faces.<\/p>\n
Marcus pulled me a few steps away from the table, his hands trembling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you ever tell me your father was Arthur Vance? The chairman of Vance Capital?!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew he worked in private equity, Marcus. What difference would it have made if you knew his exact title?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
Beatrice did, stepping up behind him. \u201cFamilies are supposed to be transparent before getting married!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTransparent for what?\u201d I fired back. \u201cSo you\u2019d know my net worth before deciding how much basic respect to show me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Several nearby guests lowered their heads in pure secondhand embarrassment.<\/p>\n
Marcus\u2019s boss remained standing with my father. Marcus turned back to me, his voice barely a raspy whisper: \u201cIs\u2026 is your father\u2019s firm the lead investor that backed our last funding round?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him steadily. \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus stared at me as if the ground had just given way beneath his shoes.<\/p>\n
A year ago, his tech firm desperately needed capital expansion. Marcus had spent weeks losing sleep, terrified that if the round failed, projects would be canceled and he\u2019d be laid off. I had asked him for his pitch deck and forwarded it to the appropriate analytical division at my father\u2019s fund. I didn\u2019t ask for special favors. I didn\u2019t mention my boyfriend worked there. The due diligence took months, and the deal was approved on real metrics and projections\u2014not personal connections.<\/p>\n
\u201cI simply dropped the file on the right desk,\u201d I explained. \u201cYour company earned the capital on its own merits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus looked completely torn between thanking me and panicking.<\/p>\n
Beatrice, however, seized on a third option.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf your family has those kinds of corporate connections, why haven\u2019t you helped Marcus climb higher?!\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her, utterly dumbfounded. \u201cHelped him how?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father could easily make a phone call! Marcus could have been promoted to Managing Director by now!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re suggesting I should exploit my father\u2019s position to demand corporate promotions for your son?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t use manipulative words,\u201d Beatrice snapped. \u201cIt\u2019s called supporting your husband!\u201d<\/p>\n
We hadn\u2019t even signed our civil marriage license yet, and she was already treating my father like an asset to be leveraged.<\/p>\n
I looked at her, and the complete picture finally came into focus.<\/p>\n
Before she knew who my family was, she wanted my paycheck.<\/p>\n
Then she wanted my real estate assets.<\/p>\n
When she found out I was an only child, she casually asked if I\u2019d inherit my parents\u2019 estate.<\/p>\n
And now that she knew who my father was, she wanted his corporate influence.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo,\u201d I asked, \u201care your three family rules still in effect?\u201d<\/p>\n
Beatrice hesitated for a fraction of a second. \u201cAll the more reason we need to structure things properly. Perhaps you don\u2019t need to surrender your entire paycheck to me, but someone still needs to oversee the household finances.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can manage the accounts in the beginning to guide you.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few guests quietly stood up and moved away from the table out of utter disgust.<\/p>\n
Marcus finally snapped, turning to his mother. \u201cMom, that\u2019s enough!\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him coldly.<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t stopped her when she wanted to steal my salary.<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t stopped her when she demanded my property be titled in his name.<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t stopped her when she demeaned my parents.<\/p>\n
He only tried to silence her after discovering who my father was.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you asking her to shut up\u00a0now<\/i>, Marcus?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Marcus clenched his jaw. \u201cBecause this has gone too far!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSince when? Since she demanded my money, or since you realized my father funds your employer?\u201d<\/p>\n
He went dead silent.<\/p>\n
Beatrice, furious at losing control, glared at her son and blurted out the ugly truth that stripped away his last shred of dignity:<\/p>\n
\u201cIf she came from some nobody family, you\u2019d still be sitting there demanding she apologize to me!\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus couldn\u2019t contradict her.<\/p>\n
And in that brutal second, I realized the most painful lesson of the night: I didn\u2019t just need to learn who my mother-in-law really was. I had to face the pathetic coward I was about to choose as a husband.<\/p>\n
I looked at Marcus and gave him one final, clean chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not asking you to pick between your mother and me. I\u2019m asking you to stand on a basic moral principle. Say three simple things out loud right now:\u00a0\u2018My wife manages her own money. No one forces her to put her personal assets in another person\u2019s name. And her parents deserve the exact same respect as yours.\u2019<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus glanced at his mother before answering.<\/p>\n
That fleeting, hesitant glance lasted less than two seconds, but it told me everything I would ever need to know.<\/p>\n
Beatrice stepped forward, emboldened. \u201cDon\u2019t let her manipulate you, Marcus! If you fold in front of everyone tonight, she\u2019s going to walk all over you for the rest of your life!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t asking you, Beatrice,\u201d I said without looking at her. \u201cI was asking him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus exhaled sharply, looking annoyed. \u201cValeria, stop backing me into a corner in public.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a test, Marcus. They are basic, non-negotiable boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe discuss these things in private!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother stated her demands in front of fifty people, and you didn\u2019t see a problem,\u201d I said, my voice cutting through the quiet room. \u201cThe moment I ask for my basic rights, suddenly it needs to be discussed behind closed doors.\u201d<\/p>\n
He threw his hands up in frustration. \u201cYou always have to be right!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I need to know what you\u2019re going to do when someone treats me unfairly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus went silent again, looking down at the floor.<\/p>\n
My gaze dropped to the diamond engagement ring on my left hand.<\/p>\n
Marcus followed my eyes, his face instantly draining of color. \u201cValeria, don\u2019t do something stupid out of anger.\u201d<\/p>\n
I slowly slid the ring off my finger and set it flat on a glass table.<\/p>\n
The tiny\u00a0clink<\/i>\u00a0echoed softly, followed by a total, suffocating silence across the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe wedding is over,\u201d I said softly.<\/p>\n
Beatrice gasped, stepping up. \u201cDon\u2019t you dare embarrass our family like this!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour guests will talk for three days,\u201d I replied, looking her dead in the eye. \u201cI would have to suffer the consequences for thirty years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus stepped closer, his voice desperate. \u201cYou\u2019re really going to destroy three years over a few harsh words from my mom?!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Marcus. If it were just her words, we could work through it. What destroyed this was your silence. When she tried to claim my paycheck, you stayed quiet. When she demanded my real estate, you stayed quiet. When she said my parents mattered less than yours, you stayed quiet. The\u00a0only<\/i>\u00a0thing that bothered you tonight was the tone I used to defend myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression completely shattered.<\/p>\n
My father walked over, setting a gentle hand on my shoulder. \u201cAre you certain, sweetheart?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Dad. Completely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus looked around frantically, desperate to regain control of the situation. Just then, his phone vibrated violently in his pocket. He pulled it out, looked at the screen, and went ghost-white. A second later, his executive boss received a call as well, stepping aside with a dark expression.<\/p>\n
Marcus whipped back toward me. \u201cTell me something, Valeria\u2026 is this going to affect your father\u2019s fund investing in my firm?!\u201d<\/p>\n
I had just taken off his ring, and his immediate, overriding concern was corporate capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs\u00a0that<\/i>\u00a0really the first thing you want to ask me right now?\u201d I asked, disgusted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not just thinking about myself!\u201d he stammered. \u201cThere are hundreds of jobs at stake!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you should know that a respectable investment firm doesn\u2019t make multi-million-dollar capital decisions based on the relationship status of a middle-manager.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beatrice instantly interjected, \u201cPersonal relationship issues are one thing, Valeria! Don\u2019t you dare mess with my son\u2019s career!\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her with pure incredulity. \u201cYou turned my wedding into a negotiation over my salary, my real estate, my inheritance, and my father\u2019s corporate network. And now you want to keep \u2018business and family separate\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re getting revenge!\u201d she hissed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t threatened to get Marcus fired,\u201d I said calmly. \u201cI haven\u2019t conditioned an investment on an apology. I haven\u2019t asked anyone to bow down. I am simply requesting that a commercial relationship born under different assumptions be properly re-evaluated on pure risk metrics.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pulled out my phone.<\/p>\n
Marcus reached out to stop me. \u201cValeria, please, just wait a few days!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWait for what, Marcus? To talk to me, or to give your executive team time to cover their bases?\u201d<\/p>\n
He had no answer.<\/p>\n
I dialed the lead portfolio risk manager at my father\u2019s firm. I requested a comprehensive, formal audit of our investment position in Marcus\u2019s company\u2014reviewing exit clauses, pending covenants, performance targets, and risk exposures. I left one explicit directive:<\/p>\n
\u201cNo decision shall reference Marcus, nor use a personal event as justification. Everything must be evaluated strictly on financial metrics and contract terms.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
My father remained silent throughout the call. He didn\u2019t intervene, and I was grateful for it. I didn\u2019t want petty revenge. I wanted clean, unyielding boundaries.<\/p>\n
When I hung up, Marcus stared at me as if I were a stranger. \u201cYou can\u2019t make corporate decisions over a personal fight!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t make a corporate decision, Marcus. I ordered an audit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus\u2019s phone chimed again. He answered, listened for nearly a minute, and when he hung up, he turned on his mother with a sudden, wild fury.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you see what you just caused?!\u201d he yelled at her.<\/p>\n
Beatrice\u2019s eyes widened. \u201cMe?! I was only trying to protect you!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you have to say those things tonight?!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause someone needed to teach her how a real family operates!\u201d Beatrice snapped back.<\/p>\n
And then, without realizing it, she completely betrayed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBesides,\u201d Beatrice added loudly, \u201cbefore we found out who her father was, you agreed with me that she was being overly independent! You\u2019re only panicked now because there\u2019s money on the line!\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus froze, caught completely exposed.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t need to say another word. His own mother had just answered the question he had spent the last hour trying to dodge.<\/p>\n
I walked out of the hotel with my parents.<\/p>\n
I changed out of my bridal gown, washed my face, and left without answering the barrage of texts blowing up my phone. I didn\u2019t feel victorious. I felt a deep, quiet grief for the future I had spent three years building in my head.<\/p>\n
Over the next week, Marcus texted me relentlessly. First trying to \u201cexplain,\u201d then begging to see me. Eventually, I agreed to meet him at a quiet coffee shop downtown because I preferred to close the chapter face-to-face.<\/p>\n
He looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never should have let my mother interfere in our finances,\u201d he admitted quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t the root problem, Marcus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what was?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem was that initially, you saw nothing wrong with what she said. If your mother had laid out those exact same three rules in private, with no guests and no boss around, you would have begged me to yield just to keep the peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus didn\u2019t deny it. \u201cI can change, Valeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you understand why it was wrong, or because you now know who my father is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat has nothing to do with it!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen tell me why you only started standing up to her\u00a0after<\/i>\u00a0you realized my father controls your firm\u2019s capital.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sat in stone silence.<\/p>\n
I explained to him that I didn\u2019t need a husband who was willing to wage a perpetual war against his mother. I needed a man who understood where a mother\u2019s opinion ended and a marriage began.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really did love you, Valeria,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you,\u201d I replied gently. \u201cBut loving someone and knowing how to build a partnership with them are two completely different things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before leaving, he hesitated and asked about the investment audit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe review is out of my hands,\u201d I said. \u201cI recused myself from the committee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the fund maintains its capital\u2026 would you ever consider giving us another chance?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Marcus. A commercial board decision cannot fix the choices you made at our wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n
A week later, the preliminary audit report came in.<\/p>\n
Marcus\u2019s firm had committed no illegal acts, but its quarterly performance had fallen short of projections, and its burn rate was higher than anticipated. The investment committee decided to restructure the position, liquidating a portion of the equity and placing the remaining capital under stricter milestone performance clauses.<\/p>\n
My father abstained from the vote due to the potential conflict of interest, and I played zero part in the proceedings. The company was forced to seek secondary capital and delay an aggressive expansion. It wasn\u2019t a corporate catastrophe, but it was a severe reality check.<\/p>\n
Marcus was not fired, as he was technically competent, but the board shifted him away from external investor relations to a internal operations role to minimize executive risk.<\/p>\n
Two weeks later, Beatrice called my cell phone. She no longer called me \u201cdear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cValeria\u2026 I recognize that I crossed a line at the reception,\u201d she said stiffly.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrossed a line how, Beatrice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI shouldn\u2019t have brought those things up in front of so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if you had demanded my paycheck in private, it would have been acceptable?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence hung on the line.<\/p>\n
I realized then that she hadn\u2019t changed her core beliefs at all; she merely regretted the public consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t ask you to hand over your salary anymore,\u201d she offered.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you realized it was wrong, or because you now know the scale of my family\u2019s wealth?\u201d<\/p>\n
She bristled. \u201cYou always ask questions to back people into a corner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Beatrice. I ask questions to see who is actually standing in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sighed, abandoning the topic. \u201cWas it really necessary for your father\u2019s fund to restructure Marcus\u2019s company?\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled sadly. In the end, even her apology was entirely about money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision was made by an independent committee using raw metrics,\u201d I said softly. \u201cI didn\u2019t vote.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if the wedding hadn\u2019t ended like that, they wouldn\u2019t have audited the file!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps the audit happened sooner because of it, but no one invented the numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before hanging up, I told her something I had been reflecting on for days:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gave me three rules to prove I was worthy of entering your family. You never once explained what your family was going to do to make me feel respected inside it. Everything was about what I had to surrender: my money, my assets, my time, my obedience. If only one person has to sacrifice their dignity to belong, that isn\u2019t a family. It\u2019s a transaction.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
She never called me again.<\/p>\n
A month later, Marcus requested one final meeting. He told me he had rented a small apartment near his office and moved out of his mother\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiving on my own made me realize how much she dictated every aspect of my life,\u201d he admitted quietly. \u201cThe car I bought, the job offers I took, how much I saved, who I dated\u2026 even how my wedding was supposed to look.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad you\u2019re seeing that now, Marcus,\u201d I said genuinely. \u201cIt will help you in your next relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut not with you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me for a long moment. \u201cIf I had defended you from the second she spoke up that night\u2026 would we still be together?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about it carefully before answering. \u201cProbably, yes. Because I didn\u2019t need you to humiliate your mother. I just needed you to say three simple words:\u00a0\u2018Mom, that\u2019s ours.\u2019<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n
He lowered his head. \u201cI failed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, you did. And accepting that failure will make you a better man. But it doesn\u2019t obligate me to go back into the cage.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the last time I ever saw him.<\/p>\n
Months later, someone asked me if I regretted walking away from my wedding day.<\/p>\n
I missed the time I had invested, I felt terrible for the stress placed on my parents, and I grieved the loss of a three-year relationship. But grieving a loss doesn\u2019t mean you want to return to the trap.<\/p>\n
If I had stayed quiet that night just to get through the reception, every future decision would have been a battleground: who controls our bank accounts, whose name goes on the house deed, whose family we spend holidays with, which mother gets taken care of first, and who gets a voice. Every time I backed down to \u201ckeep the peace,\u201d my retreat would have become her new expectation.<\/p>\n
Beatrice\u2019s three rules didn\u2019t destroy my wedding. They simply gave me a clear, ninety-minute preview of the rest of my life if I accepted her terms.<\/p>\n
Losing a wedding and a relationship was painful, but I kept my money, my family, my career, and my dignity intact.<\/p>\n
I closed that door not out of pride or spite, but because I had already seen what was waiting for me on the other side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PART 1 \u201cStarting tomorrow, your paycheck gets deposited into an account that I oversee. Any property you buy together must be titled in my son\u2019s name alone. And if your … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-inspiration","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingdairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingdairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingdairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingdairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingdairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/readingdairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39343,"href":"https:\/\/readingdairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39341\/revisions\/39343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingdairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingdairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingdairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingdairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}