strange smile I’d been seeing all day. “And since Mia’s our special guest this year, she should start.”

With trembling fingers, I opened the first gift. My excitement turned to confusion as I pulled out a lump of coal.

Actual coal.

I forced a laugh, waiting for the real gift to appear.

“Open another one!” Liam encouraged. Meanwhile, Stephan slid out his phone to record my reaction.

One by one, I opened all eighteen presents. Coal.

Every single one.

With each package, their laughter grew louder, while my heart sank lower.

“Welcome to the family!” Paula exclaimed between fits of laughter. “We do this to all the newcomers!”

“Remember when we did this to Uncle Bill’s wife?” Stephan wheezed. “She cried!”

I felt my face burning with anger as they continued sharing stories of past “victims” of their tradition.

I stood up without saying a word and rushed to Liam’s old bedroom. He followed me a few seconds later.

“How could you think this was okay?” I confronted him. “I spent so much time and money choosing thoughtful gifts for everyone, and they… they did this?”

“Come on, babe, it’s just a joke,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“My family’s always done this. It’s how we welcome people! Even Mom got coal during her first Christmas with Dad.”

“Seriously Liam?

You allowed your family to give me eighteen pieces of coal? Even after knowing I had spent weeks picking out perfect gifts for them?”

“That’s what makes it funny!” he chuckled. “Look, you need to learn to take a joke.

This is how we show love in our family.”

“Is this what you call love?”

At that point, something inside me snapped. I walked back to the living room, where everyone was still chuckling over my reaction.

“I don’t deserve to be treated like this,” I announced, my voice shaking but firm. “If you think humiliating me during the holidays is funny, then maybe we should reconsider whether it’s worth celebrating together in the future.”

The room fell silent as I grabbed my coat and left.

That night, my phone exploded with messages.

Paula insisted I was being overly sensitive, and Liam’s Dad called me immature.

You’re ruining the family tradition!

Stephan texted me.

Then Liam called with news that made me pause.

“The power’s out,” he said. “We’re sitting here in the dark and cold. Mom’s Christmas dinner is ruined, and Dad can’t watch his favorite Christmas movie.”

“Sounds like karma to me,” I replied calmly.

“How dare you say that?” he exploded.

“After everything we did to make you feel welcome—”

That’s when it hit me. This wasn’t love. This wasn’t family.

This was mean-spirited bullying dressed up as tradition.

“Liam,” I interrupted, twisting the engagement ring on my finger, “I think we need to talk about the engagement.”

“What do you mean?” His voice turned serious for the first time that night.

“I’m ending it,” I said firmly. “I can’t marry into a family that thinks it’s funny to humiliate people and calls it a tradition.”

“You’re breaking up with me? Over a Christmas joke?” His voice cracked.

“We can fix this. We’ll give you your real presents tomorrow—”

“There aren’t any real presents, are there, Liam?”

His silence told me everything I needed to know.

“That’s what I thought,” I said softly. “I’ll mail your ring back tomorrow.”

I ended the call and felt strangely peaceful that night.

The next morning, he dropped off all the expensive presents that I’d bought for his family at my place I returned them and donated the money to the local women’s shelter.

I felt heartbroken, but I was relieved knowing I’d never be a part of a family with such humiliating traditions.