Kiara, 31, got engaged to Brandon and agreed to spend a week at his family’s beach house to bond with his mother, Janet. From the start, red flags popped up: separate bedrooms “for propriety,” snide comments about manners and polish, and endless orders—clean her room, fetch drinks, rub sunscreen and even her feet. Brandon defended his mother and scolded Kiara for being “rude,” while offering no support.

One night Kiara overheard Janet and Brandon in the kitchen. They joked that Kiara “failed the feet test” and called her “the fifth one,” implying every girlfriend had been put through the same secret trial. Shocked, Kiara checked Brandon’s old Instagram posts and found photos of four previous women paraded through the same beach-week “family test.”

The next morning, while they went to brunch, Kiara staged her exit with a touch of bite: overly lemony muffins for Janet, snarky sticky notes on her shoes, a to-do list (“Polish Brandon’s ego”), and her engagement ring tucked between jars of “Momma’s Homemade Pickles.” On the bathroom mirror she wrote in lipstick: “Thanks for the free test… I’m heading home to find someone who doesn’t need his mom’s permission to share a bed.”

She packed, called a ride, and left before they returned. On the way to the airport, she blocked Brandon and his mother on everything, feeling relief instead of grief. Kiara decided she wasn’t anyone’s exam—or the fifth attempt—and chose her peace over a future controlled by Janet and enabled by Brandon.