Chapter 5

When I pushed open the front door, before I could even kick off my shoes, My mother-in-law was standing right there in the hallway, her arms crossed over her chest as she glared down at me.

"Where on earth do you think you're going just coming back at this hour? Do you want to starve me to death? Who is going to prepare the dinner, if you are out gallivanting all day?"

I didn't answer her, I didn't even look her in the eye, I just kept my head down, clutched my handbag, and tried to walk past her toward the hallway leading to our bedroom.

"Are you ignoring me?"

Before I could take another step, her hand darted out and yanked my hair back with blinding force, tearing my head backward and nearly sending me crashing to the floor.

"Am I not talking to you, you ungrateful little brat? Are you suddenly deaf? Where do you think you are coming back from all dressed up in new clothes?"

"Mum, let go of my hair, I am not in the mood to talk to you today, I am exhausted, just leave me alone," I cried out, grabbing her wrist as pain flared across my scalp.

"Oh, look at you, you have finally learned how to talk back, haven't you, you stupid orphan?" she yelled, her fingers digging deeper into my hair as she shook me.

"Don't you ever forget that my son is the sole reason you are living in this nice house, and he is the only reason you are able to wear clothes like that, so you are going to do whatever I tell you to do, whenever I tell you to do it, do you hear me?"

With a vicious shove, she threw all her weight forward, sending me crashing hard onto the floor.

"Mum, Luke is cheating on me," I yelled, looking up from the ground with tears streaming down my face.

"That's why I am angry, I went to his office today and saw his secretary on his lap."

"And so what if he's cheating?" she shouted back, stepping over me with an expression of utter contempt.

"He is a man, he can do whatever pleases him, Did you actually think I raised my son just so only you could have him all to yourself? What a joke, Shut your mouth and be a good little wife, or else I will throw you out onto the streets to fend for yourself and see if you can even survive a day out."

"Mum, how could you say something like that?"

"You are a woman just like me, If Father-in-law cheated on you, wouldn't you be furious?"

"Of course I wouldn't be mad, because he's a man," and if a man goes outside of his marriage, it simply means his wife is incompetent, Do you know why your father-in-law has never looked at another woman? Because I always do everything he says, I stayed in shape, I gave him three healthy children, and I never once disrespected his parents, Those are the duties of a good wife, and you have failed at every single one of them."

She paced back and forth above me, pointing a trembling finger down at my face.

"It has been three years since you married my son, and you only finally got pregnant because he spent a fortune at the clinic for IVF, a real, capable woman gets pregnant naturally without any doctor's intervention, and you clearly failed even at that, Still, my son was merciful enough not to blame you, but look at yourself in the mirror right now—you are bloated, fat, and repulsive, Why on earth wouldn't he go out to find himself someone else? You should be thanking God on your knees that he hasn't thrown you out on the street yet."

"You are heartless... I gave up everything for this family, I ruined my body taking those toxic fertility drugs just to give him a child, and this is how you treat me?" I screamed, shaking my head as I tried to push myself up from the floor.

Before my knees could even leave the ground, my mother-in-law planted her shoe right against my shoulder and shoved me flat onto my back again.

"Did I give you permission to get up from the floor, you useless brat?" she roared, her face turning red with rage.

"You think because you managed to finally get pregnant for my son with a clinic-made baby, made you own this family? You are nothing, bit a stray orphan we took in and raised."

"Ahhh," I screamed, my hands instantly flying down to clutch my lower stomach as a agonizing pain surge through my pelvis.

"Mum... it hurts... it hurts so bad, Call a doctor, please, I can't... something is wrong with the baby."

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms again as she stared down at me with pure disgust.

"Oh, stop your pathetic acting, you are so useless and dramatic, just a tiny little push and you are already screaming like you're dying," she scoffed, turning on her heel and walking out of the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

I lay there gasping for air, the pain in my abdomen becoming unbearable, my shaking hand reached down, pressing against my clothes, and when I pulled my fingers away, they were dripping bright red.

"Blood..."