Before Theresa could even speak, Jeanette was already sneering from the side.
"You can't have kids, but plenty of women can. My brother can find someone else to carry his baby. You're a barren hen anyway. IVF babies aren't even healthy. Just let my brother have a child with someone who can actually deliver, and you foot the bill to raise it."
She crossed her arms, looking down at me like I was something stuck to the bottom of her shoe.
"You just focus on raising my Sunny. Keep me happy, and maybe I'll let him take care of you when you're old."
I was so furious I could barely see straight.
She wanted me to raise her son, let Victor have children with another woman, and pay for it all out of my own pocket? What did that make me?
A walking ATM?
The angrier I got, the more I wanted to blurt out the secret I'd been carrying for three years.
"The one who can't have kids isn't me. It's—"
"Edith!"
Victor dropped to his knees in front of me with a heavy thud, eyes wide, frantically signaling me to stop.
"Honey, I know you've been treated unfairly. My sister saved my life when we were kids. I owe her. I have to repay that debt. I'm begging you, please just agree."
My blood boiled over.
"You owe your sister, then you pay her back! What gives you the right to trade our children's lives for it? I'm telling you right now—over my dead body!"
Jeanette yanked him to his feet and fixed me with an ice-cold glare.
"Why are you even negotiating with her? You're the father. You have every right to decide to get rid of it."
Without another word, she grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the door. I screamed.
"This is illegal! I'm calling the police!"
I snatched up my phone, but Theresa ripped it out of my hands.
Then Jeanette slapped me across the face.
"Call the police? Go ahead. This is a family matter at most. I'll tell the officers you're carrying some other man's bastard and we're just disciplining a cheating wife. See if anyone lifts a finger for you."
My cheek burned white-hot. My whole body trembled uncontrollably.
I stared straight at Victor. "Victor, are you just going to stand there and watch your sister hit me?"
He shrank back like a turtle retreating into its shell, glancing timidly at Jeanette before mumbling to me in a small voice.
"Honey, that's just how my sister is. Just bear with it."
"Bear with it? Victor, your mother and your sister want to kill our children! Do you even have a heart?"
Before I could finish, Jeanette kicked me square in the chest.
"So what if I hit you? Listen up, Edith—if you come to the clinic quietly, this'll be a lot easier on you. Otherwise, I'll kick it out of you myself. You'll hemorrhage so bad they won't even be able to save your uterus. Try me."
I stumbled backward and crashed to the floor. For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
Victor shifted his weight, half-stepping toward me as if to help me up, then froze. He just stood there, utterly spineless, watching me on the ground.
"Honey, just agree. I promise, I'll make sure they give you anesthesia at the hospital—"
"Anesthesia for what?"
Theresa shot him a withering look. "She's a barren hen. Spending money on her is a waste. Save every penny for Sunny!"
She turned to me with a smile, but something venomous lurked behind it, like needles dipped in poison.
"Edith, sweetheart, don't blame me for being heartless. Blame your bad timing. Who told you to be the one who couldn't conceive? If you'd gotten pregnant right after the wedding three years ago, your child would be running around by now. This is just your fate, dear. Accept it."
I jerked my head up and stared at Victor.
"Victor, say something! Tell your mother the truth—the one who can't have children isn't me! This baby can't be aborted! You have azoosperm—"
"Honey!"
Victor pulled me up from the floor and spoke in a tone heavy with forced patience.
"My mom's just blunt. Haven't I stood by you all this time without complaining that you couldn't conceive?"
"Sunny and my sister are everything to my mom. She can't stand to see either of them suffer even a little. She's just beside herself with worry."
