The Shameless Sister-in-law Forced Me To Have An Abortion

I was pregnant.

But no one in my husband's family felt happy for us.

On the contrary, they seemed facing a formidable enemy.

Everyone looked heavy-hearted.

My husband's sister-in-law, Ana, even outrageously cried her heart out on the sofa the instant she learned that I was pregnant.

My brother-in-law, Mark, also Ana's husband, stood aside smoking gloomily, with a few strands of white hair sticking out on his temples.

When Mark saw me come in, he gave me a vicious glance and looked much more fierce than before.

I couldn't be bothered to pay attention to them and just felt exhausted. Just as I was about to go back to my room to rest, my in-laws stopped me and forced me to talk to them in the living room.

My mother-in-law, Catherine, put on a pained look, holding my hands tightly like handcuffs.

She said, "Maggie, I'm asking you for a favor even if I have to set my dignity aside... Can you abort the fetus? You and Matt just got married and are still young, so you'll still have chances to have children in the future!"

"What?"

I gaped at her in shock and was speechless until I regained my composure.

"What did you just say? Did you tell me to abort my baby? Why should I do that?"

They all knew that my husband Matthew Tobin and I had been in love for three years and that I got pregnant two months after we got married. Everything was progressing according to our plan, of which a child was a part.

Now that I was already pregnant, I didn't get why they wanted me to have an abortion.

Catherine pointed at Ana awkwardly and said, "Ana just got pregnant as well but with a relatively high risk of miscarriage... The fortune teller said that if we want to keep her baby, there can't be another one pregnant in the family."

Nonsense!

I was enraged by such a ridiculous explanation.

I roared in anger, "So do you mean I shouldn't be the pregnant one when Ana is pregnant?"

Catherine seemed helpless as she retorted, "It's hard for Ana to get pregnant. Her coming child will be the heir to the family business! You are still young and can easily get pregnant. Why do you fuss about keeping your fetus?"

"How can you consider it fuss? Isn't it tantamount to murder?"

"Nonsense!" Catherine growled furiously, "The fetus in your womb hasn't even taken a human shape yet. How can you equate it with a human being? Stop making a big deal out of this and making such a mean accusation!"

Resentful, the whole family stood up and glared at me as if they would never stop until I gave in.

My interfering father-in-law, Thomas, also came over to put a finger in the pie, staring at me with extreme disgust in her eyes as if he wished he could skin me alive!

I had only married into this family for less than three months, how come their attitude toward me changed so soon?

In the beginning, the whole family had seemed to be on good terms with me, yet now they became so hostile and ruthless toward me that it seemed they were eager to send me to hell!

Mark had the most menacing look. He sprang to his feet and approached me as soon as he sensed my disobedience.

At the same time, Ana kept blaming me, crying and covering her belly with a grimace.

"Margaret Holmes, you'd better listen to Catherine lest I miscarry under your provocation! Abort your child as soon as possible, or our whole family will never let you off!"

"Your whole family?" I uttered a snorting laugh and sneered, "So do you mean I'm the only outsider here?"

Seeing the serious expressions of this whole family, I knew there was no time to delay, so I immediately sent a message to Matthew, asking him to come over right away.

As the situation was at a stalemate, Catherine continued her attempt to persuade me while grabbing hold of me.

I could tell from Thomas' serious look that he was also pressuring me.

Matthew had not yet returned home and couldn't see my confrontation with his family, so I could only secretly send him another message to hurry him.

Ana also refused to let me go. She felt her accusations against me just now were not enough to vent her anger, hence another torrent of curses in Spanish from her, which pissed me off to the extreme.

"You jinx will ruin our family sooner or later if you don't listen to me now. You see, we lived a peaceful life before you married into our family. But you've brought us so much trouble since you became one of us!"

Partial to Ana, Catherine kept blaming me.

"Maggie, look at how much you've infuriated Ana. What if something happens to the baby she's pregnant with?"

Thomas also joined the accusation against me without hesitation. "You are such a jinx as to upset the whole family! Why do you make such a fuss about such a simple matter?

"Just hurry up and agree to have an abortion!

"How dare you be so disrespectful toward the elders when you've just married into our family for less than three months?"

Mark went even further and smashed his cup to intimidate me. "Margaret Holmes, I'm telling you, you woman of such humble origin can't afford to compensate us for the loss of the child my wife's pregnant with! You'd better have some sense. Now we can still talk to you in a nice tone, but don't blame us for being rude if you make us angry later!"

Catherine still tried to persuade me, pretending to be kind. "Maggie, just agree. As you know, Mark is quick-tempered. He can't bear to see his wife suffer. Just listen to us and be sensible!"

I couldn't believe they considered having an abortion a sensible act.

I suddenly felt they were like strangers to me.

They were so good at acting as to convince me of their sincerity when I came here three months ago.

...

Amid the volley of abuse at me, Matthew came back.

I felt relieved. With confidence in Matthew, I ran over and took his hand to complain. After all, the baby I was pregnant with was also his.

How could he bear to lose it?

After being told the whole story in a few sentences, Matthew was helpless against the situation and told his family he would take me to rest in my room first. Then, he went back to the living room and asked his family what had happened.

They thought I couldn't hear them in the room, but they didn't know I was secretly watching their conversation through the surveillance camera.

I saw Mark impatiently pressure Matthew into forcing me so that he could assert his authority.

"Matt, your wife is so disrespectful! You were deceived by her cute appearance! Mom pleaded with her, but she refused to listen and insisted on giving birth to the child, unwilling to compromise!"

My goodness. Could what they had done be called a plea?

"That's right!" Catherine also pretended to be a victim. "She has such a sharp tongue that none of us can refute her words! Look, we're all in a rage now!"

Ana started blaming me in Spanish again. She made a big deal out of the whole thing, which made me understand why they wanted me to abort my baby.

"As soon as I got pregnant, I consulted a famous astrologer. He said there couldn't be another pregnant woman in the family, or it might cause me to miscarry and would reduce the chance of me giving birth to a son. It just so happens that my maternal family's company is booming. My family business will be stable as long as I can keep this baby. With a flourishing family business and a son, everything will go smoothly!"

Mark echoed, "Our family has invested some money in her family's business. Mom, Dad, your future grandson will be an heir to the company, so we can share the dividends once Ana gives birth to him.

"We must make Maggie have an abortion!"