At that time, Yannick looked at me with a sinister look on his face.
"Once you've had the baby, you stay home and look after it! Don't go running around causing trouble!"
"What's so good about your crappy job? I provide you with food and clothes at home. What are you not satisfied with?"
"Bitch, you should be taught a lesson before you behave yourself."
Crimson blood mixed with tears flowed into my mouth. It tasted salty.
The door opened and my mother-in-law, Georgia, came back in.
When she saw this scene, she frowned.
Using every last bit of strength I had, I struggled to crawl towards the person who had once said she would treat me like her own daughter, my voice trembling as I pleaded for help.
But she kicked me to the ground fiercely.
She looked at Yannick, clearly displeased.
"Yannick, look at the mess you've made at home."
"If a woman doesn't listen, starve her for three days and nights and she'll behave. You hit her and even hurt your own hand!"
Georgia didn't even have the heart to blame Yannick.
Instead, she stepped on my head and ground it to death.
"Why are you so disobedient? You've married into our family, but you're still thinking about running away every day!"
"I don't know how your family raised your daughter. You deserve to be beaten to death."
She scolded me for wanting to go out to work and said that I deserved to be beaten to death for bleeding all over the floor.
They beat me unconscious several times, only for me to be woken by the gnawing pangs of hunger and then beaten unconscious again.
Several times, I even felt utter despair, convinced I was going to be beaten to death right there in that house.
Luckily, they became less vigilant when they saw me pass out.
Taking advantage of their midday nap, I rushed to the police station.
Perhaps the sight of my bloodied face was too pitiful, because the record of this incident in the files was unusually detailed.
Not long after, Yannick and Georgia hurried over.
In front of the police, Yannick knelt down with a face full of regret and begged me for forgiveness.
"Catherine, I just lost my temper for a moment. I couldn't control myself. Please forgive me just this once. I promise I'll treat you properly from now on!"
"I'll give you all my money, I just beg you to forgive me."
Georgia also feigned concern. "That's right, Catherine. What couple doesn't have their occasional squabbles when living together?"
She immediately pushed a bank card towards me. There were five hundred thousand in it.
"As long as you can forgive Yannick, I'm willing to give another five hundred thousand to your parents as a small compensation."
Even the police officers there tried to persuade me, saying that Yannick and I were married and they couldn't interfere too much. At most, they could only mediate.
On the other hand, my parents had always been timid and afraid of conflict.
When I told them I had been a victim of domestic violence, all they would say was.
"Forget it, Yannick is still young and hot-headed. He'll mellow out with age."
"Whose family doesn't have some conflicts? We all go through this. It will be fine when the child grows up. Just bear with it."
Now, looking at the bank card Georgia offered and the helpless police officers.
They had no choice but to relent. Bowing obsequiously, they took the card.
"Hurry home with Yannick, you still have a child to consider. The kid's so young, how will you manage if you get divorced?"
They eagerly signed the waiver of prosecution for me.
Then I took the money home and arranged to buy a house for my brother to marry a wife.
Yannick looked at me with a mocking gaze. "Honey, shall we go home?" I felt so utterly hopeless that I almost wanted to kill myself right there.
After returning home, what awaited me was definitely a more brutal beating.
After having ten teeth knocked out, three fingers broken and both legs fractured twice, I finally learned my lesson.
