The day after our engagement, my future mother-in-law told me she was pregnant. When I considered calling off the engagement, she aborted the baby. Little did I know that after our marriage, she would bring it up during every argument: “I aborted my baby for you back then, what more do you want?” I kept giving in, but it only made them more aggressive. After one heated argument, my husband and mother-in-law pushed me down the stairs. My unborn child and I died together. When I opened my eyes again, my future mother-in-law was holding my hand, asking, “Should I keep it or not? I’ll do whatever you say.” Faced with this life-or-death question, I knew I had to let her keep the baby and then make my escape. “Lily, you might laugh, but… I’m pregnant again,” Mrs. Wilson said, her tone gentle but her expression troubled. I pinched my thigh hard. It hurt, but compared to the pain of being pushed down the stairs and dying with my unborn child, it was nothing. I realized I had been reborn. Remembering the hatred from my past life, my eyes blazed with fury. Mrs. Wilson, oblivious to my change, held my hand and asked, “Should I keep it or not? I’ll do whatever you say.” Just like in my past life, she was pushing the responsibility of the decision onto me. If she kept it, she was older now with high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol, not to mention the dangers of pregnancy. Their family wasn’t well-off, so the burden of raising the child would fall on the younger generation. If she didn’t keep it, I’d be blamed for the cruel act of ending a life. It was a clever trap, all calculated. In my past life, I hadn’t directly answered her question. After thinking it over, I felt they had deliberately deceived me. They could have told me earlier, but they waited until after the engagement. I started to consider breaking off the engagement and became distant with Jack. Soon after, I was told she had aborted the baby and was asked to visit her in the hospital. Looking weak and sad, she said, “I’ve aborted the baby as you wished. Please stop being angry with Jack.” Then she started crying, as if I was the villain who had robbed her of motherhood. Suddenly burdened with this huge guilt, I felt suffocated and didn’t dare mention breaking off the engagement again. This time, I would let her keep it. After all, raising the child would have nothing to do with me. I composed myself and turned to her with a smile, “You’re pregnant? That’s wonderful news. Congratulations, Mrs. Wilson. You’re going to be a mother again!” “You’re okay with me keeping it? You don’t mind?” she continued to probe my attitude. I feigned surprise and asked, “Mind what? Unless… you don’t want this baby? You should think carefully about this, Mrs. Wilson. It’s a life we’re talking about.” Seeing that I wasn’t upset, she relaxed and expressed her concerns, “I was worried you wouldn’t accept it. If you didn’t like the idea, I’d definitely not keep it for your and Jack’s sake.” “How could I not like it? I’m a teacher, I love children,” I said, clenching my fist as I thought of my unborn child from my past life, letting my nails dig into my palm. Hearing my words, Mrs. Wilson’s face lit up with joy. Mr. Wilson also looked delighted. It seemed the couple really wanted this child. Jack, however, remained silent, his expression not entirely pleased.
That evening when I got home, I immediately told my parents about the situation. They both looked serious. Mom asked, “What do you think about this?” In my past life, I hadn’t told them to avoid worrying them. They only found out after the abortion. At that time, my parents felt Jack’s family wasn’t a good match and suggested I reconsider. But Mrs. Wilson kept saying she had aborted the baby for my sake. My parents, both lifelong teachers, cared deeply about their reputation. How could I let them bear the stigma of breaking off an engagement? “I want to cancel the engagement with Jack,” I answered firmly, clearly having given it much thought. Hearing my response, my parents visibly relaxed. Mom said, “Making you decide about this is clearly a calculated move. We thought they were decent people, but they’re more cunning than we realized.” Dad added, “Indeed. If they’re like this now, it’ll only get worse after marriage. Whatever you decide, your mom and I will support you. People get married and divorced all the time. Breaking off an engagement because it’s not right is no big deal. Don’t feel pressured.” Hearing their reassuring words, my eyes welled up. They were more clear-headed than I had been. Looking back, my concerns in my past life seemed so foolish. “We should wait a bit before canceling the engagement though. She’s pregnant now and shouldn’t be stressed,” Mom cautioned. I nodded in agreement. In my past life, whenever we had conflicts after marriage, my mother-in-law would always shout, “I aborted my baby for you back then, what more do you want?” And my husband and father-in-law would join in, accusing me of being heartless and cruel, a murderer who had ended a life. This time, they wouldn’t get the chance to smear my name!
After a few days of not seeing each other, Jack asked me out for dinner. At the table, he was sighing heavily, clearly troubled. I kept my head down, focusing on my food. Even looking at him made me feel sick, let alone caring about what was bothering him. Seeing I wasn’t reacting, he finally spoke up: “Lily, honestly, what do you think about my mom’s pregnancy?” “What do you mean, what do I think?” I pretended not to understand. He asked, “Do you really think it’s a good thing for my mom to have this baby?” “Isn’t it?” I countered. “It’s not that it’s not good, but she’s so old now. I’ve heard it’s very dangerous for older pregnant women,” he said, putting on the act of a filial son. “That’s true. So what should we do?” I asked. “Why don’t you try to persuade my mom?” he suggested. He didn’t specify what to persuade her about, but it was clear he wanted to avoid the responsibility while getting rid of the potential problem. Looking at it now, in my past life, he must have misrepresented my words to his mother, making her think I had threatened and forced her to have an abortion. He had benefited from staying in the background, and even used it to criticize me and make me feel guilty, forcing me to give in on various issues. The last argument before my death was because I discovered he had cheated on me multiple times while I was pregnant. When I confronted him with evidence, he actually said, “I cheated because you’re too cruel. I feel cold sleeping next to you. You made me lose a family member, so you deserve this as karma for your actions.” My mother-in-law even cheered him on: “That’s right! You made me lose my baby. You think you can have a good life in our family? Dream on! So what if my son cheated? It’s because you, you little slut, can’t keep your man in check.” When I said I wanted a divorce and left the house, someone pushed me down the stairs from behind. As I lay in a pool of blood, they stood by coldly watching me beg for help. My mother-in-law snarled, “Want a divorce? We can’t let you take away the Zhang family’s bloodline. It’s better if the baby dies too. It can go keep my baby company.” I closed my eyes, life ebbing away in helplessness, despair, and hatred. “Lily, are you listening to me?” Jack called out, pulling me back from my thoughts. I curled my lips into a mocking smile: “Sure, I’ll go talk to your mom.” Since he didn’t want to state his purpose directly, I’d naturally go about it based on my own understanding.
The next day, I bought two large bags of nutritious food from the supermarket and went to visit my future mother-in-law. As soon as I entered the neighborhood, some ladies who knew Mrs. Wilson saw me and asked, “Lily, bringing so many things to your future in-laws? Tsk tsk, you’re so generous. The Wilsons are really lucky.” Their words were dripping with sarcasm, but I pretended not to notice and politely replied, “Yes, Mrs. Wilson needs to boost her nutrition recently, so I bought a bit extra.” Hearing this, they curiously asked, “What’s wrong with her? Is she sick? I saw her yesterday and she looked fine.” “It’s not an illness, it’s good news,” I said deliberately, leaving them hanging. “What good news?” “Well… I shouldn’t say. You’d better ask her yourself,” I said, walking away with the bags, leaving them to speculate. In my past life, whenever they talked about children, my mother-in-law would tear up and mention the baby she had aborted. Public opinion always favors the weak, so I was criticized for being a heartless teacher, often pointed at and gossiped about in the neighborhood. I wondered what they would say this time about someone her age trying for a second child. Mrs. Wilson did look better than before, radiating a maternal glow. Seeing me bring so many good things, she couldn’t stop smiling. She pulled me aside to tell me how well-behaved and easy this baby was, with no morning sickness at all. She also talked about how difficult her pregnancy with Jack had been. I happily played along, “This child must be here to repay you then. They say babies like this grow up to be smart and filial.” Hearing me say this, she was overjoyed and started sharing her parenting experiences. Seeing that we had been chatting for so long without getting to the point, Jack coughed lightly nearby. I looked at him as he was making meaningful faces at me. I asked with concern, “What’s wrong? Do you have a cold?” He awkwardly explained, “No… just a sore throat.” “If you’re not feeling well, you should stay away from your mom. Don’t want to risk infecting her,” I reminded him. “Didn’t you say you were going to talk to mom about something?” Jack finally brought it up. Mrs. Wilson, hearing about me talking to her, visibly tensed up. “Talk… talk about what?” she asked. “Oh my, how could I forget such an important thing?” I pretended to suddenly remember. “Jack told me he’s worried because you’re an older pregnant woman and there might be risks during childbirth. I thought about it and he’s right. So…” I deliberately paused, seeing her swallow hard several times. I was secretly delighted, imagining how anxious she must be, fearing I might suggest she abort the baby. “So I specifically looked it up online. In your situation, you absolutely must go for regular prenatal check-ups and follow the doctor’s advice. The most important things are to eat well, sleep well, and stay in a good mood. You can’t overexert yourself. “Leave the housework to Jack. If you want to eat something, have him buy it for you. Before the birth, you should just enjoy being treated like a queen at home.” Mrs. Wilson smiled, while Jack’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. Not only had I not persuaded her as he wanted, but I’d also assigned him chores. In my past life, he had acted like a perfect househusband before marriage, but in reality, he was extremely chauvinistic. He wouldn’t even pick up a fallen oil bottle at home, justifying it with, “A gentleman stays out of the kitchen,” as if it was beneath him to do any housework.
On the way back, Jack drove me home with a gloomy face, as if someone owed him money. “Lily, do you really not understand what I wanted you to persuade my mom about?” He finally broke the silence. “I don’t,” I replied. This time, he didn’t bother to pretend anymore and spoke his true thoughts: “I don’t agree with my mom’s pregnancy. They’re both getting on in years, living on just a few thousand dollars of retirement money each month, barely making ends meet. How can they afford another child? “They’re old and think raising a child now is the same as when they raised me, just needing to provide food. But we young people know how expensive kids are these days, from clothes to gadgets. Not to mention all the tutoring and extracurricular classes when they start school. Looking even further ahead, what about when the kid gets married? It’s all money. But my parents don’t have much savings, so it’ll all fall on us. I’ve checked, and in my parents’ situation, we’d have legal responsibility to support the child. “When we get married, we’ll have our own family to worry about. With mortgage and car payments, the pressure is already high enough without having to raise this child. Moreover…” Jack suddenly took my hand, looking at me with apparent deep affection: “We’ll have our own baby too, and we’ll want to give them the best we can afford. So I have to be ruthless about other children.” His analysis of pros and cons and apparent consideration for our future was quite deceptive. If I didn’t know his true nature, I would have surely been fooled by his manipulation. Suppressing the urge to pull my hand away in disgust, I sighed lightly: “Ah, what you say makes some sense, but what can we do about it?” “I’ve thought of a solution, but it might inconvenience you a bit,” Jack said, his eyes gleaming. “Oh?” I was curious to see what devious plan he had come up with this time. “My parents won’t want to get rid of the baby directly, so we need a reason that forces them to do it. We could say your parents think having another child would be too much of a burden in the future, and they’re forcing you to break off our engagement unless the baby is gone. What do you think? “My mom likes you so much, she definitely wouldn’t want us to break up.” Looking at Jack’s hypocritical, disgusting face, I really wanted to spit in it. Not content with using me as a pawn, he was now targeting my parents. I frowned, my tone unfriendly: “Jack, what are you implying? Making my parents the bad guys to take the blame? You’re quite the schemer, aren’t you!” “No, it’s not scheming. I’m just thinking about our future,” Jack hurried to explain. I snorted, “Hah! Our future? If we really used your method to force your mom to abort the baby, wouldn’t she hate me? The relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is already difficult to maintain. If she resents me before I even join the family, how could I have a good life? “My parents have worked hard all their lives to build a good reputation. For your family’s mess, they’d have to bear the infamy of forcing someone to abort a child. You really know how to come up with ideas. “Jack, if you’re a real man, go talk to your mom yourself. Don’t act like you want to have your cake and eat it too. You say it’s for our future, but you’re only thinking about yourself. I can’t believe how two-faced you are. Disgusting!” With that, I got out of the car. I couldn’t risk upsetting the old woman with a baby in her belly. But there was no need to be polite with this scumbag of a man. He deserved to be scolded and confronted.
After that argument with Jack, he apologized profusely on social media every day. I set his messages to “Do Not Disturb.” Not having to face that scumbag made my world instantly more peaceful. However, I kept a close eye on what was happening with his family. Jack had taken his mom to the hospital once to inquire about abortion procedures. The “filial son” clearly hadn’t given up. If he thought he could frame my family again, he was dreaming. Using my connections, I found out the date of Mrs. Wilson’s scheduled abortion. My parents and I waited outside their building with generous gifts in hand. We ran into them just as they were coming out. In just a few days, Mrs. Wilson’s eyes had become red and swollen. She must have cried a lot, reluctant to give up the baby. Seeing me, she lacked her usual enthusiasm, a hint of resentment flashing in her eyes. Jack nervously and suspiciously asked, “Uncle, Auntie, why… why are you here?” Mom smiled and said, “Your uncle and I heard about your mom’s pregnancy, so we came to visit her.” “What visit? You’re here to gloat, aren’t you? I’ve already agreed to abort the baby like you wanted. What more do you want? Are you here to make sure I go through with it?” Mrs. Wilson, forgetting she was pregnant, angrily rushed up to my mom, looking ready to hit her. “Mom! Calm down!” Jack hurriedly tried to pull his mother back, afraid she might say too much.
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