During our fertility treatments, my husband secretly implanted both his and his cousin’s samples into me, betting on whose child I would carry. The day the results came in, the entire family absolutely erupted. “Shameless woman! She actually got pregnant with another man’s baby!” “Given Marcus’s offer of a high-value property, we can just endure these ten months, and it’ll be over.” My husband, Ryan, was seething even more. “If Aria truly loved me, her body wouldn’t have accepted another man’s sperm!” “But now that she’s pregnant, no one else will want her.” “Women are soft-hearted when it comes to their babies. She’ll never be able to abort him!” “Just let her bear all the expenses herself. Once she gives birth, I’ll punish her, making her give birth to sons for me until I’m satisfied!” But I stood outside, clutching the termination forms, and silently turned to leave. On my due day, Ryan and Marcus frantically blew up my phone. “Aria! Where the hell are you?!” “Marcus is here with the house deeds, demanding his baby!” I sat in a Maybach, gazing at the exotic sights outside the window. “If you want a baby so badly, why don’t you just make one yourselves?” ——————
From the moment Ryan said he wanted a child, I exhausted myself trying to conceive. From endless appointments to painful shots, I went through it all alone. Every time the nurse asked why I was by myself, I made excuses for him. “The baby’s father is too busy. He really can’t make it.” But I never imagined he had malicious intent from the start. Not only did he pay off the clinic to put another man’s sperm inside me for a house, he actually turned the tables on me! He didn’t just treat me like a wife. He didn’t even treat me like a human being! The man he was now was a completely different man from the one I married. My hands trembled with rage. I couldn’t understand how he could have become like this. He used to take off his jacket and drape it over me on rainy days. He’d wait downstairs when I worked late. Once, when I was hospitalized, he even stayed by my bedside all night. Watching his tired, red eyes back then, I truly believed he was the one I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. So, I defied my family’s opposition and resolutely married him. Who knew that on the very first day, his family would put me in my place. The significant cash gift of eighteen thousand dollars we’d agreed upon turned into a mere 1,888 dollars. Ryan even smiled and told me, “The decimal point isn’t important. I’ll give you all my future earnings anyway, so what does the gift amount matter?” The promised “wedding jewelry” also turned into cheap trinkets from a hardware store. My parents were furious and wanted to confront them. But Brenda, my mother-in-law, scoffed, “Are these trinkets not ‘jewelry’? What law says wedding gifts have to be gold?” Ryan pulled me aside and said, “It wasn’t easy for my parents to raise me; I can’t bear to let them subsidize me further for the wedding.” “So I took the liberty to change it. The weight is the same anyway, and the box is closed during the wedding, so you can’t tell. When I have money later, I’ll definitely make it up to you.” At the time, I was naive enough to comfort myself. I thought he’d surely keep his promises, that he was just temporarily short on cash, and that now that we were married, he’d surely work harder for our home. But I later found out. He wasn’t short on cash. His money was for show, never for my use. He was so lavish with his family, he acted like he owned a gold mine. He bought Chloe, my sister-in-law, a handbag for thirty thousand dollars, and his mother health supplements for twenty thousand. When his father lost tens of thousands gambling, Ryan immediately pulled out his card to pay the bill. But when I mentioned baby formula or supplements for our child, he’d frown. “No need for those extravagant items, we need to be practical with expenses. Don’t waste money.” Now, for the sake of a high-value property, he didn’t hesitate to exploit my body and make me carry another man’s baby! Having once genuinely loved him, when I heard these words from him and his family, my head spun with rage, and my heart bled with pain.
“Oh, Aria! Why did you run out by yourself?!” I looked up and saw Ryan’s cousin, Marcus, beaming from ear to ear. His tacky gold chain glinted garishly in the sunlight, and he clutched a carton of milk and a fruit basket, eagerly rushing over to me. His joyous expression made my stomach churn. “I just came to check on you, you know.” He said, stepping closer with a sickly sweet smile. “You absolutely mustn’t wander off, my darling little…” “Ahem!” Ryan’s cough came from behind me. Marcus caught on, quickly changing his tune. “You absolutely mustn’t hurt my darling nephew, you hear!” He let out a short laugh, then quickly added in a low voice, “You, Aria, are truly the savior of our family. Once the baby is born, your family will get double the house and money!” His eyes glinted with smugness, like he was sealing a deal that couldn’t possibly fail. Next to him, Ryan’s eyes flashed with a glint of greed. But when he saw me, he composed himself. He deliberately cleared his throat twice and said to me. “Aria, aren’t you going to thank my cousin?” I lowered my eyes, a barely perceptible cold laugh on my lips. Seeing my silence, his smile slowly faded, and a flash of panic crossed his eyes, as if he’d realized something. “Aria, when did you get here? Why didn’t you come inside? Everyone’s waiting for you!” “Just arrived,” I said flatly. “Ran into Marcus on the way and chatted for a bit.” He sighed, visibly relaxing, and forced a strained smile, “That’s good, that’s good.” Marcus was still immersed in his joy, completely oblivious to this small detail. He kept staring at my belly, looking it over and over, thoroughly satisfied. “That’s good, that’s good.” Ryan let out a breath of relief. I looked at his pretense and suddenly found it laughable. Marcus, beaming, patted Ryan’s shoulder, “Treat your wife well, make sure she’s well-fed. She’s carrying our golden child!” “If the baby needs anything, just let me know! Your family will be well compensated!” Ryan’s eyes lit up. He nodded profusely, bowing slightly, “Of course, of course!” Just then, Chloe, my sister-in-law, poked her head out from inside the house, sniping sourly, “Well, sister-in-law’s certainly worth a fortune now, more valuable than gold.” “And who knows whose baby she’s carrying, yet my brother’s falling all over himself to treat her well. Hope it’s not a losing investment.” “Chloe! Shut up!” Brenda glared at her, then turned to me with a placating smile, “Chloe doesn’t know what she’s saying; don’t take it to heart.” “This baby is the golden grandchild of our family, he’ll be loved by everyone from birth, truly blessed!” “His cousin said he’ll give you a big bonus once the baby’s born, and Mom will give it all to you!” From the moment I returned until now. She had never been so pleasant to me. A cold laugh bubbled inside me, and I retorted, “How can you be so sure I’ll actually give birth to this baby?”
At my words, everyone froze. Ryan was the first to react, his voice laced with menace. “Aria, don’t be ungrateful!” “Now that you’re pregnant, who else would want you besides me? Just give birth, and you’ll have a life of comfort!” “Exactly!” Brenda immediately chimed in. “Abortion harms the body; you won’t be able to conceive later! Ryan’s willing to keep your tainted body, you should be utterly grateful!” Marcus fretted, rubbing his hands together, “Aria, don’t do anything rash! How about this, I’ll add another two hundred thousand for your pregnancy expenses!” I looked at this bunch of ridiculous clowns, and any lingering doubt in my heart vanished completely. They saw me as a breeding machine, life as a commodity, and their shamelessness as justified. I suddenly laughed. “Why are you all so tense?” “I just meant, the doctor said this pregnancy is fragile, and I need to be extra careful, or it’ll be hard to keep this baby.” Ryan exhaled, visibly relaxing. But then his expression changed again, and he grabbed my arm nervously, “Why didn’t you say something sooner?!” Brenda was even more panicked than him. She grabbed my arm and dragged me into the house. “Then hurry up and lie down! Chloe! Go get Mom’s best blanket and make up the bed for your sister-in-law!” Only Marcus was pacing anxiously, tears practically welling up in his eyes. His face turned purple, a comical mix of desperation and inability to speak, utterly ridiculous. “Oh, my precious future son…” I coldly watched this family. Only a while ago, they had been completely indifferent to me. No one even accompanied me to my prenatal appointments. Even when I told them a week in advance, on the day of my appointment, they all conveniently had ‘something urgent’ come up. That day, I was terribly nervous and called Ryan, but he said he had to go play poker with his dad. Calls from me kept coming, relentless. He finally answered with an exasperated sigh, “It’s just a check-up, not like you’re giving birth. Do I really need to be there?” Hearing his cold words, my chest tightened with a crushing pain. But I still suppressed my surging emotions and softly said, “Ryan, he’s your child too, after all…” “What do you mean? Can you stop guilt-tripping me with the baby every five minutes?” “Don’t act like you’re the only woman on earth who can have a baby!” With that, he slammed the phone down. At that moment, my heart ached with suffocating pain. Clutching my belly, as I leaned against a chair in the hospital corridor, my ears were filled with other husbands’ loving inquiries, but I, alone, had to buy my own bottle of water. The baby’s kicks felt like sharp jabs to my heart. If the nurse hadn’t helped me, I nearly collapsed in the hospital corridor then and there. When I finally made it home from the hospital, he had just stumbled home, reeking of alcohol. Even so, I patiently told him, “You should drink less. The strong smell of alcohol isn’t good for the baby.” Who knew he’d roll his eyes at me, “Can’t you even stand the smell of alcohol just because you’re pregnant?” “Once the baby’s born, I’ll even teach him to drink! He’ll learn his father’s tolerance!” “What kind of man can’t hold his liquor? Women are all so dramatic.” I bit back my tears and said nothing. Brenda came out of the room, scoffing, “My son works hard all day, and you think you can boss him around?” “It’s your duty to care for your husband, don’t use your pregnancy as an excuse to act like a queen!” But now. I coldly watched this eager family. I had kept putting up with it because I used to consider them family. But now they only saw me as a mere breeding vessel. There was no longer any need for me to entangle myself with them.
A few days later, Ryan, for once, acted halfway decent. He said he wanted to accompany me to pick out baby items. He was incredibly attentive along the way, playing the part of a devoted husband perfectly. Everyone who saw us was incredibly envious, gushing about how lucky I was to have such a wonderful husband. Only I silently endured it all, a cold laugh bubbling in my heart. I wondered if they’d want this ‘blessing’ if I offered it to them. I ignored them and walked into a baby boutique. The boutique had soft lighting and was filled with the sweet scent of baby formula. The neatly arranged baby clothes, bottles, and tiny shoes on the shelves brought a lump to my throat. If this were truly my child, how desperately I would want to keep him. Ryan didn’t notice. He carefully surveyed the baby items around us, then casually, almost too casually, asked, “Aria, what if… I mean, what if we don’t keep this baby with us?” I was holding a light blue baby blanket, and my movements paused. “Don’t keep him? Where would the baby go?” Ryan rubbed his hands nervously. After a long, awkward pause, he finally blurted out. “My cousin, he… he’s always wanted kids, hasn’t he? I was thinking… maybe we could let him have the baby.” “Why would we send him away?” I looked up at him, pressing him, step by step. He avoided my gaze, pretending to examine a nearby crib, his voice dripping with insincerity, “I was just asking casually, you know.” “After all, our finances are tight, there’s a lot of pressure, and your pregnancy isn’t stable. And if… my parents decide it’s best to let him go, try not to be too upset.” I gave a faint smile, my gaze turned icy, “Ryan, if you truly wanted this baby, you wouldn’t be so quick to talk about ‘giving him away’.” He flinched, then offered a sheepish laugh, “I was just worried you’d be too tired.” I coldly watched his performance, and suddenly realized that heartache, after aching for so long, eventually numbs. That night, Marcus, my husband’s cousin, called Ryan again. “I heard your wife’s pregnancy is a bit unstable, so I transferred more money over. Make sure Aria eats well!” “I’ve waited for this precious son for so long, he mustn’t suffer!” Ryan eagerly agreed on the phone, then immediately handed the money over to his family. I, the supposed recipient of the funds, didn’t see a single cent. Ryan’s family had never seen such a large sum of money, and the moment they got it, they indulged in a spending spree. Brenda bought new gold bracelets and earrings, and Chloe, my sister-in-law, flaunted a limited-edition designer handbag. The whole family paraded their new purchases in front of me, smug as can be. Chloe swayed her handbag strap, her eyes gleaming with triumph: “Don’t get the wrong idea, sister-in-law, this was a gift from my boyfriend.” I gave her a cold smile and retorted: “That boyfriend of yours, he wouldn’t happen to be a secret ATM, would he?” Their faces drained of color. Arthur, my father-in-law, yanked Chloe away. Brenda tried to smooth things over. “What are you saying? It’s just that luck has been on our side lately. Ryan’s been getting lots of clients, and Chloe’s just naturally radiant. It’s all thanks to the precious baby you’re carrying, isn’t it?” “Once you’ve given birth, Mom will definitely get you some nice things, just like this!” I said nothing, only sneered inwardly. What a utterly hypocritical family, they were so stingy, even their empty promises felt cheap. So I composed myself and deliberately said to them with a look of apology. “I’m actually very happy that the family is doing so well now, but since my pregnancy was fragile, my family found me the best specialist for high-risk pregnancies, and she’s already here, so I was thinking…” Before I could finish, Brenda excitedly cut in, “Yes! Of course, you can! Your family can take excellent care of you. After all, you’re their own daughter; they’ll certainly be more dedicated than us ‘outsiders,’ won’t they?” Ryan hesitated slightly. Brenda tugged him closer and whispered, “Are you really going to use all that money Marcus gave you to buy expensive supplements for your wife?” Sure enough, Ryan fell silent. He seemed to avoid my gaze, so I clutched the termination of pregnancy consent form in my hand, giving him one last chance to prove himself. “So, will you come with me to my prenatal appointment tomorrow?” “Yes! Of course, I’ll go!” Ryan quickly said. “But…” He suddenly looked extremely awkward. “Which hospital? What time again?” “Eight o’clock.” I said faintly. Then he solemnly set multiple alarms and even made a memo on his phone. It read: [Accompany my darling wife to her prenatal appointment.] Watching his serious expression, my resolve wavered for a split second. But reality slapped me hard, right back to my senses.
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