My elementary school-aged daughter was suddenly found to be pregnant.
Portia, my-mother-in-law was heartbroken and held her tightly and cried bitterly.
Velvet, my-sister-in-law, was frantic, desperate to uncover the truth behind it all.
My husband, with red, tear-filled eyes, said he would kill the person responsible.
And me? I quietly made a bowl of chicken soup and gently told my daughter, "Take good care of yourself and the baby."
——
"Mom, my stomach hurts. I feel like throwing up."
"I don't want to go to school today."
My daughter clutched her stomach, her face pale, curling up on the couch.
She looked truly uncomfortable.
I reached into my bag, took out a pregnancy test and handed it to her.
"Go to the bathroom and see how many lines show up."
My daughter glanced up at me, her face blank with bewilderment.
The moment Portia, who had been washing dishes in the kitchen, heard what I said, she rushed over. She snatched the test from my hand, her expression a mix of disbelief and frustration.
"Calista, Iris is just a little girl in elementary school. She doesn’t even know what this is! Why would you give her something like that?"
Velvet jumped in.
"Sis, you’ve got to be kidding! Iris is just a little girl. She doesn’t even know what having a boyfriend means, let alone anything about pregnancy. She’s probably just got a stomach bug. Let me take her to the hospital to get checked out."
Without waiting for a response, she quickly scooped up my daughter and rushed her to the hospital.
Two hours later, they returned.
Portia hurried over, her voice thick with concern.
"How is she? Is Iris alright? What did the doctor say?"
With a pale, strained face, Velvet handed her the report.
The moment Portia glanced at it, she shrieked, "Iris is pregnant?!"
"That’s impossible!"
Her outburst was so loud that it pulled my husband, Dorian, out of his office to see what was going on.
Dorian grabbed the pregnancy test report, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"How is this even possible? Iris can't just be pregnant out of nowhere!"
While they stood there, stunned and overwhelmed, I quietly made my way into the kitchen and began preparing chicken soup.
In the living room, Portia and Dorian bombarded my daughter with frantic questions.
"Iris, is anyone at school picking on you?"
"Has any man been spending too much time around you?"
Terrified by their relentless interrogation, my daughter went pale, her head hung low, too scared to say a word.
Velvet, after anxiously ending a phone call, turned toward us, her voice sharp with fury.
“I’ve already got someone looking into this. No matter what, I will find the bastard who did this!"
Dorian, his face twisted with rage, slammed his fist into the wall, the sound reverberating through the room.
"If I find out who hurt my daughter, I swear I'll kill him!"
Tears welled up in Portia’s eyes as she gently cradled my daughter, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Iris, sweetheart... tell Grandma the truth—do you know who got you pregnant?"
My daughter, who had been sitting in silence with her head down, finally looked up.
Under everyone’s gaze, her eyes met mine.
She opened her mouth, as if to speak, but hesitated.
I stepped out of the kitchen, carrying a bowl of freshly made chicken soup.
Placing it in front of her, I said, “Drink the soup, take good care of the baby.”
With that, I carefully scooped up a spoonful of the soup and gently fed it to her.
Everyone else, witnessing this, was utterly stunned.
Dorian frowned deeply and asked in a low voice,
“Calista, what are you doing?”
“She’s just a child! It’s obvious she’s been violated and yet you’re telling her to take care of the baby? Are you seriously considering letting her keep it?”
Velvet, equally displeased, added,
“That’s right, sister-in-law. Iris is still a kid herself—how could she possibly have a child?”
“If this gets out, what will people think of her?”
Portia, her voice filled with grief and pain, also spoke up,
"Just thinking about Iris going through something like this at such a young age makes my heart twist in pain. No matter what, the child inside her cannot stay—if she keeps it, Iris's life will be ruined!"
As I continued feeding my daughter the soup, I replied, almost casually,
"This is Iris's decision. She should be the one to choose."
I turned to Iris, meeting her eyes and asked,
"Do you want to keep the baby?"
Iris hesitated, then, with a tight-lipped expression, gave a small nod.
Dorian immediately exploded with anger, his voice booming,
"Are you out of your mind? How can you let Iris decide something like this?"
Portia quickly backed him up, her tone sharp.
"Exactly! Iris is still a child—what could she possibly know? What kind of mother would put this on her?"
Just as Velvet was about to jump in and add more, her phone buzzed with a new message. She glanced at it and her expression instantly darkened. Turning toward me with clear frustration, she said,
"So it was all your doing, wasn't it, sister-in-law?"
Chapter 2At those words, Portia and Dorian's faces went pale.
They both exclaimed in unison, "What’s going on?"
Velvet, brimming with anger, declared,
"My contacts found evidence of sister-in-law checking into a hotel with Iris!"
With that, she held up her phone for everyone to see.
On the screen, there were records of my hotel check-in under my real name, along with surveillance footage showing me entering and leaving the hotel with my daughter.
After reading the messages, Portia shot me an incredulous look and yelled.
“Calista, how could you do this? No wonder when Iris mentioned her stomach hurting this morning, you handed her a pregnancy test. After she found out she was pregnant, you calmly made her chicken soup to 'nourish the baby.' So it turns out you’re the mastermind behind all this! Tell me—why would you do something like this?”
Velvet’s disappointment was palpable as she turned her gaze on me, saying,
“Sister-in-law, did we do something to upset you? What’s going on?”
“If you’re bothered, just tell us. This is an adult issue; don’t take it out on the child. Why would you ruin her life like this?”
Seeing their anxious and worried faces, I couldn’t help but find their concern absurd.
But before I could respond, my daughter, who had been quietly observing, suddenly stood up.
She positioned herself protectively in front of me, facing Portia and sister-in-law without flinching.
“Grandma, Aunt, this is all my fault. If you have something to say, direct it at me!”
“Don’t be mean to Mom!”
Velvet and mother-in-law exchanged concerned glances at their daughter, then turned to me with reproach.
“Look at what you've done.”
“Iris is still protecting you!”
“Do you deserve such a filial and well-behaved daughter?”
I remained unruffled and replied, “I have nothing to be ashamed of.”
Seeing my indifferent demeanor, Dorian’s anger surged. He stepped in front of me, his eyes red with fury, demanding, “What on earth is going on?”
“Who did you bring Iris to meet at the hotel? How did she get pregnant?!”
I coldly stared at Dorian’s enraged face and said calmly, “I just took my daughter to the hotel to rest; how would I know how she got pregnant?”
As soon as the words left my lips, Velvet suddenly approached with her phone in hand and said to Dorian in a serious tone, “Brother, it’s bad!”
“The news about Iris being pregnant has spread and now the owner group is discussing it.”
At this, Dorian's fury intensified. He grabbed my collar and gritted his teeth, saying, “Our daughter's reputation is ruined and you still want to protect that bastard?”
“Hand him over! I swear I’ll kill him today!”
I looked at Dorian, completely unconcerned and replied, “I've said everything I needed to say; if you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do.”
Dorian’s rage boiled over, his forehead throbbing with veins. In a fit of anger, he slapped me hard, sending me crashing to the ground.
“Calista, do you even have a shred of humanity?!”
“We’ve been married for over a decade. In all these years, I’ve worked tirelessly to provide for you, never allowing you to face a moment of hardship or raising my voice at you.”
“My mother has taken care of everything at home, making sure you didn’t have to lift a finger to do any housework.”
“Even my sister has always considered you, bringing you gifts whenever she travels for work.”
“Iris has been incredibly obedient and understanding, hanging on your every word. Even after you got her pregnant, she chose to stay silent to protect you!”
“I honestly can’t comprehend how our family has wronged you.”
“Why are you doing this to Iris?”
“Who did you take her to meet at the hotel? How did she end up pregnant?”
Dorian was visibly shaken, his strikes landing with remarkable force.
This was the first time he had ever hit me.
My face burned with pain and I felt utterly disheveled. However, my expression remained unchanged as I coldly stared at him, saying nothing.
Seeing that I was still defiant, Dorian nodded sharply, exclaiming in frustration, “I see now—you're intent on ruining our daughter!”
“Well then, today I’ll make sure you taste the bitterness of disgrace!”
With that, Dorian yanked me forcefully, dragging me toward the door.
At that moment, my daughter rushed forward, crying out, “Dad, please don’t hurt Mom!”
Dorian gently patted Iris on the head. “Iris, your father will never allow anyone to hurt you, not even your mother!”
He then turned to Velvet and mother-in-law, instructing them, “Keep a close eye on Iris and don’t let her out.”
“I’m going to make Calista confess everything today!”
“No one can protect her!”
With that, Dorian disregarded my daughter’s tearful pleas and forcefully dragged me to the community square.
The uproar quickly drew the attention of nearby residents.
As the crowd swelled, Dorian seized the moment to publicly air my “crimes.”
Before long, everyone present was pointing fingers and gossiping about me.
“No wonder the group chat was buzzing about how that poor child is pregnant at such a young age—looks like it’s all this mother’s fault.”
“Oh my God, that’s not a mother; that’s a monster!”
“Exactly! Even a vicious tiger wouldn’t harm its own cub. How could she do this to her daughter, who’s still in elementary school?”
“Some people don’t deserve to be mothers, let alone live in this world! If I were her husband, I’d kill her on the spot!”
The crowd was spitting venom, treating me like a heartless criminal.
Dorian looked down at me, a smug grin on his face as he taunted, “So, are you still going to play innocent?”
He believed he had me cornered, eagerly waiting for me to surrender.
I let out a cold laugh, my disdain evident as I said, “Is that all you’ve got? What can this small crowd do? No matter how loud they shout, it won’t change anything. Just a simple move to another neighborhood and it’ll all be forgotten. You should really bring in some internet influencers to livestream this; that might actually tarnish my reputation and make me infamous!”
Dorian’s expression darkened, his jaw clenched as he replied, “Fine, I’ll give you what you want!”
With that, he pulled out his phone and started dialing.
A surge of anticipation coursed through me.
Let the chaos erupt.
The bigger, the better.
I wanted the whole world to know about this!
Chapter 3Dorian’s influence was formidable; it didn’t take long for a swarm of internet influencers to arrive, each brandishing their phones to livestream the spectacle.
“Hey, everyone! We’ve got a juicy scoop for you! The woman standing here may look sweet and delicate, but she’s actually a heartless monster of a mother!”
“She’s lived with her in-laws for years, doing nothing but enjoying the good life while barking orders at her mother-in-law. Despite her age and poor health, her mother-in-law has selflessly served her for over a decade, often being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to whip up late-night meals, nearly collapsing from exhaustion!”
“And her husband? He treats her like a queen! Once, on a snowstorm day when she was burning up with a fever and the roads were impassable, he carried her and ran five kilometers to the hospital!”
“Her sister-in-law treats her like royalty, always prioritizing her needs and valuing her even more than herself.”
“And her daughter is the perfect picture of obedience. Since she insists her child must excel, her daughter dedicates herself to her studies, consistently ranking first in her class. She follows her mother’s wishes without question, never daring to talk back or rebel.”
“But this well-behaved and obedient child was taken to a hotel by that monstrous mother, sneaking around with some man behind the family’s back.”
“And now, she’s gotten her daughter pregnant!”
“She’s only in elementary school! How can anyone do something like this?”
“The worst part is that now that the truth is out, she shows no remorse. She acts like nothing happened, saying that since it’s already done, she’ll just accept it and let her daughter have the baby!”
“Can you believe this is something a human being would say?”
The influencers passionately denounced my “crimes,” weaving tales that were entirely fabricated and exaggerated.
Fabrications and exaggerations filled the air.
In no time, my name was being dragged through the mud in countless livestreams.
“Wow, her daughter is so unfortunate to have such a heartless, monstrous mother!”
“And her husband’s family is just as doomed for marrying such a deranged piece of trash!”
“Exactly! How can someone like this even exist in the world without harming others?”
Public outrage escalated rapidly and my photo quickly climbed to the top of trending searches online!
Labels like “monster mother,” “hotel whore,” and “venomous woman” became synonymous with my identity.
With the influencers stoking the flames, the crowd's anger surged and they started hurling eggs and rotten vegetables at me, shouting obscenities.
I felt like a lamb awaiting slaughter, surrounded by a heap of trash and enduring a barrage of insults.
Dorian glared at me, his fury palpable.
“Calista, it’s reached this point and you still won’t say anything?”
“How long are you planning to protect that scoundrel?”
Seeing the mix of anguish and self-righteousness on Dorian’s face, I couldn’t help but let out a series of cold, mocking laughs.
His anger flared even more at my defiance. He began to kick me violently.
“Are you even human? At a time like this, you can still laugh?!”
“What kind of curse did I bring upon myself in a past life to end up married to a viper like you?”
I curled up on the ground, writhing in pain from his kicks and drenched in cold sweat.
Meanwhile, the crowd roared with approval, convinced that someone like me deserved a harsh lesson.
The livestream chat erupted with comments, cheering and celebrating, proclaiming it a satisfying spectacle.
The power of public outrage was chilling.
Even though I had prepared myself for this moment, I felt my composure start to shatter under the weight of it all.
Just then, Velvet came rushing over, visibly shaken.
She hurried straight to Dorian, her voice trembling as she exclaimed, “Brother, something terrible has happened—Iris has jumped off the building!”
Her words cut through the chaos and I felt a wave of relief wash over me.
At last, everything was about to come to an end!