Our whole family had a six-day luxury cruise trip during May Day.
After returning, my sister-in-law, who had been married for many years without children, suddenly became pregnant.
I happily paid out of my pocket to book the best care center for my sister-in-law.
But she set her sights on the house my boyfriend's family bought for me as a wedding gift.
"Don't even think about having this child if you don't let me move in, or else I'll abort him right now!" After saying that, my sister-in-law reached out and punched her belly.
After my dad heard it, he pointed at my brother and cursed loudly, "Lucas Collins, if you can afford to raise a child, then go ahead and keep the child, but if you can't afford it, then forget it. In our Collins family, we would never do something as despicable as selling daughters to support our sons!"
Now my sister-in-law was going to make an even bigger scene!
***
In the cruise restaurant, my sister-in-law looked gloomy and held the menu, making our family feel uneasy.
"Yvonne, the sunset on the deck was so beautiful, but why didn't you go up just now? After dinner, let Tommy take you up to see the night view." My mom quickly stepped forward to mediate, and we didn't know what had angered my sister-in-law again.
"Hmph! I'm not worthy of going to first class." As my sister-in-law said, she pointed at the menu with her hand. The dishes she ordered were made so quickly that we couldn't possibly finish them all.
I saw my brother tugging at my sister-in-law's sleeve below.
"What's the matter? Am I not worthy of first-class or even worthy of having a meal? If you can't afford it, don't pretend to be rich, and I don't even want to come here with you!" My sister-in-law became even angrier, rolled her eyes, pushed the menu forward, and crossed her arms, looking at me.
But she insisted on following us stubbornly until the end.
My boyfriend was sent on a business trip during the May Day holiday and couldn't accompany me. He paid for a six-day luxury cruise to please me and my parents.
That day, coincidentally, my brother and my sister-in-law were also there. She playfully held onto the hem of my boyfriend's suit jacket to come along and acted coquettishly. It embarrassed my brother, and my boyfriend didn't know whether to sit or stand. Ultimately, he agreed to bring my brother and sister-in-law along and promised to cover all the expenses.
Before coming, my mom prepared colorful scarves, sunglasses with water diamonds, and a pink floral cheongsam. She wanted me to help her take a beautiful video while feeding seagulls so she could show off to her sisters.
Only after arriving did I realize that the economy class cabin during the May Day holiday was extremely crowded. It was the best spot to feed seagulls on the third level of the cabin. Still, regular passengers were not allowed to go there, and some exclusive parties were also not open to economy-class passengers.
I upgraded my parents' cabin.
Why did young people make money? Wasn't it so they could fulfill their filial duties when the time came?
When my mom sent videos to the family group, she couldn't stop laughing and always added, "Well, my son-in-law insisted on paying me a first-class ticket; I think it's wasting money, ha-ha..."
I spent my money wisely!
I didn't expect to anger my sister-in-law, who didn't get her cabin upgraded.
She could go up with my parents' room number plate; however, she just didn't go because she was forcing me to pay for it.
I would have obediently paid for it if it were in the past. Still, when thinking about how she acted coquettishly toward my boyfriend, I felt sick, as if I had swallowed a fly.
I called over the waiter standing next to me, who was at a loss of what to do, and ordered a few dishes that my parents love to eat.
I don't care if you love the food; you can jump out of the ship if you dislike it.
"What do you mean? Well, Lucas Collins, your family had helped with the marital fraud in the first place, and now you are teaming up to bully me. We will divorce when we go back!" My sister-in-law, who everyone ignored, pointed at my brother and cursed angrily before storming off.
My brother quickly chased after her.
I was tired of hearing her sentence again.
My sister-in-law was pretty and used to work as a saleswoman. We met her when our family went to seek a house together because our old house would be demolished.
When she heard my family house would be demolished, my sister-in-law quickly married my brother. But soon after, the government changed the plan, and our area was excluded from the demolition range.
Since then, "marital fraud" had become my sister-in-law's daily accusation against our whole family.
After dinner, my mom gave my dad a signal, and my dad stuttered and told me that he didn't care where he lived and wanted to switch cabins with my sister-in-law so that my mom could sleep without snoring.
It was always like this: whenever my sister-in-law was unhappy, she mentioned divorce. As long as she mentioned it, my parents immediately compromised. As a result, my parents would bring the nutritional products or pay her thousands or tens of thousands of dollars as she asked my parents for them, and this trick of my sister-in-law never failed.
Let them be. Anyway, I had fulfilled my filial duty; how they handled it was their own business.
The next day, before dawn, my mom called me. I thought she wanted to invite me to watch the sunrise, but unexpectedly, she said instead.
"Your sister-in-law is missing."
2After my sister-in-law changed into my dad's first-class cabin last night, she dressed in a fancy dress. She went out, telling my mom to sleep first, saying she wanted to experience the 'upper-class society' before leaving.
She didn't come back all night.
My brother kept calling my sister-in-law while anxiously pacing in the room, but no one answered his phone.
The banquet in the first class had long been over.
My mom was so anxious that she kept nagging at me, her lips trembling.
I had no choice but to use the broadcast to find her.
Twenty minutes after the broadcast, I pretended to calm down my parents but was also extremely worried.
It was May Day, and many people were mixing on the ship. My brother doted on my sister-in-law very much, and there couldn't be anything accidental happening to her, according to her parents' way of handling things. As the family's anxious emotions peaked, my sister-in-law finally returned.
She wore a short black dress with sequins, which was too tight, highlighting her well-proportioned figure, paired with dark purple high-heeled sandals and without stockings. She looked tired and walked a little unsteadily; her hair was also messy, making it unclear what hairstyle she had done last night.
I saw a small bruise on the right side of her knee, and I thought it was probably because she rushed back too quickly and bumped into something. But when she saw me looking at her, she instinctively pulled her skirt.
"Where did you go?" My brother didn't pay attention so much, and he rushed up and grabbed her, questioning her with anger and a hint of crying in his tone.
She shook off my brother's hand, gave him a cold look, walked straight to the bed, took off her high heels, and fell asleep without paying any attention to any of us.
My brother wanted to go up and pull her in anger again, but my parents stopped him.
It was good for her to be back. So, I tactfully retreated with my parents.
Even if he was my brother, he still had his own life. As family members, we could only offer help and love when he needed it, and we couldn’t get involved too much.
I didn't see my sister-in-law again until dinner time. She changed into a more sexy dress and hurriedly took a few bites of dinner before leaving in high heels.
"Yvonne said she wanted to expand her network; it might help her sell a few more villas." My brother explained to us in a hurry.
I could see the worry in my parents' eyes. Since the current social, political, and economic environment was not good, I could understand it. Yvonne had to work hard to support her mother's brother, who was different from my brother, who would work in a company until he retired.
With Yvonne's appearance, she felt it was a pity to marry my brother. Still, fortunately, my brother was very obedient to her.
In the next few days, we rarely saw Yvonne, who was almost always out during the day and returned at night.
Yvonne was not home, so my parents and I relaxed more without her nagging. But my mom was still concerned about her when she had to work hard, according to my mom's words.
On the last morning, when my boyfriend Victor White finally finished his work, I stood on the deck and had a video call to share the sunrise on the cruise.
I kept telling him about the things I saw and interesting stories along the way, but he always glanced behind me for some reason.
I followed his gaze and saw my sister-in-law pulling a stranger's sleeve. They were arguing, and the man started pushing her during the argument.
Without hesitation, I rushed over. Because there were so many perverts like him nowadays, and they wanted to act indecently on an attractive woman like my sister-in-law when they were drunk.
I didn't know where I got the courage, but I stood before my sister-in-law and sternly reprimanded the stranger, saying, "What are you doing here? If you don't leave, I'll call the police!"
"Hmph," the man looked at me with a malicious look and said, "You're more to my taste." After making this disgusting remark, he finally left.
As soon as he left, I quickly held onto the cabin. I no longer had the courage I had just mustered up at this time, and my legs were trembling.
I turned around, grinning, wanting my sister-in-law to praise me a little. But inexplicably, she suddenly got angry and pushed me to the ground.
"Mind your own business! Why is your family all annoying?"
I sat on the ground, confused and looking at her departing figure with grievance.
3Early in the morning, my mom called me on the phone, unable to hide her excitement in her tone. She told me to come home in the evening to discuss something: my sister-in-law was pregnant!
After May Day, I hardly saw my sister-in-law, and she suddenly became very busy.
My brother and sister-in-law had been married for many years, and she could not conceive. My mom didn't dare to urge my sister-in-law, so she always urged my brother. However, every time my brother heard this, he hesitated, making me think he had difficulty getting pregnant.
Now, my mom could rest assured.
I was even happier and took the afternoon off to shop at the baby store. Afterward, I pushed the newly bought baby stroller and a cart full of baby supplies to my mom's house.
There was a bright pink Maserati parked at the alley entrance, and I couldn't help but take a few more glances.
The people living in my mom's neighborhood were all old neighbors who had lived there for decades. Luxury cars were rarely seen, especially in such a vivid color.
When I got home, I couldn't wait to show my sister-in-law the cart of baby supplies I bought for her. However, my mom quietly tugged at my sleeve and signaled me to go out with her.
I just noticed that the atmosphere at home was strange: my brother stood in front of the window with his head down, and my sister-in-law sat on the sofa with her legs crossed while my dad stood up, snorted, and slammed the door of his bedroom.
"I'm the outsider, so that's why you have to talk behind my back? Let's say it here now!" My sister-in-law, who saw my mom trying to pull me away, pointed at my mom and stubbornly spoke.
Are they arguing? I heard that pregnant women's emotions are easily unstable, but my mom still didn't know how to give in to my sister-in-law at all.
I also found a chair and sat down, "Yes, Mom, what's the matter? Let's solve it together. What happened?"
My mom grabbed my sleeve and didn't let go. After a while, she stuttered and said, as if she had made a big decision, "Your sister-in-law is pregnant. She thinks our house is too small, and it will be too crowded when she has her pregnancy caring period..."
I understood that she wanted my parents to pay for her to buy a house!
"When you got married, besides the dowry, didn't my parents also give you the down payment for the house? But what do you mean now? Is the payment not enough?" I asked my sister-in-law in confusion.
When they got married, my parents felt that they owed my sister-in-law the matter of demolition and relocation. So, besides the dowry, they also gave an additional 500,000 dollars as the down payment for them to buy a house, which was all my parents' savings.
Later, my sister-in-law said that if they moved out, no one would take care of my parents, and they would be lonely. So they didn't buy a house and continued to live with my parents, but my parents didn't get the money back either.
In the past two years, housing prices have dropped a bit. But even if they had spent some money, it would still have been enough to make a down payment. Besides, they ate and lived at my parents' house, and there were few expenses.
"After buying the house and renovating it, the child will be born already them. However, there's so much formaldehyde in the new house, and it'll kill my baby and me!" My sister-in-law spoke to me without any politeness, and I didn't feel comfortable hearing it too.
"Yvonne Wilson, that's enough. This is the real condition of our family. Whether you want to have the baby is up to you!" My brother turned around and raised his voice, which was rare since he usually obeyed his wife completely.
Seeing that they were about to argue, I quickly comforted my sister-in-law. After all, getting pregnant was still a big deal, and as the baby's aunt, it was not a big deal to contribute some money for the joy.
"Yvonne, don't worry. You can choose a house first. After you give birth, I will book the best care center near the hospital for you and pay for it! As the baby's aunt, I should spend money on my nephew and niece!"
Contrary to my expectations, my sister-in-law didn't get happy. Instead, she stared at my mom with a fixed gaze, while my mom avoided her gaze, afraid to look at my sister-in-law.
Is there something else?
"Since you don't want to say anything, I'll say it myself! You don't need to book any care center for me. I’ll move into your marital house with your brother tomorrow since it’s empty anyway. In this way, my mom will go to take care of me, so your parents don't need to come along. Your house has two floors, which is enough for us even if my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew come to live."
I couldn't believe what I just heard since it turned out they were waiting for me here!
Instinctively, I replied, "Yvonne, that house is not mine. Besides, I need it for my marriage with Victor!"
My wedding date was on October 1st. That house was bought by Victor's parents when he was in college, and it had nothing to do with me. At most, I only had the right to live there after marriage.
"Isn't the house you're currently renting good enough? Or you can just move back with Victor. So that you can also fulfill your filial duty when we’re the only ones to take care of your parents because equality exists between men and women!"
So, they meant they had fulfilled their filial duty since they had meals and accommodation here!
Seeing that I didn't respond, she suddenly raised her voice, "You pretended to be a good person just now, saying that you should spend some money, but now you refuse. Your family are all liars! If you don't let me move in, don't even think about having this child, and I'll have an abortion right now!" After saying that, my sister-in-law reached out and tried to hit her belly, which scared my mom, and she quickly rushed over to hold her hand while my brother ran over to stop her.
My dad pushed open the bedroom door with a bang and pointed at my brother, cursing loudly, "Lucas Collins, if you can afford to raise the child, then keep it. If you can't afford it, then forget it. Our Collins family would never do something as despicable as selling our daughter to support our son!"
"Well, that's fine; it serves your family right without offspring. Now I won't have this child anymore!" After listening, my sister-in-law angrily got up. She walked out, and my mom cried even harder beside her while my brother was torn between chasing after his wife and comforting my mom. My dad was so angry that his blood pressure soared, and his face turned red.
The scene was chaotic.
I quickly comforted my dad, checked his blood pressure to make sure he was okay, and then ran out to chase after my sister-in-law.
She was pregnant, and it was dangerous for her to run out like this without any care.
However, even though I ran as fast as possible, I couldn't catch up to Yvonne. I called out to her from behind, but she ran even faster. Finally, I watched helplessly as she entered the pink Maserati parked at the entrance.
It turned out that the car was waiting for my sister-in-law, but I didn't know which one of her friends was in the car.
My sister-in-law blocked all contact with our entire family and even took leave from the sales office. My brother stayed at her parents' house every day, either being beaten up by her brother or not being allowed to enter the house, and he gained nothing.
My mom called me every day, crying and sobbing, but I firmly refused to let my sister-in-law move into my marital house.
I didn't dare to mention it to Victor either to avoid any trouble since our wedding date was approaching.
The chaotic situation lasted for a week.
A week later, my brother received a call from the hospital:
My sister-in-law had a miscarriage!