The Betrayal After My Second BabyChapter 1
Right after giving birth to my second child, my parents rushed over from their hometown and transferred $88,000 as a gift for the baby.
My husband smiled and said, "Mom and Dad are so generous to their grandson."
My parents and I exchanged glances, all of us stunned.
"Irvin Cobb, what do you mean? Didn't we agree the second child would take my surname? Why are you calling him your grandson?" My face darkened immediately.
Before my husband could respond, my mother-in-law jumped in.
"Absolutely not! Baby Abbott is a boy! He's going to carry on the Cobb family name—how could he possibly take your surname!"
My parents' expressions turned cold.
Their good upbringing and manners were the only things keeping them from exploding.
But I couldn't hold back.
"Irvin! Is this what you want, or what your mother wants?"
My husband looked at me, stammering, "W-well, what if we changed Marcia Pruitt's surname to yours instead?"
The moment those words left his mouth, the room went dead silent.
I laughed in disbelief.
"Fine!"
"Then let our daughter take my name!"
...
Hearing this, my mother-in-law's eyes went wide.
"What? Take your name? Irvin, have you lost your mind? Letting your daughter take someone else's surname! Your father would kill you!"
She kept going on about ancestral traditions, how children must take their father's name.
My mother took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.
"Brooklyn Cobb, times have changed. Children taking their mother's surname is perfectly common now. Greta Pruitt is our only daughter—we just want something to carry on our family too."
My mother-in-law scoffed, looking my mother up and down with disdain.
"Oh, carry on? How noble that sounds! You just couldn't produce a son yourself, so now you want to steal our Cobb family's grandson to take care of you in your old age? Not a chance!"
"You—how can you say such things!" My mother was shaking with anger. My father quickly steadied her, his face like thunder.
Fury surged through me. I turned to Irvin, who was shrinking into the corner, and shouted:
"We agreed the second child would take my name! What is your mother playing at?"
Irvin's eyes darted away, stammering for what felt like forever. "W-well, why don't we ask Marcia what she thinks?"
I couldn't believe my ears.
He wanted to put this decision on a child?