“Your daughter-in-law still hasn’t gotten pregnant?”
“Who knows? Nothing’s happened.”
“Maybe she’s infertile?”
“Exactly. My daughter got pregnant right after she married, and her baby’s over a year old now.”
“Maybe you should try some remedies or something?”
Mildred rolled her eyes at me and taunted, “Well, looks like she’s just some barren woman with nothing to offer.”
What kind of mother-in-law would crack such jokes?
I couldn’t take it anymore. I went into my room and tried calling Owen, but he didn’t answer, no matter how many times I tried.
When he finally came home that evening, Mildred dragged him into her room, muttering about who-knows-what.
Later, Owen came into our room. I wanted to talk to him, but he was glued to his phone, typing away non-stop.
I reached for his phone.
“Quit being ridiculous. I’m working,” he muttered, looking flustered.
I was taken aback. “What kind of work has you this busy, even after you get home?”
“Do you think money just falls from the sky? Every penny in this house comes from the hard work I put in. And you? All you do is spend money. You can’t even take care of my mom properly.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “What money of yours have I spent? Other than the groceries and the essentials, what else is there? Mildred picks on me every single day, and now you’re saying I didn’t look after her?”
“I’m done. I’m not arguing with you,” Owen said, turning his back and going to sleep.
I cried quietly, not getting a single wink of sleep that night.
…
After that, I pretended not to hear it whenever Mildred gave me a hard time. I stopped complaining to Owen, too. It wasn’t worth it since he never had my back.
I put up with it for over six months, all just to have a place to call home.
But something about Owen started to feel off. His late nights away from home became the norm, even when work wasn’t the real reason.
And every time he returned, he’d be glued to his phone, his face lighting up with such a soft smile. Whenever he saw me catch it, he’d quickly cover it up.
That day, I left the house and quietly flagged down a cab to follow Owen. He pulled up to a fancy residential complex. I couldn’t get in, so I just waited outside.
It didn’t take long before Owen finally showed up. But to my surprise, he had his arm around a woman with a small baby bump. They looked so cozy as they got into the car together.
I quickly hopped into another cab and tailed them. In the end, their car pulled up outside a hospital.
