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Loretta pressed her heel into my thigh, grinding down hard.
Pain shot through me, and a scream escaped my lips.
“Oh, you weak little witch,” she sneered. “You’re acting all fragile now? I barely touched you, and you’re already crying out. Who’s this for?”
I glared back at her coldly. “Loretta Stone, you’re going to regret everything you’ve done today.”
“Still talking back? Well, now I’m going to teach you how a real daughter–in–law behaves!” she snarled.
From the day I married Ethan, she’d been itching to lay down “rules,” even making me a list of chores. She’d wanted me to wash her clothes, massage her feet–the works. Apparently, Ethan’s grandmother had treated her the same way, and she was eager to pass it on.
After all, no one knows how to torment a woman like another woman.
But she forgot who she was dealing with. I didn’t marry Ethan willingly, and he was a man with power–power he didn’t hesitate to use. Ethan tore up her list right in front of her, shouting her down. She’d hated me ever since, unable to vent her anger toward him.
Today, she finally had her chance.
Loretta called one of her friends to bring a basin of water from the bathroom. Grabbing me by the hair, she lowered her voice, her tone chilling, “Back in the day, women like you would be locked up in a cage for cheating. Today, you’re going to taste what that feels like.”
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Without warning, she shoved my head into the cold water.
The icy liquid closed over my face, filling my nose and mouth, and panic exploded as I struggled to breathe.
I thrashed, trying to free myself from her grip, but she held on tight.
Finally, just as I was on the edge of passing out, Loretta yanked me up, and I gasped, desperate for air, my face and clothes soaked, feeling utterly humiliated.
“You think you can just strut around my son’s house like you own it?” she hat. “He works hard to give you everything, and you treat him like a damn servant?”
Once I’d caught my breath, I glared at her, rage flooding every nerve in my body. “You’d better kill me if that’s what you want, Loretta. Otherwise, you’ll regret it.”
At that moment, I despised Ethan as much as I hated her. If he hadn’t forced me into this marriage, I’d never have had to endure this abuse.
Loretta’s face contorted with anger, and she slapped me so hard that blood dripped from my lip.
“Oh, you’re still mouthing off? Well, I’m not done yet.” She shoved my head back into the water, holding me there even longer this time, pressing me to my breaking point.
Each time she forced my head under, grew weaker, my body losing the will to fight.
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“Would you look at that,” Loretta sneered. She kicked me in the stomach, and I doubled over instinctively, my arms wrapping around my belly.
“You little tramp! You’ve even got the nerve to carry another man’s child?”
Panicking, I managed to say, “This isn’t some other man’s child–it’s Ethan’s!”
“Shut up!” she shouted, her fury unrelenting. “You think you can fool me? I know you didn’t want to have his baby! You made him go through with a vasectomy!”
She stabbed a finger toward me. “You’re trying to cut off my son’s family e!”
When Ethan and I first married, he refused to use protection, saying he wanted us to “be one in every way.” I bought boxes of birth control, making it clear that if he touched me, I’d take a pill every time. I refused to have a child with his “enhanced genes.” Eventually, he gave in and got a vasectomy.
Loretta’s friends gasped, horrified. To them, a family legacy was everything.
“This woman’s heart is pure evil,” one whispered. “She destroyed his bloodline and expects him to raise someone else’s kid.”
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“Back in my day, we wouldn’t have let that child see the light of day,” another muttered.
Loretta’s eyes darkened with cruel resolve. “You’re right. I’ll take care of this myself, right now.”
Terror gripped me, and I tried to reason with her, “Loretta, please, this
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“Right, you think I’ll fall for that? You’ve got him so hooked, he’d believe anything you say. But I’m his mother, and I won’t let him be humiliated like
this.”
And with that, she slammed her foot into my stomach. The pain was immediate, tearing through me as I crumpled.
“Please, Loretta…he’s your grandchild…” I gasped, my voice barely a whisper.
She laughed, cold and unyielding. “You’re pathetic. Don’t call me that. This is no grandchild of mine.”
Another kick drove deep into my belly, my vision blurring as a wave of red–hot pain consumed me.
