My Son Betrayed Me

My son got a girlfriend who's ten years older than him, divorced, and has a five-year-old son.

Of course I didn't approve. I strongly opposed it, but my son went on a hunger strike for a week, threatening to die.

Watching my son grow so weak he could barely speak, I gave in.

On the day we met the parents, she said arrogantly, "Ethan said he'll treat my son as his own, and to put my mind at ease, he's already gotten a vasectomy."

"Of course, if your family treats my son well, I might consider letting Ethan get a reversal surgery."

My son also rushed to declare his loyalty, "Until Jessica agrees, I absolutely won't have children of my own."

I completely gave up hope. I said calmly, "Whatever you two decide is fine. I have no objections."

When my son brought Jessica home for dinner, I didn't make things difficult for her or show her a cold face. I received her with a calm heart.

She wore elaborate makeup and dressed young, but standing next to my twenty-three-year-old son, you could see the age difference, though it wasn't too dramatic.

I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly and smiled as I made small talk with her.

After chatting for about half an hour, I took out an envelope I'd prepared beforehand and handed it to her.

Inside was eleven thousand dollars, which by our local standards was already quite generous.

When Jessica took it, she thought she was being subtle, but her fingers obviously pinched to gauge the thickness.

The corners of her mouth turned down. Clearly she thought it was too little.

I'd originally thought that since my son loved her so much, she must have some redeeming qualities I hadn't discovered yet, and I wanted to talk with her more.

Now I'd completely lost interest.

I made an excuse about having work at the company, preparing to end this meeting.

That's when Jessica spoke up.

"Since Ethan and I are planning to get married, we'll be family from now on.

There's something I don't want to hide from you."

"Ethan always says you're an open-minded mother. I believe you'll understand."

Hearing this, I had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, Jessica's attitude seemed respectful, but her eyes were full of provocation as she said, "Ethan said he'd treat my child as his own, but words are just words.

So to put my mind at ease, he voluntarily got a vasectomy."

I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

A vasectomy?

Suppressing my anger, I looked sharply at my son.

"Ethan, is what she's saying true?"

My son's eyes flashed with guilt as he explained, "Mom, Andy is still young, at a sensitive age. He often has nightmares at night because he's scared."

"Not only is Jessica worried, I'm worried too, so I went and... got the vasectomy."

Jessica pretended to comfort me. "This is all temporary. As long as I'm sure your family truly treats my son well, I'll agree to let Ethan get a reversal surgery."

A surge of anger shot up, burning so hot my whole body trembled.

What did she mean by "she's sure"? "She'll agree"?

But before I could demand an explanation, my son was already rushing to show his loyalty to Jessica.

"Don't worry, I'll never go back on what I promised you!"

"Until you agree, I absolutely won't have children of my own."

My son's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over me, chilling me to the bone. In that moment, I completely gave up hope.

I said calmly, "Whatever you two decide is fine. I have no objections."

Ethan took Jessica home, and I collapsed on the sofa, lost in thought.

My son Ethan had been obedient and sensible since childhood, did well in school, got into a prestigious university, and after graduation used his own abilities to get into a major tech company.

I could say he'd never given me any trouble.

But I never expected I'd stumble so badly on his marriage.

Jessica was his coworker. Ethan fell for her at first sight.

"She's extremely capable, she's been involved in so many major projects."

"She has a great personality, everyone at the company likes her."

"There are a lot of factions at the company. If she hadn't warned me, I would have offended people."

"When we work overtime, she always orders takeout for me."

...

This was Ethan's first relationship.

Of course I wanted to bless it, but Jessica was not only ten years older than him, she was also divorced, and even had a five-year-old son!

What I didn't expect even more was that Ethan would go on a hunger strike and threaten to die for her sake.

A mother can probably never win against her son, so I gave in and tried hard to convince myself to accept them.

But I never imagined that this woman Jessica would encourage Ethan to get a vasectomy!

I run beauty salonsmy job is dealing with women. I knew her little schemes crystal clear.

Ethan's hunger strike for her gave her confidence. She just wanted to use Ethan to control me.

As long as I still wanted grandchildren, I'd have to listen to her.

But what made me even angrier was Ethan.

I didn't believe he didn't know how important the vasectomy was, how angry and upset I'd be when I found out, but he still did it.

He was just relying on being my only son, convinced I couldn't do anything about it.

Instantly, a thought I couldn't control popped up.

I was forty-seven this year, healthyI was completely in time to have another one!

When Ethan came home, I was still wildly tempted by that thought.

He sat down across from me, somewhat unhappy as he asked, "Mom, today when Jessica mentioned my vasectomy, if I hadn't interrupted, were you going to get angry?"

I stared at him sharply and asked, "You got a vasectomy without saying a word. Shouldn't I be angry?"

Ethan froze and said, "That's not what I meant."

"Mom, you've always opposed us being together.

Jessica doesn't feel secure, so that's why I came up with the vasectomy idea.

Don't blame her."

I didn't believe a word of this!

But the deed was already done.

Arguing now about whose idea it was had no meaning.

I looked at him steadily and asked with utmost seriousness, "Ethan, I'm asking you one last time.

If I still don't agree, will you still insist on marrying Jessica?"

Ethan suddenly stood up and said emotionally, "Mom, didn't we already agree?

Why are you going back on your word?"

"Anyway, she's the only person I'll love in this life!"

"If I can't marry her, I'd rather die!"

"Mom, don't make me hate you!"

Hearing Ethan say "don't make me hate you," I laughed coldly inside and completely let go of that last shred of hope.

Have another one. I made the decision instantly.

I said calmly, "Ethan, you're not young anymore, and you're about to get married and start a family with someone else.

From now on, I won't interfere in your affairs. You make your own decisions."

After a pause, I said meaningfully, "You chose this partner yourself. I hope you won't regret it."

Ethan's obsession with Jessica was obvious to the naked eye, but the way Jessica looked at Ethan wasn't as passionate as how she looked at my Herms Birkin bag.

Unfortunately, Ethan didn't notice and kept singing Jessica's praises to me.

On the surface I listened attentively, but inside I was already screening candidates to father my child.

Over ten years ago, when Ethan's dad was secretly meeting his mistress, he died in a car accident.

After that, I never remarried for Ethan's sake, but I also had needs, so I dated a few boyfriends.

My current one was a company employee.

His family had difficulties and I helped them out, then later he got into my bed under the guise of repaying me.

He was young and handsome, so I just went along with it.

He'd been my underground lover for several years without any official status, never actively asked for anything, never used my influence to suppress anyone, and instead worked hard for the company.

Almost instantly, I made my decision. Him it was.

I took out my phone and sent him a message.

I'm coming to your place tonight to stay over.

After that, in my effort to get pregnant, I was trying almost every day, always getting home in the middle of the night.

And Ethan was right in the thick of his infatuation with Jessica, also frequently staying out all night.

We clearly lived under the same roof, but we managed not to run into each other, and Ethan didn't notice at all that I was coming home late.

After more than two months of this, Ethan called me, saying he wanted to discuss the wedding.

That day, we both rarely came home from work on time.

He talked for a bit about his and Jessica's recent situation, emphasizing how good Jessica was to him, how her son was starting to accept him, and how happy that made him.

After going on about this for over half an hour, he asked me, "Mom, what style of wedding do you prefer?"

After listening to him talk nonsense for so long, honestly, I was quite annoyed.

I said bluntly, "This is your and Jessica's wedding. Shouldn't you be asking what she likes?"

"I told you, I respect all your decisions."

Ethan was very happy. "I said there'd be no problem, but Jessica insisted I ask you."

He asked again, "Mom, Jessica says the wedding needs eighty thousand dollars. That's okay, right?"

Ethan said with both heartache and emotion, "I think eighty thousand is too little, but she insisted, saying as long as she can marry me, she'd be willing even without a wedding ceremony.

Mom, Jessica is so good, I don't want her to feel wronged."

As he spoke, Ethan's eyes even reddened.

I raised an eyebrow. Looks like Jessica's ambitions weren't small.

Sure enough, Ethan immediately continued, "Mom, that luxury penthouse you bought me for my marriageI want to add Jessica's name to the deed, and then do a prenuptial agreement."

I put my water glass down on the coffee table, a bit heavilybang.

I looked at Ethan and said calmly, "If you bought the house yourself, you could even put only her name on it if you wanted."

"But I paid for that penthouse. Understand?"

Ethan was stunned and after a long pause could only squeeze out, "Isn't it all family money?"

I laughed coldly. He knew it was family money!

I was too lazy to beat around the bush with him and decided to speak plainly.

"I don't like Jessica, but if you insist on marrying her, I won't oppose it. I respect you."

"But my thingstell Jessica to stop coveting them!"

"And you stop coveting them too!"

Ethan's face turned from red to white.

"Mom, I'm your son. Why do you have to be so clear about everything?"

He said righteously, "Your things will eventually be left to us anyway!"

Though I already knew he thought this way, thinking it and hearing it firsthand were two different things.

I said mockingly, "Don't speak in such absolutes. I don't necessarily have to leave it to you."

Ethan said impatiently, "Mom, I know you're angry about the vasectomy, but I've already explained. Can you stop being so passive-aggressive!"

"Also, don't think I can't tellyou're just trying to use money to control me, to make me break up with Jessica. Let me tell you, I absolutely won't compromise!"

"Just you wait and seeeven without your money, we can live well!"

After delivering his speech, Ethan slammed the door and left.

After that, he started preparing for the wedding.

It was very grandcustom wedding dress and diamond ring, five-star hotel, tables at sixty-eight hundred dollars each, the venue decorated entirely with imported fresh flowers.

He really kept his wordhe never asked me for a cent.

But I only had this one son.

I'd always been generous with money when it came to him.

For holidays I'd give him envelopes with fifty or a hundred thousand dollars.

During his university years, his monthly allowance was ten thousand.

That only stopped when he started working.

His savings must be at least close to a million.

At the end of the day, wasn't that also my money?

So when Ethan stood on stage saying something about how no matter how many people opposed him, he had the ability to give Jessica happiness, I only found it laughable.

My best friend sitting next to me rolled her eyes and said bluntly, "Your son was raised for nothing."

Thinking of the pregnancy test result from this morning, my smile deepened. "Yeah, so I'm hoping this time I can have a daughter."

My friend froze. "You mean you're..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Jessica's mother's shrill voice interrupted, "You're pregnant?"