Eighteen Rounds for This Betrayal

My husband Jason had weak sperm.

After our eighteenth round of IVF, I finally got pregnant.

I came home with my eight-week ultrasound report, overjoyed, only to find my mother-in-law Margaret with a dark expression.

This baby can't stay.

Your sister-in-law Madison is fighting her husband for custody of their son in the divorce.

If she gets custody, it'll be hard for her to find someone new with a kid in tow.

We'll raise little Tyler here instead.

I couldn't believe my ears.

"Margaret, what did you say? You want me to abort my baby? Are you out of your mind?"

"If she can't raise him, then let his father have custody. I'm not raising him, and I'm definitely not getting rid of my baby!"

Madison's expression immediately turned sour. "Jason already agreed. Who the hell do you think you are? This family isn't yours to run!"

I looked at my husband in disbelief. "Jason, you agreed to this?"

Jason grabbed my arm, trying to persuade me.

"Madison's looking out for you. You've never raised a child before. Having Tyler here would give you practice for being a mom. Just listen to her."

I was shaking with rage.

"Jason, three years! I've done countless IVF cycles. My stomach is covered in needle marks.

Now that I've finally succeeded, you want me to abort?"

Margaret chimed in with her snide remarks.

"Who's fault is it that you're useless?

Jason's been kind enough to keep going through this with you.

Anyone else would've divorced you ages ago!"

"I'm making the decision. Abort the baby. When Tyler's older, you two can try again."

I looked at my husband, my face pale. "Is this what you think too?"

He pulled me aside and lowered his voice. "It's just weak sperm. If it worked once, it can work again. Just listen to Madison."

I stared at him in despair.

He still didn't know that he now had azoospermia---no sperm at all.

"Jason, do you have any humanity left? That's your own flesh and blood in my belly, and you want me to abort it to raise your sister's kid?"

Jason grabbed my hands, looking aggrieved.

"Emma, please understand. Tyler is Madison's son, born after ten months of pregnancy. I can't bear to see them separated."

"But you can bear to let our baby die before it's even born?"

My eyes were red.

"Jason, we've been waiting for this baby for three years. I've done eighteen IVF cycles. How can you not want our baby?"

For this child, I'd taken ovulation shots for three years. My stomach was covered with tiny needle marks.

The egg retrieval was so painful I wanted to die. Back then, Jason had held my stomach and cried tears of heartbreak.

"Emma, you've suffered so much. From now on, you and the baby are my life. I swear, as long as I'm here, no one will hurt you."

But now, the man who'd sworn to protect us with his life wanted to be the executioner who killed his own child first.

Jason looked torn as he glanced at Madison.

"Madison, maybe we should think of another solution..."

"Another solution, my ass! Who else could we trust to raise Tyler? We're going today. From now on, Emma will be Tyler's mom!"

Margaret shoved Jason aside and dragged me toward the door.

I clutched the table desperately, screaming at the top of my lungs.

"Mom, this baby is your grandchild too!"

Margaret sneered. "My daughter is my blood. Her child is the true heir of the Smith family. You're an outsider. How can your child compare to my daughter's?"

"Besides, I'm not saying you can never have kids. Once you've put Tyler through college, you can have as many as you want. But this one has to go!"

I was trembling with rage.

"Margaret, I'm twenty-eight years old. Tyler is four. He won't graduate college for another twenty years. I'll be almost fifty by then. How am I supposed to have children?"

Before Margaret could respond, Madison added her mocking commentary.

"If you can't have them, someone else can.

Jason can have children with another woman.

You're a barren woman anyway. IVF babies aren't even healthy.

Let Jason have kids, and you can just pay to raise them."

"You just focus on raising my Tyler. If I'm satisfied, I might consider letting Tyler take care of you when you're old."

I was about to explode with fury.

She wanted me to raise her son, while Jason had children with other women, and I'd have to pay for them? What did that make me?

A complete fool?

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I was about to reveal the secret I'd kept buried for three years.

"The one who can't have children isn't me, it's..."

"Emma!"

Jason dropped to his knees in front of me, frantically giving me meaningful looks.

"Emma, I know you're suffering. But Madison saved my life when we were kids. I owe her this.

I have to repay her. I'm begging you, please just agree."

I was furious.

"You owe your sister, so you repay her yourself. Why should my baby's life be the price? I'm telling you, absolutely not!"

Madison pulled him up, glaring at me coldly.

"Why are you negotiating with her? You're the father. You have the right to terminate the pregnancy!"

Madison dragged me toward the door without another word. I screamed in panic.

"This is illegal! I'm calling the police!"

I grabbed my phone to call for help, but Margaret snatched it away.

Then Madison slapped me hard across the face.

"You dare call the police? This is a family matter. I'll tell the cops you're pregnant with another man's baby and we were just trying to stop you from leaving. Who's going to interfere?"

My face burned with pain. I was shaking all over.

I stared at Jason. "Jason, you're just going to watch your sister hit me?"

Jason cowered like a turtle, glancing timidly at his sister before pleading softly with me.

"Emma, that's just how Madison is. Please bear with it."

"Bear with it? How am I supposed to bear with this? Jason, your mother and sister want to kill our baby. Do you have a heart or not?"

Before I could finish, Madison kicked me in the chest.

"So what if I hit you? Let me tell you something, Emma.

If you come with us quietly to get the abortion, it'll be easier on you.

Otherwise, I'll kick that baby out of you myself.

You'll hemorrhage so badly you won't even be able to save your uterus. Believe me?"

I stumbled backward and fell to the ground, gasping for air.

Jason took a half-step forward as if to help me, but didn't dare. He looked at me pathetically.

"Emma, just agree. I promise we'll get you painless anesthesia at the hospital..."

"What painless anesthesia?"

Margaret shot him a displeased look. "She can't have children. Spending money on her is wasteful. Save it all for Tyler!"

She turned to look at me with a smile that held poison-tipped needles.

"Emma, don't blame me for being cruel. You can only blame your timing for being wrong. If you'd gotten pregnant three years ago when you got married, the baby would be running around by now. This is your fate. Just accept it."

I looked up sharply at Jason.

"Jason, say something! Tell your mother the truth---I'm not the one who can't have children. This baby can't be aborted. You have azoosper---"

"Emma!"

Jason pulled me up from the floor and said earnestly.

"Margaret's just blunt. But I never looked down on you for not being able to conceive, did I?"

"Tyler and Madison are my mom's whole life. She can't stand to see them suffer even a little. She's just upset."

"Don't worry, I won't make you wait twenty years to have another baby. Just terminate this pregnancy first. I'll talk to Margaret and my sister later about letting you have one sooner."

He leaned close to my ear, his voice very low. "Come on, Emma. I have weak sperm, not no sperm. You'll just have to work hard for a few more years. I'm sure you'll get pregnant again."

My heart turned to ice.

Three years ago, our premarital checkup revealed his weak sperm. He'd cried so helplessly, so pitifully. I knew he was afraid I'd leave him.

I chose to marry him anyway because I couldn't bear to give up our three-year relationship.

For the sake of his pride, I'd accepted the narrative that I was the infertile one.

Three years. Eighteen IVF cycles.

Each one stripped away a layer of my being.

And all I got in return was his "I never looked down on you" and "you'll just have to work hard for a few more years."

I suddenly laughed, tears streaming down my face.

"Tyler and your sister are your mom's life. Isn't my baby my life too?"

I tried to grab his collar, but my fingers were shaking too hard to muster any strength.

"Jason, do you realize this might be your only child? Are you really this heartless?"

Reluctance flashed in Jason's eyes. He turned to look at Margaret.

"Margaret, maybe we should keep this baby. Emma's pregnancy wasn't easy. We can still raise Tyler. Whatever Madison wants, we'll agree to it."

Margaret and Madison exchanged glances. Margaret's tone softened.

"I can't bear to lose my grandchild either.

Your sister's just worried that once Emma has her own child, she'll treat Tyler badly.

How about this---to put your sister's mind at ease, have Emma sign a property transfer agreement.

Everything goes to Tyler. Then we can keep the baby."

Madison immediately pulled out an agreement and shoved it in my face.

"Sign it!"

"Emma, take a look. Make sure there's nothing I don't know about. Hand over everything so Margaret and my sister can feel secure."

I stared blankly at the agreement, which listed every single asset I owned in detail.

A 2,000-square-foot apartment in a premium school district, worth $300,000.

Two 1,000-square-foot commercial properties in the downtown business district, worth $2 million.

A beauty salon business, worth $500,000.

$400,000 in fixed deposits across three major banks.

A Mercedes, 200 grams of gold, household appliances...

From major assets like properties and savings down to every needle and thread, everything was documented clearly.

I hadn't even realized I owned this much.

The last item on the agreement was particularly striking.

[Assets to be managed by legal guardian. Manager: Madison Smith]

A voice in my head suddenly made everything clear. I finally understood the real reason behind all this.

Aborting the baby was just an excuse. Seizing my assets was the real goal.

I looked up at Jason and asked through gritted teeth.

"Jason, you'd kill our baby for this?"

His eyes darted away. "Emma, you said the baby was your life, right? Trading all your assets for the baby's life is worth it."

My face turned iron gray with rage. I threw the agreement on the floor.

"I won't sign! These are my premarital assets. They have nothing to do with you. This is extortion and blackmail. I'm going to report you!"

Madison immediately flew into a rage. She grabbed my hair and slapped me repeatedly until my head was ringing.

"Bullshit! You little bitch! You belong to the Smith family, so your money belongs to the Smith family!"

She grabbed my hand and pressed it hard onto red ink pad.

"We were being nice by discussing it with you. Just stamp your fingerprint and sign. Don't make me get nasty!"

Her strength was terrifying. My wrist bone felt like it was about to shatter.

I screamed in pain. "Jason, are you dead?"

Jason stood there unmoved. Not only did he not intervene, but he spread his hands with a helpless expression.

"Emma, giving the assets to Tyler is just giving him security. We're all family. Why make such a fuss?"

"Just sign it and you'll suffer less."

My heart felt like it had a gaping hole in it, cold through and through.

Margaret picked up a stick and struck my waist hard, saying viciously, "Are you going to sign or not? If not, the next hit is your stomach!"

I screamed in pain. My waist throbbed, and my stomach felt an ominous heavy ache.

My heart lurched with fear. I closed my eyes in despair.

"I'll sign..."

My hands trembled as I pressed my fingerprint, tears falling.

Seeing my clear fingerprint on the property transfer agreement, all three of them breathed a sigh of relief at once.

"Should've cooperated earlier. Would've saved me the trouble!"

Madison blew on the still-wet marks, then collected the agreement with satisfaction.

Jason finally came over and reached out to help me up.

"Emma, good girl. What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you."

My stomach cramped in waves. My face contorted.

"My stomach hurts. Take me to the hospital."

Jason looked at me nervously. "It's okay, Emma. I'll take you to the hospital right now. We'll definitely save our baby."

He'd just gotten me to the door when Margaret stopped him.

"Wait. You gave all your money to Tyler. Where's the money for the hospital?"

"Did you hide money from us? Unlock your phone. Let's check how much she still has."

Margaret clutched my phone and walked over to slap me hard across the face.

"What's your phone password?"

My already swollen cheek took another brutal hit. Blood seeped from the corner of my mouth.

"That's all the money I have left. I need it for childbirth..."

"Childbirth? You're Tyler's mother now.

Everything has to be about Tyler first.

You're already thinking about your own baby before it's even born?

That money belongs to Tyler. You have to hand it all over."

I looked pleadingly at Jason. Jason said helplessly, "Emma, just give it to them. Don't make Margaret angry."

I shook my head stubbornly. "No. That's my and my baby's emergency money. You can't have it..."

"Thud!"

A kick to my stomach. My back slammed against the door with a dull sound.

Searing pain shot through my lower abdomen. A hot stream gushed between my legs.

"Won't talk?"

Margaret grabbed my hair and bashed my head against the door.

"Then you can forget about keeping this baby!"

I screamed in agony as my vision went black. "Jason..."

Jason grabbed Margaret's hand.

"Margaret, that's enough. Emma's pregnant with my child."

I slumped weakly against the door, blood streaming down my forehead and covering my face.

Jason grabbed my chin. I thought he was checking my injuries.

But instead, he held my phone up to my face for facial recognition.

I struggled frantically, but couldn't break free.

The phone unlocked effortlessly.

He opened my mobile banking app. His eyes grew wider and wider.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven..."

Margaret and Madison crowded over. Seeing the string of zeros in the balance, their voices trembled.

"Two hundred thousand dollars!"

Margaret grabbed my hair.

"You little bitch! You hid this much money from Jason. Tell me, how much more do you have that we don't know about?"