From what the man revealed, I gleaned that it was Melissa who had sold him the house, and they were even relatives.

As I suspected, Melissa had indeed stolen the property deed from my suitcase.

I immediately called her. "Who said you could sell my house behind my back?" I demanded.

Instead of feeling even the slightest bit guilty, Melissa sounded smug when she answered, clearly delighted that she had gotten one over me.

"So what if I sold it? You refused to pay for Christmas dinner and even talked back to me. I simply thought I needed to teach you a lesson!"

"That's my premarital property! It has nothing to do with the Zink family! What you did is theft! It's illegal!" I screamed back, so incensed that my whole body was shaking.

"Illegal?" Melissa scoffed and began spouting her twisted logic. "You're my son's wife, which means what is yours is his, and what is his is mine! How is it illegal to sell what belongs to me?

"Either way, I already sold the house and received the money. Did you seriously think I wouldn't know how to handle that spoiled, rich girl temper of yours?"

I tried to keep my patience and hold back, yet Melissa kept pushing my buttons. Since it was pointless to argue with an unreasonable woman like her, I decided drastic measures were needed and called the police.

When I arrived at the police station closest to their home, Melissa was already throwing a fit.

The instant she spotted me, she lunged forward and tried to slap me. "You bitch! How dare you call the police!"

Shawn also rushed over, his lips twisted into a scowl. "Jennifer, that's my mom! How could you be so heartless?"

I didn't even hesitate as I shoved Melissa away before levelling a cold stare at Shawn. "You didn't even make a peep when your mom made things difficult for me at the Christmas dinner. Now, she's stolen my property deed and sold my house, and you suddenly have the guts to criticize me?"

His expression darkened further at my words.

Melissa kept yelling that she wasn't a thief and that what she sold was simply her own property.

Not wanting to waste any more breath on them, I showed the police the documents proving the house was my premarital property. If I were to pursue the matter, then Melissa would have to face legal consequences.

Melissa knew nothing about the law, and neither did the relative who bought the house. They both thought that the deal was done as long as they had the property deed. They had no idea that there were legal processes one had to go through when it came to buying and selling a house.

Thus, their transaction was invalid, and the house was still mine. If I didn't pursue the matter, Melissa wouldn't need to go to jail.

Realizing that, Shawn pleaded with me desperately, saying that his mother was already old and couldn't possibly be able to handle a prison sentence.

At first, I ignored him, but then he fell to his knees before me. After he swore that he would never let me be humiliated again, I reluctantly agreed to let the matter go.

Even so, I still decided to move out of our marital home. I needed some space to think about whether it was necessary my marriage to Shawn was worth saving.

…

Upon returning to our marital home, Shawn clung to my suitcase and apologized nonstop.

"I really didn't know Mom would do this," he said. "She knows that she was wrong now. If you don't want to go back there, we can just not go next time. Honey, please! Don't be like this, okay?"

I didn't waver. All I did was tell him that I wouldn't divorce him if Melissa had truly learned her lesson and stopped making things difficult for me. In any case, what I needed right now was some space.

Following that, Shawn tried to prove his sincerity through his actions. Every day, he would drove me to work and picked me up afterward. He would also cook for me.

Life was peaceful for a while. It seemed like Melissa really had stopped her campaign against me.

One evening, Shawn called to tell me he couldn't pick me up. He had to work overtime, so I returned home alone.

As I arrived at the guardhouse, the security guard said, "A group of fierce-looking men came looking for you earlier. They had an access card, so I had no reason to stop them from entering."

My brow furrowed at that. I hadn't given an access card to anybody else, so perhaps the guard had made a mistake.

After complaining about it to my parents, I went straight home.

To my surprise, the moment I opened the front door, I was greeted by the sight of several men. They swiftly closed in on me the second I stepped inside.

I hurriedly backed away in a panic, yelling, "Who are you people? Why are you in my house? I'm calling the police and have you arrested for trespassing!"

Someone was quick to shut the door. Meanwhile, the fiercest-looking man grabbed my hair and violently slammed my head against the wall.

"You bitch! Do you think I'm scared of you?"

Pain exploded through my skull.

I struggled to reach my bag, wanting to grab my phone to call the police. However, the man noticed and snatched it out of my reach. He tossed it to the others and ordered them to find my phone and crush it.

Then, he yanked my head back by my hair and snapped, "Trying to call the police, are you? Looks like I need to teach you a lesson!"

With that, he began punching and kicking at me.

All I could do was try my best to protect my head. Despite my efforts, blood still trickled from the corner of my mouth.

Once the man finally stopped, he snarled, "Aunt Melissa already sold this house to me, so what gives you the right to take it back, huh?"

He gestured at one of the men, who placed a house sale agreement in front of me.

"Today, you have to sign this agreement and give me the house, no matter what!"

Aunt Melissa sold this house to this man? It was only then that I realized that he was talking about my mother-in-law.

So, what Shawn said about her learning her lesson was nothing but a load of nonsense.

Fighting to endure the pain, I snuck a glance at the surveillance camera in the corner of the living room.

"I'm not signing anything. I never agreed to sell my house to you!"

At that moment, Melissa emerged from behind the men. Hands on her hips, she spat at me. "You bitch, it seems like you still haven't learned your lesson!"

She then turned to the men. "Don't hold back. Beat her up as hard as you can. I don't even care if she dies! At least then my son can marry someone I approve of!"

Hearing that, the man kicked me in the stomach, over and over again.

The agony was so intense that I couldn't even speak.

Then, he grabbed my hand and forced me to sign the house sale agreement. Waving the agreement at me, he declared, "Now that the house is mine, you can get the fuck out!"

When Melissa saw that I still wasn't dead, her eyes lit up with a sly gleam before she came over to yank at my clothes.

"Strip this bitch bare before tossing her out on the streets! Let's see if she's able to look anyone in the eye again after that!"

My eyes widened in terror as I stared at the group before me. "You can't do this to me!"

With just a glance from the leader, the other men had me pinned to the ground. Melissa's face twisted in a sinister smile as she tore at my clothes.

As my skin was exposed, the way those men looked at me changed.

The leader swept a lecherous gaze over me before saying to Melissa, "Aunt Melissa, since you plan on having your son get a new wife, why not let us have some fun with this one?"

Melissa didn't even hesitate before she agreed, her eyes gleaming maliciously. "Do whatever you want. That would save me the trouble of having to find an excuse for my son to divorce her. There's no way he would want damaged goods as a wife!"

After Melissa finished speaking, she backed away, allowing the men to surge forward. Their hands stretched out to touch my body greedily.

Rage and revulsion had me biting down on the leader's wrist before I bit off a chunk of flesh.

The man yelled in pain and jerked his hand back. Then, he slapped me with such force that my teeth cut into my lips, causing blood to trickle out.

Not satisfied with just that, he straddled my body, wrapped his hand around my throat, and started punching my face.

Excruciating pain dominated all my senses while blood stained my vision red.

Just as I thought I was about to die, I vaguely heard someone opening the door before the man was shoved off of me.

"Mom, stop it! How could you do this to Jennifer? She's my wife!

"Jennifer! Jennifer! Are you alright?"

The leader was so consumed by his rage that he kicked Shawn away without any mercy. "Get lost! How dare she bite off my flesh? I can't call myself a man if I don't kill her today!"

Melissa quickly dragged Shawn away. "How can you feel sorry for a woman wicked enough to send your mother to prison? I definitely won't forgive you if you dare help this bitch!"

Breath rattling in my chest, I lifted my head with much difficulty to gaze at Melissa. I honestly didn't understand why she hated me so much, to the point that she wanted me dead.

I had been nothing but nice to her ever since I married Shawn. I even bought her plenty of expensive jewelry.

So, if I had to die, I had to know the reason.

"Just because I refused to pay you the 326 dollars for the Christmas dinner, you resent me so much that you want me to die?"

With a prim nod, Melissa answered self-righteously, "Yes! You refused to pay and wanted to freeload off of us! So what if you're the daughter of a rich family? Since you married into the Zink family, you have to follow our rules!"

It was then that realization dawned on me.

This had never been about money. Melissa had wanted to show me who was boss at the Christmas dinner, but when she failed, she felt utterly humiliated.

That was why she kept harping on the matter and refused to let it go. She likely felt that a good daughter-in-law was one who was submissive to her and obeyed her every wish.

It was truly laughable how close-minded and conservative she was.

My current situation finally satisfied her pride and allowed her to abuse her authority as my mother-in-law. Smug delight painted her face as she ordered the men around arrogantly.

"Well? Are you guys going to have your way with the bitch or not? If not, hurry up and strip her naked before throwing her out on the streets! Let's see what man would still want her then!"

My resistance had successfully ruined the mood for the men, and they were no longer interested in forcing themselves on me. Instead, they turned their focus to ripping off my clothes.

I was no match against several grown men. It didn't take long before I was completely exposed.

There was a conflicted expression on Shawn's face. He wanted to stop them, but at the same time, he was too afraid of Melissa to do anything.

Seeing that, I felt the last bit of hope I had held out for him shrivel up and die. I curled into a ball in despair, trying my best to cover my body.

Right as they were about to toss me out, the door was kicked open with a loud bang.

"Freeze! Police!"

Immediately after, my mother came rushing inside before pulling me into a hug. "Don't be scared, Jennifer. Your dad and I are here!"