My brother's wife, Mia, and I were pregnant at the same time, with due dates just a few days apart.

To avoid any postpartum conflicts, my mom, Melinda, generously booked two rooms at the same postpartum care center.

Our neighborhoods praised Melinda for being fair and open-minded.

As our bellies grew bigger, I finally went on maternity leave. With nothing much to do, I decided to take Melinda and Mia to check out the place.

Honeydew was the best postpartum care center around here. It was an independent estate with a great environment and quiet surroundings.

We explained our purpose to the reception, and soon a neatly dressed female manager took us upstairs for a tour. Along the way, the cleaning staff greeted us warmly.

The rooms Melinda booked cost 30 thousand dollars a month each, a considerable expense on her part.

The room was very spacious, with a private bathroom, and the decor was quite cozy.

Mia seemed very pleased, constantly looking around and touching things.

Jayden and Mia could only do odd jobs to make ends meet. This postpartum care center was certainly beyond their means, so it was thanks to Melinda's kindness that Mia can stay here.

The manager smiled and explained, "Although this room has only one bedroom, it's the best value for money and very popular. Your mother was quite fortunate to secure it."

The manager's words delighted me, and I looked around the room again. While it was big and bright, the single bedroom still lacked privacy.

"Do you have something better? There's no place for my mom to sleep in this room," I said.

Mia was visibly taken aback by my question but nodded in agreement.

The manager quickly understood my concern and led us to the top floor.

The top floor had a noticeably different atmosphere, still cozy but with an air of luxury.

When the manager opened the door to a room, I was stunned.

It was a large suite with two bedrooms, a small living room, and even a separate bed for the maternity nurse.

I was immediately smitten and forgot all about the previous room.

As I toured the suite a few more times, I noticed Mia standing nervously at the door. I pulled her inside, and she hesitantly asked, "Isn't this expensive?"

I smiled. "We don't have a baby every year. We should make this one count."

We returned to the small living room near the entrance, and Mia continued to discreetly admire the suite.

"Mom, let's switch to this one. It has two bedrooms, so you can stay with me at night," I said.

Melinda was also taken aback. People like her didn't have such luxuries during postpartum recovery.

The manager, ever astute, added, "If you upgrade the two rooms you originally booked to the presidential suite, there's a discount, making it only 80 thousand dollars per suite."

What? 80 thousand dollars? For one month? The price shocked me, but I really liked the room.

Mia said, "Maybe we should stick with the downstairs room. It's already great, and Mom has spent a lot."

But I wasn't ready to give up. I clung to Melinda's arm and pleaded, "Mom, let's switch. We don't always live in a room like this one. Let's enjoy it."

I glanced at Mia, who looked very anxious and kept shaking her head at Melinda.

After a moment of contemplation, Melinda said, "Alright! Let's enjoy it."

I was overjoyed and hugged Melinda tightly. "I knew you were the best, Mom."

Mia's eyes widened in shock.

Melinda let go of me and took Mia's hand. "Mia, I think one room for both of you is enough. We don't need two presidential suites, right?"

The atmosphere turned awkward. The manager's smile froze on her face as she looked at us, embarrassed.

Mia was visibly downcast but soon raised her head and smiled at Melinda, "It's alright. I'll stay downstairs. I'm already very grateful."

I laughed with my mom, Melinda, and the manager laughed too.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Signing the contract and transferring the money went smoothly, and I already started looking forward to my confinement period, eager to move in immediately and have hundreds of people taking care of me every day.

My brother Jayden and my mom Melinda lived in the same neighborhood, so close to my due date, I moved over to make it easier for them to take care of me. In the late stages of pregnancy, I needed someone around all the time.

Jayden was a truck driver and only comes home once every ten days or so. His wife, Mia, who was also heavily pregnant and unable to work, joined us for meals.

Her due date was a few days before mine. Three nights before her due date, Melinda was out all night, I don't know where.

Suddenly, Mia started having abdominal pain, and a gush of water flowed down her legs; her water had broken.

I quickly helped her sit down and frantically tried to call Melinda, but I couldn't reach her.

Facing this situation for the first time, I panicked and called 120 (emergency services). My sister-in-law was in excruciating pain, her contractions coming in waves, and her clothes soaked with sweat.

I was terrified, was giving birth really this scary?

When the ambulance arrived to take her away, the nurse looked at me sternly. "Where is the accompanying family member?"

"Can I do it?" I replied nervously, not knowing what I could do.

The nurse glanced at me. "You can't. Where are the other family members? Where is her husband?"

"Her husband is not home; he can't come back."

The nurse looked at Mia with concern, who weakly said, "I can manage. I can make decisions for myself."

"Alright then," the nurse said and shut the ambulance door without looking at me again.

Back home, I was anxious, unable to sit or stand still.

Calling Jayden was useless; he couldn't come back and was just as anxious. Melinda's phone was still unreachable.

Finally, at three in the morning, Melinda came back. I rushed to her. "Mia has given birth; she's already in the hospital. Where have you been? Why are you just coming back now?"

Melinda panicked for a moment, then hurriedly told me to go to bed and pushed me into bedroom.

"Instead of worrying about others, you better worry about yourself, just in case."

She was right; I suddenly became scared and didn't dare to mess around. After all, I really couldn't help much—there were doctors and nurses there, who were surely more helpful than me.

I lay in bed trying to calm myself down. Melinda was busy in the kitchen for a while and then left the house again.

I sneaked up to check and found that only a few eggs were missing from the house.

At that moment, I had to admit that Melinda might indeed be the evil mother. How could she not be with Mia while she was giving birth? Mia must be so scared now!

Our family doesn't have gender discrimination; Melinda only nurtures excellent children. So when Jayden didn't get into high school, my parents made him work in a factory to support my education.

Compared to him, my academic performance was much better. I didn't let them down and got into a top university. After graduation, I secured a stable job with a permanent position—it was smooth sailing.

I fell into reminiscence but was quickly interrupted by a sharp pain in my abdomen.

Could I be going into labor too?

Then, a more intense pain hit me. I quickly called Melinda, hoping she hadn't gone far.

I've been sensitive to pain since I was a child. After hanging up the phone, I felt like I was going to die from the pain. I couldn't help but roll and convulse.

Eventually, I passed out, and the last thing I remembered before losing consciousness was Melinda's anxious face rushing towards me.

I felt my abdomen being pulled and my pelvis being torn apart. In a daze, I followed the doctor's instructions. Finally, it felt like I was liberated.

When I opened my eyes again, Melinda and my husband were by my bedside, and Jeff had tears in his eyes.

"Joanna, are you okay? You went through too much, I love you."

I was about to be infuriated. Jeff had finally decided to show up. He was always running around, claiming he was making big money for us, but I hadn't seen much of that money, and he was never around.

I started crying and looked at Melinda with grievance. "Mom, I'm in so much pain..."

Melinda's tears welled up out of sympathy. "Dear, you've suffered enough. We won't have more children. One is enough."

I looked around the hospital room, which had only one bed.

"Where's Mia? How is she?"

Melinda averted her gaze and brought over a cup of oatmeal, "Dear, have some. I prepared it for you!"

I felt like vomiting. "Take it away, I don't want to drink it! How is Mia?"

Melinda, frustrated, put the oatmeal down, "Jeff, you take it."

Jeff cheerfully took it went to the back table to savor it.

"Don't worry about Mia. She's fine. She's already discharged and gone to the postpartum care center."

Hearing about the postpartum care center, my eyes lit up. "When do I get to go? Can I be discharged today?"

The previously sentimental atmosphere became lively. "You'll go soon. The staff from Honeydew will pick you up this afternoon."

I was instantly happy. At 3 PM, Honeydew's luxury nanny car was parked at the hospital entrance. Melinda helped me walk, while Melinda had disappeared again.

The maternity nurse held my newborn son. It was my first time seeing him. He was tiny, wrinkled, and quite ugly.

The gates of Honeydew opened for us. "Welcome home."

It was full of ceremony; the money was well spent.

Honeydew has two villas, and I was going to stay in the largest one in the middle of the courtyard, which looked like a castle.

I wasn't sure if it was just my illusion, but as we passed by a nondescript villa in the corner, I felt someone watching us.

Following my instinct, I looked over and saw only dark windows. This area shouldn't be for guests.

On the first day in the presidential suite, dinner and a late-night snack were delivered on time. Doctors and nurses checked on me, and the manager briefed me on the schedule for the next day.

At the postpartum care center, I wouldn't get bored. There were many activities every day. As a first-time mother, I was curious about everything and wanted to experience it all. But strangely, I never ran into Mia.

Honeydew didn't enforce breastfeeding, so I chose formula and could sleep as long as I wanted.

On the third day at Honeydew, I was woken up at dawn by noise.

"Is this how you take care of Mia? How can you be so discriminatory?"

Jayden's angry voice boomed from the living room, and Melinda's voice wasn't any less loud.

"She insisted on going back. I couldn't stop her."

In my pajamas, still groggy, I walked out of the room.

"What are you arguing about? What happened to Mia?"

Jayden glanced at me with a look I had never seen before, as if he wanted to stab me.

"Mia had no one with her during childbirth, and the promised postpartum care center was a lie. How can you treat her like this? You said you'd take good care of her."

Tears welled up in Jayden's eyes, and he struggled to hold them back.

I was getting more confused and angrier. Jayden had never spoken to us like this before.

"What are you talking about? I saw the room myself. It's just a bit smaller than this one. It's not as bad as you say."

Hearing my response, Jayden was furious. "A bit smaller? Three or four people crammed into one room, with only one maternity nurse looking after them. You call that a bit smaller? Why don't you go stay in the smaller one?"