I tore myself free from Marvin and Georgia and stumbled toward my parents.

Grabbing their hands, I choked out, "Mom, Dad… please, save me!"

The sight of my tear-streaked face clearly shocked them. They frowned as they sized me up.

"Evelyn, what happened to you? Didn't you call us, saying that you have good news? Why do you look like this?"

I called them earlier and asked them to come over. After being forced to abort two babies, I didn't dare take any chances this time. So, I reached out to Mom and Dad for help, and thankfully, they really came.

With them here, I finally found my courage. I sobbed, trembling. "Mom, Dad, Marvin and Georgia are bullying me."

My parents' faces darkened with anger. Mom snapped, "Marvin, Georgia, my daughter married into your family as your daughter-in-law, not a punching bag!"

Dad added, "You owe us an explanation today. We won't just let this slide."

Marvin and Georgia glanced at them but didn't bother to argue. They simply led everyone back into the living room.

Then, Marvin spoke up. "Evelyn's pregnancy isn't viable. The baby has to go."

The moment I heard those words, a wave of dread rose inside me. I was about to beg Mom and Dad to take me home when the parrot piped up again.

It stared straight at my stomach, chanting nonstop, "Get rid of the baby! Get rid of the baby!"

It was just one sentence, but my parents' expressions shifted. They exchanged a look with Marvin and Georgia, as though they'd reached some sort of silent agreement.

The next moment, Mom and Dad turned to me with grim faces. "Evelyn, you have to terminate this pregnancy. Be good. Go to the hospital with Marvin and Georgia."

Their words hit me like a slap. I never would have imagined that Mom and Dad would be just as absurd as Georgia and Marvin. They were blindly believing the parrot's words and forcing me to get rid of the baby too. Hearing it from them hurt more than anything.

My eyes widened in disbelief as I shouted, "How can you listen to a parrot? This is your grandbaby we're talking about! What year is it? How can you trust a bird over a doctor's report?"

I snatched the papers scattered on the floor and shoved them at Mom and Dad, begging them to look.

But they shook me off, scolding me as if I was the one being unreasonable. "We said you can't keep this baby. Stop causing trouble! Do as you're told and abort it!"

Meanwhile, the parrot squawked even louder, driving me mad.

My eyes turned red as I glared at it. "It's you and your nonsense! You're the one who deserves to die!"

I lunged for the parrot, ready to wring its neck, but Mom and Dad grabbed me roughly, holding me back. Mom slapped me across the face, and Dad dug his fingers into my arm.

Both of them shouted in unison, "Evelyn, stop disgracing us! Go to the hospital and get rid of that baby!"

As I watched Mom and Dad lay their hands on me, a cold emptiness spread through my chest.

I hid the first two forced abortions from them because I didn't want them to worry or fight with Marvin and Georgia. So, I shouldered the grief alone.

This time, I finally reached out, hoping they would stand by me and protect me. But I was wrong. They were siding with Georgia and Marvin and pressuring me to give up my baby.

Clutching my belly, I sobbed, my tears dripping onto the floor.

No one was on my side. I was completely alone.

I spotted the front door wide open and tried to run, but Georgia and Marvin moved quickly and blocked my path. Seeing me resist again and again, they lost all patience.

Marvin tied me up with a rope, while Georgia came back from the kitchen holding an abortion pill.

My blood ran cold. I scrambled backward, crying. "Georgia, please… For the sake of all these years I've spent serving this family—please, let this baby live! If you let me keep him, I'll do anything you want! He's only three months old! He's done nothing wrong! Please, give him a chance to live..."

I even turned to Mom and Dad and pleaded through tears. "Mom, Dad, please help me. I've already lost two babies. I can't lose another. I'm your daughter—don't just stand there while I suffer like this!"

I cried until my throat ached. I tried everything I could, but not a single one of them showed me an ounce of pity. Their eyes were cold, filled only with determination to destroy the life inside me.

Before forcing me to take the abortion pill, Georgia said, "Evelyn, if the parrot said that this baby can't stay, it means it can't stay. Don't blame us. It just isn't meant to be."

Marvin nodded. "You can always have another one. Losing this baby is no big deal!"

Their words were cruel and dismissive.

Mom and Dad stayed silent, but their silence was enough to show that they agreed.

And I was left broken, drowning in pain and despair. The memory of my first two babies being ripped away from me came crashing back, every moment as raw as the day it happened.

Georgia pried my mouth open and forced the abortion pill down my throat.

I choked and coughed before I suddenly heard a furious voice. "What the heck are you doing to Evelyn?"

I looked up and met Gabriel's stunned eyes.

The moment I saw him, my tears fell even harder. "Honey, please… save our baby."

He rushed over, shoved Marvin and Georgia aside, and untied me before pulling me into his arms.

Seeing me cry so desperately, his eyes grew red. He stroked my back and whispered soothingly, "It's okay, Evelyn. Don't be afraid. I'm here now."

Now that I finally had someone to lean on, I broke down and sobbed uncontrollably.

Gabriel loved me. He always treated me with care and never let me suffer even the slightest grievance. He often traveled for weeks at a time, but he would hire multiple housekeepers to make sure I was well cared for. He was only back now because I'd called him.

Once I quieted a little, he looked at Marvin, Georgia, Mom, and Dad, fury blazing in his eyes.

"Mom, Dad, Evelyn is your daughter-in-law. How could you treat her this way? Didn't you promise you would treat her like your own daughter?"

Then, he turned to Mom and Dad, his tone filled with reproach. "Both of you are Evelyn's parents, and yet you just stood by while she was being mistreated. Do you even deserve to be called her parents?"

None of them argued back. They simply said that my pregnancy had to be terminated.

Gabriel ignored them. He bent down to scoop me up into his arms and was ready to take me to the hospital when the parrot spoke again.

"Get rid of the baby! Get rid of the baby!"

I instinctively covered Gabriel's ears and looked at him through tears. "Please, don't listen to it."

But I knew he heard it. And just like that, his expression shifted.

He looked away from me and turned to stare at the parrot.

The parrot's words echoed through the whole house, and it felt like they were etched into my mind.

I grabbed Gabriel's face, forcing him to look at me. "Honey, don't believe it. It's nonsense. Please, don't listen to that bird."

I clung to a shred of hope. Gabriel loved me. He was educated and rational. Surely he wouldn't force me to give up our baby because of a parrot.

But when I looked at him with all my hope, he said the same thing as the rest of them.

"Evelyn, terminate the pregnancy."

His words struck me like lightning, obliterating my last shred of hope.

I grabbed his collar, my hands shaking uncontrollably. "Gabriel, do you even know what you're saying?"

He nodded firmly. "This baby has to go. You have no choice."

I slapped him hard across the face when I heard what he said.

I took the amniocentesis report from the floor and shoved it at him. My voice was raw with rage as I shouted, "This is your baby! He's healthy and perfect! Why would you still choose to believe a parrot and kill him?"

Gabriel barely glanced at the report before frowning coldly. "It doesn't matter what you say. This baby can't be born. Whether you like it or not, this pregnancy has to be terminated."

At that moment, all strength drained from me. I could only laugh bitterly, the sound coming out hollow and broken. "Gabriel, this is our third baby. Your parents forced me to abort our first and second baby too."

His eyes widened, filled with shock and disbelief.

I never told him about the first two babies I lost. I never even mentioned that I was pregnant.

I'd planned to surprise him when he returned from his business trips, but each time, Marvin, Georgia, and that parrot ruined everything before it could even happen.

I hid it because I was afraid that he would resent his parents if he learned the truth. But I shouldn't have bothered. They were all the same.

Just then, a sharp pain tore through my abdomen, and warm blood gushed down my legs. I knew that the abortion pill had already taken my baby.

All of them let out a sigh of relief. Even the parrot finally fell silent, satisfied. They all rejoiced that the baby was gone. Only I was drowning in grief.

At the hospital, when they performed the dilation and curettage procedure, I stayed conscious long enough to feel the life get ripped out of my body once again.

When I lost my consciousness, regret washed over me. I regretted not being able to protect my baby. Or perhaps, to put it differently, I regretted ever carrying such a doomed baby in the first place.

When I woke again, it was past midnight. I was lying in the guest room of my in-laws' house. Gabriel sat slumped at my bedside.

I wanted nothing more than to escape this filthy, hypocritical home. So, I slipped out of bed quietly.

But as I passed the study, I heard the parrot—the same cursed bird that had destroyed all three of my children—chattering inside.

Hearing its voice, a surge of hatred flared in my chest. Without thinking, I pushed the study door open, filled with an urge to kill it.

But the moment the door swung open, what I saw made me freeze to the core. It was a scene I would never forget for the rest of my life.

And in that instant, I finally understood why my in-laws, my parents, and even my husband had all listened to that parrot and forced me to abort every single one of my children.