My mother-in-law stormed toward me, her fury unrestrained and yanked me by the hair before shoving me to the ground. The searing pain ripped through me and I couldn’t stop the scream that escaped my lips.

Towering over me, she jabbed a finger in my direction, her voice sharp and accusing.

"You worthless, barren woman! You’ve never been able to conceive, so how on earth are you suddenly pregnant?"

"Don’t tell me you’ve been sneaking around behind Maximilian’s back, finding some man to father a child and trick our family out of its wealth!"

Her laughter was bitter and cruel. "I knew it. You and your entire family are nothing but trouble!"

I glanced up at her and at Maximilian, whose face was twisted with unbridled fury. The pain coursing through my body was unbearable, but I still tried to explain, desperate to make them listen. My words, however, fell on deaf ears. Instead, their anger only grew, their insults raining down like blows.

"Margaret, you’re nothing but a wild chicken," my mother-in-law spat. "I told my son not to marry you! Like mother, like daughter. Your family must be just as disgraceful!"

Crumbled on the floor, I couldn’t muster the strength to rise. Her venomous words cut deeper than the physical pain. However, I still turned to Maximilian, silently begging him to help me.

His sneer was as cold as ice. "You didn’t die from the fall and now you want my help?"

Before I could respond, he grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking it harshly. I winced in agony as his voice thundered above me.

"Whore! Tell me whose child you’re carrying, or I swear, I’ll kill you where you lie!"

His face twisted with rage, each word sharper than a dagger aimed at my heart.

Mother and son took turns tormenting me, their cruelty unwavering even as I was seven months pregnant. The agony was so intense it made the world spin around me.

Weakly, I tried to explain, my voice trembling. "Maximilian, we’ve been married for years. I've never been with anyone else but you."

Maximilian, gripping my hair, held me in place as my mother-in-law seized the opportunity to slap me again and again, each strike harder than the last.

"You filthy thing," she sneered. "Still making excuses? Since Maximilian is infertile, did you think the baby just appeared on its own?"

The slaps left my face burning and swollen and the pain in my chest made it hard to breathe.

"Please, stop!" I cried, my voice choked with tears, but my mother-in-law was merciless. With a cruel kick to my stomach, she spat, "You’ve brought shame to the Harrington name. What will the world think when they learn the truth?"

My abdomen throbbed with excruciating pain and my scream filled the room, echoing the agony that tore through me. Blood began to pour from me and with each drop, the weight of her mockery deepened.

Seeing my suffering, my mother-in-law's cruel laugh rang out, her earlier kindness long gone, replaced by bitter triumph.

Maximilian stood there, veins bulging on his forehead. The blood dripping from me didn’t seem to faze him. One hand pressed against my neck, choking me, while the other slammed my head into the wall.

I screamed in desperation as the world spun around me. The sharp pain in my stomach felt as if my insides were being ripped apart.

"Whore," he growled, his voice dripping with fury. "You knew all my life, I dreamed of having a child."

His hands tightened around my neck as his voice turned venomous. "How dare you betray me? How dare you sneak around and sleep with another man?"

"What did my family ever do to you?" he continued, his words venomous. "I love children, I cherish them, but I only love my own."

My vision blurred, my hair spilling over my face like a curtain. I summoned the last remnants of my strength, forcing the words out with hoarse determination.

"For two years, I couldn’t get pregnant and your mother encouraged you to find someone else," I whispered, barely able to get the words out.

"I knew it all along."

Maximilian’s eyes flashed with cold anger. "In your eyes, there’s only your child," I managed to say, the bitterness in my voice matching the anger in his.

As soon as I finished speaking, I saw my mother-in-law return from the kitchen, holding a pot of boiling chicken soup. Her smile was cruel, the malice in her eyes unmistakable, as she poured the entire pot onto my stomach. My body tensed in agony as I screamed, unable to stop the intense pain that seared through me.

"I'll burn you, you adulterous woman!" she spat, her eyes filled with venom.

The scorching heat made me writhe uncontrollably; my body ached as I struggled. Instinctively, as a mother, I tried to protect my belly, my hands trembling in desperation. But Maximilian, now completely consumed by fury, cursed loudly, holding me down with his brutal grip.

"Whore, I’ll make you watch as the child in your belly dies right in front of you!" he shouted. "You’ll be powerless to stop me."

"You dare go out and get pregnant by another man, bringing that bastard home to deceive me?" His words were venomous, each one a dagger aimed at my heart.

"You slut, bitch!" he roared. "Your whole family deserves to die!"

Just the day before, Maximilian had been holding me, promising to love me and the child with his life. But in the span of one night, he had transformed into a monster, torturing me with the cruelest words and actions.

Weak, unable to speak clearly, I begged through the pain, "I... I can't take it anymore; please, take me to the hospital."

The agony in my stomach felt like every bone, every piece of flesh in my body was screaming in pain. The scalding soup burned my skin, leaving me raw and bright red.

Then, without a moment’s hesitation, my mother-in-law slammed the pot onto my forehead.

"I’ll kill you, you slut!" she screamed. "Tell me, whose bastard is in your belly?"

"You ruined everything for our family," she spat. "Do you know that all of our relatives and friends know about this at the banquet now?"

I was too weak to respond, too numb to move. The only thing I could feel was the overwhelming pain that consumed every inch of my body.

I thought, perhaps, they would stop. But Maximilian, now nothing but a raging beast, ignored my feeble pleas and became even more vicious.

With a forceful tug, he dragged me into the bathroom, the cold winter air biting at my skin. He turned on the freezing shower and the icy water hit my body, sending shockwaves of pain through me.

The cold brought me back to consciousness, but the intense pain in my stomach sent me into darkness again. Blood mixed with the cold water, staining the bathroom floor.

I tried, with every last ounce of strength, to protect my belly with one hand while crawling on the cold, unforgiving floor with the other.

When I finally crawled out of the bathroom, they yanked me back in.

"Whore, trying to run away?" Maximilian screamed.

"You know how much I’ve always wanted a child," he spat. "Why did you go out and cheat with other men, get pregnant with their bastard and deceive me?"

I trembled in fear, shaking my head desperately. "I... I didn’t. Please stop, please."

"I feel like the baby is going to die," I cried, my voice barely a whisper.

"Please take me to the hospital."

No part of my body wasn’t in pain; every inch of me was screaming for mercy.

But despite my desperate pleas, neither Maximilian nor my mother-in-law showed an ounce of compassion.

"Today, I want the bastard in your belly to die in front of you," Maximilian’s voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.

After he had learned of his infertility, all the love and tenderness he once had for me vanished, replaced by a heart as cold as ice.

My mother-in-law knelt, her grip tightening around my throat. No matter how much I fought, how much I screamed, she glared at me with eyes full of hatred, her voice dripping with venom.

"You think my family will raise the bastard in your belly?" she spat.

"Don’t even think about it."

At that moment, the pain in my abdomen was unbearable. It felt like everything inside me was being torn apart like the baby was about to fall from my very core.

"No!"

"I can't take it anymore, Maximilian. I'm begging you."

"The child is innocent!"

I broke down, my tears flowing freely. Carrying a child for seven months, I felt utterly powerless in the face of this cruel mother and son.

My mother-in-law spoke coldly, her words like daggers. "Maximilian, don't let this slut deceive you."

"Like mother, like daughter. I suspect you're not even your father’s son. Perhaps your mother was out there sleeping with other men, giving birth to a bastard who inherited her nature."

Maximilian laughed coldly. "Margaret, when you were out there sleeping with other men and having fun, did you ever think about this day?"

"I'm not afraid to admit it. I’ve already found another woman."

"Since you, this useless hen, can’t lay eggs, I’ll carry on the family line with her."

"The child is my life."

"But it definitely can’t be some other man’s bastard."

Finally, my mother-in-law turned and headed for the kitchen. She grabbed a kitchen knife, her voice cold as ice. "Son, take the bastard out of her belly."

"Let’s see what this bastard looks like."

I was in despair, struggling and pleading for mercy.

Maximilian’s family had become obsessed with the idea of a child. They had dreamed of having one. When I became pregnant, the entire family treated me like royalty, showering me with care and warmth. They had already planned a life of wealth and honor for the child.

But when Maximilian learned of his infertility, he lost his mind.

After a brief hesitation, Maximilian, with a devilish smile on his face, grabbed the knife, ready to cut me open and take the child.

"Ahhh!"

Just as Maximilian, urged by my mother-in-law, prepared to make the incision, I let out a bone-chilling scream, one filled with agony that seemed to pierce my very soul.

I felt something slipping from my abdomen.

As a mother-to-be, how could I not recognize it? It was my child.

This evil mother and son had tortured the baby to the point of miscarriage.

Both Maximilian and my mother-in-law saw the child slipping out of me.

"This is karma!"

"Margaret, even heaven couldn't stand it anymore. No need for me to lay a hand on you; this bastard came out on its own."

I lay there, drenched in blood, my life slipping away, as I heard their triumphant laughter.

Maximilian looked down at the child on the floor and sighed, a trace of disdain in his voice. "What a pity, it’s not my child."

In my terrified, despairing gaze, I saw him, this madman, slowly bend down and pick up the child, lifting it high above his head as if it were nothing more than an object.

My mother-in-law’s voice echoed with approval. "Maximilian, do it!" she cheered.

"Let’s take this bastard right in front of Margaret and smash it to death."

"Let her see, this is the consequence of deceiving the Harrington Family!"

Just as Maximilian was about to act, the sharp ring of his phone interrupted the moment.

Frowning, he held the child with one hand and answered the phone with the other, his face darkening.

In the quiet bathroom, the voice on the other end of the line rang clear.

"Is this Maximilian? Mr. Harrington?"

"Hello, I’m Dr. Walter from the hospital. I just wanted to inform you that today, you received the wrong test report. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your body."

"You can conceive!"