After spending the first half of the night making love with me, my husband spent the rest of the night helping my sister-in-law nurse the baby in her room.

I cried and made a fuss, but only got his indifferent remark.

"Who told me I had to take over my brother's job? Now, I have to take care of both families."

For the sake of my one-year-old daughter, I gritted my teeth and endured it.

But tonight, my daughter had a fever and was crying, refusing to let him leave for her aunt's room.

For once, he agreed.

When my sister-in-law found out, she tried to kill herself in her room by lighting a kerosene lamp.

She was rescued afterwards, but my husband was furious.

He blamed me for not raising our daughter properly and dragged me to the pigsty, locking me inside.

The starving pigs in the sty went crazy, trying to devour me. My one-year-old daughter crawled out to save me, but was killed instantly when the pigs bit through her neck.

I banged my head against the wall like crazy and begged my husband to save my daughter, but all I heard were the sounds of him and my sister-in-law making love.

Three days later, my husband finally opened the pigsty door.

By then, I was entirely out of my mind.

——

"What's going on?"

"Caitlin is still locked in the pigsty?"

"Didn't I ask you to let her out before I left?"

Charlie gasped in shock as he flung open the pigsty door, only to find me lying beneath the hulking sow.

"Caitlin, wake up!"

Charlie's fingers trembled slightly as he reached under my nose.

After confirming that I was still breathing, he breathed a sigh of relief, followed by another burst of anger.

He roared.

"Caitlin, if you're not dead, get up now!"

"Your brother's back from the army today, clean yourself up!"

"Don't make him think I've been mistreating you!"

Still, I didn't move. Instead, I patted the pig's back rhythmically.

I was humming a lullaby, the one I used to sing to put my daughter to sleep.

Charlie frowned, feeling irritated and kicked the pig.

The pig stirred awake, its foul-smelling mouth chewing sluggishly as it blinked open its eyes.

I also got up in a panic.

"Nicole, are you awake?"

"Are you hungry?"

"Mommy will feed you."

As I said this, I pulled open my clothes, ready to breastfeed.

Charlie's eyes widened in terror. He pointed at me, stammering incoherently.

"Caitlin, what the hell are you doing?"

"That's a pig! Snap out of it!"

He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me up.

Yet like a madwoman, I desperately struggled to nurse the pig, clinging to it tightly.

"Don't cry, Nicole, Mommy will feed you."

"You'll feel better once you eat."

Charlie's frown deepened. He held my arm tightly and turned to my sister-in-law, Jane Wagner.

"Jane, hold Caitlin. I'll grab the pig and we'll separate them!"

Jane was already too scared to speak. She stepped into the pigsty, trembling and cried out of fear again.

"Charlie, I don't dare. It's so scary."

Charlie had no choice. He pulled me backward while kicking the pig.

"Get out!"

"You damn animal!"

"I'll slaughter you today and eat you!"

The pig squealed in pain from the kicks, shrinking into a corner.

I screamed, struggling with all my might and rushed over to protect the pig.

Charlie couldn't stop his foot in time and it landed heavily on my back.

I felt no pain and only cared about comforting the pig under me.

"My good girl, it doesn't hurt."

"Mommy will blow it and make it feel better."

I lay beside the pig's ear, coaxing it gently.

Its gradually calmed down, grunting softly and nuzzling me.

Charlie was frozen. His eyes were wide open as he realized something was wrong with me.

"Jane, hurry and bring Nicole over!"

Jane froze on the spot, stammering, unsure of what to say.

For the past three days, she has been focusing only on consuming the powdered goat milk and various supplements sent by the military.

She had absolutely no idea where the child had gone.

"Charlie, Nicole ... Nicole went out to play with Mom!"

"She won't be back for a while!"

Charlie's frown deepened. Without a word, he turned to the room and came back with a tranquilizer gun.

"Let's calm Caitlin down first. When Mom brings Nicole back, she'll be fine once she sees her!"

After saying that, Charlie raised the gun without hesitation.

Bang!

A shot hit the pig.

The pig wailed and collapsed to the ground.

I stared blankly at the fallen pig, tears suddenly welling up in my eyes.

"Nicole, wake up!"

"There's so much blood."

"It doesn't hurt, Nicole."

I cried heartbreakingly, hugged the pig and tried hard to pry its mouth open.

Charlie watched my movements and was terribly irritated.

Without any gentleness, he grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the pigsty.

Back in the room, he shoved Nicole's clothes into my arms.

"Caitlin, stop acting crazy! Nicole went out with Mom!"

I held Nicole's clothes, lowered my head, sniffed my daughter's milky scent and finally calmed down.

Charlie's frown loosened and he took off his coat.

Jane quickly stepped forward to take it, lowering her gaze as she choked up.

"Charlie, it's all my fault."

"I should have paid more attention, but I haven't been feeling well these days and I've been confused every day."

Charlie comforted her in a gentle voice, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Still, Jane's delicate body leaned against him. Her breath was warm and fragrant against his ear.

"Charlie, my boobies is swollen again."

"You've been out for three days and no one has helped me."

Desire surged in Charlie's eyes. Ignoring the broad daylight, he lifted her clothes.

Their moans were loud and unabashed. I stood there, dumbfounded.

Suddenly, the pig outside groaned in pain.

Without a second thought, I immediately put down the clothes in my hand and ran out.

In the yard, three or four men were dragging a pig by pulling a wire noose tight around its neck.

"Wasn't this pig starved for over ten days?"

"Why do I smell a meaty scent on it?"

"Let's hurry up and go!"

"Charlie said we should come straight to the pigsty and take the pig for breeding."

The men pulled as they walked.

I rushed over and hugged the pig's head tightly, refusing to let them take it away.

The three men frowned, exchanging glances.

"Isn't she Charlie's wife?"

"What happened to her?"

"I heard her brother is coming back from the military today. If he sees his sister in this state, wouldn't he just shoot Charlie?"

"Shut up! Didn't you see Charlie come out?"

The men fell silent, not daring to move the pig.

Charlie saw me hugging the pig again. His eyes blazed with anger, his fury uncontrollable.

"Caitlin, are you deliberately trying to cause me trouble?"

"Wasn't it just an accident that you were locked up for a few days?"

"Jane already said it was unintentional. Do you want her to be locked up for a few days too?"

His words never made me look up.

I focused on hugging the pig, coaxing it like a child.

Seeing that I remained silent, Charlie let out an exasperated laugh, turned around and went inside. Moments later, he emerged with a butcher's knife in hand.

"Today, I'm going to kill this pig!"

"Let's see how you keep pretending to be crazy!"

The knife in his hand glinted coldly under the scorching sun.

With a flick of the knife, the pig's neck was torn apart.

Fresh blood gushed out, splattering all over my face.

I pressed the pig's neck like crazy and cried loudly.

"Nicole, Mommy will stop the bleeding for you."

Still, the blood couldn't be stopped. The pig twitched and let out a pained screech.

The several men present were so shocked they couldn't speak.

Suddenly, one of them pointed at the pig's mouth, his voice filled with alarm.

"Why is there a clump of hair in its mouth?"

"What hair?"

The man stumbled closer, pointing at the corner of the pig's mouth.

"There! Isn't that a strand of hair?"

"It really is!"

"Why would there be hair?"

The men started talking amongst themselves, a flurry of questions.

Charlie frowned, lowering his head to look closely at the pig's mouth.

But I held the pig tightly, shielding it protectively beneath me.

"Stay away from my Nicole!"

"Get back!"

The pig's blood I'd kicked up splashed onto Charlie's face, making him jump back in agitation. He turned to Jane.

"Jane, go boil some water!"

"I'm going to slaughter this pig today!"

"And I'm going to make this crazy woman, Caitlin Sackville, eat pork. Let's see if she keeps pretending then!"

Jane lowered her head and agreed, hurrying off to boil water.

The other men didn't dare say a word.

"Sorry to have troubled you all with this trip, my pig isn't ready for breeding."

With that, Charlie saw the men off. He returned to the yard and lit a cigarette.

The smoke swirled, blurring his vision and his heart grew increasingly agitated.

He reached into his pocket and took out a pink hair clip, turning it over in his hand.

He'd spotted it on his business trip and instantly liked it.

It would be perfect for Nicole.

Thinking of Nicole, his gaze fell again on the pig I was shielding.

There was indeed something black stuck between the pig's teeth.

But how could it be hair?

He didn't think much about it, but went outside to see if Nicole had returned.

At this time, I held the pig and hummed the lullaby that I often sang to Nicole.

Charlie looked over and saw me take a blood-stained pink dress from my arms, trying to put it on the pig.

"Nicole, be good. Mommy will put this pretty dress on you."

His eyes froze. He rushed over and snatched the dress away.

"This … isn't this the dress Nicole wore a few days ago?"

"Why is it here?"

I didn't respond to his words, lost in my own world.

However, the more I acted this way, the more uneasy Charlie felt.

Panic rising in his chest, he turned to Jane again.

"Jane, did Mom really take Nicole away?"

"Where did they go? I'm going to find them."

Jane's face paled. Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"Charlie, don't worry. I … I saw Nicole just this morning!"

"And Mom? She should be back for dinner soon."

Charlie was not comforted by Jane's words, but became more irritated.

He rolled up his sleeves and looked at the steaming hot water to the side, trying to distract himself.

At that moment, I seemed to sense something and looked out of the yard.

"Charlie, guess what I heard at the commune today?"

My mother-in-law's voice boomed into the yard even before she appeared.

The firewood slipped from Jane's hand as she added it to the fire, falling into the flames and sending sparks flying.

Charlie didn't notice. A smile appeared on his face and he hurried to the door.

But he froze.

"Mom, where's Nicole?"

"Didn't Jane say she went out with you?"

His mother was carrying a bag full of expensive supplements, beaming from ear to ear.