Chapter 3

I gripped the nurse's hand. "My daughters..."

"Ms. Swanson, right now you have a breast infection with a high fever and dehydration. Everything else, trust me, leave it to me." Jane soothed me.

Annette started clearing people out. "Out, all of you out! I'm caring for the mother."

"We're mothers too. Come out here and take care of us." The groom's elder sister ordered the nurse around like a servant.

"Sorry, but Ms. Swanson didn't pay for the two of you. If you want care, scan the code and pay. One thousand dollars per session." Annette pulled out her phone.

The elder sister shouted, furious. "Lisa, what's your problem? Your sister has money, so that gives you the right to bully people?"

The nurse shut the door. The elder sister pounded on it from the other side.

Jane worked to clear my blocked ducts, and I screamed from the pain.

"Ms. Swanson, bear with it. If we don't clear it now, you'll suffer far worse later."

I bit my lip and nodded for her to keep going.

Annette fed formula to the daughter in the room, and watching the baby gulp it down, I felt some of the weight lift.

I couldn't collapse now. All three of my daughters were waiting for me to save them.

The high-end nurse's technique was good. The ducts cleared.

After she cleaned me up, I changed into fresh clothes, ate the first proper meal of my recovery, and slept the most comfortable sleep I'd had in days.

The next day, the dining room was loud.

Annette had finished cooking, and my mother-in-law had snatched the food to eat with the two sisters.

Maurice blocked Annette. "Lisa's young and healthy. My mom and my sisters have never had food this fancy."

I stood up, and Jane helped me walk to the dining room.

My mother-in-law and the two sisters had their arms wrapped around the plates, guarding the food, oil smeared across their faces and mouths.

"Lisa, your sister has all that money. Tell her to buy more. This isn't enough." My mother-in-law smacked her lips and swallowed what was in her mouth.

Jane leaned close to my ear and told me there were only seven children in this house. One girl was in my room.

Which meant Maurice and the others had sent my other two daughters away.

I grabbed Maurice by the collar and roared, "Where did you send my other two girls?"

"My mom is looking after three mothers and nine children all by herself. You want to work her to death?"

"Sent them to my eldest sister's place and my second sister's to be raised. Keeps them from growing up soft." Maurice's face was completely indifferent.

I slapped his face. "You animal, they're your own daughters. Bring them back to me!"

Maurice shoved me away, irritated. "Enough! Someone raising them is someone raising them. If they weren't mine, I'd have dumped them by the roadside already."

My mother-in-law lunged forward in a single step, hand raised to strike me. I caught her arm. "You have two hours. If I don't see my daughters, I'm calling the police."

I flung her arm off. She dropped to the floor, slapping her thighs and wailing.

"What a curse on this house. A daughter-in-law wants the police to arrest the mother-in-law who's been waiting on her through her recovery. There's no justice left in the world."

"I hired someone to help take care of the children. Is that a crime? Maurice, what are you standing there for! Hit this disobedient woman."

Maurice looked torn, glancing from his mother to me, not daring to move.

Seeing this, my mother-in-law got to her feet. "Maurice, if you don't hit her, I'll smash my head against this wall and die right here."

"Honey, hurry and apologize to my mom. The two girls are at my sisters' places, they're doing just fine." Maurice grabbed my arm, trying to force me to bow.

I pushed him off and stepped back twice. "Maurice, I want a divorce."

"Lisa, what's that supposed to mean? My whole family treats you like this, and you still think we're wrong? Don't you know a woman without a son is incomplete." Maurice was beside himself.

"Divorce? Not a chance. Don't even dream about it!"

I looked at him, my heart flooding with grief.

This was the punishment I'd handed myself, out of all the men I could have chosen.

A man's disguise lasts until the woman marries, gets pregnant, and gives birth. Then his true nature comes out.

This, I'd lived through myself.

I picked up my phone and called the police.