Chapter 4

"You're a good-for-nothing, and you're having another good-for-nothing! Don't touch me! Such a jinx!"

"What did our family ever do to deserve a woman like you?!"

I covered my face, gritting my teeth, refusing to let the tears fall in front of everyone.

"What are you standing there for? Aren't you embarrassed enough? Get your worthless self home!"

"I can't stand the sight of you! Always that dead-fish face, it's bad luck!"

My mother-in-law ranted and raved, not waiting for me, and took a cab home. Penniless, I had to walk. By the time I got home, Brandon was already home from work. The moment he saw me, his face was a mask of irritation and disgust.

"Where have you been so late? No dinner made."

"I worked all day and come home to no hot meal! What am I keeping you for?!"

I hadn't even had a chance to speak when Brandon grabbed my hair and dragged me into the kitchen, pressing my head against the counter. He picked up a cleaver and slammed it onto the cutting board, holding it menacingly close to my face.

"If I don't get dinner when I get home, I'll chop your head off!"

I shielded my stomach, staring at my reflection in the blade, biting my lip hard to hold back my tears. Out of the corner of my eye, Brandon's parents sat in the living room, casually watching TV as if nothing was happening.

This went on until I was four months pregnant. Just as I was about to go numb, my mother-in-law fell ill. My parents, with forced smiles, managed to get her a bed at one of the city's top hospitals. My mom said that was all they could do for me. I wanted out, but my mom just told me I couldn't escape anymore, not with a baby on the way. If marriage was a cage trapping me, then this child was the lock on that cage.

After my mother-in-law recovered, her attitude towards me changed. Even my father-in-law and Brandon became kinder. When I was five months pregnant, my mother-in-law started preparing various nourishing soups for me. At the time, I truly believed the dark clouds had finally parted, until that night she brought me a bowl of special herbal tea, supposedly for the baby's health.