Chapter 2
My name is Katrina Louis. I grew up in a group home after losing my parents. After working my butt off for years, I finally saved up enough to buy a little two- bedroom house.
Then I met Alan. We dated for a year, and
he showered me with love and affection. Since I had always craved love, I gave my all in return when someone was even a
little bit kind to me. So, I didn’t mind that Alan’s family didn’t have much. I didn’t care about rings or a big wedding; we just went and got our marriage license.
A month after we got married, Iris showed. up with her bags, claiming she was there to help us out. But really, she just wanted to kick back and relax, leaving all the housework to me. If I did anything she didn’t like, she’d lay into me.
I tried talking to Alan about it, but he turned on me. “That‘ s my mom! It
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wasn’t easy for her to raise me, so you need to treat her right.”
“She’s older. What’s the big deal if she gives you a hard time? Why are you so sensitive? If you‘ re nice to her, she’ll be less of a pain.”
“Why do you always badmouth my mom to me? Are you trying to cause trouble between us? How can you be so nasty? I didn’t think you were like this. I really messed up by marrying you.”
I was speechless.
I was not the type to fight back. I finally had a place to call home, and I figured mother–in–law issues were just part of the deal. I decided to bite my tongue and deal with it.
Then I got pregnant and felt sick from even the tiniest smell of cooking oil. I asked Iris to help with making dinner, but she just put her hands on her hips and snapped at
- me.
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“It’s just a pregnancy! Why are you being. so dramatic? You‘ re not about to give birth tomorrow, so stop making a fuss!”
“You’d better take care of me now. Later, when you have a son, you’ll need me to help with him. You‘ re just an orphan who doesn‘ t know anything about raising kids!”
“In our day, we worked right up until we went into labor. You‘ re just a poor orphan, not a rich girl. Stop pretending and get cooking!
“What are you waiting for? Do you want me to starve? How can you be so heartless?”
I had no choice but to push through the discomfort, throwing up while trying to
cook.
After a long, tough pregnancy, I finally went into labor. The delivery didn’t go smoothly, and the doctor suggested a C- section. But Iris didn’t want to spend the
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extra money, so she refused to sign the papers and insisted I go through with a natural birth. She even said the baby needed a bit of pain to be smart.
In the end, my baby was born with a bluish tint and was almost suffocated. I came close to dying in the delivery room. When my baby girl finally arrived, Iris took one look at her and sneered, “What a useless piece of junk!” before walking out of the hospital. She even called Alan at work and told him not to bother coming.
I was left alone, dealing with complications and heavy bleeding, with no one to help me. The nurses, feeling sorry for me, did what they could to help me pull through. I managed to drag my exhausted self and the baby back home.
As soon as we got back, Iris started in on me, poking me in the forehead. “You lazy good–for–nothing! Get cooking, I’m sick of doing all the meals these past few days!”
The baby was wailing in my arms. Iris
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pointed at her and yelled, “Make that baby stop crying! She’s ruining our luck! No wonder I keep losing at Texas Hold‘ em- she’s bad luck!”
“If you don’t shut her up, I’ll smother hether myself!”
the
I was too weak to argue with Iris. I quickly took the baby into the bedroom and tried
to soothe her.
Alan tried to explain everything to Alan, but he
ing was fed up. He told me I was useless, that
other wives get along fine with their mothers–in–law, but I couldn’t. He said other wives handle both the baby and the housework without complaining, while I was just too delicate.
no on
E DIL
USTED
15 St
head
king
past
Vam
I cried, had meltdowns, and felt totally
overwhelmed. It was so hard. In this house,
felt like the outsider, the one who
ouldn’t win. I couldn’t win arguments, ights, or anything.
ris and Alan were working together to
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keep me down. It felt like I was suffocating. Even though it was clearly their fault, they always managed to twist things around, turning black into white and making me feel utterly helpless and defeated.
Slowly, I lost all hope in Alan. I figured I must’ve been blind. I just wanted to get through a few months, get stronger, and then leave with my baby. But I never imagined they’d actually go so far as to harm my child.
All because she was a girl.
My thoughts drifted back. Iris was making a huge fuss in the hospital, demanding the doctors reattach Alan‘ s legs or she‘ d jump off a building. No one stopped her from jumping, so she just raged on until she finally calmed down.
With her anger and nowhere else to go, she took it out on me. Alan was furious at her for not spending her money on his leg treatment and yelled at her every time he saw her. Iris didn’t dare confront him, so
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she went home for now.
She warned me she’d come back the next day to check on things. If I didn’t take good care of her precious son Alan, she‘ d make sure I paid for it.
I grinned coldly. Fine, I’d take care of him. Then I’d deal with you, you nasty old witch!
Alan lay in bed, completely helpless. He needed help just to go to the bathroom.
“Water… darling, can you get me some water…”
I tore a bit of his cracked lip, making blood ooze out. The pain made him gasp.
“Katrina, what are you doing? Are you trying to start a fight?”
“Shut up.
I smirked and slapped him hard across the
face.
“You need to pee after drinking water.
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You‘ re a complete mess now. You can’t even stand up to pee on your own and expect me to cater to you. Can’t you just deal with it?”
“You’ve got a bit of blood on your lip. Lick it off if you‘ re thirsty.”
He tried to hit me with his hand. I jabbed at the bandages on his severed limbs,
making him scream like a pig being slaughtered.
“Still want to hit me?”
Alan was wailing in pain, “No… I won‘ t do it again…”
I slapped him again, “Stop crying like a baby. It’s disgusting.
“It’s just a leg amputation. Why are you making such a fuss? Plenty of people with amputations aren’t as whiny as you.”
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